Zack: Like (I’m guessing) the vast majority of people
in the world, I had never heard of The Waterboys before their music was thrust
upon me. How that was allowed to happen, I have no idea. I went in to this
album with absolutely no expectations, and by the time the second song started
I was already texting people about how amazing it is. Seriously, who should I
blame for not telling me about either this album specifically or this band
generally? Is it my parents? My peers? Obama? Someone tell me and I will be
ready to protest them. Fisherman’s Blues is sort of this amalgamation of Wilco,
Arcade Fire, U2, and Van Morrison. Interestingly, I made that comparison before
I noticed that they even covered a Van Morrison song on this album (and
actually killed that too, which is pretty impressive in its own right). On the
song We Will Not Be Lovers, they incorporate a badass fiddle that sounds so
cool that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the singular reason that both
Yellowcard and Mumford and Sons were allowed to exist. Admittedly, the album
does fade a bit down the stretch. But the places where it hits, it runs full
force into awesome that I could easily write about it for a few thousand words.
Instead, I think I’ll just say that I intend to delve much, much further into
The Waterboys catalogue and I highly recommend everyone else on the planet does
the same.
Favorite Tracks: We Will Not Be Lovers; Fisherman’s Blues;
Sweet Thing
Emily: When Zack first listened to Fisherman's Blues a few months ago (yeah I'm a bit behind), he texted me excitedly as he made his way through the hour-long album. Each new song brought about a different influence, a different genre, a different sound, but they all combined into something totally unique and awesome. By the time I finally got around to listening to it, the specifics of Zack's praise had faded from my memory, but I was excited to listen to the album nevertheless. Unfortunately, that excitement probably raised my expectations too high. While I was (perhaps wrongfully) expecting a transformative genre-spanning folk wonder, what I got was a very good, unique modern folk album. A solid entry, with clear influences on the folk-rock of later years, but disappointing. The lesson? Maybe I shouldn't wait so long to catch up with Zack on these albums.
Favorite Tracks: We Will Not Be Lovers; World Party; Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?
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