Mike Scott

Item: Still Burning
Author: Steven S. Baldwin

Still Burning

(1997)

Reviewed by Steven S. Baldwin

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Label Chrysalis / Steady RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1998

celtic rock folk rock rock

Imported Version

Timing is everything. Thanks to the current popularity of folks like Enya and those lovely Riverdance high-steppers, "celtic music" is all the rage these days. It is so big, in fact, that it's now being classified as a musical sub-genre and eager record execs can't sign Celtic sounding artists fast enough to fill their greedy coffers. Is it not odd then that Mike Scott of The Waterboys' fame has abandoned his former affection for Irish-laden lilts? At the very least, it was bad timing ("He could've been huge, Bob"). Perhaps, having played a part in bringing Celtic infused music to the cultural foreground over the last decade or so, maybe he's just burned out on the whole thing. The Waterboys, after all, are dead--but Mike Scott is still standing and Still Burning is his latest illumination. Mike Scott's last album, 1995's Bring 'em All In, was a folksy acoustic guitar-centered album. For the most part, Still Burning is quite a contrast offering more high energy electric-guitar driven rockers than mellower fare. For old fans of his former band, this album has more in common with the late end of The Waterboys' period, particularly the underrated Dream Harder from 1993. The fiddles and fairies are sadly absent, but the signature sound is still unmistakably Mike Scott's.

For those unfamiliar with both Scott and The Waterboys, where have you been? It's not too late, and if you can find this import it is as good a place to start as any. You can expect uncommonly good, high energy rock and roll with influences as far reaching as Van Morrison and Big Country. Also, like Bill Mallonee of the Vigilantes of Love, Mike Scott's voice is atypical. With respect to his Scottish heritage, he sounds as if he might have a bit of the leprechaun in him, such is his gutsy yet higher-pitched pixieish trolling. The rest of the sound is fleshed out with electric guitars, drums, bass, and some interesting additions, including horns, pianos, a mellotron, RD500 synths, Hammond, and Wurlitzer organs, a Bellzouki, and something called a rainstick. There is also some lush orchestration on one track. The result is a batch of ten songs ranging from the full-throttle rocker that is opener "Questions" all the way to the hymn-ballad hybrid of "Everlasting Arms." There's nary a dull moment in between.

To put it another way, Mike Scott is one of the world's most gifted song writers, and this album is no disappointment, especially for those who can live with a bit of ambiguity. Mike Scott's songs are largely about personal redemption and transformation, being open to spiritual change and looking for unconditional love and forgiveness even in the midst of pervading darkness. These songs prove to be no exception, and carry many of his recurring themes. Scott is also an avid reader, and he has been known to thank a diverse range of writers and thinkers in the past as the inspirations for his songs including C.S. Lewis, Sitting Bull, John Lennon, Eileen Caddy, Dion Fortune, Billy Connolly, Mark Helprin, Dr. Seuss, Jimi Hendrix, and Flannery O'Connor. As a result, Scott's lyrics are always literate but rarely opaque. His lyrical gift is rarely found in his directness but rather in his ability to infuse a great deal of mystery into his work, the kind of mystery that leads to speculation, inquisitiveness, and the most pleasant of poetic and pensive pondering. Perhaps the greatest aspect of this gift is the way his poetry and music mix to create a sense of otherworldliness that incites the imagination. Scott possesses a rare and most precious gift among musicians today, the gift of encouraging others to think about the inherent relationship of art, life, and faith. Yet, in a moment of true lyrical clarity and simple theology, Mike Scott has offered us a hymn to share along life's journeys.

Lord hold me in your everlasting arms
Enfold me in your everlasting arms
Let striving cease
That I may come to rest
In perfect peace
Renewed and truly blessed.
Lord bathe me in your everlasting light
Lord raise me in your everlasting light
Awake my mind
That I may understand
And come to find
The truth of who I am.
Above the silvery bay
A bird rose on the breeze
Then swooped as if to say
You too may fly with ease.
Lord lift me in your everlasting love
Home swiftly in your everlasting love
I'll go where a temple stands upon a hill
In silence there I'll wait upon your will
Lord lift me in your everlasting arms.
In your everlasting arms.

The timing is always right for a message like that, and the way Scott delivers it makes it timeless in its appeal-- whether you are a sprightly elf or just a happy human.

US Version

Good news, fellow Americans! Still Burning is no longer an expensive import. It is finally available in a store near you at a reasonable price and providing more bang for your buck! The U.S. version includes four additional tracks, which together with the other ten contribute to Scott's most rocking album to date. The import version was rocking enough, but the four new songs cut loose so enthusiastically that the album's overall tempo is revved up as a result. The most notable new additions are "King Electric," which appears to be a sequel in both style and content to The Waterboys' "Return of Jimi Hendrix," and "One of Many Rescuers," which uses Arthurian imagery to cast relational woes in a humble light. "Man on the Mountain" and "Since I Found My School" are the other two, and all four new cuts are offered in full throttle mode. The quality of these inclusions is high, making you wonder why they weren't on the original release in the first place. Regardless, here they are (lucky you). Even with these new additions, however, the two biggest stand-outs are still the folky hymn "Everlasting Arms" and "Love Anyway" with its lush rock/orchestral sound, which earned it a place as the closer on the latest Waterboys greatest hits CD.

The only complaint resides in the song order. The new songs appear to be randomly dropped in with the original ten, resulting in some jarring transitions like the one from "Everlasting Arms" to "Since I Found My School." These two songs ought to have been reversed, because "Everlasting Arms" is the perfect song to close the album (IMHO). Nevertheless, you can program them any way you want, or bravely hit shuffle play. No matter how you play them, here are fourteen songs showcasing Scott at his introspective, inspirational, playful, rocking best. See the previous review of the import version for more details.

Imported version -- 4 tocks. US version -- 4.5 tocks