Echo & the Bunnymen: pride of the Merseyside
PS: I know Beatles fans won't like the title of this discussion, but hey, it's just some mockery before starting the real discussion. Doesn't matter which one is better anyway since this comes down to personal taste.
Anyways, it is injustice this band didn't have its own topic yet. The Bunnymen have been around since the late seventies (released Crocodiles in 1980 after a few out of print demo recordings) and have continuously improved and expanded their style.
Crocodiles was angst-ridden, you could almost hear the panic and rush in Ian McCulloch's vocals, and the record had a sort of "fast and dark" tempo.
Heaven Up Here was very dark, very sombre in terms of lyrics too. "All my colours", that's a very sad song.
On Porcupine they expanded to a slightly more radio friendly rock style, with hits such as The Back of Love and The Cutter as consequence. Still, experimenting was still there (just give the title track a listen) and the lyrics remained very in-depth and metaphoric, even in the more radio friendly songs.
Ocean Rain was a highlight. It sounded dark but tempting, romantic but with a hidden undertow. It sounded mysterious and yet appealing. The album is one big highlight, it grabs you from the first to the last second, the bombast of "Nocturnal me" is totally different than the experimental and somewhat odd "The Yo Yo Man", then "The Killing Moon" sounds romantic and mysterious yet with a dangerous undertow, before it builds up to a total climax with the hauntingly beautiful (lyrically and musically) "Ocean rain" (title track).
Maybe their only less renewing album was the titleless one that followed, although the non-album track "Bring on the dancing horses" was still fantastic. You can hear it in the tiny details. While singing "hating all the faking, shaking while I'm breaking your brittle heart" you can almost hear Ian's voice shake of emotion, while the final lines "Bring on the new messiah, wherever he may roam" has a real feeling of despair in it: where is the person to get me out of this mess, where can I find escape from all of this? The track goes a lot deeper than the accessible mainstream sound would make you think.
Evergreen must be one of the best ever comeback albums. "In my time", "Evergreen", "I'll fly tonight", "Just a touch away", "Too young to kneel", ... The highlights are numerous, and they sounded as if they never left. Often expectations are high when a band re-unites after a several years' break, but in this case the comeback album was a statement that the band was as strong as ever.
What Are You Going To Do With Your Life was very stripped down and acoustic, a drastic change from their previous sound.
On the final two albums the "classic" Bunnymen sound is back, maybe a bit more radio friendly than in the beginning but still there are top quality tracks on those albums.
Live they still rock too, even when chain smoking somewhat damaged Ian's vocal range. He can still hit the high notes if he wants to though, whenever they bring Ocean Rain live it's sending shivers down the spine. And his more raw vocals suit some tracks. The angst-ridden feeling of "With a hip" for example; now it sounds like a very heavy rock track with an angry Ian staking his claim.
Other than in music, few bands have managed to make such impressive photos for their album covers. The picture of Crocodiles shows the anxiety on Ian's face, it suits perfectly well with the album. A desolate beach for yourself alone, staring at the sea, what picture suits the title "Heaven up here" better? And the crystal clear water in the mysterious underwater cave represents the Ocean Rain sound very well: clean but below the surface there's some undertows, mysterious and somewhat dark but magical and pure at the same time.
To me they're still one of the best and most inspiring bands ever. Have seen them 9 times live now (or was it 10?) and they are still standing, even after all those years. They rarely disappoint. The Original line-up is gone, but with Ian and Will the creative core of the band is still present so I do think using the EATB name is justified. Also, while years are passing, they keep releasing quality albums. I know it is unlikely we'll have another highlight like Ocean Rain, but the new stuff is still very much worth listening to. Knowing the band has been around 35 years now, it's far from a given to keep on releasing good music.
I do think this band never really got the credits they deserved. They have the bad luck to be from a city dominated by Beatles memorabilia, and they had the bad luck to be somewhat overshadowed by the more poppy/radio friendly sound of other bands from that era (especially U2). But they've Always been around and they continued moving their own musical boundaries. I think more respect would be justified, it is quite frustrating to see the most pointless Beatles memorabilia in Liverpool shops, while you really have to dig in the basement of the shops to find the official Bunnymen biography. Liverpool is more than just The Beatles and it's about time this great band gets the respect they deserve. They contributed a lot to experimental music in the eighties, but other bands took the honour even when the Bunnymen influence was clear.
