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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Crocodiles

Echo And The Bunnymen

1980

Buy At Rough Trade
Crocodiles
Album Summary

Crocodiles is the debut album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 18 July 1980 in the United Kingdom and on 17 December 1980 in the United States. The album reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. "Pictures on My Wall" and "Rescue" had previously been released as singles. Recorded at Eden Studios in London and at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth, Crocodiles was produced by Bill Drummond and David Balfe, while Ian Broudie had already produced the single "Rescue". The music and the cover of the album both reflect imagery of darkness and sorrowfulness. The album received favourable reviews from the music press, receiving four out of five stars by both Rolling Stone and Blender magazines.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.05

Votes

12524

Genres

  • New Wave
  • Post Punk

Reviews

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Aug 09 2023
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3

File under: Bands that i think are talented and make fine music, whose influence I recognize and appreciate, yet have absolutely zero interest in listening to.

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Sep 01 2021
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5

This is a seminal album for me. In 1980 I was 18 years old and and was deepening a musical rebirth. Shedding the shackles of classic rock and discovering the joys of alternative rock. Melody Maker and NME were the bibles of my religious awakening. That's where I read about Echo and the Bunnymen and how I was lead to their first album. From the moment the rumbling bass and drum that introduces Going Up, I was hooked. I have the original Canadian release which does NOT include Do It Clean as the second track which is fine by me; I think the ne two punch of those two songs back to back as my introduction to Bunnymen may have caused my head to explode. I won't go into a track by track lovefest, just suffice to say that the album gets stronger and stronger and kick started my now decades long love of British alternative/ post punk music as well as indie/alternative music in general. 5 🌟

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Apr 19 2023
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3

This album lands squarely in the “I feel like I should like this” camp. However, for reasons I can’t articulate, I just don’t find it that compelling

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May 12 2021
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4

I never really listened to Echo and the Bunnymen much because their name and fans were off putting, but this record is really fantastic. Cue regret for not tuning in earlier, as this would go splendidly alongside the cure, new order, joy division, the smiths. Really great, moodly rhythmic rock record. 4*

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Sep 09 2022
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2

An album I just don’t care about, it’s been weeks since I’ve had an enjoyable listening experience with an album. Somebody please help me

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Feb 21 2022
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1

Crocodiles by Echo & the Bunnymen (1980) If you’re looking for meaningful lyrics, disciplined poetic cadence, creative melodies, elaborate chord structures, skillful performances, and fine vocals, you should look elsewhere. This Liverpudlian group’s debut release has a steady and competent sound, but it lacks variety on almost every level. I’m looking for artistry here and not finding it. Ian McCulloch’s lead vocals are too often stuck on one note, with easy intervals begging to get back to the home tone. It’s what a non-singer does when forced to write a song he has to sing. While the themes are dark, they neither shock nor provoke empathy. All we get is assorted amateur adolescent angst that could be assisted by amphetamines. It’s a sad album that provides its only musical variation on the final track “Happy Death Men”. If this record has a highlight, this is it, but it’s more of a lowlight. The lone lead solo guitar work is found on this track, and listening to it goes a long way toward explaining why there isn’t more of it. Guitarist Will Sergeant has a very narrow comfort zone, and he has the good sense to stay within it. It seems to me that in a title track about “Crocodiles”, it seems that one could find some actual crocodilian images that might give some meaning. But nope. The listener is pretty much on his/her own. In the song “Rescue”, they ask: “Is this the blues I’m singin’?” No, I don’t think so. More like the blahs. 1/5

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Jan 14 2022
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4

This album has the feel of a high energy anti-establishment punk album of the 70's, heard through the haze of heavy sedatives. The tempo is slower, the gritty effects are traded for rich and mellow reverbs, but the bite is everywhere and just beneath the surface. Check out the track "All That Jazz" to hear what I mean. This is a great album and pair perfectly with works from groups like the Clash. I'm surprised that I never really listened to this group, but I know I will be now!

