Reviews (page 2 of 8)
Some good tracks but I’m still not really a punk fan
Quand même co actually
The other two E and the B-men albums on this list are much better than this one. Not sure why we needed a this other than it's their debut. 1.5/5.0
this was good but didnt make much of an impression
Janglecore
see, some of these songs feel a bit goofy but then others are fucking GREAT, so it's gotta be a 4
It is good and has a historic place. Not what I would turn to on my own so I am glad I came across it.
A ok
Every 80's British band just sounds like The Cure to me, which isn't great but it could be worse
1001 albums. 900 are shit, 101 are worth a listen. This is one of the 900. 1.0
Nothing of note. It must be said I listened to this album during morning (when I'm too sleepy to proper review it).
For a debut it's alright but I feel that this is on the list due to what they became. There is skill and technique here that lets it be interesting without displacing the vibe. Strong two, weak three.
Strong showing for New Wave. A fine listen, just doesn't do anything memorable. I'm so sick of New Wave.
I love this era of post-punk "i am a sad british white boy" music, but have never listened to this band. The shoegaze guitar sound (or whatever its called) is great and I really like the vocals, sounds like he's always yearning for something. Really good bass sound, super heavy. I really liked the riff in Rescue and piano riff in Villiers Terrace
I think I enjoyed this a bit more than their later album that was on this list. Even though that had their more popular songs. These songs were a bit more in the vein of all of the postpunk bands of the time. I thought the guitars were interesting. Overall though I didn't really find it that memorable or impactful and this usually the kind of music I enjoy readily. Might require a few more listens and I will want to adjust my rating so ~2
Really interesting and good and yes :)
Post-punk power and emo core.
This is like moving to England for your big OE. You’re excited because you think every weekend will be trips to Europe for music festivals or island getaways. The problem is that shit costs money, so you’ve got to take a job you are overqualified for, because you don’t have any local experience which employers require. You hate your job, that trip to Croatia seems like a distant memory, you’re flat is a shithole and you can’t afford dinner tonight.
Was surprised by this. Orginal and you could see how they inspired sounds to come.
It was a decent bit of post punk but nothing really stood out. It was probably a better album overall than the one with Killing Moon on but it didn’t have any individual track anywhere near as good.
Found myself enjoying this album more than I expected to, likely in part because it was just more consistent than ‘ocean rain’ was, and even if it didn’t had any particular standout song. Felt a little more raw, and that cutting post punk sound that was probably a bit more honed (or toned down depending on your perspective) in future albums. The bass tone and drums in particular gave me a very joy division-esque feeling but with McCulloch’s vocal delivery being that much warmer.
I liked it. Not too distracting. Fine.
Not too bad
This is like new wave without the charm, post-punk without the quality, alternative rock without the variety. Maybe it's because it's my first time listening to this album and I still don't understand it yet, but listening to this pissed me off. Five or six times listening to the album, even though it's only 38 minutes long, I took a second to think, "What the hell is this?" It sounds like one long annoying song. I really wouldn't recommend this. Maybe it's the mood I was in. Maybe this album has some influence that I can't understand. But listening to it today while working was just annoying and boring.
First impression was that it was generic and uninspired, just kinda trodding along; but, as the album went, it kinda grew on me, and become more pleasant to listen to. Ultimately, though, the only thing that kinda stood out to me was the intro riff on Simple Stuff, and tbf the rest of the guitar. The rest of the songs were just kinda there. Nothing crazy overall or by some objective, "learned" metric, but I found this to be OK. For my pedestrian taste, this wins out against Joy Division's Closer and destroys Simple Mind's New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84), which I guess are fair comparisons from the albums we've had thus far.
The biggest compliment I can give it is that at least it's short. Probably what saved it from me putting it in the 1/5 camp, I couldn't bear it if this went on for much longer. I'm not a very big post punk fan on my best days, and this is very much on the worse end of the genre for me. Utterly boring and unoriginal. Skip.
Echo & The Bunnymen is fairly generic '80s English rock, but Crocodiles is a fun listen regardless.
