'This Is the Sea' was released in 1985, and is the last of their 'Big Music' albums, with the band going back to their folk roots for their next release. Considered by critics to be the finest album of their early rock-oriented sound, it was the first Waterboys album to enter the UK charts, peaking at number 37. Steve Wickham made his Waterboys recording debut playing violin on 'The Pan Within' and subsequently joined the band, although this would be the last appearance of Karl Wallinger, who left the group after the album was released to form his own band, World Party. It was one of Scott's personal favourites, describing it as "the record on which I achieved all my youthful musical ambitions, the final, fully realised expression of the early Waterboys sound". After completing the album, Scott felt that he'd finished with that kind of music, achieving whatever it was he was trying to achieve, and didn't need to do it anymore, resulting in the complete change of direction for 'Fisherman's Blues'. As with all the band's previous records, much more material was recorded than was needed, and so we can make up yet another album just from the out-takes and the extended version of one of their b-sides, none of which deserved to be consigned to the vaults at the time.
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