Fisherman's Blues
The Waterboys
1988
Album Summary
Fisherman's Blues is a 1988 album by The Waterboys. The album marked a change in the band's sound, with them abandoning their earlier grandiose rock sound for a mixture of traditional Irish music, traditional Scottish music, country music, and rock and roll. Critics were divided on its release with some disappointed at the change of direction and others ranking it among The Waterboys' best work. The album was the Waterboys' best selling album, reaching a number 13 placing on the U.K. charts on release, and 76 on the Billboard 200.
WikipediaLike attending a celidah at the village hall and watching her dance while I eat a scotch egg. She will never love me.
This is pretty cool, just Irish kinda rock. Only criticism is that it gets a bit old towards the end, like most other stuff in this genre I've heard before. I think the Irish pub rock scene could do with restraint - there's no need to add 60 renditions of folk songs onto the second half of every album. 3/5 all the same.
What is this? Who is this? 22 tracks?!?! Why are they just singing “Blackbird” in the middle of one song? Why is every album suggested so far overflowing with folk instruments? How many dudes are in this band?? Etc.
So loving this album. 4 songs in and I think I've added 3 to playlists. Great sounds: piano, strings, driving base, catchy guitar. Vocals are solid aswell. Driving, ensemble rock with lots of instruments/variety of sounds with folk roots - but more rock than anything else. Piano theme, and horns in 'World Party' are incredible. Strings create a great feel to the song. Every song has so much great feel. this is likely going to be my first 5 star. some nice authentic feeling songs on the second disk. The final song, 12 min long, Soon As I Get Home builds to the most pumping crescendo in the second half of the song. definition of a full on jam session. yes a 5 star album.
2.6 - This record reminds me of a pack of bourbon flavored gummy bears I was once gifted. I like bourbon on its own and gummy bears on their own as well. Merging the two, though it might seem like a good idea, proved underwhelming. Similarly, this album is an underwhelming combo of Irish/Scottish folk and adult contemporary rock. Listening to it seems utterly pointless to me. The only place I could ever imagine hearing this would be at an Irish pub or a St. Paddy’s day parade or an Irish pride event or some other Irish-themed venue. “Sweet Thing” is one cool track - the fiddle actually works on this and doesn’t feel like a distraction as it does for much of the rest.
I’ve never heard of them, but I like the description on Wikipedia of folk-rock. I tend to like that, so I anticipate that I will like this one. I really like this one. I would buy their albums.
Fantastic well crafted music! From relaxing and almost soothing to absolute foot stompers.
This is two days in a row I've been served a Scottish band (last one was Orange Juice) but this is a completely different experience. The songwriting is excellent. Lyrical, nuanced, and nostalgic while remaining modern (for 1988) and relevant. Shades of Dylan meets Springsteen but with an undeniable celtic energy. Overall, a really intriguing and engaging album. It came out in '88 but holds up really well overall.
I really enjoyed this! Like a precursor to Arcade Fire or a lot of other indie rock of the late aughts
- fucking long - nice balence of trad / modern - strong themes, emotive. - some overly trad songs - odd flow of the album --> meet me at the station into soon as I get home. - good variety of styles and vibes
I love this album. Side 1 is by far the best moment of The Waterboys career. From the epic opening track to the dissonant fiddle that dominates We Will Not Be Lovers, to the beautiful accoustic turn of Strange Boat, the start of this album is as good as it gets. The band then rocks out with danceable World Party and closes side one with a gorgeous take on the Van Morrison classic Sweet Thing. Unfortunately side 2 pales in comparison (how could it not?) With the only standout track being And a Bang on the Ear. The underwhelming second half keeps this from being a 5 🌟 classic. 4.5 🌟
Love the folksy feel and Irish sounds. Like a Bob Dylan that can sing.
If this album was totally crap except for We Will Not Be Lovers, probably the best breakup song I've ever heard and a couple of decades ahead of its time, it would still be a 3 star. The rest of the album isn't totally crap.
Not every song on this album really takes me. But the way Mike Scott is into the music takes me always.
A weird melange of Simple Minds stadium rock and Celtic folk sensibilities. Unfortunately, there are many better stadium rock acts, and many better folkies, and this falls between the cracks.
