I prefer Father Noel’s rendition of ‘The Whole of the Moon’THE WATERBOYS THIS IS THE SEA
As my original pick LF was hijacked by @stoneblue I’ve decided to move from the 70s the best period of music ,in my opinion to the 80s and a band I love.I could’ve picked any of the first four albums but I think they hit their prime with TITS lol.I’d seen them perform live as the support to U2 on ‘The Unforgettable Fire Tour ‘ at the Manchester Apollo and I was hooked.They are named after a Lou Reed lyric.Bit more trivia MS is self taught on the piano but the piano he learnt on was broken so he could only play the black keys.
The band has had many formations with Mike Scott the main songwriter ,lead singer and multi instrumentalist,it was this album that he finalised the sound of ‘The Big Music.’ a similar production technique to Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound.For the next few albums MS moved to Ireland and the result was the more Irish folky ‘Fisherman’s Blues which I love , but this is my favourite period.
Most of you will instantly recognise the hit single ‘The Whole of the Moon’ probably my least favourite on here as it’s been played to death.This was recorded with what I consider the best version of TWB .Other multi instrumentalists ,Karl Wallinger who went on to form World Party,,Steve Wickham and Anthony Thistlethwaite amongst them.
The album opens with ‘Don’t bang the Drum’ which starts with a heralding trumpet and immediately gives the listener the full effect of The Big Music.Then the big hit a great song that I’m sure your all familiar with.I try not to choose albums with well known singles on, which is probably the reason for my Warren Zevon pick not being Excitable Boy.
Followed by two tracks expressing Mike Scott’s interest in spiritualism and paganism.The Pan within is an epic track with Steve Wickhams violin leading the way.
Medicine bow is an out and out rocker, Old England written about the Thatcher government could easily have been written today.
Be my enemy is MS tribute to Dylan.like Springsteen,,Van Morrison, Lou Reed, MS always been considered as a rock poet.
Trumpets a love song with Anthony Thistlethwaites wailing sax.
The album ends with the title track and what a great closer it is.
It’s a nice short album but the extended version has lots more to explore especially the full version of ‘Spirit’ and of course TWB cover VMs ‘Sweet Thing’I decided to nominate this well before last weeks pick but there are obvious VM influences on this record.
Great review! I have no idea what most of it means, but great nonetheless :)Earlier I quoted a music critic who implied that some thought The WBs were U2 imitators before. That’s patently ridiculous, since they’re actually Echo and the Bunnymen imitators. Well, I’m kidding, sort of. Actually they’re Psychedelic Furs imitators. Naw, kidding again. That’s okay anyhow since I like E&TB and PF (especially). But why don’t we stop with all this and just think about The WBs on their own merits.
The bottom line is I wanted to like this more than I did but I liked it well enough anyhow. It fits in the “nice try” bucket, and by “nice try” I am 67% sincere and 33% sarcastic.
While TWOTM may wear thin on WBs fans because its been so oft-played, there’s a reason for that (and for why scads of bands have covered it): it’s a brilliant tune. It has universal appeal, terrific lyrics, an absolute earworm of a keyboard hook, it’s dance-y without being martial, with the extra instrumentation added as flourishes instead of added to cover up thin melody (which happens a bit too often for my taste on the rest of the record). Simply put, it was the hit from this record because it’s the best thing ON the record. I still like it because it’s so good I’ve never tired of it.
Elsewhere the record is a little uneven, though there's nothing I didn't think was at least decent. I did roll my eyes at a few songs though, and the opener is the best example. Can someone please inform Scott that you can’t title a song “Don’t Bang The Drums” and then have a snare sound so loud it sounds like the head is being thwacked with a rowboat oar? That’s not irony; it’s just silly.
After that, things get better, or best, with “TWOTM”. Then comes “Spirit”. This song has two chords best I can tell. That’s fine, but it underscores my point that the production on this record is attempting to elevate the fairly rudimentary to levels beyond the band's ability/desire to play and/or write. “The Pan Within” is okay, but I did quite like “Medicine Bow”, which has a Midnight Oil feel which should please a certain poster here :). Here the percussion drives things forward kinetically in a way different from most of the rest of the record. “Old England” again seems fine; “Be My Enemy” feels like a standard uptempo chug-along that under normal circumstances I’d probably like but for whatever reason it seems out of place. “Trumpets” returns to that echoey feel with those pianos and that sax and the odd observation that someone’s love is like trumpets which seems like a strange thing that personally would annoy me but to each his own. Again, it’s not a bad song at all, but like so much here it suffers in comparison to its big hit cousin.
