Fisherman's Blues

Have I listened to this album before No How familiar am I with this album Completely unfamiliar How do I feel about this artist? I do not know them at all Pre-Listen Thoughts: Do I like Irish music? I liked Casanova. This could go either way honestly. I am always a bit weary of double albums. Favorite track(s): We Will Not Be Lovers Post-Listen Thoughts: That was very pleasant. My friend does not like this album because her aunt plays it a lot. I think one of the great things about this generator is that I get to rate a lot of things off of a first impression, and my first impression of this is I liked it.

Need to return to this. Cleary great high powered folk. A bit long…

Pretty good for sure, I'll revisit this and more of their work

This album generator is worth it for just this album.

The whole reason I am doing this. Hidden gem.

Imagine if Bob Dylan joined The Pogues, and decided to mesh folk styles among their music. It sounds like a disaster, doesn't it? Well, somehow, this turned out to be a masterpiece. A true hidden gem, and that's becoming a little more uncommon as I continue to trudged on this journey. Favorite Track: "We Will Not Be Lovers".

Celtic influenced and folky, a solid album.

It's cool. I like the Irish/Scottish folk influence. Very cool violin/mandolin melodies. 3.3.

Ar the start it was super cool especially the hlackbirds cover but it kinda got repetitive and uninspired at the end

Superb opening two tracks really set the scene for this record, which was surprising in terms of just how much I enjoyed it. Familiar with their bigger hits but this really marked a turn to a trad Irish music sound, with sessions in Dublin and with Mike Scott recording and living in county Galway (the best place in the world btw) for a lot of this record. Good Van Morrison cover brings some music from the other side of the divide (a nod to McCartney on this as well) while The Stolen Child is lyrics from Yeats, so the influence and environment is as green as the cover. Bang on the Ear is a traditional style toe tapper and it's a great tune, although it maybe doesn't warrant quite a 9 minute length if we're nit picky about it. If you don't like Irish trad - Dunford's Fancy is pure trad session - and a more country sound then this won't be for you, I thought it was a good artefact of a man moving his band from the "Big Music" to a more traditional, Irish storyteller sound. 8/10

This is a very good album. There hasn't been enough folk to this point, so I appreciate the change of pace. And these guys rock pretty hard while doing their Irish thing. We Will Not Be Lovers is awesome, groovy base but all the fiddle you want in this style of music. The whole album has great instrumentals, like in Fisherman's Blues and, probably my favorite, Jimmy Hickey's Waltz. And a Bang on the Ear is also a lot of fun. I would definitely come back to the Waterboys.

Dave O’Matthews

It's just okay

Had heard Whole of the Moon before and it’s a reasonably good song. After the first 2 tracks I thought this was going to be incredible. However, the following songs tailed off and I could not finish the album. Enjoyable enough but very much the same through the album. The fact that I couldn’t finish it says more about me than the album I think. Top Tracks: Fisherman’s Blues, We Will Not Be Lovers

Belter of an album. Superb tunes and songwriting. Would be a 4.5⭐️if I had the option

Bookmarking this for the best St. Patrick's Day ever.

There's a couple songs in here that could've been left off for sure, but as for the songs I did enjoy, I enjoyed the absolute hell out of. Just super cool instrumentals (especially with the heavy use of the fiddle as I'm such a sucker for that sound) and the vocals fits in really well too. He doesn't have an amazing voice but it's got a raspiness to it that adds quite a bit of charm. 3.5/5

Started off very good then got a bit worse slowly 5 for the start, 4 for the rest

I'd heard one song from them before and quite like it but it's not on here. The reviews for this album were quite positive too so I was ready for something good. Well, the folksy vibe was alright for one song but then I started noticing how the instrumentation is just off, it's like the loudness wars happened decades early. And musically it was a little bit repetitive too 2/5

I've always liked Whole of the Moon, but I've never bothered to listen to anything else the Waterboys have ever done for some reason. This is a really solid album. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I should give their other stuff a go.

A complete unknown to me, this was great. The length of the album was intimidating at first, but like most epics created by capable artists, I was in good hands and thoroughly enjoyed the voyage.

Random song with the Irish man talking about fairies removed a star, the rest was excellent.

eh. Not horrible.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Not sure what I expected, but this was solid! Albums over an hour on here can be a chore sometimes but this was ok.

