In recent years EMI have unleashed some exemplary Waterboys reissues that have illuminated the original albums in many ways. For all the lavish praise they’ve received, however, the “definitive” epithet eludes them – and that’s because of the volume of material that Mike Scott wrote, evaluated, reconceptualised, discarded and painstakingly archived for each record.
With these reissues halted at Room To Roam, there’s a backtracking taking place here that’s hugely valuable to those interested in the mercurial Scott’s creativity and working methods. What we have here are his demos for This Is The Sea, the LP that it’s tempting to see as the breakthrough Waterboys album, principally for The Whole Of The Moon. These are piano-and-vocals cut in March 1985, with only Scott and co-producer John Brand present, prior to full-band development with Van Morrison producer Mick Glossop.
Some of the these songs are fragmentary or abandoned, and some are in a state of flux – waiting for that creative tension that existed between Scott and Glossop, and between Scott and then-Waterboy Karl Wallinger, as an influential part of the genius that was the finished record. What they delineate is an intensity and artistic passion that’s palpable and inspiring.
