Let's Rank All The Echo And The Bunnymen Albums
I always say Echo and the Bunnymen are the second best band from Liverpool - no shame in taking a back seat to the Beatles. But what a band and what a history! I’ve had the good fortune to see them LIVE twice and another time as Electrafixion. Ian McCulloch is one of the all time great frontmen and I’ve been a huge fan for about 36 years… They’ve released 11 albums that I’m considering for this ranking - there was an album made without Ian that I admittedly never bought or listened to. The single wasn’t bad but this is a band that wasn’t meant to be without Ian - and that’s not meant as a slight to the other members - Will Sergeant is a monster of a guitarist in particular and Les Pattinson was no slouch on bass along with the late great Pete de Freitas on drums. I also didn’t include the aforementioned Electrafixion (which might as well be an Echo & The Bunnymen album since it’s a project with both Ian & Will & they are the only two original members on the last 5 albums anyway…) LP Burned which is really fantastic. No collections or live albums either. Having said all that let’s get to it!
See all Echo and the Bunnymen artwork at www.bunnymen.com
11. Meteorites (2014) Okay - controversy right off the bat I’m sure. And let’s get this out of the way - there is not a single bad album on this list. Not a one. I feel like for me this album may have unfairly suffered from my expectations based on the marketing / reviews that hailed this as some major return to form. It plays well and there are a couple of fantastic songs with Market Town being the epic highlight for me. But for whatever reason the album as a whole never totally caught fire with me - relatively speaking. I still like it.
10. The Fountain (2009) Also missing just a little something for me. Thing is, unlike Meteorites this LP is shot out of a cannon with the opener Think I Need It Too - a classic Bunnymen “anthem” if you will… but that’s the best song on the album. That’s not to say the rest of the album isn’t good - it is. It sounds a little like the album that proceeded it entitled Siberia but I just think Siberia’s songs are slightly stronger.
9. What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? (1999) I LOVE this album. The only reason it’s not higher on this list is because I recognize it’s not a true band effort. It’s the first album without Les Pattinson (he is credited on one track) and Will Sergeant wasn’t thrilled with it at all. Ian takes the reins here and it seems like more of a mellow Ian McCulloch solo album - heck he’s the only one on the front cover which was a first. Yet I have it ahead of Meteorites and The Fountain because I think it’s just so damn gorgeous. There’s literally only one uptempo song on the album - the rest are all ballads. One of the great things about this band is that there’s always been a bit of mystique, some goth, some post-punk energy, some Doors channeling - lots of different styles covered, but they’ve always used whimsy to create some beauty too. Harps, pizzicato strings and the like. This takes the beauty to the limit with glorious results incorporating lush orchestral arrangements to do it. The opening title track, Rust, Get In The Car, Baby Rain, Fools Like Us - all incredible.
8. Evergreen (1997) The reunion album (minus Pete de Freitas who tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 1989). This began the (official) second life of the band after being broken up for a decade if you don’t count Electrafixion, and it hits all the marks. It sounds like the band deliberately made an album that showcased all the weapons in their arsenal and it all works. Even the album cover harkens back to the debut and the early full band covers in a scene of some sort - like the debut this one finds the band amongst the trees at night, but this time it’s palm trees… I saw them play Nothing Lasts Forever on the Electrafixion tour (did I mention I met Ian & Will at that gig? I talked to Will for a bit - really nice guy) and I was blown away by it so I was pretty happy to see it appear on the Evergreen album. Don’t Let It Get You Down is a perfect opener and there’s not a dud on the album. Nothing I’d put in the top 10 Bunnymen classics per se individually, but as a set it’s fantastic.
7. Siberia (2005) The 4th straight fantastic Mach II Bunnymen LP and this one brings back a little more menace that they hadn’t shown in some time with Scissors In The Sand - this song just flat out kicks ass and would have fit in nicely on Crocodiles or Heaven Up Here. Parthenon Drive is another highlight with Will Sergeant really driving this one - fantastic guitar work throughout. Of A Life, Make Us Blind, Sideways Eight, In The Margins - all quality tunes.
