Ocean Rain
Echo & The Bunnymen
Producer: Echo & The Bunnymen
Rhino Records (USA), 2004
1 CD
Catalogue #: 2564611652
EAN: 0825646116522
UPC: 825646116522
You save: 20%
Echo & The Bunnymen: Ian McCulloch (vocals, guitar); Will Sergeant (guitar); Les Pattinson (bass); Pete De Freitas (drums).
Additional personnel: Adam Peters (cello, piano).
Recorded at Les Studio Des Dames, Paris, France and Amazon Studios, Liverpool, England. Originally released on Sire (25084). Includes
liner notes by Max Bell.
OCEAN RAIN was modestly described as "the greatest album ever made" during it's promotional campaign. While it doesn't quite live up to this rash claim, it remains Echo and the Bunnymen's most ambitious and cohesive '80s release--a stepping stone that really should have led the band to world-wide fame. This is where the band left any traces of post-punk shambling behind and reached for the stars.
The majestic mood of the album is heightened by the extravagant string arrangements that underpin Ian McCulloch's plaintive croon. On "The Killing Moon," one of the band's finest moments, the orchestra is deployed to spectacular effect. McCulloch gives the performance of his life, while the group's often overlooked guitarist Will Sergeant plays with imaginative dexterity. Things turn spookily psychedelic during "Thorn of Crowns," with its memorable refrain "c-c-c-cucumber, c-c-c-cabbage, c-c-c-cauliflower." It's hard to tell whether McCulloch is exorcising some inner demon or just trying to remember his shopping list. Somehow, in the context of the sparkling OCEAN RAIN, it doesn't really matter.
Tracklist
Echo & The Bunnymen
Along with Teardrop Explodes and Wah! Heat, Echo & the Bunnymen were part of the early-1980s Liverpool scene that was somewhat misleadingly dubbed "neo-psychedelic." While the Bunnymen bore elements of the Doors' dark, mysterious sound and decidedly abstract lyrics, punk played as much of a role in the development of the band's music as anything else. What marks their sound more than anything else, though, is a soaring, anthemic quality that can be quite affecting. After a lengthy hiatus, the band reunited in the early 2000s to tour and record.
