The Waterboys - Book of Lightning

The current crop of Waterboys is nominally very different from the Raggle Taggle crew of their 1980s' zeniths. However, arguably the two most important and certainly most instantly recognisable elements remain constant: Mike Scott and the fiddler Steve Wickham, whose thumbprints were left all over the Fisherman's Blues and This Is The Sea albums.

Book of Lightning is their first release in seven years and as far as comebacks go, is in the most part welcome. It's been billed as a musical continuation from their aforementioned defining moments. This is a good album, but parallels are immediately there to be drawn, which is occasionally to the detriment of The Waterboys. One of the main draws to the band's earlier work was their perpetual romanticism. To try and engender that same spirit in earnest all these years later was always going to be a task. Upon listening to the LP, it's difficult to pinpoint where or indeed how exactly that is lost, but at times it simply seems to be the case.

Scott's lyrics vacillate between the sublime and the ridiculous. Examples of both are to be found on She Tried to Hold Me. Scott produces the couplet, the likes of which have recently been left to Colin Meloy of The Decemberists: 'In her powder blue pyjamas / me some flotsam in her dramas,' only to throw it away with the bemusing 'for she lingered like uranium / Like some demon in my cranium.' As cracks start to appear in Scott's lyrics ('Sinead O'Connor / Is the guest of honour') then it seems by default to be a less fluent release than we have previously seen. There are less stories here: anecdotes and accounts of past glories, whilst not completely missing, are not prevalent. It may make sense that after so long in the industry Scott takes a more introspective stance. Gone is the perceived ambition of yore. Sometimes it isn't replaced, leaving a void in parts. Other times the vacuum is filled with honest and fragile reflections. On the excellent Strange Arrangement he seems as young and confused as he did on the classic Strange Boat. 'I don't claim to understand it' he asserts, dumbfounded as ever. Similar sentiments are echoed on the deeply personal Sustain.

Musically, Book of Lightning is less sonically different. The melodies, for the most part are there, although in more sober fashion than before. The violin takes more of a backseat, dislodged by electric guitar licks more often than not. It is not until one of the poorer tracks on the album, Nobody's Baby Anymore, that it is given free reign over the composition, and then only too late to save it from sounding like a club singer's effort. The harmonious New Order-like Love Will Shoot You Down and Strange Arrangement are perhaps the two melodic highlights whilst lead single Everybody Takes a Tumble is welcomed as one of the more upbeat numbers. Rarely does Scott stretch his uniquely pitched vocal cords, his trademark wail traded for a more sneering manner on the first few tracks at least - which, whilst tuneful enough in itself, is not the best dispensation of his voice.

In a year that could well be dominated by bands on the comeback trail, Book of Lightning will not do the coffers of Mike Scott and The Waterboys much harm. It's an album which, despite being for the most part pleasing, is not wholly satisfying. Sure, this is no classic, and the billing as "the natural successor to Fisherman's Blues and This Is The Sea" won't help. Taken singularly, however, and it's a very enjoyable return. [Finbarr Bermingham]