I liked this album a lot, great post-punk rock. This band had such a huge influence on post-punk and English rock and it feels very fresh even listening now. They have a unique sound and I think the re-listening value is high. Top Songs: Do It Clean, Stars Are Stars, Monkeys, Rescue
Why does this band have multiple albums on the list?
I tried giving this a listen and had to put on something else as I felt I wasn't in the right mood to appreciate it. I went back later and tried again, but mostly felt bored. I'm not sure why as at face value I feel like this should generally be something I could enjoy, but if two seperate listening sessions left me feeling underwhelmed there must be something there. I feel like maybe I have become a tad burnt out by 80's post-punk Brit rock , or maybe the singers moody vocals just rubbed me the wrong way but this album failed to grab me in any real way.
I feel like I should like Echo & the Bunnymen as post-punk is probably one of my most listened to genres, but this just doesn't do it for me and I don't know why. I felt the same way when Porcupine was generated a few weeks ago. It's not bad and I did enjoy it, I just don't think I'll be returning to them.
La canción con la que arranca el álbum es una joya, siento que se sale en cierta proporción de la nota del post punk y roza un poco más el rock Luego se meten de lleno en la línea post punk, usan elementos interesantes como la marimba que ya lo había resaltado en un disco que había escuchado antes, pero es interesante que desde este su primer álbum han buscado tener un estilo relativamente definido Da vibras de misterio sobre la marcha del álbum, pero también de muuucha fuerza a comparación o al menos haciendo memoria con lo demás que he escuchado Me gustó, estaba muy balanceado Recomendado y reescuchable
refreshing instrumental wasted by a terrible singer
Solid album. Probably a 4 for me. All the tracks are listenable, most are good.
I like the band a lot, this particular release did not crank my turn. To be fair my spouse stole my Spotify connection about 3 sounds in, I did not protest.
'Now you spit out the sky / B/c it's empty & hollow.' Ethereal but not all that depressive or addicted to bad habits, Echo And The Bunnymen are surely more interesting than The Cure - they at the very least write better songs - but they aren't what you'd call a gift from the world of music &, like Robert Smith, Ian McCulloch has a one-note problem. 'I'm not a praying man / I'm not ready for that.' Some of these tracks, like 'Monkeys,' are authentically chilling & creatively haunting, while others ('Do It Again,' 'Rescue') have a great deal of verve, eliciting some of the magic of Patti Smith, The Modern Lovers, or The Psychedelic Furs. & yet, if you're on the look out for post-punk that's as durable as it is meaningful, this satisfies but mildly, i.e., ehh.
1/5
Yeah, this album took forever to get through. Nothing really bad but nothing really memorable. I got this album suggested on July 21 and I’m just getting it into now in October. I really fallen off with this but yeah nothing super memorable about this album.
At least they’re playing real instruments, but it’s really repetitive.
I really like Echo normally but this just didn't hit.
