RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
This is the Sea – The Waterboys
My first time listening to a full Waterboys album – would I just see a rain dirty valley, or would I catch a glimpse of Brigadoon?
"Don't Bang the Drum" starts with a lonesome trumpet that would fit right in with the opening of a Sergio Leone film, but when the song gets going properly, it’s definitely the “big music” that plenty of analysts have promised. It’s a real kitchen sink approach - electric guitars, a pounding drum, plenty of sax and somebody hammering away on the piano. It’s a sound that resonates, get you going, and I think it’s a terrific opener.
"The Whole of the Moon" – Like others, I’ve heard this song so many times. I was unaware of it on its initial release but caught it when it was re-released in the early 90s. I don’t feel like it’s been overplayed because it’s a great song and I was happy to hear it again. Lyrically, it’s well-constructed: the protagonist constantly reaching for things only to be outdone by his muse.
"Spirit" – a short song - pretty much just Mike Scott and the piano, with a bit of synth for colour. A very pleasant song that breaks up the more bombastic songs nicely.
"The Pan Within" – Guess what? There’s a piano again. This is clearly a set of songs that have been written on the piano and then worked up into something bigger. The fiddle playing is great here and the synth motif that follows the chorus gives it a bit of oomph. This song features the first example of what I’m going to call Mike Scott’s terrific vocal delivery (which I’ll explain later):-
The stars are alive and nights like these
Were born to be sanctified by you and me
Lovers, thieves, fools and pretenders
I also love the way this one gradually gets simpler with the fiddle playing it out. One of the best tracks on the album, quickly followed by one that’s even better: "Medicine Bow". What a terrific performance this is with Mike Scott singing of "A black wind blowing / A typhoon on the rise / Pummelin' rain" and "Murderous skies". This is fantastic imagery that fits the breathless music perfectly. This might be one of the best 80s songs that I’ve never previously heard.
This song also contains Mike Scott terrific vocal delivery #2:
I'm gonna burn all the words
And letters and cards that I ever wrote
"Old England”. A song that on one hand roots it in the 80s, but as it describes a man "his clothes are a dirty shade of blue," who "steals from me and he lies to you", it might as well have been written yesterday. And yes, he’s right, Old England is dying.
"Be My Enemy" – the oddball synth that started this song had me worried that The Waterboys were about to deliver their first misstep of the album, but I needn’t have worried because this strange little intro is followed up by another great song. It also features example #3 of Mike Scott terrific vocal delivery:-
I've a bucketful of Babylon I got a handful of lead
I'm gonna put them in a gun man point it at your head
Because you stole all my friends and you gave me the buffalo blues
"Trumpets" – “Your love feels like trumpets” apparently. He does know that that’s a sax, doesn’t he? Again, somebody’s hammering on a piano. This song has a welcome bit of space between the notes and the album is somehow enhanced by its presence, even though it’s not one of the better songs.
Finally, the title track: "This Is the Sea". It starts of with some acoustic guitar (is this the first such guitar on the album?) Again, there’s more great imagery painted with the lyrics. And, of course, there’s Mike Scott terrific vocal delivery #4 – in this case, a whole verse (which I’m sure must have been inspired by “This train is bound for glory”):-
Now I hear there's a train
It's coming on down the line
It's yours if you hurry
You've got still enough time
And you don't need no ticket
And you don't pay no fee
No you don't need no ticket
You don't pay no fee
Because that was the river
And this is the sea
I’ve listened to this album a lot this week. From the opening track, it struck a chord with me, the feeling never left me as each song started, unfolded and ended, and yet I wasn’t sure why. Let me try to explain.
Regular readers will know that I am fond of the acoustic/Irish/Appalachian approach to instrumentation: fiddles, accordions, mandolins and banjos. John Mellencamp nailed this sound by delivering my favourite album of all time: an album full of killer 80s hooks played on an ancient set of instruments. Anyway, aside from a bit of fiddle here and there, I didn’t spot anything like that on this album. They did it on Fisherman’s Blues, but I think This is the Sea is the better album.
I also enjoy rock songs that build to a nice finish, where the guitar player puts in a majestic solo to bring the song to a close – think David Gilmour on “Comfortably Numb”. Anyway, I didn’t spot anything like that here either.
I do love great narrative lyrics – one where a character is in a situation and as the song unfolds, he goes on a journey where people and places are mentioned – think Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Josh Ritter – there’s no song here that really fits this description.
I could go on with what’s not on here that I usually like, but you get the idea.
So, this is where I say, well it was OK, but not for me, right? Of course not, I absolutely loved this album and the conclusion I came to after four listens was that as well as a bunch of well-crafted and very listenable songs with a fine set of lyrics, what really makes this album is Mike Scott’s terrific vocal delivery – I love his voice on this album: it’s perfect for the songs. It’s not so much the choice of words that I’ve put in the highlighted extracts – it’s the way he sings those words and delivers the phrases, and pretty much every word on the album. He sells those songs to me like the most convincing preacher you’d every meet. And I believe in what he is saying. In fact, his performance over the course of this album is pretty much everything that Van Morrison was lacking on last week’s album.
Whilst there are some songs that I like more than others, there isn’t a weak track here or one that I’d skip. Four or five top-drawer songs that are admirably supported by the rest and an album that is somehow greater than the sum of its parts.
It has to be 10/10 for me. Whilst that doesn’t mean that it will instantly sit alongside my all-time favourites, I think that it represents everything that I could hope for from this thread. I generally like the same music as @Mancitydoogle, but here he’s managed to pull an album seemingly from nowhere - OK, I’ve heard of The Waterboys, but I didn’t expect to fall for an album of this type in quite this way. A fitting 100th album selection I’d say.
