Elly Roberts reviews
The Very Best Of Echo And The Bunnymen
Distributed by
Korova/WMTV
- Released: September 2006
- Rating: 6/10
Best of comp from Liverpudians Echo and the Bunnymen, with two non-chart singles from 2001-2006.
In all, the alternative –rock Scouse quartet scored 18 chart entries, none of
which were toppers. They came close with The Cutter and Nothing Lasts
Forever, both peaking at 8. Their albums sold well too, highest was 1983's
Porcupine.
Their trademark fusion of gloomy post-punk neo-psychadelia influenced by the
Doors (here they cover People Are Strange to prove it), they turned
into a cult band.
Led by ‘Mac The Mouth’ Ian McCulloch, their moody atmospheric music combined
punk’s effusiveness with the Doors’ poetic theatricality which set them apart
from their contemporaries in the UK, but fell short of repeating their
home-grown success in Europe and USA. Nevertheless, their influence is
significant, with bands like Suede and Coldplay giving them a nod.
Echo…was formed after Mac was booted out of an early incarnation of Teardrop
Explodes. Originally a trio with bassist Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson
guitar, backed by Echo, a drum machine, only to be dropped for human drummer
Pete De Freitas. So the line up was complete for their cavalier attitude to the
music scene.
Laid in non-chronological order, we get all the singles that charted up to
2001, and two others, this is a bumper collection for those who, like me,
welcomed the end of punk, and a new dawn of music into the '80s. Taking three
years to get to the Top Ten, their early hits were bass heavy rip-roarers.
It took four years for the change: a more mature sound, with the arrival of
the more subtle and expansive The Killing Moon, a genuine classic
alt-pop song. The equally impressive Silver fared less well and
successive singles Seven Seas to People Are Strange kept them
out of the Top 20 until a reunion in 1997 and Nothing Lasts Forever,
that brought a new generation of fans.
The full list of tracks included are :
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.