Much like when Dylan played 'Judas' in 1966 when he went electric, Mike Scott "betrayed" fans of his band The Waterboys in 1988 when he unplugged to explore folk and Celtic music. Still Burning marks Scott's return to a rockier sound long missed by many fans, but comes across unfortunately as a last ditch effort to win back a wider audience after years of experimentation.
Musically, Scott doesn't break any new ground, but he does branch out from his acoustic-based sound of his last solo effort Bring 'em All In. He may have left the 'Big Music' behind with the Eighties, but he still enjoys strings and trumpets when they're called for on songs like "Love Anyway" and "Rare, Precious and Gone."
What's even more revealing is the change in Scott's overall outlook. When he first caught public attention he was apt to write about painful break-ups and searching for, but never finding, inner peace. Songs like "All The Things She Gave Me" and "We Will Not Be Lovers" were filled with vengeance, whereas Still Burning's "Love Anyway" boasts of loving despite disappointment:
You made a fool
out of me today
I'm breaking the rule
I love you anyway
In the summer of 1998, Scott played at England's premier Christian music festival, Greenbelt, further confusing the theories whether a song like "Everlasting Arms," the album's closer, are about the Lord Jesus. If you are tired of a world filled with "silly love songs" and prefer artists with a healthy dose of sincerity in both their music and their lyrics, you won't be disappointed with Scott's most recent outing. His heart has always been in the right place even though his musical wanderings have sometimes led him astray.
4.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Steven S. BaldwinImported 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…Similar sounding releases
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