The Toy Box: The Waterboys

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Retro Spins: The Waterboys - Fisherman's

Today, my journey through The Waterboys sadly ends. It's been an incredible series of listening sessions, and I would go so far as to say I'm a fan at this point. The big music sound of Mike Scott and his band has been a unique and fantastic trip. I'm hoping they finish strong with today's album.

By 1986, Scott had become discouraged by the stadium rock path he was on. This was contributed to by the fact that he wasn't able to recreate the full sound of their studio album on stage. Further, his own personal interests were shifting to that of the country, gospel, Cajun and blues sound of American roots music, leaving him wanting to try new ideas. He'd ultimately settle on a Celtic sound.

At the invitation of Steve Wickham, he'd relocate to Dublin, specifically to explore these new musical concepts. However, this would come with a shift in lineup from members who wouldn't follow him. Though this is not surprising. As noted in my post on their debut album, lineups were frequently changing, and to date, Scott remains the only consistent member.

The band would record extensively, eventually selecting the tracks that would become 1988's Fisherman's Blues. It would become their biggest album of all time, peaking at gold in the UK, and charting in several countries.

Probably the biggest change I encountered was the overall length of songs, and the number of them. Whereas its predecessor's featured around seven tracks, each running between five and seven minutes, this one is bloated to thirteen, with runtimes all over the place. Some tunes are as little as two minutes. Others as long as nine. The loss, as a result is those musical rich tracks that have room to breathe, grow, and invest you.

Though a lot of aspects from the big music days carry over, for me, it's not a superior album to the previous three. Further, I'm not a big fan of the Celtic sound. It's okay in moderation, but I definitely don't need an hour straight of it. Good songs are fewer and further between as a result, and very little actually stood out to me. The honorable mentions go to And A Bang On The Ear, and World Party.

Sadly, for me, it's a poor note for them to go out on. I get it. Bands change, evolve sound, and in general shift with the times. However, when that is too drastic, it can often times have the opposite effect. Wherein the band isn't staying relevant to its fanbase because it no longer sounds like what drew them to it to begin with. That's the unfortunate aspect of what happened for me. It's just not what I wanted from them.

The Waterboys would release 1990's Room To Roam, and following this, Scott would relocate to New York. It was here that the band would record and release 1993's Dream Harder. However, further frustrations would set in for Scott as he struggled around this time to put together a solid touring band, while also dealing with the transition away from the Celtic sound he had enjoyed so much putting together since 1986. As a result, he opted to disband the group and relocated to Scotland, focusing on a solo career for the remainder of the decade.

When the new millennium rolled around, The Waterboys were reformed. A reinvigorated Scott now focused their sound on a psychedelic elemental roar, aided by effects pedals, harmonicas, and even a theremin. This was followed by the 2000 released, A Rock In The Weary Land.

Ever experimenting, their sound would continue to change and evolve, with nine more albums coming between 2003 and 2025. Further, by the time this post goes live, the band will be on the second of their two-month 2026 tour, which warps up on September 12 in London. The point being, they remain very active to this day.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Retro Spins: The Waterboys - A Pagan Place

Totally psyched up from yesterday's Retro Spin, which was the 1983 self-titled debut from The Waterboys, today I'm diving into their 1984 follow-up, A Pagan Place.

The Waterboys have a rich history of rotating musicians, but the one consistent factor in it all was founder, lead vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, Mike Scott. The music he'd usher in throughout the eighties would become known as, The Big Music, a name given to describe bands specializing in an anthemic sound and taken from the song of the same name from their second album. As a comparison, think of U2, Simple Minds, In Tua Nua, Big Country and Hothouse Flowers.

Scott was initially signed as a solo act with Ensign, but opted instead to form a band, choosing The Waterboys as their name. They'd release their 1983 debut, but unfortunately, it would fail to make any waves. In between touring, they'd return to the studio to record new material, and overdub previously recorded tracks. This would become their second album, 1984's A Pagan Place. While it would become a top forty hit in New Zealand, and peak at number one hundred in the UK, the remainder of the world took little notice.

While I too missed out on them the first time around, I'm very happy to have found them now. I'm really enjoying their music, and yes, I'd even call myself a fan. I daresay, this is a band I'd like to see live.

The album kicks off with Church Not Made With Hands, a track which immediately grabbed my attention and set the bar quite high for everything to come. Fortunately, Mike Scott and the boys (and girls) didn't disappoint. I found multiple shuffle worth songs, which included, All The Things She Gave Me, Rags, Somebody Might Wave Back, Red Army Blues, and A Pagan Place (the song).

