The Waterboys
Life, Death And Dennis Hopper
Release Date: Apr 4, 2025
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Sun Records
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Album Review: Life, Death And Dennis Hopper by The Waterboys
Fairly Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 7.5/10
Rock and roll experimentalist operation The Waterboys--brainchild of Scottish multi-instrumentalist and sole consistent member Mike Scott--have outdone themselves with the beautifully bizarre Life, Death and Dennis Hopper, a sprawling '60s fantasia celebrating the life and work of the oft-misunderstood countercultural icon and infamous movieland madman. The album, a fragmentary psycho-pop opera, is abuzz with tongue-in-cheek pseudo-beatnik babble and infectious hooks, Scott paying devoted homage to Hopper and his legendarily iconoclastic artistic spirit. For fans of the notorious Easy Rider and Last Movie director, whose dramatic decade-by-decade rebirths coincided with each major era of modern Hollywood, from its late Golden Age of the '50s to the countercultural explosion in the '60s, the New Hollywood movement of the '70s, and the Reagan Revolution of the '80s.
Based on rating 2.5
Mike Scott has made a 25-track album covering the cult actor’s life, and there’s even a song for each of his five wives. You may want to keep his Wiki open Mike Scott of The Waterboys has always been the most eclectic of musicians. In his career spanning over 40 years, he’s been an instrumental figure in popularising ‘The Big Music’, an uplifting, anthemic type of rock that resulted in the classic The Whole Of The Moon, and he’s also dabbled in raggle-taggle folk, soul-blues and even set the poems of WB Yeats to music.
Opinion: Very Good
Mike Scott's Waterboys have been a mainstay on the UK music scene since their debut album in 1983 with hits including ‘The Whole of The Moon’ and ‘Fisherman's Blues’ and a string of highly successful albums. The group returns with their 16th album ‘Life, Death and Dennis Hopper’ an intriguing concept album, as the title suggests built around the life, career and mythos surrounding iconic American actor Dennis Hopper. This is a collaborative affair assembling a crew of marquee guest stars in the shape of Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen and Fiona Apple.
'Life, Death And Dennis Hopper'
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