Mike Scott The Waterboys

Item: The Whole of the Moon: The Music of Mike Scott & The Waterboys
Author: James Stewart

The Whole of the Moon: The Music of Mike Scott & The Waterboys

(1998)

Reviewed by James Stewart

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Label EMI RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1998

celtic celtic rock folk rock rock

They called it "The Big Music." Through the 1980s and into the early 90s, Mike Scott's Waterboys recorded a set of fine albums mixing nods to Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan with folk, jazz, gospel, Celtic and rock influences to produce a sound that was all their own. They may have varied musically over the years, but their trademark energy and instrumental layering is still immediately identifiable, especially with Scott's distinctive vocals resting on top.

Since their official split in the early 90s (the revolving lineup meant that for the last few years Mike Scott was the only fixture) a proper best of release has been noticeably absent. The Best of The Waterboys '81-'90 went some way towards filling that gap, but while it showed something of the changing face of the band, it was not a completely satisfying reminder of all the albums and excluded some entirely. Its companion b-sides and rarities collection, The Secret Life of The Waterboys, was a more satisfying album, but it didn't include many of their trademark tracks. This new release at last fills that gap, taking album tracks from both all The Waterboys's studio recordings and Mike Scott's solo recordings, and adding live versions of "A Girl Called Johnny," "Rare, Precious, and Gone," and the previously unreleased "Higher In Time."

The album opens with the band's biggest hit, "The Whole of the Moon," which still crops up from time to time on radio shows. Piano-chord driven, the song is a good example of Scott's use of metaphor and imagery, as well as his distinctive vocals. Building up to a layered climax, where the piano is joined with one of their favorite instruments, the saxophone, it is an appropriate album opener.

The live tracks are an excellent addition. Recorded in Los Angeles, "A Girl Called Johnny" is an improvement on the album version with the added energy injecting the song with a little more life. This offsets the anticlimax that "The Return of Pan" is now. It's not a bad song or a bad recording, but Scott's acoustic performance of the song at the Greenbelt festival was somehow more special and complete.

The title of that track brings us neatly to the aspect of Scott's song-writing which has long been a paradox: the spirituality. In "Glastonbury Song" he sings:

I just found god
I just found god
I just found god where he always was

but further on he sings:

From the olden days and up through all the years
From Arcadia to the stone fields of Inisheer
Some say the Gods are just a myth
But guess who I've been dancing with
The Great God Pan is alive!
(from "The Return of Pan")

Scott uses his immense lyrical gifts in an ambiguous way when it comes to spiritual matters and it is especially difficult to distinguish what he means by the term 'god.' Personally, I believe his path sometimes veers close to that laid down by Christ, but he has yet to fully join it. The truth in that, or whether we need to divine the truth here, is something the listener must examine for himself. Nonetheless, the lyrics are most intriguing.

An unusually cohesive collection for an album of this nature, the last two tracks are probably the most diverse. The first of these, "When Ye Go Away," is a very traditional sounding folk tune penned by Scott, including parts of "River Road Reel" by Charlie Lennon, who appears here on violin. It is also a final chance to hear the immensely talented Anthony Thistlethwaite who plays slide mandolin on this track, along with many other instruments over the rest of the album.

The final track is taken from Scott's latest solo album, Still Burning, and its orchestrated sound is a fit ending, drawing the recording to an end with a beautiful track which hints that there is still more to come from this particular songwriter.

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