Customer Reviews

Universal Hall

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Mike Scott (guitars, Vocal , Richard Niaff (keys) and Steve Wickham (fiddle) have been together just 3 or so years (Scott is the Waterboys with whomever he wishes to work with) and this is the first waterboys album to feature all 3. Magnificient. A truly remarkeable record, where Scott manages to reveal his soul bare and write songs to inspire and move. Written out of a unique profound faith, he twists and restles with his love for faith. Universal Hall the title track is a dreamy story of sending light upon people and land. The track takes its name from a Spiritual santuary for all believers in Northern Scotland. It is a hall in the Findhorn Foundations centre at Findhorn Bay a place where Scott calls his Spiritual home and the place where the record was recorded. The music is intricate yet very simple, and always uplifting. I find it hard to imagine any listener comming away after a listen feeling anything but joy.
One other point. This is a group that must be experienced live, seek them out, you will not regret it.

Universal Hall is almost the complete musical antithesis to the last Waterboys CD (Rock in a weary land). Where 'Weary Land' was mostly angry, electric, dramatic and sometimes sounding like it was "recorded in Hell", "Hall" is gentle, melodic and positive (the track "seek the light" is the musical exception, but the message still fits with the rest of this CD).

Universal Hall finds Mike Scott at peace, and in the same Findhorn environment which brought the muscially similar "Bring 'Em All In". However, where that disk contained questions and cries for help ("Columba heal my back heart", "what do you want me to do?" etc.), Universal Hall provides answers.

The beauty of Mike's words and melodies is found in standouts like "The Christ in You", "Every Breath is Yours", and the sublime "Peace of Iona". Also, the return of Steve Wickham is magical - he has never sounded better, and his tune "Dance at the Crossroads" would not be out of place if heard in The Green Dragon in Bywater!

As always, the sound of the Waterboys has progressed - this is not "Fisherman's Blues", or "This Is the Sea", but it is equally fabulous.

Mike Scott has always seemed to follow his heart as opposed to the pocketbook in his musical releases. The guy can rock and play with the best of them...and he can really deliver on the low key. Never predictable, always literate and without being "fake" or "hyped". I like the CD and the more I listen it simply grabs you...not a knock over the head. Mike Scott and his Waterboys will always be relevant.

This is certainly one of the Waterboys' most mellow, low-key releases. I like the hard-rocking stuff too, but Mike Scott always goes back and forth between harder and softer music, so I just enjoy each release.
What I always like about Mike Scott is that each release is subtly different, but he never loses that indefinable "something" that's been there since the first album. And, especially in this era of angst-ridden artists focusing on the darker emotions, it's refreshing to have someone like Scott show us that positive, warm emotions and spirituality can be just as weighty and artistically viable. Although the music is very different, I would compare him to Bob Marley for his ability to create simple, uplifting, warm music without getting soft and sappy.
What I would add about this CD is just what a consumate song craftsman Mike Scott is. I'm a songwriter myself, and it takes a LOT of skill to write songs that are this relatively simple, and still give them so much weight and depth. The phrasing, melodies, the choice of words and instruments---flawless and without any excess. I think he's one of the most underrated artists out there today.

This is one mixed bag of songs that is surely likely to get equally mixed reviews. Yes, the lyrics are largely disappointing for Mike Scott and yet the spiritual is there without a shadow of doubt. One huge spiritual light that shines through the minimalism. And the musicians, the Waterboys backing Mike produce absolute brilliance in every note. I am not disappointed except for the one track "seek the light", a noisy track that just does not fit on this album.

Maybe I wouldn't pay the full price but why not?! The spirit such as produced by these musicians is not that easy to find these days. Earlier Van Morrison, U2, Radiohead, and OK now the Frames. Keep up the good work Mike and The waterboys!