I came to Crocodiles having already heard and reviewed Ocean Rain, an album I admired rather more than I loved. It was handsome, atmospheric and often impressive, but I found myself wondering how much of its supposed profundity was actually being supplied by Ian McCulloch’s magnificent voice and the band’s accumulated mythology. It frequently seemed to be aiming for revelation and landing on a very good-looking record. Crocodiles has rather overturned my understanding of Echo and the Bunnymen. This does not sound like a band tentatively introducing itself. “Going Up” arrives with astonishing assurance: Will Sergeant’s guitar shimmers but also hits, Les Pattinson’s bass moves independently beneath it, and Pete de Freitas plays with the authority of someone composing the song from the drum stool. McCulloch declaims over the whole thing as though he has climbed onto a table midway through a conversation and decided everyone ought to hear this bit. The band are locked and hungry. That distinction matters. Plenty of debut albums are hungry but still searching for a form. The Bunnymen already appear to know precisely what each member contributes. What they have not yet acquired is complacency. They sound as though every song might be the one that establishes their right to exist. The great surprise is how intellectually active the album is. I had expected gothic weather and post-punk grandeur. Instead, I found a record crowded with observations, arguments and unfinished thoughts. Mac is not presenting himself as a prophet. His position throughout is closer to: I don’t know, but I have thoughts. That makes Crocodiles feel like an album assembled from late-night conversations. Not polished political discussions or coherent philosophical programmes, but the sort of sprawling exchanges in which young people try to settle family, masculinity, religion, drugs, politics, identity and the general state of the world before somebody notices it is three in the morning. There is something particularly Liverpudlian about that. Scousers love to talk, but not merely to exchange information. Conversation becomes a means of constructing the self: storytelling, argument, exaggeration, wit, contradiction and the testing of ideas in company. These songs often feel like the condensed residue of such nights. “Pride” examines the way families can live vicariously through their children, taking ownership of their achievements while remaining equally capable of enjoying their failures. “Monkeys” worries at masculinity and spiritual authority without arriving at a neat conclusion. “Pictures on My Wall” seems ruefully amused that all the talking has failed to solve anything. “We should have got it right,” Mac observes, but the merry-go-round continues. The music on “Pictures on My Wall” enacts that circularity beautifully. It lurches and sways harmonically, carrying an almost Eastern atmosphere without settling into any obvious borrowed idiom. It feels like a travelogue from somewhere imagined rather than visited, another example of Sergeant’s ability to suggest geography without drawing a map. Sergeant may be the album’s defining instrumental voice. He plainly loves melody, but he does not merely decorate it. He refracts it. His playing has the chordal attack of Lennon, Wilko Johnson and Paul Weller, but also the post-Magazine understanding that a guitar can create architecture, weather and psychological disturbance without resorting to the usual vocabulary of rock soloing. On “Do It Clean”, the band sound like an angular 13th Floor Elevators, particularly “You’re Gonna Miss Me”. “Stars Are Stars” suggests the Byrds with Manchester next door: second-wave psychedelia aware of both American garage music and the hard, modernist possibilities opened by post-punk. It is psychedelic music made by people who have retained their suspicion of hippiedom. That selective puritanism runs through the album. The band seem fascinated by altered perception while remaining deeply wary of surrender. “Villiers Terrace” is the clearest example. Mac visits a drug scene and finds people rolling on carpets, biting wool and pulling at strings. He is not delivering a sermon about the wickedness of drugs. He is looking at people within his own world, recognising what could become of him, and deciding that he does not like what he sees. The horror is not intoxication. It is the abandonment of agency masquerading as transcendence. That makes “Villiers Terrace” the one place where Mac sounds almost certain. Elsewhere, he investigates. Here, he judges. The conclusion is personal rather than moralistic: I don’t want to become that. “Read It in Books” is the album’s one slight stumble. The song belongs to the shared prehistory of McCulloch and Julian Cope, and both Echo and the Teardrop Explodes recorded it. I slightly prefer the Teardrops’ version. They understand its circularity as incantation, while Echo sound as though they are still deciding what to do with it. That hesitation is revealing. Most of Crocodiles feels collectively generated by this particular combination of musicians. Pattinson establishes the emotional geometry, de Freitas gives it bodily force, Sergeant finds the angle and Mac supplies the words and projection. “Read It in Books” arrives with more of its identity already fixed. It is historically at home on the album but aesthetically something of an interloper. “All That Jazz” introduces revolutionary imagery into this conversational world. “See you at the barricades, babe” sounds at first like fashionable insurrection, young men dressed in their best suits and waiting for History to notice them. There is humour in the pose, but the anxiety beneath it is real. Liverpool in 1980 was not merely borrowing the iconography