'Now your eyes are like tortures / Your presence is bliss / I never knew time / Could speed & zip like this.' I love the green cover & the gold lettering, & I love how seriously unserious they take themselves, & I love that they're of no apparent age at all, & I love them instrumentally as well as lyrically, but I love nothing more than the fact that they're so eager & yet so punctuated. The Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues is both untamed & placid, exhibiting a savage control of medium & attitude. True, it's a bit long, & not every song shines absolutely, but if you can pull off a proper cover of 'Sweet Thing,' you've got my attention. Representing a gorgeous transition between Liam Clancy & The War on Drugs, The Waterboys are a stunning reminder of life.

Strangely enjoyed this, sort of mix of folk and rock.

For how terrible the albums seem to be in the late 80's on here this isn't bad. Still not great though. Folk u2? Speaking of why are the Irish around this time obsessed with the American west?

I always enjoy a good fusion of Celtic trad with rock. This is a good fusion.4 stars.

Very good album that blends traditional celtic folk and late 80s rock in a very satisfying way. In particular the first half is notably excellent. I do feel the album starts to drag past the halfway mark, but that could be due to personal taste. Length aside this is an album worth experiencing. Top tracks: Fisherman's Blues, We Will Not Be Lovers, World Party

Had no idea what to expect from this. I've never heard of this band before. I really enjoyed it.

This is such a cool album! I've never heard of these guys, but this is the coolest "bluegrass" album I've heard all year. I think these guys would be popular right now. I've never heard an album that so clearly illustrates the connection between traditional Irish music and what we think of as American Bluegrass... I know the history of it, but this album seems to encapsulate it perfectly. The songs are energetic and have great instrumental arrangements and the guys voice has a perfect sandpaper grit for the music. The rare album that I'm listening to the bonus 'Collectors Edition' recordings because of how much I'm liking it.

Good

Extra points for being relatively unique. Title track is a banger. Good stuff.

Less rocky than their prior offerings but still a good listen

Frågar ni mig är Mike Scott världens bästa rocksångare. Ingen sjunger rock med större övertygelse och patos och rösten är perfekt operfekt. Jag har fördjupat mig en del i Waterboys i allmänhet och kan nog med säkerhet säga att inspelningarna kring FmB måste vara några av de mest kreativa och väldokumenterade i musikhistorien. Det verkar ha varit ett kreativt rus där man slog på bandaren och sen aldrig slog av den, det finns vansinnigt mycket material därifrån och mycket är väldigt bra. I så motto påminner det faktiskt om Exile on Main Street även om dom förstås är musikaliskt olika. FmB går verkligen en vansklig balansakt, där avgrunden mot irländskt tjo och tjim är farligt nära men Waterboys håller sig på rätt sida i stort sett hela tiden. Vilket i sig är någon slags imponerande bedrift. Värt att notera i det sammanhanget är att originalutgåvan inte innehåller de två mellanspelen "Jimmy Hickey's waltz" och "Duncan's fancy" som finns på cdn. A-sidan är en formidabel uppvisning i spirituell rock. Den går på knock direkt med den fullständigt odödliga titellåten och man vill bara vråla med > with light in my head and you in my arms< . Moneybrother gjorde den förresten ofta live i början av sin karriär. Och det bara fortsätter över en furiös "We will not be lovers", en finkänslig "Strange boat", via "World party" som låter som Waterboys lät förr, en hyllning till gamla bandmedlemen Karl Wallinger som gick vidare och bildade bandet The World Party. För att sluta i en cover på Van Morrison och är det något band som har tillåtelse att tolka Van så är det Waterboys, dom är hans självklara efterföljare och det visar "Sweet thing" med all tydlighet. Det är ju så att man faktiskt behöver hämta andan efter en så hög dos spirituell rock. B-sidan har inte samma övertygande kraft och "when will we get married" trampar lite snett och är på väg ner i den där avgrunden men överlever mirakulöst. "Stolen child" har en fin känsla och Mike Scotts sångpartier är jättebra, men den dör lite när nån irländare ska in recitera nån dikt över det hela. Med berättandet tydligare i centrum på b-sidan håller den fortfarande hög klass. Vi får två regelrätta countryspår av den gamla skolan som slår det mesta från amerikansk jord och *and a bang on the ear" är fasligt vindlande och medryckande i bästa Dylanstil. Waterboys är ett av 80talets bästa och mest älskvärda band i min bok. Med den övertygelse och genuitet man tar sig an sin musik skiljer man ut sig. Det är spirituell rockmudik få har kommit i närheten av. Antagligen var det också därför man var kanske världens bästa liveband i mitten av 80talet (i konkurrens med Prince möjligen som man dessutom brukade spela Purple rain av live under de där åren). Jag håller föregående album (This is the sea) ytterligare lite högre än FmB. Men jag kan inte skaka av mig den här makalösa a-sidan, en svag femma eller en superstark fyra. Well i got light in my head and you in my arms, woo hoo hoo!

