Flowers

Performer: Echo & the Bunnymen
Engineer: Mike Hunter; Peter Coleman; Michael Hunter
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Echo & The Bunnymen: Ian McCulloch (vocals, guitar); Will Sergeant (12-string & electric guitars, tambourine, samples, loops). Additional personnel: Ceri James (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Alex "Kong" Germains (bass, background vocals); Vincent Jamieson (drums, congas, shaker, tambourine). Producers: Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant, Pete Coleman. Recorded at Elevator Studios, Liverpool, England and Bryn Derwyn Studios, Snowdonia, North Wales. Personnel: Ian McCulloch (vocals, guitar); Will Sergeant (guitar, electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, 12-string guitar); Ceri James (piano, electric piano, Fender Rhodes piano, programming). Audio Mixer: Peter Coleman. Recording information: Bryn Derwyn Studios, Snowdonia; Elevator Studios, Liverpool. Photographer: Andrew Swainson. While Echo & the Bunnymen rarely reached the heights of their 1980s glory days on later releases, albums like 2001's FLOWERS prove they still had plenty of creative juice nine albums into their career. Moody, melodic tunes like "King of Kings" and "Make Me Shine" may lack the angst of OCEAN RAIN-era Echo & the Bunnymen, but the songcraft is as as sharp as ever, if not more. The music still swirls with tinges of `60s psychedelia, but there's a clarity to Will Sargeant's guitar lines and Ian McCulloch's singing that is deeply appealing. FLOWERS proves that though this band may have mellowed, they have also deepened in flavor.

Rolling Stone (9/13/01, pp.108,111) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...McCulloch's in fine voice, and wonderfully 'louche'....proving that Echo's crystal days haven't shattered yet..." Q (8/01, p.128) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...From the opening line McCulloch is still in love with the idea of being a poet in the demi-monde....Every track is festooned with backwards guitar..." Alternative Press (7/01, pp.66-7) - 8 out of 10 - "...Rooted in chiming and growling guitar licks, the dense layers of each songs are revealed only through multiple listens...yielding unexpected pleasures..." Magnet (6-7/01, p.87) - "...Life-affirming....among their best..." CMJ (5/14/01, p.12) - "...Stripped down and sporting a welcome ruggedness...thier dark pop with an ironic silver lining still burns brightly....the bloom has not fallen off these black flowers..." Mojo (Publisher) (6/01, p.108) - "...A fine bunch of songs..." NME (Magazine) (6/2/01, p.37) - 7 out of 10 - "...FLOWERS adds a little Beatlesome jangle and some comfortable footwear to the Bunny blueprint laid out in OCEAN RUIN in 1984..."

Along with Teardrop Explodes and Wah! Heat, Echo & the Bunnymen were part of the early-1980s Liverpool scene that was somewhat misleadingly dubbed "neo-psychedelic." While the Bunnymen bore elements of the Doors' dark, mysterious sound and decidedly abstract lyrics, punk played as much of a role in the development of the band's music as anything else. What marks their sound more than anything else, though, is a soaring, anthemic quality that can be quite affecting. After a lengthy hiatus, the band reunited in the early 2000s to tour and record.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25