Track Listing

1. Church not made with hands
2. All the things she gave me (unedited)
3. The thrill is gone (unedited)
4. Rags
5. Some of my best friends are trains (never included on this album before)
6. Somebody might wave back
7. The big music
8. Red Army blues
9. A pagan place
10. The late train to Heaven (Rockfield mix)
11. Love that kills (instrumental)
12. The madness is here again
13. Cathy
14. Down through the dark streets

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44887 in Music
• Released on: 2002-03-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

My favourite Waterboys album now much improved.
Building on the sound of the first album, A Pagan Place was released as the Waterboys began to really get known. Name dropped by U2, people started to take notice and this was the first real introduction of the Waterboys to many.

Mike Scotts vision of the Big Music was growing and as the track of the same name demonstrated was unlike anything else around at the time.

As a remaster this album was always going to get better and I can rest my old vinyl and poor quality CDs to rest. I remember buying this in 1984 and never forget the first feeling of the first song, A Church Not Made With Hands. How uplifting can a song br. You wont find better as this song charges along with the brass finding a higher plane in the background. Next up is All The Things She Gave Me now in its complete breathtaking entirety. Just listen to the astounding lyrics and be amazed. Other highlights are Rags which pounds the listener with its dark undertones. Side 2 is unstoppable with Red Army Blues and my favourite track, the title song with shimmering 12 string guitars and swooning brass. Never bettered in my book.

The additional tracks are good but might not have worked on the original album. Saying that other songwriters would kill for songs like this, such is the strength of Scotts songwriting.

You need to buy this!!

One of the greatest ever albums just got even better!!
I originally bought "Pagan Place" in 1985 and have always rated it as one of my all time favourite albums by a band at the peak of their creativity. Now it comes with additional material all of which is up to the quality of the original album. The standout additional track is "Some of my best friends are trains" which was destined for the original album but left off at the last moment - why oh why!!! If you like the Big Music of Mike Scott and already own this album then buy it again because the additional tracks are worth the extra cost.

Kept the 80's alive
I have been buying and listening to music from the early 70's until now (although I think the 'Pop Idol' approach by record companies is the death knell of recorded music), and there are only a few albums that I simply cannot get tired of or find anything to complain about - this is one of them.

Aside from the first couple of years and the last year, I always thought that the 80's was one of the worst ever periods for music in general, but the Waterboys were one of the bands that kept my spirit up during this period. To me this album was the zenith of their recording career, and contains the best songs that they wrote.

The best way to open an album is to put a real show-stopper at the start, and that's exactly what 'Church Not Made With Hands' is. From then on it's a roller coaster ride from big brassy productions to more laid back tracks like 'The Thrill is Gone', in which the fiddle draws you in, or the melancholy saxophone of 'Red Army Blues', a narrative with an eminently listenable story based on true events.

Every song is a winner here, and unlike most expanded versions of CD's, the additional tracks are actually very good.