Det inleds rätt bra med brittisk folkrock. Bäst är titelspåret. Men i andra halvan tappar skivan fart. Det blir mer folk och mindre rock. The Stolen child är rent av outhärdlig.

Titelspåret är en klockren femma. Versionen av Vans Sweet thing och And the bang on the ear går inte heller av för hackor. Tyvärr är det i övrigt mest utfyllnad med låtar som i regel ligger och skvalpar mellan den svaga tvåan och vid något enstaka tillfälle en stabil trea (Jas anybody here seen Hank?).

A-sidan är riktigt bra. Irländska influenser utan att det blir Riverdance. Bara bra låtar och en bra version av van Morrisons sweet thing som avslutning. Men vad händer på b-sidan? En onödig vals som inledning och en lika onödig this is your land som avslutning. Däremellan alldeles för mycket irländsk folkmusik. A bang on the ear går ju an, men i övrigt knappt godkänt. A-sidan lyfter helheten till en stabil trea.

ffidyll popped OFF!!!!

fiddle hard carry

What am I to do with 50+ minutes of British folk? I see a few have complained about its apparent 100-minute runtime, but Fisherman's Blues closes with "This Land Is Your Land" to me - a rootsy folk album like this couldn't close any other way. To my ears, this is Springsteen-meets-Pogues-meets-U2. Make of that bizarre mishmash what you will, but it comes out surprisingly cohesive in the end. There's the driving fiddle-led opening title track that's a definite highlight, as is its frenzied follow-up "We Will Not Be Lovers," an instant download for me. There's some other big anthemic folk rock songs here to make you wonder how many people are in this band, or if they spent the entire recording budget overdubbing a Celtic fiddling symphony. Most unusual is the cover of Van Morrison's "Sweet Thing" that appears on here. There's what I can only describe as a feature verse from the Beatles' "Blackbird" in between the original lyrics. "Sweet Thing" is already a perfect song to me, so the Waterboys extending it to 7 minutes and doing what they do with it only reasserts that song's utter perfection. Following that, we get the 9-minute "And a Bang on the Ear," a song that could honestly have gone for only 6 minutes without losing its potency. Instead it do-si-does around for a few minutes too many with these overly loud, dry-sounding drums that cut through absolutely everything for some reason. I've never heard percussion mixed so loud on a folk rock album before. Slower and softer songs take precedence in the second half of this album; the best among these are "When Will We Be Married," a stellar showcase of this the Waterboys' love of fiddling, and the sweeping, maritime ballad "The Stolen Child." Honestly, a lot of the second half sounds like Stan Rogers (of Canadian folk fame) to my ears. I'm not British, so perhaps the importance of this revivalist folk rock album is lost on me, but what I hear is a sturdy document of the British Isles' acoustic traditions, skillfully retrofitted to a popular rock format. There's far worse you could do than try to modernize old sounds. Key Tracks: Fisherman's Blues, We Will Not Be Lovers, Sweet Thing, The Stolen Child

Great album. Would be better with a slight trim, but has some great songs, particularly the title track

What a great opening song and overall vibe of this album. I really enjoyed this.

Thought this album was just going to be an Irish jig, same song, every song. But I was pretty impressed with it. Thought the instrumentation was great, and had a little bit of variety. Rating: 8/10 Favorite Song: Will Will Not be Lovers

An album that makes me appreciate the list. I had never heard of this band before today. I love the mix of traditional music with what i guess is a bit of U2 *War" esque pop. Really well done.

4 out of 5. This album's second half isn't as bad as people here are making it out to be.

