Customer Reviews

Ballyhoo

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Echo and the Bunnymen. Better than the Smiths, the Cure, Depeche Mode, REM, etc. although all of those bands are great too. A great rythm section, one of the most inventive guitarists of the era, and arguably the genre's greatest frontman, perhaps one of rock's greatest. "The Killing Moon" is one of the best songs of the 1980s, up there with "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Just Like Honey" in the alternative/indie canon. This is a great collection of songs from the band's first five albums. It fails to include "The Puppet" which is on the "Songs to Learn and Sing" compilation, but it adds "Villiers Terrace, All That Jazz, Over the Wall, The Disease, People Are Strange, The Game, Lips Like Sugar," and "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo," making it the superior collection. Buy it.

This import collection is far superior to their other "Songs To Learn And Sing" disc. It reminds me of how much better the Police import "Greatest Hits" is than the "Classics" album. "Ballyhoo" is 18 tracks, and includes songs like "Over The Wall", "The Game", and the cover of "People Are Strange" that the other collection missed. Plus it has "Lips Like Sugar", which I think is one of the best alternative songs of the 80's. If you hesitate to get this because of the price, I bought it used through Amazon for less than half that amount, and in perfect condition. A must for fans of The Cure, Smiths, etc.

The Ballyhoo collection was the first major effort to really improve and re-master some the Bunnymen's prior recordings. (Since then, there has been a Box Set and the first five albums have been re-mastered and re-released with bonus tracks.)

As a die hard fan,I would recommend this collecion to the uninitiated as well as the devoted follower. (Also, the Anton Corbin cover shot of the band is worth the increased import price in itself!)

I first heard "killing moon" in the movie "Donnie Darko" and I investigated a bit and found it and many other great tracks, by a precursor to bands like the flaming lips... Some songs remind me of coldplay. (I mean no insult, i'm a Canadian teenager who knows no better.) Anyway... good compilation to get you hooked before digging deeper. Get it and enjoy...

A great band with an awful name. The material is worth a full 5 stars but we've kinda "been there done that" with their previous "best of" collection: Songs to Learn and Sing. Ballyhoo should have been a double CD collection to include missing tracks like "Puppet" and "Ocean Rain", not to mention some of their better remixes like "The Cutter". And Nick Hull needn't apologize for comparing them to Coldplay. Chris Martin is a self-admitted fan of Echo, and it definitely shows in Coldplay's second album. (Coldplay's b-side "Crests of Waves" is lyrically a sequel to Echo's "Ocean Rain" and stylistically classic Bunneymen). And let's not forget Coldplay's cover of "Lips Like Sugar".

Don't know too much about that band but I used to listen a lot when I was a teenager.

His crooner voice is so awsome and music is cool (kind of gothic rock mixed with punk). Check out my favorites "Over the wall", "Killing moon" for the awsome voice or "Lips like Sugar".

This is an okay intro into Echo & The Bunnymen but you should save up and buy every album they ever released. If you like ONE song that they ever recorded you'll come to realise that their whole back-catalogue is indespensible! These worthy Liverpulians are well worth the investment of your time and money. Go the whole hog then learn and sing!

Simon (XUK)

Of course, being a long time fan, there are songs that I love that aren't on this (maybe just "Heads Will Roll"), but hey, once a newcomer (or, like my sister, the one who got me into them but then left cool music altogether) listens to this, they should fall in love with it. And a fan can say, "Yup, this sure is the best...but it sure isn't everything!" If you or someone you get this for absolutely loves it (which you/they damn well should!), the next step is the album "Ocean Rain." After that, "Crocodiles" (the first album) and "What Are You Going to Do With Your Life." (from the comback era). Of course, at this point you totally get it and should get either/or: (a) Crystal Days (the box set) OR (b) All the original remastered albums (that you didn't already get). Anyhoo, to anyone on the planet Earth, at least get this...for the love of God!