Heaven Up Here [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: Echo & the Bunnymen
Engineer: Hugh Jones
Producer: Echo & The Bunnymen; Hugh Jones; Andy Zax (Reissue); Bill Inglot (Reissue)
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Echo & The Bunnymen: Ian McCulloch (vocals, guitar); Will Sergeant (guitar); Les Pattinson (bass); Pete De Freitas (drums). Additional personnel: Leslie Penny (woodwinds). Recorded at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, England. Originally released on Sire (3569). Includes liner notes by Max Bell. Personnel: Ian McCulloch (vocals); Will Sergeant (guitar); Leslie Penny (woodwinds); Pete de Freitas (drums). Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Bill Inglot. Liner Note Author: Max Bell. Recording information: Manley Vale Hotel, Sydney, Australia (03/??/1981-11/11/1981); Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales (03/??/1981-11/11/1981); Tistedal Studios, Tistedal, Norway (03/??/1981-11/11/1981). Photographer: Brian Griffin . Though it yielded only one minor hit single in the band's native England, HEAVEN UP HERE is considered by many to be the ultimate Echo and the Bunnymen album. The album is drenched in an aura of mystery that is fueled by the swirling, epic sound of guitarist Will Sergeant and drummer Pete De Freitas. The music is so powerful that singer Ian McCulloch's vague, almost nonsensical lyrics take on a profundity. While tracks like "The Disease," a desolate two-chord sound-poem based on a solitary rhythm guitar and a haunting recorder passage, do feature some incisive lyrics, most of McCulloch's words seem intent on reinforcing the dark, brooding atmosphere of the music. The opening "Show of Strength," a soaring song that is driven by one of Sergeant's gripping guitar passages, sets the tone for the album, creating a heroic soundscape that crests with the majesty of "A Promise." The latter is a hypnotic song in which drummer DeFritas showcases his explosive style and McCulloch provides one the most compelling vocal performances of his career. While HEAVEN UP HERE may lack the hit singles that made the Bunnymen alternative-radio favorites throughout the '80s, it is a classic rock album and arguably the Bunnymen's finest hour. Following their more psychedelia-based debut, Crocodiles, and subsequent "Puppet" single, Echo & the Bunnymen returned in 1981 with the darkest and perhaps most experimental album of their career. Heaven Up Here lacks the signature hooks and melodies that would make the Bunnymen famous, showcasing instead a dirge-like songwriting approach built around the circular rhythms of bassist Les Pattinson and drummer Pete DeFreitas. In this setting, the band remarkably flourishes, although they would go on to greater heights by scaling back the album's extremism. Heaven Up Here's strength is the way in which the Bunnymen seamlessly work together to shape each song's dynamics (the tension underlying the crescendo of "Turquoise Days" being a prime example). Ian McCulloch, having found his trademark confidence, sings with soaring abandon and passion throughout the album. Similarly, Will Sergeant's guitar playing, notably freed from verse-chorus structure and pop riffs, is at its angular finest; his playing on "No Dark Things" is pure Andy Gill-esque skronk. The album's opening troika of "Show of Strength," "With a Hip," and "Over the Wall" (the latter with its jarring, direct invocation of Dion's "Wanderer") are particularly effective, establishing the theme of distrust and restlessness which continues throughout the album. Indeed, even the album's lone single, "A Promise," is hardly light, pop material. But the message underneath that darkness, especially in McCulloch's lyrics, is a call to overcome rather than wallow, as the album ends with the relatively euphoric "All I Want." Sitting comfortably next to the pioneering work of contemporaries like Joy Division/New Order, and early Public Image Ltd. and Cure, this is a rather fine -- and in the end, influential -- example of atmospheric post-punk. Having reached the British Top Ten, Heaven Up Here is highly regarded among Echo & the Bunnymen's fans precisely for the reasons which, on the surface, make it one of the least accessible albums in the band's catalog. [The 2004 reissue of Heaven Up Here boasts improved sound, new liner notes, lots of photos, and bonus tracks. Chief among these are live renditons of tracks from the album ("Show of Strength," "The Disease," "All I Want," and "Zimbo") recorded in Australia in November of 1981. They are raw and energetic, the sound of an exciting rock band in its prime. Also included is the B-side to "A Promise," the long version of the dark and meandering (and very Gang of Four-sounding) "Broke My Neck."] ~ Aaron Warshaw & Tim Sendra

Q (12/03, p.149) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[With] strung-out defiance turning to emotionless candour and back to defiance..." Mojo (Publisher) (12/03, pp.129-30) - 5 stars out of 5 - "It transcended the era's sonic specifics and still grips the heart." NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #39 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s. NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #51 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.'

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.

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