It’s right up my alley at this time, so it is difficult to be objective. While I enjoy its sound, it does make me think that it would sound repetitive over the length of the album. Or maybe I should stop being a critic and just enjoy it. 4/5

Moly this is a long album. Taken me almost a month to review. At least I've heard Mellon Collie before, so that shouldn't be as much of a slog. Might only need one listen (though I probably will listen to it more than once knowing how good it is). Don't think side 2 is very necessary. The songs on side 1 are much better. That being said, side 1 is very good. Some weird blend of traditional celtic, rock, folk, and Beatles(?) in there, all combining to form something pretty good tbh. Not sure how much I will return, but fine experience for sure. 6.5/10

Loved this.

The beginning of this album was really nice. I liked the musicianship and the writing. It got a little tedious on disc two.

This is the kind of thing I am in the album club for. I wasn't sure what this was going to be, but I really enjoyed this album that I otherwise would never have listened. I could've skipped the faerie song but otherwise really cool.

First song, best song? There's a lot to enjoy here, and some of it exhausts me.

Folk music. Was okay.

Countrys, nem en stilok de csak belehallgattam

great - 80s vibes

Some thoughts. It's interesting how this both has a lot in common with folk jams and also with later Cure. All the fiddles in the world won't make “We Will Not Be Lovers” not feel like it could have just as easily been atmosphere-washed, post-disintegration, sprawling Robert Smith composition. It's interesting to hear the 80s seeping into the sound of music that is intrinsically not what we think of when we think of the “sound of the 80s” I think it's interesting that there's a song here called world party because world party is the band that did Ship of Fools, a song I thought was by the Waterboys. Like, there's enough here to come back to. It feels comforting and moving, it gives traditional British isles vibes without feeling one note. I think it's worth a relisten, because so much of this feels comfortable immediately. But for this listen I think it lives in the realm of ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gah

I liked it, not as much as their other album though

Full of celtic bangers An absolute vibe

good songs to fish to, especially if you're feelin' blue i don't know what it is about songs over 6 minutes but they tend to call out to me...

Really liked the first 5 tracks, title track opener was interesting and had me perk up, We Will Not Be Lovers was powerful jam, World Party fun, and a cool version of Van Morrison's Sweet Thing, but I still like the og better. Then the album took a sharp turn for the boring, there was some beauty to be found in When Ye Go Away and the closer The Stolen Child was a pretty poem/song mash up. Overall I really liked the good moments, and will return to the parts I liked

I'm sorry but this one is not doing it for me. It was tolerable at least for a bit, but after 9 minutes of And A Bang On the Ear I was just so over it. All respect to Irish folk music and all that but I'm just not trying to listen to it THAT much.

This was on me but I got distracted and even up reviewing this across like 5 days so my thoughts are not in order. Every song for the first 3/4 was 2x as long as it needed to be. A few had a good beat or tone but not enough to overcome that. I'll try to revisit but honestly I don't want to

This was incredible and I cannot believe I have never heard of this album before! I play Irish trad and this was a fun blend. This is why I do this project.

This hit such a spot for me as a former contradancer. Lots of beautiful reels and waltzes in this. Carolan's Welcome and Killing my Heart were solid

Generic and completely forgettable folk rock, British, of course. This is probably good fun live, but as an album it's hardly essential.

Irsk folkemusikk > skotsk folkemusikk > shetlansk folkemusikk

6.5/10 - It’s too long but this felt like Dexys Midnight Riders if they had a lot of soul. We Will Not be Lovers and World Party were worth the price of admission. These guys cared and had a lot of passion and it showed through in their sound. I felt positive about this album and would keep a few songs in rotation.

The first couple of songs were fool's gold for this album. I expected something stronger than what I received on the back end. There were some interesting moments and I liked the traditional Irish and Scottish songs, but the runtime was too long. 4/10

Wow, there's a lot of different styles at play on this album. I really enjoyed the first half of the album with driving upbeat tempos and fine musicianship, though there was one song in which the violin player was simply alternating between only two notes... strange. The back half of the album slipped way too far into country music territory for me, and the second to last song completely lost me with its strange spoken word element and uber repetitiveness. I then felt like I was back in elementary school with This Land is Your Land? If the rest of the album was like the first half it would easily be a four pushing five, but....

