Pitchfork

Sometimes, spontaneous combustion produces great rock and roll music. Other times, slow-brewing the mix to get it just right does the trick. Pretty much anyone who's ever heard Fisherman's Blues by the Waterboys realizes it is a special record. Instanteously timeless, the 1988 release emerged from a set of epic recording sessions. Random facts: 303 days of studio time, 374 reels of tape, 41 musicians, 13 studios (in four countries!), 41 musicians, 159 (!) tracks recorded, 60 of which were mastered.

Now, thirteen long years later, Too Close to Heaven: The Unreleased Fisherman's Blues Sessions will be released in the U.K and Europe on September 24th. It features 10 songs from the sessions, which means there's still enough songs for several more compilations. A U.S. version should arrive sometime in 2002. Tracks:

01 On My Way to Heaven (Don't You Wanna Go?)
02 Higher in Time
03 The Ladder
04 Too Close to Heaven
05 Good Man Gone
06 Blues for Your Baby
07 Custer's Blues
08 A Home in the Meadow
09 Tenderfootin'
10 Lonesome Old Wind