For over twenty years The Waterboys have been a testament to Mike Scott's extraordinary vision and his fearless love of musical exploration.With songs ranking as some of the most imaginative and distinctive of the past quarter century, The Waterboys have scored the dreams and aspirations of generations of music listeners. Now with [title]Book Of Lightning[/title], The Waterboys have created a natural successor to their classics This Is The Sea and Fisherman's Blues and 2000's acclaimed comeback, A Rock In The Weary Land--an album containing elements of those powerful works, but also taking us into thrilling new territory; an album as literate and compelling as anything in The Waterboys' catalog to date. As the opening bars of `The Crash of Angel Wings' thunder out, we know that Book Of Lightning is going to be a new, unpredictable installment in The Waterboys' story. Book Of Lightning was recorded in London in Fall 2006 and was produced by Mike Scott and Philip Tennant, who previously worked with The Waterboys on Fisherman's Blues.The album features electric fiddler Steve Wickham, whose involvement in the band dates back to 1985. Mike Scott is also joined by regular Waterboys' keyboardist Richard Naiff, Louisiana-born drummer Brady Blade, top London drummer Jeremy Stacey, bassman Mark Smith, hot young guitar stylist Leo Abrahams and long-time Waterboys alumni Roddy Lorimer (trumpet), Thighpaulsandra (keyboards) and Chris Bruce (electric guitar). In addition,"Sustain" was recorded in Vancouver with members of Canadian art-rockers Great Aunt Ida. By turns savage, beautiful, haunting and bitingly humorous, Book Of Lightning is brilliantly bound together by Scott's lyrical talents, which have taken on even more maturity and confidence.The consistent presence of weather and nature throughout the lyrics and sound of Book Of Lightning acts as a masterful unifying stroke, drawing us into a world that could only be created by Mike Scott at that moment in time--a world that is a mirror of Scott's self-awareness, his understanding of nature of love, and his observance of the destructive effects of the glamour of power.

1. The Crash Of Angel Wings 4:02
2. Love Will Shoot You Down 4:34
3. Nobody's Baby Anymore 4:43
4. Strange Arrangement 3:32
5. She Tried To Hold Me 7:17
6. It's Gonna Rain 3:03
7. Sustain 3:21
8. You In The Sky 4:38
9. Everybody Takes A Tumble 7:05
10. The Man With The Wind At His Heels 3:03

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TITOT6/?tag=imwan-20

Here's the original European press release:

The Waterboys Ride Lightning With New Studio Album

Irish folk-rock band The Waterboys will issue their new Book Of Lightning album on April 2 in Europe through Universal Records, though no North American release date has been confirmed yet.

According to the band's website, the 10-track album was produced by lead singer and band founder Mike Scott along with Philip Tennant. It was primarily recorded in London.

The album will be preceded by the first single, "Everybody Takes A Tumble." The LP features songs such as "The Crash Of Angel Wings" and "Everybody Takes A Tumble," which the group have included in live performances in recent years. Also included is "You In The Sky," a new version of the track that appeared on the remastered version of the group's Fisherman's Blues album last year. One of the songs on Book Of Lightning was recorded in Vancouver with members of Great Aunt Ida.

Scott describes the album as "a beauty" and says that it will come with a short story in the CD booklet as well as "a psychedelic sleeve." The band will mount an extensive European tour that starts in early March and wraps up in late May. The Waterboys released their last two studio albums, Universal Hall and Karma To Burn, on their own Puck Records label.

Scott says he spent some time earlier this month editing his band's entries on the Wikipedia website to correct factual errors. But the effort was in vain.

"It transpires that, naively enough, I hadn't put source references for my factual changes — no references to the interview where Mike Scott had confirmed this or that, or a note of where quotes came from (I stuck some in to clarify misconceptions, feeling entitled to do so, because I am definitely me)," Scott wrote on the band's MySpace page.