Fisherman’s Blues

this had the potentially to be a really good album. instead they took some decent songwriting and cool instrumentation and made it as boring as they could. it gets a 3 for a few songs which i did enjoy though the project as a whole doesnt deserve that high of a rating.

I just wanted to turn it off loads so I did

I wanted to like this one, but found it incredibly boring and tedious to sit through (though it's probably a personal taste thing). Not for me, though I acknowledge some musical talent throughout. 2/5

According to wikipedia, the original album is only "Disc 1" of the remastered collectors edition on Spotify; I'm not a collector, so I won't worry about the extra credit.

Side 1 of this record pretty strong. "Fisherman's Blues" is the big hit based on listen counts, and that's followed up by "We Will Not Be Lovers" which is an early frontrunner for 'banger of the day' (but maybe a little long in the tooth at 7 minutes long). Even "World Party", the least played song on side 1 is a very solid track. The cover of "Sweet Thing" brings me great joy as someone who has too many childhood memories attached to Van Morrison. This particular arrangement also reminds me of the structure of "A Murder Of One" from the Counting Crows' August And Everything After, an album I also have too much history with.

Side 2 is a little less strong as they delve deeper into more traditional instrumentations. "And a Bang on the Ear", "When Ye Go Away", and "The Stolen Child" are keepers, but I don't need the rest. "When Will We Be Married" is, I'm sure, a traditional classic that I should revere but I don't care.

Overall, not mad at this but I don't need the whole 'original' record, and definitely don't need the second disc.

My dad went through a Celtic music phase when I was a kid, so it’s entirely possible that I’ve heard this before and didn’t realize it. I remember a lot of Dad’s stuff seeming a little stiff at the time, yet it left me with the sense that this kind of music (and really any kind of return to a folks music tradition) was a good thing, so I’ve gone down lots of those roads as an adult. Anyway, this seems like a pleasant meander through the tradition, a nice middle way between bands like The Chieftains and Dropkick Murphys, neither of which I could ever quite love. I’m not sure I’m in love with these fellas either but I enjoyed how organic and eclectic it felt, like a really skilled group sitting down in a pub and just playing whatever came into their heads. That sometimes left me scratching my head but mostly made me look forward to whatever came next.

This album was a really nice surprise, enjoyed it quite a bit.

I will not include disc two of the Collector's Edition in this review.

I started checking out The Waterboys within the past year. They're a folk rock group that transcends Scottish and Irish music, fronted by singer-songwriter Mike Scott. I was surprised to find not only an album of theirs in the 1001 Albums series, but it does not have their arguably biggest hit, "The Whole of the Moon". Apparently, The Fisherman's Blues is noteworthy for a stylistic shift in the band, foregoing the more grandiose anthem rock sound of their earlier efforts in favor of a mixture of traditional music, country, and rock and roll. But by jove, they cooked up a delicious melting pot of sounds for this one.

From the get-go, with the prominent violin and bouzouki, it's clear that the band sought to incorporate more traditional instruments into their folk rock sound, complete with Trevor Hutchinson's supple bass, the well-accented percussion, and Mike Scott's wistful delivery. There's such an impeccable bounce to the compositions on this record, while the production sounds so crisp and full that I can distinctly hear the individual instruments played. It's this kind of care towards the sound that makes even longer arrangements like "We Will Not Be Lovers", "And a Bang on the Ear", and the adaptation of the William Butler Yeats poem "The Stolen Child" engaging all the way through. There is genuine passion on display here, as Mike paid tribute in his lyrics and choices of covers to his Scottish and Irish roots alongside Western greats like Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams. This album maintains the feel of going to see a Celtic pub band that keeps the patrons' spirits up without overstaying their welcome. Even the instrumental interludes, "Jimmy Hickey's Waltz" and "Dunford's Fancy," felt like they belonged in this celebration of heritage and whimsy.

Honestly, I have nothing else to say, as Fisherman's Blues was the heartfelt harkening towards The Waterboys' roots that felt timeless in its performance and songwriting. Their sound would continue to evolve over the years, but for this, it all just worked.

Fun album

Worthwhile stuff

Fisherman’s Blues was a staple of my dad’s album collection and therefore holds a fair bit of sentimentality to it. Regardless of this it is a good album and the song that gives the album itself is a fun jointy affair. It’s one of those songs that i’m always happy to hear.
Mike Scott manages to incorporate traditional elements such as the fiddle etc without the songs feeling dated or too folky.

Has anybody seen Hank? Sounds almost like Bob Dylan has been transported in to front the Waterboys. Yes this means the tempo is slower than the first half of the album, but it still works.

By the end of the album there’s just a bit too much fiddle for me but still an enjoyable listen

I went into this really wanting to like it due to a continuing love of Whole Of The Moon (which isn't on this album, and therefore doesn't make it onto the 1001 album list). However...

