From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-digest) To: seven-seas-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-digest V3 #185 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-digest Wednesday, May 19 2004 Volume 03 : Number 185 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 08:42:45 -0600 From: "blinfool" Subject: seven-seas Ocean Rain review from 1984 http://home.earthlink.net/~barefootjim/writing/reviews/echo_oceanrain.htmlEc ho and the Bunnymen -- Ocean Rain Sire As published in the Daily Collegian on September 10, 1984 Echo and the Bunnymen are four guys from Liverpool, England who have been called one of the best rock 'n' roll bands in the world. On Ocean Rain, the Bunnymen's fourth album, they stake their claim to that title with some grandiose, dramatic music. Though a couple of the songs fall flat, Ocean Rain contains enough strong, well-arranged songs to make it a fine album, if not one of 1984's best. Despite having the classic R 'n' R configuration of guitar, bass, drums and vocals, The Bunnymen have always fleshed out their songs with other instruments, mainly keyboards. On Ocean Rain, they use orchestral arrangements to help define and shape the songs. For example, the lead-off track, "Silver," starts with a strings-versus-guitar duet that builds with added instruments until the climax. This song sets the pace for much of Ocean Rain: a balance of hushed, quiet parts with powerful explosions highlighted by Will Sergeant's stinging guitar leads over Les Patterson's bass, Pete de Freitas' drums, the string section and Ian McCulloch's voice. There is a lot going when these songs hit their stride and usually it is highly rewarding. Cuts like "Crystal Days" and "Seven Seas" use this musical combination effectively. There are other times when The Bunnymen try too hard. Despite their somewhat silly name, Echo and the Bunnymen are serious musicians. Sometimes, too serious. On "Nocturnal Me" and "The Yo Yo Man," it just isn't worth wading through McCulloch's tortured soul to find the songs. These songs don't connect with me because they are too down, too depressing -- there is no way out, no instrumental breaks that rescue them. Instead of being dramatic, lyrics like "Take me internally/Forever yours nocturnal me" and "I'm the yo-yo man/Always up and down" become melodramatic and ponderous. On the other hand, "Thorn of Crowns," potentially the most melodramatic song on the whole album, works because it is lifted out of the morass by Sergeant's wild guitar effects. Contrast is the name of the game here. Contrast, and always keeping the arrangements full enough that I hear something new with every listen. It's the type of record that I wasn't sure about at first, but has grown in stature with repeated listenings. Certainly, the two best songs work like that: "The Killing Moon" seemed understated at first, like I was listening to it from a distance -- but the epic feel won me over; and "My Kingdom," which epitomizes the quiet/loud dichotomy of their music -- the way McCulloch's scream of "king-kingdom-kingdommmmmm!" falls into the guitar solo is, to me, a transcendant moment. For the most part, Ocean Rain shows Echo and the Bunnymen at the top of their songwriting and arranging skills, and even if commercial success here in America never comes, they will do doubt be a force to be reckoned with for quite a while. --Jim Connelly ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 09:46:31 -0600 From: "Kristin Smith" Subject: seven-seas album reviews [1 of 2] http://www.leonardslair.co.uk/crocodiles.htm [Part 1 of 2] It has often been recounted that Echo And The Bunnymen lost out in the fight of post-punk supremacy against U2. In truth neither of the bands made a great start but when 'Crocodiles' emerged in 1980 it delivered with its bleak, psychedelic approach. On an album which was mired in moodiness rather than the later years of grand emotion, 'Going Up' and 'Stars And Stars' present an inauspicious, doomy start. Only when 'Pride' kicks in do things start to pick up and its spiky energy is matched by 'Monkeys'; an early indication of the virtuoso guitar skills of one Will Sergeant. 'Rescue's' chiming guitar motif meant it was the obvious choice of a single and 'Villiers Terrace' possesses an impressive edgy punch yet the end to the album is a little too glum-by-numbers, exemplified by the ambitious but heavy-handed 'Happy Death Men'. A decent start but hardly the classic some would have you believe. The Bunnymen had become firmly entrenched in the glum rock scene. 'Heaven Up Here' stands up respectably against The Comsat Angels 'Sleep No More' and The Sound's 'From The Lion's Mouth'. Like those albums its overriding feeling of misery could have ruined any aspirations for commercial viability but Ian McCulloch decided that glory would come later. McCulloch's confidence could be heard in his voice which was now proving to be the perfect foil for Will Sergeant's varied guitar work. It boasted only one obvious single in 'A Promise' (on which Les Pattinson provides the all-important bassline), yet most of the other tracks hinted of a world about to collapse; 'Over The Wall', 'All My Colours' and 'The Disease' are all bereft of positive thoughts yet stand out amongst the crowd thanks to McCulloch's defiant howls and Sergeant's sense of the apocalyptic. The two of them even get away with a bit of funk on 'It Was A Pleasure' but the discordant title track hasn't dated quite so well. This is probably the last record to dip into for beginners but the ability to match bleakness to compelling music should make it a draw for the majority of most post-punk fans. success which this charismatic band craved, 1983's 'Porcupine' witnessed Echo And The Bunnymen successfully widening their appeal whilst maintaining an inventive streak. Beginning with two strident, confident singles ('The Cutter' and 'Back Of Love') their stall was set out early on. The dark psychedelia of 'My White Devil' and the doleful joys of 'Clay' are then followed by the ambitious title track centrepiece; here Ian McCulloch's vocals run the full gamut of emotions as tears, menace and anger cast their shadow over a background of haunting violins and Will Sergeant's demonic guitar chords. The somehat less memorable second half to the album is slightly disappointing (in an ironic twist of titles 'My Higher Hell' might have been too dirgey even for 'Heaven Up Here') but maintains the wintry atmosphere portrayed on the sleeve art. Their dignity intact, this is a confident statement of intent backed up by some accessible yet dark melodies. 'Porcupine' wasn't ambitious enough, Echo And The Bunnymen took one step further with their fourth album and Ian McCulloch - in a typical fit of modesty - declared it the best album ever made. 'Ocean Rain' is certainly the album which boasts the most elaborate arrangements and on the towering 'Nocturnal Me' and 'The Killing Moon' the self-belief is matched by McCulloch's imperious vocals and two of the 80's finest songs. Naturally all this ambition had to lead to sacrifices and it is Will Sergeant who misses out as his guitar work struggles to compete with an orchestra and even when the band play alone the overly-simplistic 'Seven Seas' and 'Crystal Days' hardly constitute career highlights. Sergeant is on better form on 'Thorn Of Crowns' - a kind of follow-up to 'Porcupine's centrepiece title track - and 'My Kingdom' sees him soloing in unusually loud (but still coherent) form. Yet the swelling strings of album bookends 'Silver' and 'Ocean Rain' are carried away by an undeniable wave of emotion justifying the kitchen sink production. Unsurprisingly McCulloch et al took a year-long sabbatical after this before plotting their next move. ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ End of seven-seas-digest V3 #185 ********************************