Despite some strange and off-kilter moments, this album largely impressed me. It was cool hearing this sound further along in it’s evolution, and much of the instrumentation was just wonderful. The band offers so many fun grooves and punchy energy, it’s hard not to enjoy. That primarily goes for the first few tracks, however, as it does trail off a tad after that. 1 listen Favorite Tracks: We Will Not Be Lovers, Title Track, Sweet Thing, World Party

Some good songs but okay

I only know this band from that Moon song, which is as bad as it is good, if that makes sense. Hearing that this was Irish music influenced had me expecting a very bad time going in, given the undisputed fact that Irish music is relentlessly awful. This starts out well, good even, but around the mid-point loses its arse and never recovers thanks to an increasing reliance on Irish shite.

This one surprised me in a good way.

Its ok. Gets a bit samey.

Started strong, lots of toe tapping in the middle, but not sure this was a double album. Glad I learned about them before I died, sure, but maybe not 82 minutes of them.

It seems that Mike Scott made this sleeve himself, which, compared to the ones created by graphic designers, is very apparent. It's a generic route, ok but not great. After The Whole of the Moon and This is the Sea, Fisherman's Blue follows the same recipe but not as tasty. All of The Waterboys' music is very enjoyable and great to have spinning on the turntable; however, if we are voting for great albums this is an also-ran.

First two songs are so energetic and unique with amazing rhythm and strings. A super strong start to this album. 3 song reminds me of a Springsteen ballad. Another good song. 4 while it gets better is less special than the previous. Sweet thing is a nice cover but doesn't reach the hights of Van Morrison's version. The quotation from Blackbird is pretty cool though. 7 is lovely. My favorite so far. 9 is very cool and bouncy. 10 is so so beautiful. Another highlight. The stolen child is a very ambitious way to practically close out the album, before a quick rendition of This Land is Your Land. What a great one. Would surly come back to it. As with some other 90's albums, I think the medium of the disc tempted the artists to add  three or four extra songs that shouldn't be there. But overall its a very special album and should definitely be here. It's a 4

Entirely too long, but some of the songs were fun.

A romantic trip across many notions and ideas - dreams of Jimmy Rodgers (the singin' brakeman), memories of Fife Collieries, seafarers escaping from the misery of land, failed romances fondly recalled .... Mike Scott followed his own advice, and dreamed big! It does go on a bit, and some days that would annoy me, but on this cold, dark morning, with the pot of porridge gently bubbling and the coffee percolator going, too, this is a five star album. For the brave souls, there is a massively sprawling box set, 7 CDs of out-takes from the long journey of recordings, mainly in Ireland, as they chased their muse, trying on every style

I generally enjoyed this.

Album #156: Fisherman’s Blues - The Waterboys Genre (W): Folk rock Singles: Fisherman’s Blues, And a Bang on the Ear I have not listened to this album before. Thoughts?: This was such a long album that I was glad it was over. The music sounds nice but this album hugely overstays its welcome and drains pretty fast. Exhausting. Favorite tracks: We Will Not Be Lovers

I feel the call of Cape Breton

This was a fun change of pace

Never heard of this artist but enjoyed!

mt bom

It sounded a lot less dated than expected, i actually enjoyed it!

I loved the first half much more than the second, but still, this was a great surprise. Solid stuff.

kind of lame

A bunch of good jigs

This was surprisingly good. Those dudes have energy.

Ооооо ирландцы и фолк

I love both contemporary and traditional folk music, but I was not wowed by this, its fine, but somewhat drab. 2.5/5

Pretty entertaining album overall. The mix of the traditional folk style music mixed with modern sound was a good combo. We will not be lovers sounded so modern, and was the highlight song for me

Quite catchy Celtic vibes.

Solid Irish inspired folk-rock record with sing-along jams perfect for a bar and poetic, introspective cuts inspired by traditional Irish art. I enjoyed the emotional and expressive energy throughout the record, particularly the early cuts where the violin player absolutely trashes the instrument while the rest of the band goes into a frenzy. There need to be more records on this list with that sort of intensity. For that alone I place this album a bit higher than most so far.

Ok as background music

honestly liked it a lot but couldn't tell you why

i didn’t hate it but i did dislike it, all of the songs sounded the same to me

Didn’t think I’d dig this but alas I did.