Artist...THE WATERBOYS
  Album...THE SECRET LIFE OF THE WATERBOYS
  Label...ENSIGN
  Cat.No...CD CHEN35
  
  Review.."The Secret Life Of The Waterboys (81-85)" is a compilation of unreleased studio tracks,
  radio sessions, live tracks and 'lost' b-sides, lost in the sense that they only appeared on now
  deleted singles and 12" etc.
     '81-85 is the period that many consider to be the band's finest years.  It was the time of "A
  Pagan Place" and "This Is The Sea".  A time of powerful singles like "The Whole Of The Moon", "A
  Girl Called Johnny", "December".  This was a time of powerful rock and blasting horns.
     The alternative versions that appear via way of radio sessions and the like serve to
  showcase a band that were good because they knew how to explore their own songs.  There plenty
  of imagery all reinforced by the strength of the music sitting below it.
     Previously unreleased tracks such as "Billy Sparks" shows the quality of the sings that the
  band threw away.  There are 'stars' of rock that would have killed to have cast offs such as these
  associated with them.
     There is something here for everyone.  For those of you that already have those early
  albums there are a whole host of wonderful arrangements and 'new' songs from a period before
  Mike Scott changed the plot and took the band down a folkier road.
     For those that only really know the folkier side, this makes an excellent introduction to the
  band as well as explaining why the band had so much kudos during the bleakness of the early
  eighties.
     This is rock as it should be, plenty of power, plenty of drive and songs that touched upon
  issues.  "Medicine Bow" & "Bury My Heart" dealing with Native American issues.  Other songs
  touched on environmental issues drawing at times on Earth Mother type concepts.  Yep, this one
  comes highly recommended.