6. Ocean Rain (1984) I might get slaughtered for this because I feel there are many who consider this to be their finest hour. I don’t quite see it. Now it has some classics on it - yes. The Killing Moon with all its mystery and darkness is in the conversation for their greatest song. I believe Ian McCulloch considers it to be and it really is incredible. Personally I might have Bring On The Dancing Horses at #1 which isn’t on an album, and Silver is one of my favorite Bunnymen songs as well and could be my pick too - a perfect opener for this album. My “problem” if you can call it that - keep in mind at this point in the ranking we’re talking about mostly masterpieces or at least damn close - is that Nocturnal Me & Yo Yo Man are both a little weird. I mean I like both of them a lot but as the 2nd & 4th tracks they make for a slightly uneven listen. I like the title track for the closer a lot - but again, not one of my all timers. Thorn Of Crowns I’ve always been fascinated with - reminds me of Not To Touch The Earth by The Doors in the way it stops, starts, builds…Ian as the shaman. Seven Seas is also beautiful - a Bunnymen classic with Ian intentionally cracking his voice for effect which is just genius - one of his best performances really.
5. Porcupine (1983) Yep I’m partial to Porcupine over Ocean Rain. Maybe it’s because I’m always so drawn to transitional albums - this one does seem to have some elements of the early stuff coming out of the dark masterpiece Heaven Up Here while not fully embracing the lush beauty of Ocean Rain yet. That’s probably an oversimplification but it’s probably why I have it in this slot. Will Sergeant is the star here with the guitar work on songs like Ripeness & The Back Of Love while Les Pattinson steals the show with the amazing stuttering bass line in My White Devil. Ian lets loose with the vocal hysterics that were a real signature of his in the early days before his voice deepened to a crooning rasp on the later albums on the tracks The Cutter and Clay. I’m also a huge fan of Gods Will Be Gods - that might be the real sleeper here and the closer In Bluer Skies has the coolest groove and off kilter guitar riff.
4. Echo & The Bunnymen (1987) This album enjoyed some commercial success especially with Lips Like Sugar which I really loved before it was released as the second single. I will admit that this album benefits from some nostalgia in being ranked this high. I became a fan with Songs To Learn And Sing - the best of collection that was released in 1986 and this was the first new studio album that I was on board for at the time it was released. It came out the summer before my senior year in high school and I have memories of listening to it at the beach at Cass Lake and just that whole summer in general. This album will always mean a lot to me. I saw them for the first time on August 15th that year at Pine Knob with New Order and Gene Loves Jezebel (what a setlist too!) which looking back at the calendar literally must have been two days before double sessions started for my senior football season. Those were incredible times… The album doesn’t have a ton of “edge” but it really sounds beautiful in many spots, and even if the uptempo jams feel slightly obligatory they still work for me. All In Your Mind, New Direction and Satellite are all still great songs in my opinion. As for the rest, The Game and Over You is a perfectly pretty opening 1-2 punch, and the memories hit hard for me on these. Bedbugs and Ballyhoo is a great tribute to The Doors with Ray Manzarek himself providing a perfect keyboard solo as only he could. The Ocean Rain album is where they started the trend of closing albums with a ballad and All My Life on this one is one of the best. I love every song on this album and I won’t apologize for it! Bombers Bay, Lost and Found, Blue Blue Ocean - all great.