What surprised me most was that I didn't think they could get bigger and better than what I had already heard on their debut, and 1985 album, This Is The Sea. Boy, was I wrong. The whole album just feels epic with its twelve-string rhythm guitars, rolling piano and judicious use of reverb to form a shimmering wall of music. This is all added to by saxophone, occasional violins and trumpets.

I'm telling you, if you haven't heard The Waterboys, you're missing out.

As I noted in yesterday's post, my introduction to them came with their aforementioned 1985 album, albeit in 2022, which I picked up and already did a Retro Spin on. As such, my next stop on this journey will be 1988's Fisherman's Blue, which is sadly also their last album from the decade.

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Retro Spins: The Waterboys - The Waterboys

What do I know about The Waterboys? Honestly, not much. I came across them 2022 while perusing and samplings songs from Future Flashback's 10,000 80's songs playlist. Though he's not posted since 2023, his 2016 list has been an incredible source for finding music from the era I either didn't know or had forgotten about.

It was from that list that I came across the tune, The Whole Of The Moon. Its unique sound resonated, and I quickly tracked down the album it was from, 1985's This Is The Sea.

From there, I found even more from them, including my favorite (so far) The Pan Within. That's all been talked about before in my Retro Spin on the record.

Ironically, though I found them enjoyable, I never really looked into anything else from them. I did, however, come across another album from them in the wild during my birthday of 2022, that being 1988's Fisherman's Blues. While I added it to my collection, still I made no effort to look into them further. It wouldn't be until June of 2026 that I'd finally focus my attention back on them, and actively seek out their 1983 self-titled debut, and 1984 follow-up, The Pagan Place.

That brings us to today, and my next series of Retro Spins.

Though I didn't know what to expect, I was hoping things would stay relatively grounded in the familiar territory I was introduced to with their 1985 album. By this, I mean I was wanting to hear fantastic melodies, driven by acoustic guitars, piano, and violins, all enveloped in the haunting, and strangely poetic vocals of Mike Scott.

I'm pleased to say all of that is exactly what I got.

No, you won't hear mainstream rock here. In fact, as a whole, they've only had three minor hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and those didn't come until much later. Specifically, 1989's Fisherman's Blues (the song), which peaked at seventy-six. From there, two additional singles would chart in 1990, and 1993. These were Room To Roam (charting at one hundred eighty), and Dram Harder (which landed at one hundred seventy-one).

However, if you want to hear beautifully crafted music, created by musicians who know what they're doing, or you simply want to hear something different, check out The Waterboys. Standout tracks from their debut, for me, were December, Gala, I Will Not Follow, The Girl In The Swing, and Savage Earth Heart.

I'm going to keep riding this wave, and dive right into their next album. I'm hoping to continue the trend so far of discovering fantastic new music.

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Retro Spins: The Waterboys - This Is The Sea

I missed The Waterboys in the 80's, and didn't come across them until early 2022. Boy, did I miss out.

The group is considered to be folk / Celtic / rock, and mainly comprised of musicians Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Led by Mike Scott, the focus of the music in the early days would become known as "the big music", a term used to describe bands specializing in an anthemic sound. Think of U2, Simple Minds, and Big Country as examples of this.

Since their inception, the band has gone through various phases, as noted above. While they would begin their careers as big music, this would evolve into folk, and eventually rock. As a group, they released albums from their 1983 debut through 1993, and then disbanded. Scott would release solo albums in 1995 and 1997, and reunite the group in 2000 to continue releasing albums through 2020.

As I said above, the band didn't hit my radar until 2022, and this was a result of their tune, The Whole Of The Moon, which I caught during one of my many 80's music list searches. I immediately got hooked on the song, and added their 1985 album, This Is The Sea to my want list. Though I didn't get it right away, it wasn't shortly thereafter that the CD was added to my collection, and well, here we are today finally getting around to listening to it.

Cranking it up, I definitely like what I'm hearing. This definitely captures the sound of the 80's I wanted to hear. Slightly rock, slight inclusion of horns, and all around good sound. I was sucked in instantaneously, and starting with the first track started adding songs left and right to my shuffle list.

Scott's unique voice, and the overall sound of the music all come together for a fantastic listening session. After hearing it, I can definitely see why the lead singer would go on to say that he had achieved all he wanted to with this album. It's somewhat of a masterpiece. Of the nine tracks, six were must haves for me.

If one thing disappointed me, it was that I was this late to the party. I totally want to track down their remaining three albums from the 80's. If you haven't heard of The Waterboys before, definitely check this album out.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
January 11, 1986