Customer Reviews

Echo & Bunnymen

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

 

 

Fortunately (or not) this was my introduction to Echo and the Bunnymen fourteen years ago. I had been curious about them, and by the time I finally got around to checking them out, this was their latest release. It is an excellent album by any fair evaluation.

I quickly listened to their earlier albums as well, and I can see why some fans who had known that stuff first might have been a little disappointed by this one, because it is different and does seem to try to cater to more of a general "pop" audience. But without holding it too accountable to sound like earlier albums, it is an excellent one in its own right with some of the best pop songs ever written: "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo," "Lips Like Sugar," "Bombers Bay." There are a few bland tracks here and there, but there's not a truly unlistenable one to be found.

This 1987 album was considered to be the group's breakthrough in the U.S., but personally this is not their finest hour, although the album contains great tracks like "The Game" and "Lips Like Sugar". I liked the original versions of "Bedbugs And Ballyhoo" and "Over You" (a.k.a. "Ship Of Fools"). Ironically, this record led to their downfall. A year later, the group disbanded.

Echo & the Bunnymen are one of rock's great contributions. Fronted by Ian McCulloch, the Bunnymen deliver consistently excellent recordings, and this self-named 1987 release is no exception. The lyrics alternate between the surreal and delightfully depressing. Always, though, are they delivered in McCulloch's inimitable, heart-achingly earnest style. For the surreal, try: I dream of my days as a desert farmer, Living my life on the fat of the sand. Or for the delightfully depressing, try: All the ghosts have gathered round me, Come to tell me of a change. In the darkness that surrounds me, I am falling down again. And then there's the Bunnymen's music. It's endearingly complex; the songs sound fresh and new with repeated plays. Will Sergeant's guitar work, in particular, is outstanding. "Lips Like Sugar" is the best of the bunch, but all are good. Buy it, then buy their greatest hits collection, "Songs to Learn & Sing -- The Hits."

This, like all of the Bunnymen's albums, is quite good. In contrast to its predecessor, Ocean Rain, the arrangements here are fairly subdued, and Mac's singing is less overwrought. That does make the album feel less textured, and as a result less interesting, but there are some fine songs to be heard here. All in Your Mind is full of good old-fashioned angst (I pray, and nothing happens/Jesus, it's all in my mind), and has a killer tune to boot, as does the somewhat Doorsish Bedbugs and Ballyhoo. Lips like Sugar, Bombers Bay, and Blue Blue Ocean are also standouts. All in all, if you like the Bunnymen you should get this album.

Much more bland, and containing less of the band's identity, than their previous 4 albums or than any of the subsequent albums they put out under this name.

Which is not to say there is not some good music in here. "Lips Like Sugar" is an effective distillation of the band's floating psychedelia. "The Game" is a great song. Most of the rest of this is disposable stuff though. It took them years to slog through making this album ... it was quite a disappointment at the time to those of us who expected greatness from them.

If is funny how completely opposite my sentiments are from a few of the other reviewers. For me, this is the album where Echo & The Bunnymen really hit their stride. Their earlier works, while occasionally brilliant, lacked cohesiveness.

For me, this is Ian McCullooch's style really meshes with the rest of the Bunnymen. This is classic E&B at its best.

Despite production that makes every track sound like it's ready to be included in a John Hughes movie, this is still a great album. Every song is memorable; there is no filler. Lips Like Sugar, Bedbugs and Ballyhoo, and The Game are classic Echo & the Bunnymen singles. This was the first album I owned by the band--I bought the cassette in 1987 at age 11--so my opinion is arguably biased. Will Sergeant is one of the genre's best guitarists, and Ian McCulloch is one of my favorite vocalists. While this release isn't as original as Crocodiles or as ethereal as Ocean Rain, it is good enough to rank as the band's third best.

Don't overlook this 1987 album gem from the original members of the group before they broke up. There is not one lame song on this entire record and their signature sound of danceable neo psychedelic new wave still works here. Get all five of their eighties albums if you can, you won't be sorry.

Rudyard Kipling would be proud that one of his poems was alluded to in "Bombers Bay." This is an excellent album; it's no classic, but if you like any other Echo, you'll enjoy this most assuredly. More songs like "New Direction" would have lifted this cd in my book.

Sometime after recording Ocean Rain, these guys started to lose whatever it was they had for four amazing albums. The voice of the often-annoying Ian McCullough is there, but not the musical trademarks that made the earlier stuff astonishing; the bass lines in particular are gone, and the guitars and melodies lack the drama and intensity they formerly had. Sure, there are a couple of good songs, but overall the album doesn't work. It's sad and mysterious when the muse departs, but that's what apparently happened here.