My first time listening to a full Waterboys album – would I just see a rain dirty valley, or would I catch a glimpse of Brigadoon?
"Don't Bang the Drum" starts with a lonesome trumpet that would fit right in with the opening of a Sergio Leone film, but when the song gets going properly, it’s definitely the “big music” that plenty of analysts have promised. It’s a real kitchen sink approach - electric guitars, a pounding drum, plenty of sax and somebody hammering away on the piano. It’s a sound that resonates, get you going, and I think it’s a terrific opener.
"The Whole of the Moon" – Like others, I’ve heard this song so many times. I was unaware of it on its initial release but caught it when it was re-released in the early 90s. I don’t feel like it’s been overplayed because it’s a great song and I was happy to hear it again. Lyrically, it’s well-constructed: the protagonist constantly reaching for things only to be outdone by his muse.
"Spirit" – a short song - pretty much just Mike Scott and the piano, with a bit of synth for colour. A very pleasant song that breaks up the more bombastic songs nicely.
"The Pan Within" – Guess what? There’s a piano again. This is clearly a set of songs that have been written on the piano and then worked up into something bigger. The fiddle playing is great here and the synth motif that follows the chorus gives it a bit of oomph. This song features the first example of what I’m going to call Mike Scott’s terrific vocal delivery (which I’ll explain later):-
The stars are alive and nights like these
Were born to be sanctified by you and me
Lovers, thieves, fools and pretenders
I also love the way this one gradually gets simpler with the fiddle playing it out. One of the best tracks on the album, quickly followed by one that’s even better: "Medicine Bow". What a terrific performance this is with Mike Scott singing of "A black wind blowing / A typhoon on the rise / Pummelin' rain" and "Murderous skies". This is fantastic imagery that fits the breathless music perfectly. This might be one of the best 80s songs that I’ve never previously heard.
This song also contains Mike Scott terrific vocal delivery #2:
I'm gonna burn all the words
And letters and cards that I ever wrote
"Old England”. A song that on one hand roots it in the 80s, but as it describes a man "his clothes are a dirty shade of blue," who "steals from me and he lies to you", it might as well have been written yesterday. And yes, he’s right, Old England is dying.
"Be My Enemy" – the oddball synth that started this song had me worried that The Waterboys were about to deliver their first misstep of the album, but I needn’t have worried because this strange little intro is followed up by another great song. It also features example #3 of Mike Scott terrific vocal delivery:-
I've a bucketful of Babylon I got a handful of lead
I'm gonna put them in a gun man point it at your head
Because you stole all my friends and you gave me the buffalo blues
"Trumpets" – “Your love feels like trumpets” apparently. He does know that that’s a sax, doesn’t he? Again, somebody’s hammering on a piano. This song has a welcome bit of space between the notes and the album is somehow enhanced by its presence, even though it’s not one of the better songs.
Finally, the title track: "This Is the Sea". It starts of with some acoustic guitar (is this the first such guitar on the album?) Again, there’s more great imagery painted with the lyrics. And, of course, there’s Mike Scott terrific vocal delivery #4 – in this case, a whole verse (which I’m sure must have been inspired by “This train is bound for glory”):-
Now I hear there's a train
It's coming on down the line
It's yours if you hurry
You've got still enough time
And you don't need no ticket
And you don't pay no fee
No you don't need no ticket
You don't pay no fee
Because that was the river
And this is the sea
I’ve listened to this album a lot this week. From the opening track, it struck a chord with me, the feeling never left me as each song started, unfolded and ended, and yet I wasn’t sure why. Let me try to explain.
Regular readers will know that I am fond of the acoustic/Irish/Appalachian approach to instrumentation: fiddles, accordions, mandolins and banjos. John Mellencamp nailed this sound by delivering my favourite album of all time: an album full of killer 80s hooks played on an ancient set of instruments. Anyway, aside from a bit of fiddle here and there, I didn’t spot anything like that on this album. They did it on Fisherman’s Blues, but I think This is the Sea is the better album.
I also enjoy rock songs that build to a nice finish, where the guitar player puts in a majestic solo to bring the song to a close – think David Gilmour on “Comfortably Numb”. Anyway, I didn’t spot anything like that here either.
I do love great narrative lyrics – one where a character is in a situation and as the song unfolds, he goes on a journey where people and places are mentioned – think Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Josh Ritter – there’s no song here that really fits this description.
I could go on with what’s not on here that I usually like, but you get the idea.
So, this is where I say, well it was OK, but not for me, right? Of course not, I absolutely loved this album and the conclusion I came to after four listens was that as well as a bunch of well-crafted and very listenable songs with a fine set of lyrics, what really makes this album is Mike Scott’s terrific vocal delivery – I love his voice on this album: it’s perfect for the songs. It’s not so much the choice of words that I’ve put in the highlighted extracts – it’s the way he sings those words and delivers the phrases, and pretty much every word on the album. He sells those songs to me like the most convincing preacher you’d every meet. And I believe in what he is saying. In fact, his performance over the course of this album is pretty much everything that Van Morrison was lacking on last week’s album.
Whilst there are some songs that I like more than others, there isn’t a weak track here or one that I’d skip. Four or five top-drawer songs that are admirably supported by the rest and an album that is somehow greater than the sum of its parts.
It has to be 10/10 for me. Whilst that doesn’t mean that it will instantly sit alongside my all-time favourites, I think that it represents everything that I could hope for from this thread. I generally like the same music as @Mancitydoogle, but here he’s managed to pull an album seemingly from nowhere - OK, I’ve heard of The Waterboys, but I didn’t expect to fall for an album of this type in quite this way. A fitting 100th album selection I’d say.
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