This Is the Sea

This Is the Sea
This Is the Sea
	Cover art by Lynn Goldsmith
Studio album by the Waterboys
Released	16 September 1985
Recorded	February – August 1985
Studio	Park Gates in Hastings; Livingstone, Seaview, the Chocolate Factory, RG Jones, Townhouse, and Good Earth in London;
Genre	Alternative rock; post-punk; art rock; folk rock;
Length	42:08
Label	Ensign; Island; Chrysalis;
Producer	Mike Scott; John Brand; Mick Glossop; Karl Wallinger;
The Waterboys chronology
Singles from This Is the Sea
	"The Whole of the Moon"; Released: 14 October 1985; "Don't Bang the Drum"; Released: December 1985; "Medicine Bow"; Released: April 1986;

This Is the Sea is the third studio album by the Waterboys, released on 16 September 1985 by Ensign Records. The last of their "Big Music" albums, it is considered by critics to be the finest album of the Waterboys' early rock-oriented sound,^[2] described as "epic" and "a defining moment".^[3] It peaked at number 37 in the UK Albums Chart. Steve Wickham makes his Waterboys recording debut playing violin on "The Pan Within" and subsequently joined the band. This Is the Sea is the last Waterboys album with contributions from Karl Wallinger, who left the group to form his own band, World Party.

The album was recorded between March and July 1985, and released that October. Mike Scott, the album's principal songwriter and leader of the Waterboys, describes This Is the Sea as "the record on which I achieved all my youthful musical ambitions",^[4] "the final, fully realised expression of the early Waterboys sound", influenced by The Velvet Underground, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, and Steve Reich.^[5]

This Is the Sea contains the best-selling Waterboys single, "The Whole of the Moon". The album cover is a photograph taken by Lynn Goldsmith.

A remastered and expanded version was released in 2004. A complete box set of studio recording sessions, demos and live recordings was released as 1985 in 2024, documenting the making of This Is the Sea.^[6]

^ Smith, Robin (14 September 1985). "News: Waterboys at sea". Record Mirror. p. 7.
^ "Allmusic review". Retrieved 22 October 2005.
^ Fitzsimmons, Mick. "Must Have Waterboys". BBC: Critical List. Archived from the original on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2005.
^ "Mike Scott, March 2003". Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2006.
^ Scott, Mike (2004). "Recording Notes". This Is the Sea. EMI. p. 5.
^ "The Waterboys / 1985". mikescottwaterboys.com. Retrieved 4 January 2024.

[1] Smith, Robin (14 September 1985). "News: Waterboys at sea". Record Mirror. p. 7.

[2] "Allmusic review". Retrieved 22 October 2005.

[bbc-3] Fitzsimmons, Mick. "Must Have Waterboys". BBC: Critical List. Archived from the original on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2005.

[4] "Mike Scott, March 2003". Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2006.

[recnotes-5] Scott, Mike (2004). "Recording Notes". This Is the Sea. EMI. p. 5.

[1985_Box_Set-6] "The Waterboys / 1985". mikescottwaterboys.com. Retrieved 4 January 2024.

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