Seven years and two Mike Scott solo albums since the Waterboys’ previous album, Scott’s decision to resuscitate the name of the band that made him famous feels like the decision of a man who is determined to stop running from something at which he excels. The second of his solo albums, 1998’s Still Burning, was infused with the epic scope that had characterized the Waterboys at their best; A Rock in the Weary Land feels like a logical progression. There is little trace of the Ir [Read More...]
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The top contender for 2001 Surf Shop Album of the Year honors, “A Rock in the Weary Land” is every bit worthy of the Waterboys name.
After two solo albums (one great, one less so), Mike Scott has made another Waterboys record, but Anthony Thistelthwaite is missing, and so are most other names familiar from past renditions of the band. It’s a new band and a new sound. “Sonic rock” they call it, and if the Waterboys you’re familiar with is the late-80s Fisherman’s Blues era, be prepared for a shock. This album’s roots can be traced to ’93’s Dream Harder but it’s even a leap from that album’s measured cacophony. Over-produced and thickly layered by design, “A Rock in the Weary Land” takes some repeated listening to let its music percolate under the skin. Once that happens, brilliance and wisdom and passion take wing in the form of great songs. “Let It Happen” is one of the best Waterboys tracks ever, as are “Is She Conscious?” and “The Charlatan’s Lament”.
Mike Scott’s been on a journey, a spiritual one, and he’s been good enough to invite us along. At times he sounds like a candidate for Christian Rock radio, but then his cynicism resurfaces, or his devotion to Pan, or some other unwholesome uttering. Or he cries out something like:
“Emerging from under notions of god
In tears and in wonder I wander abroad”.
It’s an active, probing journey, by a pilgrim unwilling to overlook the divine possibilities of any powerful force - love, hate, a great wild storm, sex or rock and roll.
This isn’t a sunny document of optimism; the songs are hard-edged and every triumph is hard-won. And balanced by deceit, or meanness of spirit, or folly, I might add. But the music carries it all and leaves no doubt that, though Mike Scott may be a poet, and may be a pilgrim (he is both) he is most surely what he’s supposed to be when he writes rock songs, and records and performs them. Thanks, Mike, for sharing the journey.
I, like so many other reviewers, also miss the Waterboys “big music” sound of the “Pagan Place,” “This Is The Sea,” and “Fisherman’s Blues” days. And if that’s what you’re looking for here, you’re unlikely to find it. However, you will find “big music,” of a more guitar-driven, synth-echoing sound. Mike Scott still knows how to capture emotion with the bigness of his sound - with or without the violin, sax, and troubadours of yesteryear. “Let It Happen,” “We Are Jonah,” “My Love Is A Rock . . .,” and “Crown” especially pay homage to Scott’s ability to bring feeling to his sound.
He also succeeds in making a concept album. If one reads the liner notes and then proceeds with the music, the mood is captured of life and musical odyssey through years of ups and downs, ins and outs, goods and bads. But in the end the victory is triumphantly proclaimed with “Crown” and “My Lord, What A Morning.” I sense that I’ve been allowed a taste of Scott’s musical journey. I really feel that with the flow of the disc.
So it’s pretty good . . . but . . . it’s also pretty strained at points. “The Charlatan’s Lament” and “Crown” in particular seem to take too long to get to the creamy center. “Lucky Day/Bad Advice” does nothing for me, other than breaks the mood, flow, and enjoyment of the first 6 tracks and seems to introduce a continuation of other weaker moments on the album, until “Crown.” “The Wind In The Wires” has something about it that recollects earlier Waterboys, but not in the “big music” way. “Malediction” is an argument for saying that this is a Mike Scott project and not a Waterboys output.
All in all, I must say that I’ve been listening to this CD exclusively for the past 2 weeks and I’m going to keep listening. But I still want Wickham and company back. Make it a 3 1/2 to 4 stars. It grows on you quickly once your realize that Scott, like the rest of us, should be allowed to grow, experiment, expand, and dabble where he wants to. Come in . . . 15 years is a long time ago. Let him try some other things and let’s not hold it agains him.