The Waterboys last cd, "Rock In A Weary Land" was a grand and majestic masterpiece, fully produced and artfully performed. Though "Universal Hall" has more stripped to the elements production, it proves that a whisper can be just as powerful as a scream. The thing that has always made Mike Scott an extraordinary songwriter is his passionate fearlessness, and it is fully evident here as always. It takes a lot of courage to write about faith, joy, peace and love without sentimentality. Yet, this is not a man who proclaims to have all the answers, or live in a world without angst. Like all great artists, he is a mass of contradiction. Naive yet wise.........optimistic yet real.....a poet without pretense is a rare thing. These subjects could easily merge into new age miasma if handled by a lesser hand, but the sincerity and artistry at work on "Universal Hall" is a revelation.

... this cd helps light the way. If you follow Mike Scott into his love of CS Lewis, Eileen Caddy, and the spritual journey ("Been a long way to the Light" as he sang on a previous album," this CD makes perfect sense. Many of the songs are mantras/meditations accompanied by ethereal fiddle playing which, along with the words, lift the listener who is open to epiphany. As for the "oooeeooo" which seemed to bother reviewer Jim so much, I believe this is an example of using sound (as in "OM," to produce spiritual and physical efeects in the singer and listener. Having read numerous books on the subject of the healing power of music, I have to say this is the most uplifting, comforting, invigorating cd in my collection. I love a Waterboys rock-out as much as the next fan, but this collection of songs is extra special. Not music to dance to, so much as music to connect to God with. Definately not for those who eschew the spiritual side of music, but an absolute treat for those of us who do. Mike Scott has been far truer to his religious muse than Dylan or Van Morrison, who after a brief burst of spiritual creativity seem to have returned to other, more secular interests. Also, while Morriosn and Dylan spent a couple years playing only the new spiritual material, Mike Scott has mixed the new with the old in his live shows. Following a UNIVERSAL HALL song with "The Pan WIthin" or "I Know She's in the Building" show that Mike Scott hasn't abandoned his past work, only added to it, and that he sees that the scared and the physically passionate are not mutually exclusive.

For those of us who regarded "Fisherman's Blues" as a breathtaking classic, "Universal Hall" will also assume a place of honor. The opener "This Light is for the World" bursts with energy and Steve Wickham's glorious fiddle orchestra, "Send it out with sword of fire, with cymbal, drum & angel choir, music in the heart of it proclaiming that the lamp is lit." "Christ In You" emotionally articulates the New Age Buddha-like view that Christ is a level of consciousness attainment that each can reach, "When I'm looking through the eyes of love." "Every Breath Is Yours" is also a near classic with such a powerful build of spiritual sentiment with acoustic guitar & Mike Scott's piano, "Who is it moves in me, beloved? Whose hands & feet are these?" "Peace of Iona" has a buoyant feel with lyrical repetition that climaxes with "peace of the unseen, peace of the spirit." "Seek the Light" turns to electronic instruments and fuzzed vocal distortions. "Always Dancing, Never Getting Tired" has a great pulsing beat with Mike's hushed vocals quivering with spiritual anticipation. "The Dance at the Crossroads" is a sweet Celtic jig with Wickham's fiddle and Richard Naiff's flute & piano. "E.B.O.L." which stands for "Eternal Being Of Love" is a 2-line homily. The CD closes with the title track that sounds like the lyric came before the melody. While not perfect, this is a wonderful set which keeps jumping into my changer. I've included it on my list of best CDs of the year. Enjoy!

For fans of the Big Music and The Little Music, this album is for you! This is possibly the best Waterboys album since Fisherman's Blues and also Mike's most spirtual/personal. There is not a bad song on this disc.

I've always been a fan of the Waterboys, and believe that Mike Scott is a great talent, but this album is causing me to re-evaluate my opinion. Waterboys albums are sometimes spotty affairs, but usually have moments of brilliance that transcend the mediocre material. This album,however,has none. In fact,it is just plain terrible. Okay, Mike is getting into this spiritual thing, and that's fine (see "Bring Em All In" - wonderful!),but his songs this time around sound embarrassingly amateurish. Let's hope he comes around and finds the fire that he used to bring to his music. This one's a dud.