Disco de The Waterboys: “Universal Hall”

Mike Scott has always seemed to follow his heart as opposed to the pocketbook in his musical releases. The guy can rock and play with the best of them...and he can really deliver on the low key. Never predictable, always literate and without being "fake" or "hyped". I like the CD and the more I listen it simply grabs you...not a knock over the head. Mike Scott and his Waterboys will always be relevant.

This is certainly one of the Waterboys' most mellow, low-key releases. I like the hard-rocking stuff too, but Mike Scott always goes back and forth between harder and softer music, so I just enjoy each release.

What I always like about Mike Scott is that each release is subtly different, but he never loses that indefinable "something" that's been there since the first album. And, especially in this era of angst-ridden artists focusing on the darker emotions, it's refreshing to have someone like Scott show us that positive, warm emotions and spirituality can be just as weighty and artistically viable. Although the music is very different, I would compare him to Bob Marley for his ability to create simple, uplifting, warm music without getting soft and sappy.

What I would add about this CD is just what a consumate song craftsman Mike Scott is. I'm a songwriter myself, and it takes a LOT of skill to write songs that are this relatively simple, and still give them so much weight and depth. The phrasing, melodies, the choice of words and instruments---flawless and without any excess. I think he's one of the most underrated artists out there today.

The Waterboys last cd, "Rock In A Weary Land" was a grand and majestic masterpiece, fully produced and artfully performed. Though "Universal Hall" has more stripped to the elements production, it proves that a whisper can be just as powerful as a scream. The thing that has always made Mike Scott an extraordinary songwriter is his passionate fearlessness, and it is fully evident here as always. It takes a lot of courage to write about faith, joy, peace and love without sentimentality. Yet, this is not a man who proclaims to have all the answers, or live in a world without angst. Like all great artists, he is a mass of contradiction. Naive yet wise.........optimistic yet real.....a poet without pretense is a rare thing. These subjects could easily merge into new age miasma if handled by a lesser hand, but the sincerity and artistry at work on "Universal Hall" is a revelation.

... this cd helps light the way. If you follow Mike Scott into his love of CS Lewis, Eileen Caddy, and the spritual journey ("Been a long way to the Light" as he sang on a previous album," this CD makes perfect sense. Many of the songs are mantras/meditations accompanied by ethereal fiddle playing which, along with the words, lift the listener who is open to epiphany. As for the "oooeeooo" which seemed to bother reviewer Jim so much, I believe this is an example of using sound (as in "OM," to produce spiritual and physical efeects in the singer and listener. Having read numerous books on the subject of the healing power of music, I have to say this is the most uplifting, comforting, invigorating cd in my collection. I love a Waterboys rock-out as much as the next fan, but this collection of songs is extra special. Not music to dance to, so much as music to connect to God with. Definately not for those who eschew the spiritual side of music, but an absolute treat for those of us who do. Mike Scott has been far truer to his religious muse than Dylan or Van Morrison, who after a brief burst of spiritual creativity seem to have returned to other, more secular interests. Also, while Morriosn and Dylan spent a couple years playing only the new spiritual material, Mike Scott has mixed the new with the old in his live shows. Following a UNIVERSAL HALL song with "The Pan WIthin" or "I Know She's in the Building" show that Mike Scott hasn't abandoned his past work, only added to it, and that he sees that the scared and the physically passionate are not mutually exclusive.

For fans of the Big Music and The Little Music, this album is for you! This is possibly the best Waterboys album since Fisherman's Blues and also Mike's most spirtual/personal. There is not a bad song on this disc.