Restless as the seafaring nomads whose chanties and airs they borrowed from, the Waterboys called no one style of music their own, but roamed the oceans and passage of time for sources of inspiration. Mike Scott and his ragtag troupe of aging folkies, pub buskers, and salty punks crafted with an artisan's care scrappy Folk-Rock that resonated with romantic, vaguely new age themes. Fisherman's Blues (1988) -- containing interpretations of Van Morrison, the Beatles, and W.B. Yeats -- captures them at their most adventurous. On the title track, Scott's tearful whelps and scotch-scorched vocals reach a fevered emotional pitch that infects the entire album. At a time when rock 'n' roll had brought to the brink of extinction instruments like the mandolin, bouzouki, and accordion, the Waterboys repopulated music with them, giving their songs a timeless quality. The results were never less than majestic.

AND A BANG ON THE EAR/THE RAGGLE TAGGLE GYPSY	BEST OF THE WATERBOYS '81 - '90	DREAM HARDER	FISHERMAN'S BLUES CHRYSALIS'88 TXT.PHT/SLV
FISHERMANS BLUES	GIRL CALLED JOHNNY	GLASTONBURY SONG	RETURN OF PAN
ROCK IN THE WEARY LAND	ROOM TO ROAM	SECRET LIFE OF THE WATERBOYS	THIS IS THE SEA
UNIVERSAL HALL	WATERBOYS	WHOLE OF THE MOON/A GOLDEN AGE	And a Bang on the Ear
A Pagan Place	The Waterboys	A Rock in the Weary Land	Is She Conscious? EP
The Return of Pan	The Best of The Waterboys: '81 - '90	The Secret Life of the Waterboys 81-85	The Live Adventures of the Waterboys
The Whole of the Moon: The Music of Mike Scott and The Waterboys	Fisherman's Blues, Part Two	The Whole of the Moon	Book of Lightning
Fisherman's Blues (disc 2)	Kiss the Wind	How Long Will I Love You	Wonderful Green World
License to Play	1985-09-10: London, UK (disc 2)	Radio Sessions 2001	Windmill Lane Sessions
The Waterboys at the BBC	1989-12-21: Londonderry, UK	Mike Scott & Steve Wickham in Galway	Live at the Fleadh
1988-12-20: Londonderry, UK	1986-05-19: Geleen, Netherlands	2003-08-09: Deurne, Belgium	Universal Hall Radio Sessions
2004-10-05: Breda, The Netherlands	This Is the Sea (live)	Radio Waves: Sendesaal, Radio Bremen 31.07.2003 (disc 2)	1984-12-06: Toronto, ON, Canada
2003-06-19: Wrexham, UK	British Winter Tour 1984	The Complete Fishermans Blues Sessions 86-88	2001-03-22: New York City, NY, USA
1989-11-12: Swedish Adventures: Kulturmejeriet, Lund, Sweden	2001-11-07: Glasgow, UK	2003-11-07: WOMAD, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain	1988-12-20: Derby, UK
1989-06-18: Glastonbury, UK	1988-12-15: Cork, Ireland	2000-12-04: Stockholm, Sweden	A Pagan Place Demos
One Foot in Eden	Unleashing the Tethered Ones	1988-12-16: Tralee, Ireland	A Golden Day
Alive on the Inside	2000-12-16: Cologne, Germany	1986-04-11: Dublin, Ireland (disc 2)	1989-12-21: Derry, UK
Demos & Outtakes (disc 1)	A Rock in the Weary Land (disc 2)	An Appointment With Mr. Yeats