of civil disorder. Thatcherism had struck Merseyside with vulgar, hurried clarity, accelerating the collapse of a city already damaged by unemployment, deindustrialisation, institutional neglect and antagonistic policing. The major uprising in Liverpool 8 would come the following year, but the pressure was hardly invisible beforehand. Mac does not offer a political programme. He admits that the imagery appeals because it corresponds to something he feels. The lights are going down, the wheels are turning and the sky may yet turn black. It is less a protest song than an expression of historical apprehension: young people sensing that the ground beneath them has begun to move. Then the album ends with “Happy Death Men”, perhaps its most extraordinary piece. The lyric initially appears to describe contentment with endings, but the men are treated impersonally. They stand in line. They polish and shine. They are “no regret men” and “last breath men”. Read as a military image, the language becomes chilling. These are individuals converted into a category, polished and disciplined so that the state may employ them as instruments of violence. The state claims a monopoly on legitimate violence, and it can only exercise that violence efficiently by dehumanising both its targets and its agents. Men become ranks, units, casualties and functions. Personal moral uncertainty must be replaced by duty, procedure and the manufactured absence of regret. Yet “Happy Death Men” does not make that case persuasively in the conventional sense. It does not proceed through argument. It is intensely expressionistic, almost a popped-up Kokoschka. The repeated phrases function more like brushstrokes than propositions, turning the men into distorted types under emotional pressure. Dave Balfe’s keyboards are crucial. His tumbling, hammered piano does not clarify the scene; it agitates it. The military imagery promises straight lines and polished order, while the music keeps buckling out of shape. Sergeant’s guitar begins to freak, fists seem to descend on the keyboards, and the whole song ascends into a swirl of echo and reverb. It ascends rather than collapses. Sound turns to flame and smoke. That psychedelic freakout is a magnificent way to end the album because it reveals the chaos concealed by the polished surface of organised violence. This is not the tidy, clipped world associated with much post-punk. The instruments lose their separate identities and become heat, distortion and psychological combustion. The treatment is the argument. By the end of Crocodiles, my earlier idea of Echo and the Bunnymen had been comprehensively rearranged. This is not merely the promising opening chapter before the band reaches the grandeur of Ocean Rain. It is a bold and assertive statement in its own right, one that makes the later album feel like a retreat and a missed opportunity by comparison. Crocodiles already possesses grandeur, but it generates that grandeur through performance, enquiry and collective force. It does not need to drape itself in myth. It has too much curiosity for that. These are young men who have not worked out the world, but have no intention of leaving it unexamined. That may sound heretical. But, like Mac, I don’t claim certainty. I also have thoughts.
Classic 80s New Wave
postpunk w pełnej krasie
I've always really enjoyed Echo and the Bunnymen, but for some reason I never really seek out their music. It is really interesting to hear their early sound. His voice doesn't sound as developed (not necessarily a bad thing), and there are a lot more elements of punk / post-punk. Overall, this is a really solid album, the only thing that is really lacking is a hit single like: Killing Moon, The Cutter, or Lips Like Sugar. Besides that I really enjoyed this album. Low 5!
end of happy death men is one of the most insane things ive ever heard pretty epic post punk record, a lot of the stuff i was missing with bands like joy division tbh
Realizing I can copy/paste the review I gave their other album Porcupine; “I didn’t note anything particularly interesting or notable about this album, but also didn’t have any trouble listening to it a couple times through.” Do It Clean was probably the standout.
This on grew on me. It started off kinda meh overall, then started picking up. I wish there was a better recording of it. This one sounds like tinny, maybe that's what they were going for, or maybe it was shitty microphones. This is one that interests me enough after a listen I will probably revisit it later. If I remember to I'll mark an edit.
Boring?
Bargain brand Depeche Mode.
80s alt rock, punk, new wave. Debut.
Good
First time listening to this album and I'm only just realizing there are 3 whole Echo albums on the list for some reason, and I had their most popular album recently. Surprisingly Crocodiles is quite a nice post punk album. Probably like it more than Ocean Rain 3/5
This album's got a pretty cool vibe that feels like a punk version of surf rock, taking those classic, watery guitar tones and injecting them with a bit of a driving edge. A perfect example of this is "Do It Clean"…it's just incredibly catchy, locking you in with a great groove and a solid pace. That being said, while the atmosphere is neat, the songwriting can feel a bit uniform after a while. Tracks like "Rescue" deliver some tight rhythmic work and decent hooks, and Ian McCulloch's vocal delivery definitely brings a lot of dramatic, brooding charisma to the table. The guitar playing relies on sharp, jangling riffs rather than heavy distortion, which gives the record a distinct post-punk flavor. But as a whole, the tracklist starts to bleed together a bit on the deeper cuts. It's a decent debut album, but nothing special.