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Mar 29 2023
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1

Post-punk is one of the worst genres of music I've ever heard. A scourge upon mankind, a plague upon good taste, an offense to good taste.

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Apr 03 2022
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5

A truly miserable album which is what makes it so perfect.

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May 02 2021
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5

I remember listening to some of this band's later work when I was in college, and I'll never forget their video for 'Bring On The Dancing Horses' (a song from a later album) that always reminded me of Equus, a great play (no idea if the band intended that). This album, their debut (I think), is great. Nice mash-up of rock, post-punk, new wave -- this is all my best guess; I often mess up all these subgenres -- and I like the strong bass lines.

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Oct 26 2024
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2

I'm 87% sure the autor of this list realised halfway thought that he didn't know 1001 albums and added just random English music.

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Jun 29 2023
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5

What a fantastic album. Loved Rescue. This is the sound of my youth, being played at parties by countless cover bands, along with Oingo Boingo, B-52s, REM, U2

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Jun 26 2024
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3

Whoever made this list had a raging hard-on for British boy bands from the 80s. That being said, this band was one of the slightly better ones. I probably won’t remember it though.

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Feb 21 2022
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5

9/10, really fun 80s rock while I really liked their first album, the stuff that came after was undeniably better still a damn good start for a band tho

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Oct 21 2021
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4

Good album. Really build momentum. I think the sweet spot is Monkeys, Crocodiles, and Rescue. Band sounds good. Good harmonies, crisp vocals, and cohesive new wave sound.

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Nov 21 2024
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5

I really enjoyed this album. It’s definitely post-punk with that early goth sound. It has the dark, moody atmosphere of bands like Joy Division and Bauhaus, but with more energy that highlights the punk influences and the new wave sounds bleeding into the music. Since this is their debut, I’m excited to move through their catalog and see how they progress from here.

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Nov 01 2024
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5

There’s a buldge in my pants now

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Nov 01 2024
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5

This is what they call ‘right up my alley’. Its new wave, its got that punch and its structurally interesting. It might be my taste but theres nothing ive got to critique. I could listen to this easily and i think a 5 is in order.

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Oct 11 2024
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5

Det er jo dem med The Killing Moon. Troede de var et one hit wonder band. Okay det lyder af Joy Division. Samme mĂžrke stemning og til tider det industrialiserede lydbillede som JD ogsĂ„ havde pĂ„ deres debut fra Ă„ret fĂžr. Det her er mega fedt đŸ–€ Nyt yndlings album. Weekenden skal vist bruges pĂ„ at lytte mere af deres diskografi

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Jun 15 2024
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5

I am a fully signed up Bunnyhead (?) and this is as perfect a debut album as you could ask for. Ian Mcculloch is exactly who Jim Morrison might have been had he grown up in Liverpool in the late seventies, and one of music's best frontmen. De Freitas and Pattinson are a dream rhythm section, as 'angular' as other new wave bands but with a drive and melodic aspect others lacked. Will Sergeant created a guitar sound all of his own, enough said. Have I gone on about how unjust it is that U2 conquered the world while the Bunnymen, the finest of the post new-wave big 3 with them and Simple Minds, did not. It is unjust. The songs? Flawless apart from possibly Happy Death Men which does sound like something they knocked up in the studio in half an hour. 4.9999999. 'Heaven Up Here' is even better.

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Mar 13 2024
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5

One of my all-time favorites (I very slightly prefer the first three Echo albums and the way the songs play with dissonance to other stuff by them but love their whole career). Villier's Terrace piano part and the Happy Death Men trumpets stood out to me in this listen through. That and Will Sargeant! He's such as virtuoso, doing rhythm guitar things that invite bits of more minimal space into the songs along with unexpected lead guitar licks all over on this album.

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Feb 21 2024
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5

Excellent album from start to end.

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Feb 11 2024
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5

I love the story from Bill Drummond about seeing the giant rabbit head in the twisted tree that supposedly noone else had noticed at the photo shoot. I can't see anything else. This record is so good my microwave died.

