Echo & the Bunnymen - Flowers (2001)
Alt. Rock Pop | EAC APE+CUE+LOG (326 MB) | EAC LAME CBR320 MP3+LOG (113 MB) | covers | Total time: 45:28
Alt. Rock Pop | EAC APE+CUE+LOG (326 MB) | EAC LAME CBR320 MP3+LOG (113 MB) | covers | Total time: 45:28
Flowers, the third creditable installment of Echo and the Bunnymen's second honeymoon period, finds the stylish, duopolistic musical nucleus of Ian McCulloch's vocal somnolence and Will Sergeant's Eastern guitar mystique newly augmented by the work of bassist Alex Gleave, drummer Vinny Jamieson, and keyboard player Ceri James. Subtle psychedelic touches of theremin, organ, and backwards guitar pursue the colorization of a few monochromatic areas but, for the most part, Flowers is less the work of a new broom and more the affirmation of the Bunnymen's vintage vibe. Therefore, the opening "King of Kings" (think the Doors' "When the Music's Over") wouldn't sound out of sorts on Ocean Rain, while the pronounced garage pop of "Make Me Shine" and "Life Goes On" both build on past endeavors with a newly insistent, radiant vitality. The album's centerpiece–the careworn, love-scarred lamentation of the title track–exudes hard-earned maturity. And maturity is beginning to suit Echo and the Bunnymen very well indeed. –Kevin Maidment (amazon.com)
After hearing about their box set release this year, I also found out this would follow soon after, & was hoping it would be worth it. I was delightfully surprised with an exceptionally solid cd that didn't long for me to get into at all. I liked "Evergreen", only heard a few tracks off the previous album "What are you going to do…", but I like this even more than "Evergreen". It's an album you can play on a sunny day, gloomy day, nighttime…it's versatile for any occassion because it has so many other moods intertwined. It's mellow enough to even play in front of your mom, which is usually a bad thing, heh, but in this case it's not, & not overly mellow that it bores you either. The first track I heard was "It's Alright", which I saw the video of on their website back in May, & most recently (this past weekend), I actually saw the video playing in Gadzooks in a mall, which if you know about Gadzooks (a clothing store for teenagers & young adults), all they play is kid krap music!! I nearly went into shock, heh… I'm not sure what track is my fave, cuz really I like them all, esp. the 1st 3, which totally grabbed me & kept me listening. Whether you have every Bunnymen album except this one or just a couple of them, this is a MUST have!! The strange thing that still gets me about the Bunnymen is that they've been around so long, yet so many Americans haven't even heard of them hardly at all!! Which is their loss, I say, but there should be more people that know about them!! My only complaint about this album is where was Les Pattinson, the bass player? I haven't read anything about why he didn't play on this one, does anyone know? I also wanted to see them live when they toured for this album here in the states this past summer, but as many US dates they did, they didn't come anywhere near Texas :( Ahhh well, maybe next time, if there is one!! Also for Bunnymen completists, & those who don't know already, try to find '95's Electrafixion, which had McCulloch & Sergeant also under that name instead of the Bunnymen… On another note, I would like to see VH1 do a Behind the Music on these guys…they did Depeche Mode (whom I love also), & they've been around even longer than DM has. That would totally blow my mind if they did *grin*. So stop reading this already, & go get this album!! >:) One of the few good ones coming out of this year!!
(amazon.com)
Credits:
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.
Tracklist.
1. King Of Kings
2. Supermellow Man
3. Hide & Seek
4. Make Me Shine
5. It's Alright
6. Buried Alive
7. Flowers
8. Everybody Knows
9. Life Goes On
10. Eternity Turns, An
11. Burn For Me
Total time: 45:28