Book of Lightning

The Waterboys

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 21, 2007)
• Original Release Date: April 2, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B000TITOT6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,999 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
For over twenty years The Waterboys have been a testament to Mike Scott's extraordinary vision and his fearless love of musical exploration.With songs ranking as some of the most imaginative and distinctive of the past quarter century, The Waterboys have scored the dreams and aspirations of generations of music listeners. Now with Book Of Lightning, The Waterboys have created a natural successor to their classics This Is The Sea and Fisherman's Blues and 2000's acclaimed comeback, A Rock In The Weary Land--an album containing elements of those powerful works, but also taking us into thrilling new territory; an album as literate and compelling as anything in The Waterboys' catalog to date. As the opening bars of `The Crash of Angel Wings' thunder out, we know that Book Of Lightning is going to be a new, unpredictable installment in The Waterboys' story. Book Of Lightning was recorded in London in Fall 2006 and was produced by Mike Scott and Philip Tennant, who previously worked with The Waterboys on Fisherman's Blues.The album features electric fiddler Steve Wickham, whose involvement in the band dates back to 1985. Mike Scott is also joined by regular Waterboys' keyboardist Richard Naiff, Louisiana-born drummer Brady Blade, top London drummer Jeremy Stacey, bassman Mark Smith, hot young guitar stylist Leo Abrahams and long-time Waterboys alumni Roddy Lorimer (trumpet), Thighpaulsandra (keyboards) and Chris Bruce (electric guitar). In addition,"Sustain" was recorded in Vancouver with members of Canadian art-rockers Great Aunt Ida. By turns savage, beautiful, haunting and bitingly humorous, Book Of Lightning is brilliantly bound together by Scott's lyrical talents, which have taken on even more maturity and confidence.The consistent presence of weather and nature throughout the lyrics and sound of Book Of Lightning acts as a masterful unifying stroke, drawing us into a world that could only be created by Mike Scott at that moment in time--a world that is a mirror of Scott's self-awareness, his understanding of nature of love, and his observance of the destructive effects of the glamour of power.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Both Worlds, August 25, 2007

By	jd103 - See all my reviews

It's hard to know the reason for the connection I feel to the Waterboys music. I even somehow missed the Big Music days; it was Fisherman's Blues which first caught my attention. I loved it. Bought all the earlier music. Very different, but loved it also. Room to Roam was a bit of a letdown but I saw them on tour for the first time then and the fun was still there.

Then came the long slow decline with a release or two I hated, and a couple more where the description was enough to keep me from buying. The highpoints of those years for me were collections of odds and ends, and expanded versions of the original releases.

Now comes Book of Lightning. I won't describe the songs...you can hear the samples. But it's lively and fun again for me, taking me back to the reasons I first fell for this band. If you liked the first four Waterboys releases, regardless of what you think about what came later, I urge you to get this one because I think you'll like it too.

I'm hoping radio shows they're doing next week will be on the internet, and I'm definitely planning to see them on tour in November. You can check out their website for info on all that. For now, just start listening to this one.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Waterboys CD In Decades, August 27, 2007

By	Bornintime (The East Coast) - See all my reviews

I was completely surprised at how wonderful that this new cd is and almost equally surprised by the lack of attention it is getting, considering that it was released in Europe months ago. As a big fan of The Waterboys in the 80's I've since listened to Mike Scott's output of the past almost 20 years and didn't care for a lot of it. Rock In A Weary Land (2001?) is a muddy sounding mess with poor songwriting and is practically unlistenable. Book Of Lightning is the polar opposite. The songs are catchy and bear up after repeated listenings, plenty of good rockers but also some softer introspective material. "She Tried To Hold Me" is a masterpiece that marries incredible lyrics with an amazing vocal. The production is perfect for the material, very clean but not sanitized and overproduced. Mike's voice is wonderful here. It is rough at times (I want to say Dylanesque, but I know that would put some people off) and sounds absolutely wonderful with this material. If you like anything else by The Waterboys I can't imagine you being disappointed with this.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Gem, April 5, 2007

By	Richard Magee "Wish Ewe Were Hear" (Abingdon, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

E Book of Lightning gives us yet another gem by The Waterboys. The lyrics are crisp, intelligent, and they cut to the core. The melodies are more radio-friendly than "Universal Hall," but we've come to expect each album will have its own sound. You can hear traces of Mike Scott's influences (Dylan, Van Morrison, The Beatles), but he is no imitator. He synthesizes these and other influences to create his own great music.