In 1988 the folk album by The Waterboys, the band around Scottish singer-songwriter Mike Scott, was released. It was the fourth album by the successful guitar band that, like and known for the 'grand gesture' and the drama in the music. On Fisherman's Blues, keyboard player left to form the pop band and Mike Scott was joined by traditional Irish musicians such as saxophonist and fiddle player
… . Too Close To Heaven features material from that period in their studio Spiddal House in Galway in the west of Ireland. When Scott picked out the boxes of old demos last year, he selected a dozen recordings that have now been released as 'the unreleased sessions'. Listening to the album, it still carries unmistakable traces of the period around This Is The Sea, probably one of the reasons why these tracks did not end up on Fisherman's Blues - a real folk album. The other reason will be that the tracks are less interesting and rougher than the songs on . This makes Too Close To Heaven an atmospheric album with folk pop that is beautiful but not essential for the lover of the Waterboys oeuvre. (BP)more
