Dream Harder is the sixth studio album by the Waterboys, released by Geffen Records on 24 May 1993. Led by Scottish singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Mike Scott, the album features none of the earlier UK-based band members and instead finds Scott backed by American session musicians.[2] It was the last Waterboys album before Scott spent seven years pursuing a formal solo career, with Bring 'Em All In (1995) and Still Burning (1997). The album reached position 171 on the Billboard Top 200 charts, surpassing the previous Waterboys album Room to Roam, in spite of a less-than-enthusiastic response from critics to the album's sound.[3]
The album art was provided by the photography of Michael Halsband and John Hardin and the painting of Pal Shazar, under the direction of Frank Olinsky and Tom Zutaut.
Shortly before the release of the Waterboys' fifth studio album, Room to Roam, Mike Scott and his long-time band member Anthony Thistlethwaite decided they wanted to change the band's musical direction by returning to their rock-orientated sound. As a result, the "Magnificent Seven" line-up parted ways before the album's tour and a new four-piece version of the band toured with a rock-dominated sound. Scott then looked for fresh inspiration by relocating from Ireland to Greenwich Village, New York, in September 1991. While most of the songs which appeared on Dream Harder were written when Scott was still living in Ireland, work on recording the album did not begin until January 1992, after Scott had signed a new record deal with Geffen Records. The label's A&R man suggested that Scott collaborate with producer Bill Price and they produced Dream Harder together. Scott told Melody Maker in 1993, "Geffen knew I wanted to do a gung-ho rock 'n' roll album and they suggested him. I like Bill, the decision made itself."[4] He went on to summarise the material on Dream Harder, "The record reflects what I was going through in 1991. My life was changing in a lot of ways, and that's what I started writing about."[4]
Songs
"The New Life", one of many Scott songs which are both optimistic and touch upon spirituality, was written during April 1991 on the same night that he returned to Ireland from a three-week holiday in the Caribbean. Scott recalled, "I'd been drinking very heavily for a while, and my wife packed me off on holiday and I stopped drinking. When I came back I felt great, like I was back in control of my own life, and that night I wrote 'The New Life'." The lyrics of the song were influenced by the changes in Scott's life at the time, such as the break-up of the "Magnificent Seven" line-up, the end of his record deal with Chrysalis and the decision to leave Ireland.[4] The song contains a phrase "Are you under the mercy?", which Scott explains as "a phrase I nicked from a Christian fan who wrote me a letter and signed off with "under the mercy", which I took to mean (and this is what I intended in the song) "under the mercy of spirit/the sacred/the presence of love" – though Christians would say under the mercy of Christ".[5]
"Glastonbury Song" was released as the album's second single, backed by the songs "Chalice Hill", "Burlington Bertie And Accrington Stanley", and "Corn Circle Symphony". Scott, discussing the song in 2003, described the song as "one of the most commercial, radio-friendly songs musically that I've ever produced", and ascribes its lack of success to its theme, "..the chorus is 'I just found God where He always was'... In many countries it was successful, but in Britain, they wouldn't play it because of the chorus.".[6] James Heflin, the interviewer, notes that the song reached the Top 30 in the UK and was performed live on Top of the Pops broadcast on the BBC.[6] The song was covered by Italian singer-songwriter Samuele Bersani, with new Italian lyrics, released under the title of "Cosa vuoi da me" (What do you want from me?) and included on his 1994 album Freak and released as a single a year later.[7]
"The Return of Pan" was released as the album's first single, with the songs "Karma" (also the name of one of Scott's earlier musical projects), "Mister Powers" and an untitled track. "The Return of Pan"'s lyrics recount an episode from Plutarch's "The Obsolescence of Oracles".[8] Plutarch writes that, during the reign of Tiberius, a sailor named Thamus heard the following shouted to him from land; "Thamus, are you there? When you reach Palodes, take care to proclaim that the great god Pan is dead." After retelling the story, the singer of "The Return of Pan" insists that "The Great God Pan is alive!". The single charted at position twenty-four on the UK singles chart May 1993.