3. Flowers (2001) Potentially a controversial pick - I get that. But Flowers is just such a strong set of songs - it’s the best of the Mach II Bunnymen albums and much of it is mid-tempo. It’s like they took what was good about What Are You Gonna Do With Your Life and built on it with bigger contributions from Will Sergeant for a near-perfect mature effort. I love the pace of the album too - the fact that the two uptempo tracks don’t come until tracks 8 and 10 out of 11 - for some reason that just gives it such a strong finish. The cover is fascinating… here’s the link to the original photo from the Wisconsin Historical Society circa 1898 by Charles Van Schaick which appeared in the book Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy. A cult classic study of photos and news clippings of a small town that went mad… Beauty on the surface, darkness beneath. To me the guys just sound really inspired here - the material is so strong from the slinky opener King Of Kings to the gorgeous closer Burn For Me. Buried Alive is amazing with Will’s guitar counterpoint to Ian’s vocals in the verses with the dark lyrics - a song that deserves a higher status, and it’s followed by the equally incredible and slightly-spooky title track. Other highlights include - well everything - just get this one. Everybody Knows and An Eternity Turns are two of the best if not THE best uptempo tunes from EATB Mach II. Hide and Seek is a slow burn with a heavy riff that you don’t expect to hit you over the head when the bridge comes that leads into the chorus - this one sounds like it would have fit just fine on the Electrafixion album. I can’t say enough about this album. For anyone who just assumes the band wasn’t making vital records the second time around this one in particular blows that out of the water in my opinion.
2. Crocodiles (1980) Going back (Going up?) to the beginning for the first two and best EATB albums. To me the first album is who this band is at the core. That’s not to say all the beauty that comes later isn’t a key part of their story and their essence, but this is the heartbeat that you’re always looking for underneath that really represents these guys. The energy is high, the songs are incredible and the performances are kick ass. Going Up is a perfect opener to the band as a whole - I just love the way it fades in as they get closer and closer and then unleash - and who yells “Let’s Get The Hell Out Of HEEEERRREEEEE” on the opener? We just got here! And yet it’s a great call to action to shake off the doldrums because Echo & The Bunnymen have arrived. From there they go into the punk energy of Do It Clean - perhaps a drug reference complete with some awesome nonsense lyrics! Stars Are Stars pulls the energy back a bit and creates a mood that points towards some of the darkness they would explore more thoroughly on the next album and in songs like The Killing Moon - same thing with Pictures On My Wall. Once again not a dud in the batch here - Pride and Monkeys are both fine songs and then a couple more monstrous tracks hit with the manic title track and Rescue with its off kilter tempo and vocal delivery from Ian. Rescue kicks off side two and is also the lead track on the Songs To Learn And Sing collection so it feels like an introduction really - Ian inviting us to come on down to his rescue - a song that captures the angst and confusion asking “Is this the blues I’m singing?” Villiers Terrace seems to be about a place where people are “mixing up the medicine” and tripping…? Read It In Books seems to be questioning the concept of love before finishing with a flourish with the energetic All That Jazz and Happy Death Men. A smashing debut.
1. Heaven Up Here (1981) Their goth masterpiece. Ranked #463 on Rolling Stone’s 500 best albums of all time in 2012 and the only album they ever made quite like it. It’s dark, and it rocks, and it’s beautiful (in a very dark way). I was poking around the web and found this article celebrating the 40th birthday of this album last year and it’s a fantastic read that really captures why this album is so great with plenty of humor and context. The bleak lyrics of The Disease (“My life’s the disease”), the tribal rhythms of All My Colours (aka Zimbo), the menace of the opener Show Of Strength - especially the second part of the song….it just sounds EVIL. The album is a mood - you go to a place for this one - a dark place but in a way you feel connected to which to me represents the best of the goth vibe. The angular noisy guitar solo of No Dark Things with Ian’s vocals buried a bit with echo in the mix to great effect. Oh man…just so much to discuss here. The closest thing to a commercial song here is A Promise, but it doesn’t suffer for it at all and still belongs firmly on this album with an incredible guitar hook and the two word title chorus - really the hook is the chorus here. The loose but steady build of Turquoise Days with that BONG….BONG…. This entire album by the way is Pete de Freitas’s finest hour with the band - just listen to the drums on Over The Wall especially as it cruises towards the finishing jam. What an epic. The title track is another powerhouse drum performance as well - we’re all “groovy people” aren’t we? Hehe… With A Hip, All I Want, It Was A Pleasure - all fantastic. It’s not the “most” EATB album since it’s not quite like the others, but it’s still totally them and still my favorite.
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