However, I was struck by the title track closer with an image that really hits home in underscoring change, or progression from what carries you along directionally to a much larger, less helpful environment where you’re on your own and have to figure out where you want to go without aid. That’s a pessimistic read; I assume it was meant more optimistically, but it works either way. While I wish the song was a tad more melodic lyrically, I really liked this one.
I suppose I could hear a teeny little bit of Reed and Morrison and Dylan and Springsteen in here, but these are aspirations of an amateur, not homages or spins. That sounds harsh, but it’s definitely not the “poetry” putting these songs into the ear – it’s the extra instrumentation, and even then, that sonic variation is covering up sins like lack of chord changes and shrillness and Scott’s more-than-periodically tuneless singing. But that said, production like this can be good at covering up sins, and Scott’s an okay poet and the band talented enough that they can get away with it as long as I don’t take their aspirations too seriously.
So on balance, I didn’t like it well enough for a 7, which is kind of my cut-off point for records I’ll play again, but it’s certainly a very solid 6 if only for “Moon” and the closer and “Medicine Bow.” The remainder I could take or leave.
Really what I came away with was how much better a band with this kind of sonic sense should have done in creating more tunes like the hit. Big Music is one ideal but you have to have the chops to take full advantage and The WBs don’t demonstrate them often enough.
Edit: while I was writing this and my Spotify went into the extended version of this record, I heard "Sleek White Schooner". Bloody fucking hell, I was right the first time: these guys ARE Echo & The Bunnymen imitators!! Good ones too I might add.
I prefer Father Noel’s rendition of ‘The Whole of the Moon’
(see 1:10, immediately after his cover of Bohemian Rhapsody).
Agreed on all points. I have been trying to place who they reminded me of, and it was NOT U2. Echo and the Bunnymen and Psychedilic Furs are pretty darn close, and for a few songs I was hearing The Alarm, but maybe that is more of the time period the album was made.Earlier I quoted a music critic who implied that some thought The WBs were U2 imitators before. That’s patently ridiculous, since they’re actually Echo and the Bunnymen imitators. Well, I’m kidding, sort of. Actually they’re Psychedelic Furs imitators. Naw, kidding again. That’s okay anyhow since I like E&TB and PF (especially). But why don’t we stop with all this and just think about The WBs on their own merits.
I think it is a fantastic song, and for a hit tune, it probably is the best thing ON, even though I think it is not my favorite song after multiple listens.While TWOTM may wear thin on WBs fans because its been so oft-played, there’s a reason for that (and for why scads of bands have covered it): it’s a brilliant tune. It has universal appeal, terrific lyrics, an absolute earworm of a keyboard hook, it’s dance-y without being martial, with the extra instrumentation added as flourishes instead of added to cover up thin melody (which happens a bit too often for my taste on the rest of the record). Simply put, it was the hit from this record because it’s the best thing ON the record. I still like it because it’s so good I’ve never tired of it.
As I noted in an earlier reply, I heard Clarence Clemons and a Springsteen opening with that sax. That is another great song I really enjoyed.Edit: while I was writing this and my Spotify went into the extended version of this record, I heard "Sleek White Schooner". Bloody fucking hell, I was right the first time: these guys ARE Echo & The Bunnymen imitators!! Good ones too I might add.
I find their pomposity more endearing than annoying. It’s kind of like MY pomposity :). It’s more misguided than purposeful. Normally I wouldn’t but it’s because they aren’t talented enough musically or songcraft-wise to actually BE pompous. They are trying to make Big Music. When they get it right the result is — let’s face it — an all-time classic of the 80s, like Icicle Works or Modern English or A-ha had. And that’s a positive contribution. As is the title cut which — again — could/should have been even better given how strong the imagery is.As someone who never really liked much of the 'Big Music' and would see a comparison with U2 as more criticism than praise I'm finding this album quite interesting. Taking TWOTM I have always simultaneously really liked it for the lyric and disliked it for the overblown pomposity of some aspects of the music/delivery/production but then at the same time recognising that the lyric prossibly only works in that musical form. I'm having the same slight level of ambivalence about this album as a whole but don't yet have fully formed thoughts yet. One train of thought is that fundamentally Mike Scott is basically more interested in the words and therefore the music sometimes defaults to a bit of a musical cut and paste of the times. Not always but sometimes it feels like the creativity is focused too much in certain areas only.
I was going to mention The Alarm, and Big Country too. You’d also think I’d know how to spell Psychedelic properly but I’ve referred to them as the P Furs for so long I’ve forgotten how.Agreed on all points. I have been trying to place who they reminded me of, and it was NOT U2. Echo and the Bunnymen and Psychedilic Furs are pretty darn close, and for a few songs I was hearing The Alarm, but maybe that is more of the time period the album was made.