Never got around to listening to the Waterboys before, so I was looking forward to hearing what I've missed. Sadly, I found the album very uneven. Some amazing tracks like "Sweet Thing", which turns into a weird Beatles cover (and itself received an odd hardcore punk cover by Comadre, which sadly isn't on the site). Some tracks that are at least memorable, if not my cup of tea, like "We Will Not be Lovers". However, from track 6 on it's mostly generic Irish folk-rock that any pub rockers in Ireland could probably play equally forgettably. I'm not a huge folk-rock fan (or a big listener of Irish music), but I don't think I'm being biased in saying the album falls drastically short of the standards set by its own high points. Edit: also a shit album title, since there's nothing nautical or bluesy here. 2.5
Not anything that I'd likely play again, honestly. I did like some of the songs styled in a traditional Celtic way with their instrumentation, but beyond that, not a fit for me. The songs I did like were Fisherman's Blues, We Will Not Be Lovers, World Party, Sweet Thing, and When Ye Go Away.
ши.кар.дос. интересный фолк с элементами народных инструментов из Великобритании и окружающих островов. звучит красиво.
I really enjoyed this album, exactly my type of thing. From what I understand, this album is a departure from the band's usual post-punk stuff so I'll have to check that out too.
Me gustó tanto este álbum que hasta me atreví a escuchar toda la versión extendida. Fue una buena decisión, siento que conocía a los Waterboys de nombre, pero nunca los había escuchado. Joyas. Eso de meter sonidos escoceses (espero que sí lo sean) resulta muy acertado, pensé en una onda medio Nick Cave, pero también Belle and Sebastian y gente más rockera. Hubo una canción que me encantó: "We Will Not Be Lovers". Las otras favs fueron: "Sweet Thing", claro "Fisherman's Blues", "You in the Sky" y "When Will Be Married". <3 10/10
Canción versionada por Celtas Cortos. Ya la conocía y estaba entre mis favoritos.
Una grata sorpresa. Me gustó mucho todo el disco. Las instrumentaciones son variadas, conmovedoras y llenas de textura, uno se imagina que es otro disco folk y ya, pero es como si pidieras unas papas chicas y te dan unas extra grandes. Favs: The stolen child, el interludio celta Dunfords Fancy, We will not be lovers y Carolans welcome. Mood: grito sad de banshee
Didn't hate it, but I wavered between 'this is great' and 'this is annoying' regularly throughout. Appreciated the blending of genres, but didn't necessarily love any of them. Some pretty catchy tunes in there though. I feel like it's one I'd love after several listens. Edit: I ended up listening three times and by the end I really loved it. Think it took me a while to get into what they were doing, but by the end I even enjoyed the more twee folky ones like Carolan's Welcome (felt like the soundtrack to a really great playstation game). Agree with Stef, Fisherman's Blues and And a Bang on the Ear were highlights.
This is pretty cool. Really interesting instrumentation, bright clear production, good lyrics & vocals.
Great folk-rock with sounds of traditional Irish and Scotish music. Waterboys' best selling album. Must be listened!
This was surprisingly great, really reminded me of early dropkick murphys
I honestly don't know how I've gone 30 years in this earth without hearing this album. Love the fusion of folk and rock. It's awesome.
beautiful. 10/10 mystisch, feenhaft, gibt ein feeling für den kommenden sommer. hat mich sehr bewegt.
Listened to te Collectors Edition a few times today, but will give a vote for the original album from 1988, which I had listened to a lot in the past: one of the best albums of The Waterboys and a clear 5* album. The Waterboys should appear a few more times in the list - again an example of a band whose music was more than the sum of its parts (also illustrated by the extra songs on the Collectors Edition, which are great too).
The blend of 80s music with traditional Celtic sounds and instruments is well done. Really fun listen.
Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Fisherman’s blues, We will not be lovers, Strange boat, World party, And a bang on the ear, When will we be married, The stolen child
круто, что слышно этнические мотивы - что-то от ирландских баллад (группа ирландская, собственно) любимое: stolen child
I didn't have time to listen much, but from what I heard, this is why this website exists! Awesome music that I would never have heard otherwise!
ah, how much do i love this album... let me count the ways. I remember saving up my pocket money and buying the tape in Golden Discs on Grafton Street after seeing them on TOTP.
I can't provide an unbiased review of this album because it was formative to my musical development. I was obsessed with it from at least the early 90s and listened to it regularly for 10+ years. Hearing it again for the first time in 20 years, it holds up well! I had forgotten how long the album is, there is definitely some filler in there, but also some great tracks mixed in right up to the end. I love the diversion into Yeats towards the end. I still have a soft spot for folksy rock. A beautiful, rich, complex album that formed my tastes. 5/5
Never heard of The Waterboys before but I instantly was very interested in the prominence of the squeezebox and the fiddle. I really loved this! The bonus disk is also really great too!