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Feb 07 2024
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5

Echo and the Bunnymen is a classic too, very good mix of rock and new wave 😊 5/5

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Nov 17 2023
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5

early 80's new wave fan girl here

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Oct 29 2023
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5

This sounds like all those unidentified 80s songs people find on old cassettes, but if they were actually good. Cozy and romantic but also futuristic and ominous.

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Sep 13 2023
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5

I really like this, I’ve never heard of this band before but it feels similar to The Talking Heads.

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Aug 26 2023
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5

I was surprised to see I rated the other Echo album (which I rated 725 albums ago) 3 stars, even though I'm sure Spotify has put a few of their songs on random playlists for me and I enjoyed them then. Just the same, I really enjoyed the Crocodiles album as well. So maybe that's evolving taste, maybe it's evolving rating standards and maybe Echo And The Bunnymen need the listener to be in an appropriate mood to hit just right. Because this album really did hit just right. More of a 4.5 rounded up, rather than a clean 5, but a very good album just the same. I particularly enjoyed the textural depth of the instrumentation.

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May 18 2023
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5

It's an interesting album and band.

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Mar 17 2023
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5

Again another superclassic 5-star album, just like their second, third and fourth album, which presumably are included on the list as well.

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Jan 23 2023
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5

Plagued with sadness and misery, this is a standout album of the Post-Punk era

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Dec 02 2022
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5

Already one of my all time favourites!

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Aug 05 2022
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5

"Crocodiles" is the debut album from Echo and the Bunnymen with two songs, "Pictures on My Wall" and "Rescue," on the album previously released as singles. This is quite an album. The music is described as post-punk and neo-psychdelic with imagery of darkness and sorrowfullness. Yes, that's all there. To me, the sound is sort of similar to Joy Division's "Closer" and Gang of Four. The band includes Ian McCulloch (singer), Will Sergeant (guitars), Les Pattinson (bass) and drummer Pete de Freitas whom they added after they signed to a label and were encouraged to add a drummer. One of the first things you notice is how prominent each of the band members are. They all make major to contributions to the songs and album as a whole. McCulloch's lyrics are dark and appear very personal. Given the imagery and personal nature leaves a lot of these songs open for interpretation. The lyrics and music match perfectly creating a great dark and somewhat haunting mood. "Going up" starts the album with Pink Floyd type echoes. Check neo-pyschedelic. It builds with a solid rhythm section and sort of a slash-like guitar. "Do It Clean" has great drumming and absolutely great guitar in the middle. I have no idea what this is about, cleaning your room, doing cocaine??? My favorite song on the album is "Monkeys" with just a great guitar intro and chorus. The bass and drums create a great atmosphere. It sounds like the bass is carrying the melody. My guess it's about a change needed in a relationship. The second side starts with their second single "Rescue" and probably their most recognized song on this album. Another great guitar intro going into the melody. Tremendous catchy vocal chorus. Definitely one of their best pop-type songs. The first single was "The Pictures on My Wall" and appears to have a more keyboard-focused chorus. More echoes. Neo-pyschedelia checked twice. The music is a great match for the lyrics which express a state of despair and paranoia. Joy Division and Roxy Music typically get a lot accolades for the best-ever debut albums and rightfully so. But, this is also just a great debut, worthy of a listen and being on this list. They would also have a few other outstanding albums later on in the decade.

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Jul 16 2022
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5

What a belter and a soundtrack to my youth!

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Jul 14 2021
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5

5/5 - New wave? The Smiths? This hit the spot :D

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Jul 11 2021
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5

No estå a la altura de Ocean Rain, pero bueno, qué puede estarlo. Sin embargo, bastante bueno.

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Dec 16 2024
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4

I like this album a bit more than the other two I've heard here. Being their debut, it's a bit more raw and intense. It feels very gothic and dark.