Scott has described "Corn Circles" as "kind of a mischievous song" and told the NME in 1993, "I don't know what the corn circles are. I'm just singing a song about them. They're a great modern mysterly and they enchant me."[9] "Love and Death" is a poem by William Butler Yeats. It first appeared in the 1885 Dublin University Review. Scott told Melody Maker, "I sat at the piano and the tune just came to me. The poem's so obscure that when we sent a tape to the Yeats Estate in Ireland for their approval, they couldn't find it in their files."[10] "The Return of Jimi Hendrix" was inspired by a dream Scott had while he was visiting New York with his wife in 1991, prior to moving there. Scott recalled, "I'd been at a friend's house watching videos of Jimi, that's when I got turned on to him. I'd always liked him but he'd never been my main man. I watched these videos and was blown away. That night I had a dream and I just woke up and wrote it down. It was this incredible vision of all these modern-day characters in New York being freaked out by Jimi's whammy-bar."[4]
Upon its release, Mat Smith of Melody Maker praised "Dream Harder" as a "truly momumental return to form" and a "psyche-altering explosion of spiritual fireworks". As a return to the band's original rock-based sound, Smith described it as "the album Waterboys fans have waited nearly eight years for" and noted that the guitars, "electric at last!", "scream like a resurrectional chcoir beckoning [Scott] back through the paradisal gates".[16] At the end of the year, Melody Maker placed the album at number 38 on their top 40 "albums of the year" list.[17] Neil Spencer of The Observer considered the album to have a sound "dominated by fretboard-throttling rock guitar". He added, "While more appealing to a US audience, the new sound sits oddly with Scott's pagan concerns, but Scott's enthusiasm for thundering tunes and offbeat themes is infectious."[18]
Robin Denselow of The Guardian felt that despite its "New Yorkised production sheen", the album is "still Scott-as-hippie-gypsy", with most of the songs having a "starchild vein" and a "run-reading ambience".[19] Stuart Bailie of the NME described the album as "some party" but not "unconditionally great". He wrote, "The problem with any party like Dream Harder is that you've got to bring along an open mind. You've got to accept the premise that Mike Scott has some kind of a vision, and allow him to tell you about it." He praised "half a dozen" of the songs as "stupendous", including "Glastonbury Song" and "Preparing to Fly", but was a little more critical of some others, such as the Marillion-sounding "Love and Death", "Corn Circles", which he felt is "a bit silly in the wake of three magical songs", and "Spirtual City", which "comes across like Neil from The Young Ones doing 'Hole in My Shoe'."[13]
In the US, John Swenson of Rolling Stone felt Dream Harder was the band's "most fully realized album" at the time.[14] Troy J. Augusto of Cash Box selected Dream Harder as his "Pick of the Week" in June 1993. He believed Scott sounded "more confident and emotive than ever", with the album containing a "bold new edge" and "no filler".[20] Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly described it as "straight-on rock" and added, "Moments entice, but mostly Dream Harder shows what could've happened to U2 if they never lightened up."[12]Billboard were more mixed in their review, commenting, "Scott returns to basics with a slightly subdued recap of the style with which he rose to prominence. Problem is that his instrumental foils are largely undistinguished, and sidesteps into folk, middle Eastern and mild reggae don't display much punch."[21] In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic considered the album to be a return to the "big rock sound of earlier albums like This is the Sea" but felt the material did not "carry the same weight" as that on the band's previous two albums.[11]
Track listing
Pan, shown here, was also referenced in "The Pan Within" on This Is the Sea.
The Waterboys are a British-Irish folk rock band formed in London in 1983 by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained the only constant member throughout the band's career. They have explored a number of different styles, but their music is mainly a mix of folk music with rock and roll. They dissolved in 1993 when Scott departed to pursue a solo career. The group reformed in 2000, and continue to release albums and to tour worldwide. Scott emphasises a continuity between the Waterboys and his solo work, saying that "To me there's no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions."
This Is the Sea is the third studio album by the Waterboys, released on 16 September 1985 by Ensign Records. The last of their "Big Music" albums, it is considered by critics to be the finest album of their early rock-oriented sound, described as "epic" and "a defining moment", it was the first Waterboys album to enter the United Kingdom charts, peaking at number 37. Steve Wickham makes his Waterboys recording debut playing violin on 'The Pan Within' and subsequently joined the band, appearing on the video of "The Whole of the Moon". This Is the Sea is the last album with contributions from Karl Wallinger, who left the group to form his own band, World Party.
Fisherman's Blues is the fourth studio album by the Waterboys, released by Ensign Records in October 1988. The album marked a change in the band's sound, with them abandoning their earlier grandiose rock sound for a mixture of traditional Irish music, traditional Scottish music, country music, and rock and roll. Critics were divided on its release with some disappointed at the change of direction and others ranking it among the Waterboys' best work. The album was the Waterboys' best selling album, reaching a number 13 placing on the U.K. charts on release, and 76 on the Billboard 200.
Room to Roam is the fifth studio album by the Waterboys, released by Ensign Records on 2 October 1990. It continued the folk rock sound of 1988's Fisherman's Blues, but was less of a commercial success, reaching #180 on the Billboard Top 200 after its release in September 1990. Critical response continues to be mixed. Allmusic describes it both as "not quite as [musically] successful" as Fisherman's Blues, but also as a "Celtic rock classic". The front and back covers were designed by Simon Fowler based upon photography by Stefano Giovannini and Sean Jackson.
