Album: Ocean Rain
Artist: Echo & the Bunnymen
Artist: Echo & the Bunnymen
Born: Liverpool
Released: May 1984
Genre: Gothic Psychedelia
Influenced: Flaming Lips, Oasis, The Verve, Interpol, Arcade Fire
In the Britpop years, I'd often see a band with a silly name referenced as an influence by various bands, but it wasn't until the release of Donnie Darko (in which The Killing Moon is played over the opening credits) that I decided to check out Echo & the Bunnymen properly. Their first three albums, Porcupine especially, are atmospheric and full of great songs, but it's the lush arrangements and dramatic sweep of Ocean Rain that keeps me coming back for more. The use of a 35-piece orchestra to add soaring strings and the change in Pete de Freitas' drumming (from powerful thumping to more light brushes) are two of Ocean Rain's stylistic differences compared to previous Bunnymen albums. There were also three singles from the LP -- Silver (UK No.30), Seven Seas (UK No.16) and The Killing Moon (UK No.9) -- which helped to cement the band's place in the public imagination. Long before the Gallagher brothers, Ian McCulloch and his wonderful bouffant hair set the bar for inflated sense of self-importance, with him often proclaiming that the Bunnymen were the best rock band in the world; however, for various reasons, including exhaustion after the intensive recording of Ocean Rain, they never had the success that contemporaries like New Order and U2 enjoyed across the Atlantic.
The album is far from perfect. The lyrics are at times pretentious and cringeworthy, in the same vein of pseudo-mystical poetry peddled by Jim Morrison, with Thorn of Crowns a particular low (though musically it's great). That's mainly thanks to the stellar guitar work of Will Sergeant, from the flamenco stylings of Nocturnal Me to the atmospheric echo and reverb of Seven Seas. I'm also a big fan of McCulloch's voice, which has the power of Scott Walker and the drama of David Bowie, especially on the title track that closes the album. In fact, side 2 is pretty faultless from start to finish, but the album's real crowning glory is The Killing Moon, on which McCulloch drops the psychedelic, LSD-induced musings to brood about how death can come for you at any time, "fate up against your will”. McCulloch once told Uncut magazine that, "You don't need to read The Bible, you can listen to The Killing Moon and get as much out of it. It's the greatest song ever written."
In the Britpop years, I'd often see a band with a silly name referenced as an influence by various bands, but it wasn't until the release of Donnie Darko (in which The Killing Moon is played over the opening credits) that I decided to check out Echo & the Bunnymen properly. Their first three albums, Porcupine especially, are atmospheric and full of great songs, but it's the lush arrangements and dramatic sweep of Ocean Rain that keeps me coming back for more. The use of a 35-piece orchestra to add soaring strings and the change in Pete de Freitas' drumming (from powerful thumping to more light brushes) are two of Ocean Rain's stylistic differences compared to previous Bunnymen albums. There were also three singles from the LP -- Silver (UK No.30), Seven Seas (UK No.16) and The Killing Moon (UK No.9) -- which helped to cement the band's place in the public imagination. Long before the Gallagher brothers, Ian McCulloch and his wonderful bouffant hair set the bar for inflated sense of self-importance, with him often proclaiming that the Bunnymen were the best rock band in the world; however, for various reasons, including exhaustion after the intensive recording of Ocean Rain, they never had the success that contemporaries like New Order and U2 enjoyed across the Atlantic.
The album is far from perfect. The lyrics are at times pretentious and cringeworthy, in the same vein of pseudo-mystical poetry peddled by Jim Morrison, with Thorn of Crowns a particular low (though musically it's great). That's mainly thanks to the stellar guitar work of Will Sergeant, from the flamenco stylings of Nocturnal Me to the atmospheric echo and reverb of Seven Seas. I'm also a big fan of McCulloch's voice, which has the power of Scott Walker and the drama of David Bowie, especially on the title track that closes the album. In fact, side 2 is pretty faultless from start to finish, but the album's real crowning glory is The Killing Moon, on which McCulloch drops the psychedelic, LSD-induced musings to brood about how death can come for you at any time, "fate up against your will”. McCulloch once told Uncut magazine that, "You don't need to read The Bible, you can listen to The Killing Moon and get as much out of it. It's the greatest song ever written."
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