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Dec 13 2024
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4

I'm more familiar with their later more-lush material but it's interesting to hear their raw origins. I'm getting echoes (no pun intended, truly) of very early U2 in production and vocals, without the passion (or tuning, at times...) but also maybe without as much annoyance? The music still had a little ways to go, although it's still eminently listenable. Particular standouts were bass (Les Pattinson) and the dissonant chordal structure which has been a slow burn... An impressive debut, I'd been thinking 3 all along but after a 2nd spin I'm giving extra credit for a first record ... 7/10 4 stars.

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Dec 06 2024
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4

Probably my third best E&TB, after Heaven Up Here and Ocean Rain. It has no business being included here but I won't complain since it's really good and at least it's not some UK third rate downtempo as usual.

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Dec 06 2024
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4

This album isn't necessary on this list, since the 2 other Echo albums does the trick, but hey I'm not going to spit on great Post-Punk!

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Dec 06 2024
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4

This challenge offers too many Echo And The Bunnymen, but with all the shit we've been through, how can I complain about this? Awesome post-punk album!

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Dec 02 2024
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4

My second Sunday in a row with an Echo and the Bunnymen record--I'm not complaining. Not as great as their other records on this list, but still pretty excellent and an enjoyable listen.

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Nov 27 2024
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4

Fantastic
 Essential melodic garage indie rock. And so vibrant

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Nov 13 2024
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4

Pretty chill listen. Overall, good vibe.

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Nov 04 2024
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4

Not as great as Ocean Rain or Porcupine but a flash of what they would become. Definitely true originals.

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Nov 01 2024
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4

This band has all the ingredients for what I love, but for some reason I just can't fully get behind it. It is very good still with some stuff that really clicks with me. I just can't determine why I like it but don't love it

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Oct 27 2024
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4

It's weird that this is reflective of both late 70s/early 80s counter culture and also 50s rock and roll. Not sure what to make of that but it's interesting.

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Oct 25 2024
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4

A favorite when new wave was new.

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Oct 20 2024
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4

The first band I ever saw live (albeit in 2014, well past their creative peak). The Bunnymen are a true standard bearer for British alternative music in the 1980s, with their dark bent on 60s psychedelia filtered through the punk rock gaze. Ian McCulloch's surrealist but potent lyrical imagery coupled with Will Sargeant's economical twang and Les Paterson's spidery bass lines is a combination that produces a sound that description fails to do justice. That being said, I've always felt that on Crocodiles you're only really getting this concoction in embryonic form. Sargeant's playing is economical but effective on their later work, whereas here it is just slightly too restrained. Ditto McCulloch's songwriting, lacking the sinister whimsy that would appear on their masterpiece, Ocean Rain. Still, for an album release in 1980, this is still well ahead of the curve, and it remains a really solid piece of post-punk gold.

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Oct 10 2024
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4

Good album. Not as good as the others but I can still enjoy it.

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Oct 10 2024
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4

Kinda like the doors and stuff from the 70’s, good stuff

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Oct 02 2024
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4

Wow richtig richtig gut!!! Klingt sehr wie joy division nur bissl weniger deprimierend, ich wĂŒrde 4.5 geben könnte ich

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Sep 27 2024
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4

Previously rated: Ocean Rain (3/5) ********************* I liked this one a bit better. It's more rock. One song sounded kind of like Billy Idol. I liked it well enough to listen again.

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Sep 27 2024
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4

I really liked this album. I do agree that this list is a little heavy on 80s British post punk/new wave but I enjoy most of it so it works out. For a first album I think this is a really strong record, especially in a genre that was so new at the time. I feel like they may have been trying a little too hard with the cover but I guess it fits with the whole theme of the album - dark and moody with a kind of hopelessness about the state of the world. Or maybe that's thinking about it too much. Anyway, I liked this album a lot and will definitely be coming back to it at some point. 4/5

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Sep 27 2024
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4

I liked this and I think I could add it to my playlists with no issue. I don't know what is special about this though considering there's many similar albums.

