From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-moderated-digest) To: seven-seas-moderated-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-moderated-digest V2 #274 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-moderated-digest Saturday, November 1 2003 Volume 02 : Number 274 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:06:05 +0100 (CET) From: looloo Subject: seven-seas-moderated review of reissues in Guardian Pop CD Echo and the Bunnymen: Various Crocodiles Heaven Up Here 5 stars Porcupine Ocean Rain Echo and the Bunnymen 3 stars (all Warner Strategic Marketing) Adam Sweeting Friday October 31, 2003 The Guardian For their 25th anniversary, Echo and the Bunnymen have released expanded reissues of their first five albums. While the phrase "digitally remastered" often seems to mean little more than somebody running a finger through the dust that has accumulated on the master tapes, these discs have emerged from their sonic brush-up sounding fat, loud and incredibly detailed. Over the Wall, from Heaven Up Here, is a tour de force of crispness and stereo definition, while the fabled murkiness that used to envelop Porcupine has been blown away in a shimmer of sonic brilliance. Each disc arrives with a generous dollop of additional material, with the debut album, Crocodiles, including some terrific early out-takes plus the live Shine So Hard EP, and Porcupine including the "disco" version of Never Stop. ====================================== The Official Seven-Seas Web Page. www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 17:40:35 -0000 From: "Barry Whiting" Subject: seven-seas-moderated Re-issues Review [Q magazine] From Q Magazine : GLOOMY TUNES THE BEST BITS OF UK ROCK'S NEW GUIDING LIGHT. CROCODILES * * * * HEAVEN UP HERE * * * * PORCUPINE * * * OCEAN RAIN * * * ECHO &THE BUNNYMEN * * IN TERMS OF worldwide sales Echo & The Bunnymen lost a three-way battle with their closest '80s rivals U2 and - surprising as it may seem now - Simple Minds. But, when it comes to a useful and lasting legacy, the group who hailed their own fourth album as "the best ever recorded" laid very obvious foundations for todays British rock big cheeses Radiohead, Coldplay and Muse. In 1980 Echo & The Bunnymen released their impossibly dark debut, Crocodiles, hitching the final faint ripples of The Doors to canyons of thundering drums and slashing guitars. Going Up, Monkeys, the title track, Rescue, Villiers Terrace and All That Jazz hinted at a world of nightmarish psychedelic drugs where untrusting corners of the psyche were exposed as blithely as others buy milk. The gloom intensified a year later with Heaven Up Here, strung-out defiance (Show Of Strength) turning to emotionless candour (The Disease) and back to defiance (Turquoise Days). Will Sergeant's guitars, now chiming where they had previously sawed, combined with Ian McCulloch's dramatic, emotive voice to unwittingly inspire hordes of far lesser goths. By 1983 something was awry. Though Porcupine delivered their first Top 20 hits - The Back Of Love and The Cutter - the once inspirational Sergeant seemed to have lost his way. As record company pressure to match their rivals' sales mounted, the band released their poppiest album, Ocean Rain, in 1984. Cocaine and internal communication issues, however, saw the band shoot themselves in both feet: singles Killing Moon and Seven Seas re-confirmed their status but the beautiful Silver, Crystal Days and My Kingdom were let down by chintzy production. A one-off single (Bring On The Dancing Horses), an AWOL drummer (Pete DeFreitas went on a six-month lost weekend -he claimed alien abduction) and a best of collection later, the band returned in 1987 with their least impressive album, even though it contains three classics in The Game, Bedbugs & Ballyhoo and Lips Like Sugar. McCulloch soon left fora solo career and although they would re-form in the '90s, DeFreitas's fatal motorcycle crash in 1989 effectively ended their chances of glory. However, no one rolls their eyes at the mention of McCulloch like they do with Bono, and even Jim Kerr would snigger like a schoolboy if invited to make a case for Simple Minds' enduring influence. Therefore, the slew of seldom illuminating extra tracks aside, in amongst the hubristic under achievement lies a magnificent victory, albeit a victory won 20 years too late. Andy Fyfe - -- Barry Whiting barry@urquell.freeserve.co.uk ====================================== The Official Seven-Seas Web Page. www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ End of seven-seas-moderated-digest V2 #274 ******************************************