The Best of The Waterboys 81–90

The Best of The Waterboys 81–90 is made up of 12 tracks which were personally selected by Mike Scott. The album, along with a re-issue of the single "The Whole of the Moon", was an attempt by Chrysalis Records to boost the band's record sales to match their reputation. A survey of album buyers carried out by the label found that 11% considered themselves fans of the Waterboys and only 1% actually owned any of their singles or albums. The re-release of "The Whole of the Moon" preceded the album and reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart.[4] From 22 April, a week before the compilation's release, Chrysalis launched a £100,000 marketing campaign which included press advertising and in-store displays, and this was followed by a £150,000 TV advertising campaign.[5][6]

Jason Guy, the head of marketing at Chrysalis, told Music Week in 1991, "The band have a great reputation and they've released five albums, but people don't know where to start. This compilation solves that problem."[5] The compilation's booklet was provided with images of the band's studio albums along with their track listings to encourage buyers to seek out the band's back catalogue based on the tracks they liked on the compilation.[6] The album was released on 29 April and reached No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart.[4] It was also a success in Europe, reaching No. 11 on the European Top 100 Albums chart.[7]

All tracks are written by Mike Scott, except where noted.