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Sep 23 2024
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4

Very interesting, I enjoyed this one a lot. It's always nice to find a good album from some group I've never heard of. Highlight is the first half, lowlight is the last song.

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Sep 09 2024
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4

When I received it, I thought: "Do we really need a third Echo And The Bunnymen album on the 1001 list?" I was not expecting this kind of album; where did all this rawness go in their later albums? They are a good group, but this album should be much more highlighted than any of their latest releases. Their debut is the best for me.

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Sep 04 2024
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4

First time listening to these guys, British new wave/ punk rock played very well. Good album, a bit on the dark side.

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Sep 04 2024
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4

Atmospherically dense, low-fi but still very nicely produced. Happy to have been presented a somehow essential piece of this influential indie/wave band.

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Aug 22 2024
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4

Dark and moody post-punk. Loved it.

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Aug 12 2024
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4

For something that is over 40 years old it still sounds fresh. Timeless.

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Aug 12 2024
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4

This was very much up my alley! While it was less musically distinct, I liked it nearly as much as the other Echo & The Bunnymen album I recently listened to; it’s a little less melodramatic, maybe. Favorite tracks: Crocodiles, Pictures on the Wall, All That Jazz

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Aug 09 2024
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4

“Post punk” is a lame way to categorize a music genre. But, for me, so is “alternative.” Doesn’t do much by way of describing what we’re hearing. But if you have to put things in pigeon holes, “post punk” is as good a term as any, I suppose. And Echo is as good as any band from that era. Too bad they didn’t have the staying power of some of their contemporaries, like U2. Wonder if it was because they couldn’t or wouldn’t incorporate pop elements into their style?

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Aug 04 2024
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4

There were two reasons I didn't listen to this band in the 80's. First, it wasn't heavy metal. Second, their name is silly. In the early 90's I had a roommate that gave me RHCP Freaky Styley. Turns out it was just the cover, it had an Echo and the Bunnymen album inside. I was truly surprised at how much I liked it. I don't remember which album it was, but I know it wasn't this one. This album is good but I think they have better. But that's all subjective innit. This is the style of British New Wave I like. I'll probably dive into the rest of their discography today. Solid.

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Aug 01 2024
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4

I love me some First Wave post-punk, and E&TB are definitely of that sound, but I don't see what's so particularly monumental about this album. It's darn good, but did it launch a dozen copycat bands? Introduce a new sound to an instrument that everyone scurried to copy? No. But it's a pretty typical slice of early 80's indie pop. Not bad.

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Aug 01 2024
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4

Really liked it, especially keeping it tight (less than 40 minutes). Good energy.

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Aug 01 2024
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4

Heard of the band but never listened to them. Definitely enjoyed this one. Reminded me a lot of INXS.

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Jul 24 2024
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4

Ice cold, dark and brooding. Simultaneously released on the same day as Closer, a post punk, urban industrial sound ushering in the decade. The Liverpool / Manchester rivalry magnified differences in tone and production which time has eroded In truth this fertile corner plot of north west English produced a distinctive clang whose chimes continue to echo through the decades

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Jul 21 2024
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4

This is a light score, as I think for a debut the Echo & the Bunnymen sound is already pretty established, but you can tell they are also trying to go for that stereotypical goth rock sound established by Siouxsie and the Banshees, and it can leave this album feeling like it doesn't have a sound to call its own. Hell, if I didn't know better I'd be calling this a Cure rip-off, but obviously it is much more than that. It's cryptic, but less cold and mysterious, more chaotic and warm, and it leads to a lot of odd moments that can come off as charming, but dated, and I think that's how I would describe this whole album. It's important to see the start of an important post-punk group, and it is solid, but it does little to stand-out in a crowd, and I even think their later releases out class it in every way. However, comparisons aside, this is still a good little record, with enough there to be praised on its own merits, it's only the passage of time holding it back, truly.

