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Wave Back" a song of great optimism. And just when you were becoming accustomed to the weave of eastern European sounds, the fast strings and the rhythmic style, its gone to be replaced by one of the better known songs of this period of the band.

"The Big Music" a term that came to define this period when the band were touring the large stadiums and filling it wall to wall with their musical creations, is a slow and powerful song peppered with a jazz-blues flavour, but retaining that big Waterboys sound. Here the words match the essence of Scotts writing, that moment of realisation when music changes your life, it's a rebirth of the soul put into song.

"I have drowned in the big sea
Now I find I'm still alive
And I'm coming up forever
Shadows all behind me
Ecstasy to come"

More reminiscent of the first album, "Red Army Blues" is the tale of a young Russian soldier and his experiences in World War Two, how he did his duty to his land and still ended up in a prison camp on the orders of his own leader, Stalin, for fear that the army had had too much contact with the west. Again the Eastern strings are brought to the fore and a folk tune with haunting vocals lays down a backdrop for the saxophone to cut through with cold precision. The song rises and falls with the fortunes of the narrator returning to Thistlethwaites dulcet tones to raise the dynamic as required. Part emotional story telling and part stadium rock this song seems to be at odds with most of the album but is a glorious penultimate song.

Leaving the album in the style that we came in, the title track is an acoustic guitar led pop-ballad, given the Waterboys treatment. Almost a solo piece by Scott to begin with, the rest of the musicians slowly and gentle creep in almost unnoticed until you realise that the song is playing out in a big style. For all of their U2 comparisons, this is the only song that seems to come close and that is mainly due to the way Scott sings it.

This is the album that set the band up for many successful years, it was the stepping stone to their two biggest albums, "This Is The Sea" and "Fisherman's Blues" that were to follow, it is also the album that seemed to forge their identity as a band.

"Come into my Parlour, Sail in at my shore,
Drink my soul dry; there is always more,
Now fly on my carpet, look into my face,
See the heart of man, in a pagan place"

Learn more about this author, Dave Franklin.
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