Amid a fertile alternative music scene in the U.K., spurred on by a flurry of new independent labels, bands like Echo & the Bunnymen had to work harder to stand out from the pack. The austere, post-punk minimalism of the group’s first three albums earned them critical acclaim and a cult following, but by 1984 their sound—Joy Division as fronted by Jim Morrison, if you will—was in need of retooling. Was there space for another scrappy, dour foursome alongside more established acts like Siouxsie and the Banshees, an ascendant U2, and unique sounds from the likes of Cocteau Twins and Depeche Mode?
Echo & the Bunnymen’s fourth album, Ocean Rain, would prove to be their shining moment. The quality of the songwriting ensures its status as a classic, separating it from both the band’s more uneven earlier works and their patchy, self-titled follow-up from 1987.
It’s Ocean Rain’s maximalist sound,...
Echo & the Bunnymen’s fourth album, Ocean Rain, would prove to be their shining moment. The quality of the songwriting ensures its status as a classic, separating it from both the band’s more uneven earlier works and their patchy, self-titled follow-up from 1987.
It’s Ocean Rain’s maximalist sound,...
- 5/1/2024
- by Lewie Parkinson-Jones
- Slant Magazine
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