The Waterboys

Scottish folk-rockers the Waterboys started out in the '80s as proponents of what came to be known (after the name of one of their songs) as "the big music", an anthemic, widescreen vision replete with earnest statements and grand-scale production. By the time of 1988's FISHERMAN'S BLUES, the Waterboys had rediscovered their Celtic folk roots and reinvented their sound accordingly. By the '90s, the band was rocking harder, but leader Mike Scott broke up the group after '93's DREAM HARDER and made a couple of quiet, acoustic records before reconvening the Waterboys at the start of the next decade.

• rock
• pop