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Jul 04 2024
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4

A different flavour to this band compared to their later records - its rawer and more post punk - and has a very strong Side A. The energy tapers in the second half of the record but it’s still listenable. A good record.

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Jul 04 2024
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4

Extra star because it’s the Bunnymen.

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Jun 28 2024
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4

Great debut where you can already hear the sound they'll polish and improve further down track

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Jun 27 2024
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4

Solid album, can see the brilliance shining through to be carried forward to future albums

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Jun 21 2024
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4

There’s an intentionally isolating effect to Echo And The Bunnymen that makes them difficult to get into. I know, I’ve been trying for years. But when you get it, let yourself mire in the psychedelic soundscape for a while, it becomes absorbing in a way that only a few Post-Punk albums from this era can be. The Bunnymen are not quite as good as Joy Division or The Cure, but they’re certainly a good third place. And that’s something that nobody can take away from them

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Jun 19 2024
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4

solid. does not reach the heights of the postpunk greats, for me, but a very pleasant listen. let it be said here that I regret giving the Go-Go's only a 3 back at the start of this project. I didn't realize then that I would look at 'pretty good, no particular song highlights' as a welcome reprieve from the overall 1001 albums taste. & I think that is harder to do as an upbeat band than a moody one like this Echo & the Bunnymen album. sorry Go-Go's. music: appreciated. (⌐■_■)

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Jun 07 2024
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4

What did Echo & The Bunnymen do to warrant me dissing them in my review of The Cure? Nothing, in fact. Apparently I’ve only heard a few E&TB songs, and one of those I think I thought was The Cure. (“The Killing Moon,” which when covered by Chvrches a couple years ago I thought it was a Cure cover.) And yet, I called them out as not being as good as The Cure. I shouldn’t have judged them without really listening. So now that I’ve listened? Well, apparently there are 3 E&TB on the list, and this is our first at #818, so we’ll be getting more soon. But the songs listed as their most listened are not as good as The Cure. But the songs from their debut, “Crocodile,” are not their top songs. And they’re much better. “Crocodile” came out in 1980, before the 80s became too 80s. “Crocodile” is driven by Will Sargeant’s jangly guitar and Les Pattinson’s bass grooves, and isn’t ruined by Ian McCulloch’s vocals. I enjoyed this one, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to the next two in short order though based on my sampling of their more popular work.

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Jun 05 2024
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4

Nice mix of like John Mellancamp, Talking Heads and early U2. I like it. Four stars.

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May 30 2024
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4

3.75 stars. Pretty catchy tunes and are pleasant to jam along to. Sounds very 80s with the dark guitars and distant vocals. Notable songs are "Do It Clean," where I thought the line was "I got a barrel of piss" and "Monkey" which is also catchy. You could pick any song and it would sound cool.

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May 30 2024
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4

Rating: 8/10 Great album overall. Really enjoyed the gothic elements mixed with interesting and melodic instrumentation. Favorite songs: Going Up, Do It Clean, Rescue, Villiers Terrace, Read It in Books, The Pictures on My Wall, All That Jazz, Happy Death Men. Worst song: Stars Are Stars.

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May 24 2024
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4

I had a nice pithy zinger about replaceable UK post punk bands loaded in the chamber, but damn it, this band is pretty good. This album is how I want REM to sound.

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May 20 2024
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4

Ian McCulloch's greatest songwriter of all time is Ian McCullouch. Songs to Learn and sing is such an engrossing greatest hits that I never gelled that much with the albums.

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May 13 2024
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4

First listen to this, and to an Echo and the Bunnymen album TBF, and it's okay. 👍

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May 08 2024
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4

Really enjoyed this. Have to engage in some re-listens, and I'm hoping to, before it climbs any higher.

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Apr 30 2024
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4

They have a unique sound, but they don't seem to write much that resonates with me

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Apr 17 2024
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4

Very solid album. Standout songs: Crocodiles Rescue Stars are stars Pictures on my Wall

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