Прекраснейший кантри-альбом, один из лучших в мире. По больше части выделяется он засчёт своего уникального звучания - начиная от чувственного пения и глубоких текстов, заканчивая нетипичным для жанра инструментала, в котором очень часто используется электрогитара и невероятная скрипка, которая определённо придаёт больше эмоциональности каждому треку. На самом деле трудно как-то ещё описать этот альбом, здесь очень много моментов, которые хочется хвалить до бесконечности, но все эти мысли не умещаются у меня в голове, поэтому я просто советую вам послушать и самим прочувствовать этот альбом. (9 - 9.5)
This is an amazing album. It's blend of rock and roots, especially Celtic, was common at the time but also superior to other albums. Only the Pogues were really comparable but their Punk leaning made them very different. The songwriting is superb. I bought this in 1988 and still listen to it with regularity.
I'm not against bonus tracks but here's a little hint for those of you who get this album assigned and balk at the length, check Wikipedia and just review the original album, in this case it's just the first 13 tracks, that's the Fisherman's Blues I know and it's amazing. This is one of those albums that I've listened to enough in my life that I would feel comfortable giving it a (five star) rating without first relistening, but I love this album so much that I'm putting it on as I cook dinner. My favorites are the opening/title track (which has been used in 63% of movie trailers that either take place in Ireland or feature Irish people,) a great cover of Sweet Thing (which I actually heard long before Van Morrison's original,) Strange Boat, World Party and one of my favorite songs ever: And A Bang On The Ear.
The country/folk fusion here is cute, and exactly my bag. I felt that the more rocking numbers were the more forgettable, and that the tropier material was the most fun. I admit that fiddles are a huge weak spot in my taste, but I enjoyed them immensely. I wish that the closing track were longer, and I'm delighted that this thing was produced at all.
Really solid and really honest folk album, I'm impressed. Great atmosphere, almost like I just stepped into a pub after a long day's work of harvesting vegetables or something. Fiddles and mandolins are both top tier instruments in my opinion. Best song: When Ye Go Away. It has just the right blend of jangly acoustic rock and trad Celtic folk.
This is like a more roots based Drive By Truckers which naturally means I love it.
Very surprised by this one! I almost wrote this one off before listening for some reason but I was hooked by the first two songs! Love the fiddle? Violin? Not sure but it's great and love the lead singers voice. Wasn't able to listen to the whole thing will have to listen again soon!
Brilliant. The title track is a classic, stolen child, bang on the ear, their version of sweet thing all brilliant. Overall enjoyed it a lot
Folksy? Whatever it is I dig it. Remind me to look into The Waterboys in the future.
I had no expectations. It blew me out of the water. Who are these people?
Damn i LOVE that title track. okay, stolen child is really bad. rest of the album is actually pretty enjoyable.
This album was surprisingly good for me. Very good songs with a nice vibe.
I really got into this. There were some great riffs and the tracks were quite variable. Consequently a rare ****
So good! Had to find out what a “Bang on the Ear” was from my east coast friend - one of my favourites on the album
Really great, like Fairport and Flogging Molly made an album. (I know, this predates that, just sayin'...)
Went into this with low expectations but really enjoyed it, some excellent songwriting
Very nice example of British skittle music.... Good fiddle, decent lyrics
Folky, Irish music. You can hear the joy of these sessions in the music. Best Tracks: Fisherman's Blues, Sweet Thing, When Ye Go Away
Never heard of this group or album, but I was very impressed by this album. Right off the bat, the Waterboys hit us with some fantastic songs. The first three really got the ball rolling. I also loved the "Sweet Thing" cover, including some lyrical references to Blackbird. Wikipedia notes this album as a blend of pop rock with some traditional Irish and Scottish sounds. I could definitely hear notes of that throughout, and I can honestly say I'd enjoy more of this, either in the form of another album or one of the various extended versions of this album. Excellent record. Favorite tracks: Fisherman's Blues, We Will Not Be Lovers, Sweet Thing, And a Bang on the Ear, Stolen Child, Strange Boat. Album art: Nothing special at all. Picture looks a lot like the last Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young album we had, with an added frame. Made for an unsuspecting listen (and a pleasant surprise). 4.5/5
This album has what was probably the first song I ever heard from the Waterboys, "Fisherman's Blues", which was part of the "Waking Ned Divine" soundtrack. I may have listened to this album before, because of that movie, but nothing else sounded very familiar from the album. I like the mix of folk and celtic elements to the Waterboys' music. With rounding, this album probably slips into the 4 star range -- I'd probably listen to the album again.
Folk rock with some Scottish and Irish traditional sounds. Lead singer is sort of Dylan-esque. Liked it!