Chrysalis Records releases a 3-LP box of rare session material from The Waterboys!
The Waterboys – Atlantic Rain: The Lost Fisherman’s Blues Recordings – Chrysalis Records 3-LP Box Set with a 40-page full-sized booklet [7/17/2026], 136:55 ****1/2:
(Mike Scott – guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals; Steve Wickham – fiddle, electric mandolin; Trevor Hutchinson – bass; Anthony “Anto” Thistlewhistle – tenor saxophone, mandolin, horns, electric mandolin, Hammond organ; Dave Ruffy – drums; Liz Werner – drums, Colin Blaklely – piano; Frank Lane – pedals steel guitar; Noel Bridgman – drums; Jay Dee Daugherty – drums; Pete McKinney – drums; Aaron Ahmum – drums Padraig Stevens – drums; John Patitucci – bass; Lee Warner – drums)
The Waterboys were a musically creative band, headed by Mike Scott. They are described as having four different musical arcs in their career. The initial style was described as Big Music combining U2-like aesthetics with a larger expansion of trumpets and saxophone. The next stage (Celtic folk-rock) was an embrace of traditional music and instrumentation. Additionally The Waterboys took on straight Modern blues and alternative themes as well. Scott kept things flexible as The Waterboys continued to make genre-expanding music with spiritual contexts for more than thirty years.
Chrysalis Records has released a 3-LP box set, The Waterbopys – The Lost Fisherman’s Blues Recordings. Curated from the 1986-1988 marathon sessions, there are 24 recently discovered tracks, of which 17 have never been released and 7 expanded cuts of music that were on the original album in abbreviated form. There are new songs and several unique covers. The first disc (Atlantic Rain) opens strongly with an up tempo version of “Too Close To Heaven (soul version)”. This was the initial take. It has a muscular sax, propulsive drums, driving piano and Scott’s urgent, soulful vocals with touches of falsetto. The soul groove vibe also inhabits “Come Back To Galway”, but with a Celtic flavor and droning singing.. Other highlights include the mystical. “Endless Store” which has a groove, emotional delivery with a name drop to Huck Finn and Prince and an instrumental fade. “Saints And Angels” is a meditation rendered in ragged waltz-time with electric mandolin and fiddle.
Among the “newly discovered” material are many eclectic covers, among them a rousing version of Woody Guthrie’s folk anthem, “This Land Is Your Land”. On the second LP, (Indian Summer) The Waterboys offer their uncanny arrangements of Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonkin’” The Stones’ “No Expectations” and a stripped-down take on Prince’s “When Doves Cry”. Each one captures the essence of the song, and reinvents it to mesh with the band aesthetics. On the third album (Fisherman’s Jam), there is raucous 13+ minute cover of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” with a long coda from “Hey Jude”. There is also a no-holds-barred mostly instrumental performance of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heats Club Band (Reprise)”. This group’s musical depth is impressive.
The Waterboys – Atlantic Rain: The Lost Fisherman’s Blues (also available in 3-CD) is an engaging retrospective of a band at a creative apex.The music resonates and benefits from modern studio mixing. This vinyl pressing displays little surface noise and no hisses or pops. All of the packaging features are excellent, including a high-gloss slip-case box and slip-case album sleeves. There is a full-sized 40-page booklet with commentary from Scott, extensive session recording details and eye-catching nautical-themed album art.
Highly recommended!
—Robbie Gerson
The Waterboys
Record 1: Atlantic Rain
Side One:
Too Close To Heaven (soul version);
Come Back To Galway;
The Man With The Wind At His Heels
Side Two:
And Then The Gods;
Light Shine On Me;
Endless Store;
This Land Is Your Land (studio version);
Saints And Angels (1988 version)
Record 2: Indian Summer
Side One:
I Can’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore;
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door;
Honky Tonkin’;
No Expectations;
When Doves Cry;
Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground
Side Two:
Killing My Heart;
Bob And Anto’s Soundtrack;
We Will Not Be Lovers (live take);
Lost Highway (double version)
Record 3: Fisherman’s Jam
Side One:
The Good Ship Sirius/The Ship In Full Sail;
Mister Saxman;
The Waves;
The Last Jam;
Night Falls On Windmill Lane
Side Two:
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band;
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
