Fisherman's Blues

iTunes Review

With Fisherman's Blues, Mike Scott took The Waterboys into radically different territory. Up to that point, The Waterboys had been a band self-defined as "The Big Music": a grandiose, wrap-your-arms-around-the-world sound that had much in common with their fellow soul brothers in U2 (Waterboys members are Irish, Scottish, and English). However, with Fisherman's Blues, the group went back to its Irish and Scottish roots. Aside from the usual rock instrumentation, the album features mandolin, flute, border horn, accordion, violin, bouzouki, bells and The Abergavenny Male Voice Choir. "And a Bang on the Ear" proved the group could take a traditional approach and turn it into pop music. A cover of Van Morrison's "Sweet Thing" (a centerpiece of his peerless Astral Weeks album) is done justice. "Fisherman's Blues," "We Will Not Be Lovers," and "Strange Boat" are filled with Scott's immense, soulful passions, while "The Stolen Child" uses W.B. Yeats' poetry to make its point. This bonus edition of the album includes an alternate take of "Fisherman's Blues" and other outtakes from the sessions, including a spirited "When Will We Be Married."