...the fiddle on We Will Not Be Lovers might be the single instrument that has caused me the most annoyance in the 212 albums I have heard so far. It started off mildly irritating, but by the time it had got to the 7th minute of doing the same thing, I was just angry. Well angry and thinking how bored the violinist must be playing this live.

I liked World Party a lot. And I enjoyed the Van Morrison cover.

The Waterboys apparently really like an extremely long fade out, as it appears on multiple tracks and just makes the album longer than it needs to be.

Overall, there were parts of this I liked, parts I was pretty indifferent to, and a violin I hated with a firey passion. I think in a half star world this would get a 2.5, but it's not a 2, so a 3 is where I'm sticking.

3/5

I liked the mix of styles, but the covers were the worst part, it felt like they just did popular songs and jammed random style into them.

There are plenty of interesting ideas across this, and some really unique problems too. In short, this kind of has Dexys Midnight Runners Don't Stand Me Down syndrome to my ears. To clarify, I thought that album was very ambitious, very messy, and pretty interesting, but it was no where near interesting or out-there enough to justify how messy it was (I honestly had quite a few problems with that album, and I do think this one was a little better, but the point stands). The Waterboys were a London based-band fronted and formed by a Scottish man. And, if what I'm reading is true, Fisherman's Blues was inspired by a stint living in Ireland. Prior to this, they had some commercial success releasing a few new wavier albums. However, it seems that contemporarily, Fisherman's Blues was a little too big and weird for the public, and the critics were mixed. It re-centered their sound on Celtic folk, dense, traditional arrangements, and some pub rock influences. But, there are also 9 minute long songs, fiddle-dissonance solos, and a brief Woody Guthrie cover. It *is* messy, and it *is* ambitious, and it *is*, at least cursorily, interesting. I think a lot of the best ideas here are towards the front. The title track puts their best foot forward, with a compelling, original Celtic folk-rock song. And We Will Not Be Lovers is the most successful experiment with what I'm going to dub, "Jam-Folk". It's 7 minutes long, and it has no real chorus, but it *does* have several fiddle solos and the kind of meandering, interesting, song-long half-verse thing going on that reminds me of early Modest Mouse. And, miraculously, it works: mostly due to the song keeping up some really steady momentum. It is always going *somewhere*, even if you don't exactly know where. This also sort of works on World Party, but after this point, things fall apart a little. Sweet Thing is another 7 minute long song, but I don't think it keeps it together nearly as well, even though it has cool moments. And, unfortunately, And A Bang On The Ear is one of the low points of the album to me. It's 9 minutes long, and it feels like a war of attrition. The fiddle melody feels cheesy, and the song doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. And after this, The Waterboys can never capture the promise seen in the first couple of songs. When Will We Be Married is a neat interpretation of a folk tune, but aside from that, there's little else that does much for me (although The Stolen Child also has a couple of moments). I'm also notably not into their attempts to veer into Americana, of which there are a good few. This all together leaves me cold to a pretty substantial part of this album. I will say, there's enough here that I'm not going to write off The Waterboys fully, I get the sense they have other cool stuff. But the interesting to messy to spotty ratio on Fisherman's Blues is all off.

Not what I expected! I enjoyed the covers.

Ugh, I hate celtic type sounds. But the 2nd song wasn't bad. And country sounding ones, and anytime a fiddle gets involved are ugh to me too...

This really should be a one, but the dudes at least know how to play instruments, so let's go for two. There's truly no reason to include this album on a list like this. Nothing these guys do have not been done better by other artists.

pretty lame, not going to lie. The first song was cool, but it devolved from there.

Also the new album that's coming out here in late 2025 looks to have AI art. Lame!

Fun, bouncy Celtic Rock. It sounds like it could be an influence for quite a few bands that can't after it. Favorite track: Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?

Warm and well-played, but overrated, not the first album I've thought made this list as it was their best seller. While it has moments like the title track, the Celtic folk-rock vibe wears thin and the tracklist feels bloated, especially with the extra filler. It feels less cohesive than This Is The Sea and lacks the magic of "The Whole Of The Moon" An honest listen, but not the band's masterpiece.

What a phenomenal record, and one of such variety. The cathartic first half has a string of high octane, propulsive hits, including We Will Not Be Lovers which now stands as not just my favourite Waterboys song, but one of my favourite songs full stop. The power and aggression from that repeating violin line is quite something, and blows the lid off of anything you could possibly imagine holding the genre title “celtic rock.”

All of that aggression leaves the room in the friendlier second half, but none of the energy or momentum is lost. What you have instead are emotionally mature, very smart folk rock songs which, for this listener, tugs at the heartstrings. It's a wonderful one-two which shows a band with multiple sides to them. I am partial to traditional folk, so a highly sincere offering like The Stolen Child which might get a sideways glance from a more cynical listener genuinely brought a tear to my eye.