Customer Reviews

Slideling

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ian McCulloch is the lead singer of Echo and The Bunnymen. They are one of the more successful groups in recent memory. His solo work hasn't received as much attention. This time he worked without Will Sergeant. About this record McCulloch says: "Heroes can be hard to find, but whoever we decide to put on a pedestal, we'll find the pedestal has three legs and one of them is a bit wobbly." McCulloch seems a lot more confident on this record. Songs about love and childhood dominate. In the song "Playgrounds and City Parks' McCulloch sings: "We played around til it went dark/in every breath another spark was dying/at bus stops we stood in line/like full stops at the end of time/where teardrops don't ever dry fro crying..." It's also a surprise that Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland of Coldplay contribute backing vocals and guitar on numerous songs. Echo and The Bunnymen in turn has been a massive influence on Coldplay all these years. McCulloch also wears his influences on his sleeve: Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, and Smokey Robinson. All of the songs are extremely melodic and dreamy. McCulloch has turned to the Liverpool streets for inspiration. There is some vague mysticism that he captured so well with The Bunnymen. Here he creates a palate to build on in the future.

(www.freewilliamsburg.com)

Im addicted to this disc. Im a veterinarian, and everyday that Im in surgery, I put this baby in and sing along. Kansas has to be the best song on the disc. I find myself waking up singing this song. You can't go wrong with it. If you're a Bunnymen fan, you'll love it.

This album is pure gold, in the tradition of Candleland and What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? The songs are finely crafted and varied in mood and style. McCullochs voice is in top form. This is honest, passionate, lovely work  an album to keep and to cherish.

i almost flipped out when i saw this new solo cd from Ian McCulloch! i fell deeply deeply in love with his Candleland album years ago. his smooth and smokey voice is amazing; and the album's beautiful and haunting pop melodies spoke to me in a dear way. his follow up record, Mysterio, saw him going in a more racious rocking approach, but it was also a good record. now with Slideling (horrible title, by the way), he seems to have come to find a good balance between both styles. the album opens with the frolicking romp of "Love In Veins" which has a bit of a Coldplay feel to it, but with a thicker, more beefy feel. the other standout tunes on here are the lovely title track, the sweet and tender "Playgrounds And City Parks", and the Velvet Underground throwback of "Baby Hold On." unfortunatly, the rest of the album gets lost in a bland generic singer songwriter fog...which is a shame because i like Ian. i'm glad there are a handful of really good songs on here; because despite the overall boring album, the bright spots on the map make it worth the trip. (on one more negative note-this cd has some outlandishly bad graphic design and layout...yuck! his last two solo cd's had a great simple feel...but this one is overdone and just plain ugly!)

Spirited and hopeful, never mawkish or preachy. The songs fit together, giving the disc grace and power.

Anyone who knows Echo and the Bunnymen will know that they have only gotten better over the years---principally because Ian McCulloch has made a great effort to stay honest in his song writing. They are often thought to have made a recent comeback, but anyone familiar with Electrafixion and McCulloch's solo albums will know that they never really went away. This new album is full of brilliant songs, superbly crafted melodies, and wonderful lyrics. For me the stand out track is 'She Sings (All My Life)', but really they are all good.

Unfortunately---and this came as a surprise---the sound of the album is little short of terrible. Try to listen to it loud and it is painful. It is as though it was made to be listened to only at radio volume. This is particularly odd, as previous E. and the B. albums have sounded incredibly good. Here, however, there are some awful harmonics that should have been filtered out---and weren't. His worse sounding album by a long way, but a great collection of songs.

4.5 stars

Of Echo's three cds since the reunion, I enjoyed WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE the most. The songs flowed together almost seemlessly, and the cd was very easy to take as a whole. This cd seems like a good companion piece to WAYGTDWYL.

This cd flows so seemlessly for songs and songs, you get lost until nearly the end of the cd. The songs shift into a slightly higher gear near the end of the cd, and the mood changes. Just great.

(Check out my list of Post-reunion Echo and the Bunnymen recordings.)

Mac proves once again that he can really deliver the goods. This a great, awesome album from start to finish with the same lyrical mysticism and poetry we've all come to know and loveSlideling 2. Highlights include the addictive "High Wires" and "Sliding" -- There's also a fabulous accoustic rendition of "sliding" on the Slideling Release Part II. Not a band song in the whole lot. Niiiiiiice.

keepin it simple. ian is a gifted songwriter. his lyrics of echoed years past were at times bizarre. his music timing and such complicated. he's done things i think totally unique to him most of his career and this record is something completely normal which is a huge stretch for ian. i love it. the songwriting and accompaniment is basic pure with like english american deep rooted themes. like crossing the beatles with johnny cash. this albumn reminds me it's way ok to keep it simple in music, just as long as its honest. his voice is a little raspier these days and quite simply good. this albumn frames his new voice perfectly and is the reason i will listen to it over and over.

This is one of the best solo efforts from Ian McCulloch to date. I like every song EXCEPT "Arthur". I just can't get into that track, but other than that I LOVE THIS ALBUM!

I often wonder why people always compare a band's music and sound to that of a solo effort from one of the artists of the group (I.E., Deborah Harry-vs-Blondie, Bjork-vs-The Sugarcubes, Ric Ocasek-vs-The Cars, etc.).
My reasoning is this. When an artist of a band releases solo projects, that's exactly what it's supposed to be--SOLO. Meaning this artist has no limitations as to their sound or style, whereas when they're in the band--all the band members collaborate to create the band's signature sound. Like one reviewer for this Ian McCulloch album who was looking for a track that sounded like Echo & The Bunnymen. If you want Echo & The Bummymen--Listen to their albums, not Ian's. A solo effort is supposed to be a "departure" from the signature sound fans are used to. Whether fans are willing and able to accept that fact and just enjoy a solo album is the question.