With ice caps melting and folkloric Mumford pop on the rise, volume two of this maritime music project – produced partly by pirate-booster Johnny Depp and fantasy-band builder Hal Willner – is even more timely than the first. The mood varies wildly: Beth Orton incants lonely blues ("River Come Down"), Iggy Pop fends off butt bandits ("Asshole Rules the Navy"), Frank Zappa gets jazzy (a late-Sixties "Handsome Cabin Boy"). Michael Stipe sounds great with pal Courtney Love on "Rio Grande," and Tom Waits wrings boozy pathos from "Shenandoah," which features Keith Richards on guitar. Yes, there are duds among these 36 tracks. But they pass the time. Boat trips can be really fucking long.

“More Than a Feeling”

Boston mastermind Tom Scholz was as surprised by anyone when he sent his unsolicited demo to record labels and got back a positive response. Scholz said, “I couldn’t believe it. Nobody knew who we were, so I wouldn’t even say we were struggling. It was groveling.” Part of the credit for the interest must go to the anthemic rock number "More Than a Feeling." Inspired by the Left Banke's 1966 hit "Walk Away Renee," Scholz worked on the song for five years in his basement studio before it was released on this album.