A Rock in the Weary Land is the seventh studio album by the Waterboys, released in 2000 by BMG International. It was their first album after a seven-year break, but mostly continues the hard rock vein of the previous album Dream Harder (1993). The album cover photography is by Steve Gullick.
Still Burning is the second solo studio album by Mike Scott, released by Chrysalis in 1997. It followed Scott's 1995 solo debut, Bring 'em All In, and was the last of Scott's solo albums before re-forming The Waterboys in 2000. Photography was provided by Andrew Catlin and Mary Scanlon. Although well-received critically, sales of the album were poor and Scott was subsequently dropped from Chrysalis Records. This led directly to Scott's decision to revive the Waterboys' name in order to achieve wider marketplace exposure. Scott describes the making of and commercial failure of the album in detail in his 2012 autobiography, Adventures of a Waterboy.
Steve Wickham is an Irish musician. Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home, Wickham was a founding member of In Tua Nua and played violin on the classic U2 song "Sunday Bloody Sunday", as well as recordings by Elvis Costello, the Hothouse Flowers, Sinéad O'Connor, and World Party. He is a long-standing member of The Waterboys. Wickham plays both rock and roll and traditional Irish music, and has developed a rock music technique for violin he calls the "fuzz fiddle".
Karma to Burn is the first official live album from The Waterboys. It also contains tracks from Mike Scott's solo career: "Bring 'em All In," "Long Way to the Light," "My Dark Side," and "Open."
"A Girl Called Johnny" is a song from Scottish-Irish folk rock band The Waterboys, which was released in 1983 as the lead single from their debut studio album The Waterboys. The song was written by Mike Scott and produced by Rupert Hine. It reached No. 80 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for three weeks.
"The Big Music" is a song from Scottish-Irish folk rock band The Waterboys, which was released in 1984 as the lead single from their second studio album A Pagan Place. The song was written and produced by Mike Scott.
"Fisherman's Blues" is a song from folk rock band The Waterboys, which was released in 1988 as the lead single from their fourth studio album of the same name. It was written by Mike Scott and Steve Wickham, and produced by Scott. The song reached number 3 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, number 13 in Ireland and number 32 in the UK.
"And a Bang on the Ear" is a song from Scottish-Irish folk rock band the Waterboys, released as the second single from their fourth studio album Fisherman's Blues. It was written by Mike Scott, and produced by John Dunford and Scott. The song reached No. 1 in the Republic of Ireland and No. 51 in the United Kingdom.
"The Return of Pan" is a song from Scottish-Irish folk rock band the Waterboys, which was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album Dream Harder. It was written by Mike Scott, and produced by Scott and Bill Price. The song reached No. 24 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 10 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
"Glastonbury Song" is a song by Scottish-Irish folk rock band the Waterboys, released in July 1993 as the second single from their sixth studio album, Dream Harder (1993). It was written by Mike Scott and produced by Scott and Bill Price. The song reached No. 29 in the UK and No. 12 in Ireland.
Steve Took's Horns was an English rock band with blues rock and punk influences formed in 1977 by former Tyrannosaurus Rex percussionist turned solo artist Steve Peregrin Took together with Trev Thoms, later of Nik Turner's Inner City Unit. The band was the first in which Thoms worked with his future Inner City Unit bandmate Ermanno Ghisio Erba aka Dino Ferari, in what would be a long string of collaborations until Thoms' death in 2010. A 2004 posthumous album of the band was reviewed in Classic Rock magazine, a 1978 live performance was reviewed in Melody Maker, the band's 1977 recording session was described at length in a Forced Exposure interview with eyewitness Larry Wallis and the band was euologised in a Record Collector article about Took written by Luke Haines.
"The Whole of the Moon" is a song by Scottish band the Waterboys, released as a single from their album This Is the Sea in October 1985. It is a classic of the band's repertoire and has been consistently played at live shows ever since its release. Written and produced by Mike Scott, the subject of the song has inspired some speculation.
Discography of releases by The Waterboys and Mike Scott.
Modern Blues is the eleventh studio album by the Waterboys, released on the independent label Harlequin and Clown in 2015. It was produced by Mike Scott, with two tracks being co-produced with Paul Brown. Modern Blues reached No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.
"Don't Bang the Drum" is a song from Scottish-Irish folk rock band The Waterboys, released as the opening track on their third studio album This Is the Sea. It was written by Mike Scott and Karl Wallinger, and produced by Scott. The song was released as a single in Germany and was also issued as a 12" promotional vinyl in the United States.
"December" is a song from Scottish-Irish folk rock band The Waterboys, which was released in 1983 as the second and final single from their debut studio album The Waterboys. The song was written and produced by Mike Scott, with additional production by Rupert Hine. A music video was filmed to promote the single.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
