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Post your comments about Echo And The Bunnymen
(reviewed by Akis Katsman)
HIGH POINTS: Rescue, Villiers Terrace, Stars Are Stars, Monkeys, Crocodiles, Do It Clean, Pictures On My Wall. LOW POINTS: Going Up.
Crocodiles is the debut album by the Liverpool band Echo And The Bunnymen. In case youre confused, Echo was the name of their drum machine when they were only a trio (without the actual drummer). This groups singer and main songwriter is Ian McCulloch, who is one of the most significant personalities of the 80s along with Bono, Morrissey etc. although somewhat less famous than these. As for the music, its clearly influenced by pretty dark bands like The Doors and Joy Division, as well as from punk music. It also sounds like U2, but lets not forget that U2 came later, so they probably were inspired by The Bunnymen. This album is a set of some very strong songs, although there are some weaker ones as well, so by no means this is a perfect album. Ironically, the albums low point for me is the semi-atmospheric opener Going Up which does not have a strong hook like some others songs there, and the coda is somewhat pointless. But lets go to the good songs now. There are a couple of numbers very close to punk (Do It Clean, title track) as well as some others which are calmer and moodier. In fact, Do It Clean is a very energetic songs and the guitar tone is amazing. The title track has a great rhythm and it kicks ass.
The best song in the album though, is probably Rescue. Its a pure power pop song, but with desperate lyrics (things are wrong, things are going wrong and such). The guitar is very impressive here too, but the chorus is the real gem here. Its anthemic, but its not a bad thing at all, in fact I love to sing along with it! Stars Are Stars is another melancholic pop song, very resonating because of the clever lyrics again. The song Villiers Terrace is the only song here to feature a piano (along with Happy Death Men) and its so amazing. I love everything there, the piano, the verses, the chorus, the coda And all these in less than three minutes! And its so powerful, like a pure punk rock song! Ive heard its lyrically about Hitler or something like that, I dont know exactly. Read It In Books is next, and its a good song (its all about the lyrics there) although the instrumental break borrows heavily from Monkeys, another outstanding song there. Almost forgot to mention the atmospheric Pictures On My Wall. The chorus is very moody and strange-sounding for its time, to kill for. I think it was released as a single, along with Rescue. There are also some numbers which are okay but no so impressive (Pride and the last two songs), but overall this is a great album with a really unique atmosphere and its a good place to start with The Bunnymen (although it isnt their absolute best they were so good that they could do nothing but top it!). Do a favor to you and discover this band if you havent yet its a crime this band is so overshadowed by other popular bands like U2 and The Cure. I think Echo And The Bunnymen are not any less good than these bands, at least in their prime.
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