Room to Roam is the fifth studio album by the Waterboys, released by Ensign Records in September 1990 in the United Kingdom.
It continued the folk rock sound of 1988's Fisherman's Blues, but was less of a commercial success, reaching #180 on the Billboard Top 200 after its release there in October 1990.
The front and back covers were designed by Simon Fowler based upon photography by Stefano Giovannini and Sean Jackson.
Fiddler Steve Wickham, who had been a large inspiration for the change to that sound for Fisherman's Blues, left the band shortly before Room to Roam was released.
Room to Roam was remastered in 2008 and released with a bonus disc of additional tracks from the original sessions.
The 6CD set (5 CDs and 1 DVD) were issued as The Magnificent Seven - The Waterboys Fisherman's Blues/Room to Roam Band 1989-90 in late 2021.
"[8] In a 1993 interview with the same magazine, Scott continued to defend the album, commenting, "Of all my records, if I put it on I have to listen to the whole thing all the way through.
"Islandman" anthropomorphises Great Britain and Ireland as the speaker describes locations from these places as parts of the (human) body.
"The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" is a traditional folk ballad, which, according to Nick Tosches, tells the story of a true 17th-century love affair.
[5] The song's appearance on Room to Roam popularized it, and it has since been recorded by other Irish-folk musicians, as well as by Carlos Núñez on Os Amores Libres in 1999 with Scott.
The lyrics for "Room to Roam" are found in the books Lilith and Phantastes by the Scottish fantasist George MacDonald.