Bueno
Decent album but most of the songs just sound so similar, it all just blends together for me. Maybe they’re easier to appreciate if I listened to them on their own.
Tracks named Monkeys and Crocodiles next to each other, Echo and the Bunnymen predicted Donkey Kong Country. Album itself was real cool, Villiers Terrace was my favorite
Another just okay one for me
Good, not their best. Front loaded
Samey all the way through. Very boring
𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 is a confident debut that already showcases many of the qualities Echo & the Bunnymen would become known for. The jangly guitars, post-punk energy, and moody atmosphere give the album a distinctive character from the very beginning. At the same time, it feels like a band still developing its sound. The songs are consistently good, but they don’t always leave a lasting impression, and the album occasionally lacks the focus and confidence of a more mature work. Even so, the band’s potential is unmistakable. As debuts go, 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 is an impressive start. It may not be a fully realised statement yet, but it lays a strong foundation for what was to come.
I will base this review on the 1980 UK cassette version, as the original LP version excluded two tracks by accident. It's been almost a year since I enjoyed Ocean Rain during my album journey, so I was curious how Echo & the Bunnymen's debut record turned out. After listening, I can say that I liked Crocodiles, but admittedly not as much as Ocean Rain. It hurts to say because this is a stellar debut in its own right. The core identity of the band's sound is established here, between the striking guitar melodies, the tight rhythm section of Les Pattinson and Pete de Freitas, and Ian McCulloch's haunting vocals with touches of reverb, as he sang such abstract lyrics. The elements are there to help them stand out amongst a sea of post-punk and new wave acts, further bolstered by reasonably well done production from Bill Drummond, David Balfie and Ian Boudie. The problem for me is that I'm listening to this after Ocean Rain, with its lush string arrangements, and I'm left feeling that this debut isn't quite the peak of their sound. It's frustrating to me to go back to a band's debut, knowing full well what they're capable of, and it's hard not to compare. For what it's worth, there are some genuinely banging tunes on here like the title track, "Rescue", and "All That Jazz" that stand well in the band's discography, making this album more than worth the price of admission. Again, I didn't want to come off as a downer here, because I do think Echo & the Bunnymen made an amazing first impression with Crocodiles. It's just that I heard where this band would go with Ocean Rain, that's all.
OK for that time., Nothing special.
Killing Moon is a cool track, but I don't think I'd ever seek out Echo And The Bunnymen
Another unremarkable album that makes me question if I want to continue this journey to reach 1000 albums.
Dark brooding post punk is exactly my thing.
They have much more interesting stuff. 2.5/5
Not bad at all. Pretty underrated band by my eyes
I listened to this album in a very cold and analytical way, because ever since I discovered Echo and The Bunnymen, and listened Killing Moon for the first time, I never understood what makes this band sound so special. They don't do anything out of this world, or unconventional, but they captivate and move you. Even after analysis... my answer is inconclusive. 4 stars.
Dull uninspiring drone. I really didn’t enjoy Mcculloch’s vocals on this album. Just feels like a slog to listen to
I have absolutely no feelings about this whatsoever. It barely registered with me as I was listening. I didn’t hate it, but it really made no impression at all.
I find it hard to have an opinion on this. I just don't really get on with post-punk, gothy shit as a general rule. It doesn't inspire enough rage/disappointment/fury in me get a 1, which I guess is such a bad sign, it should get it on the basis that it's inspiring zero emotion in me. But it's going to scrape a 2/5
Second Echo and the Bunnymen album and it surprised me just like the first one with its interesting mix of vibes.
eh, nothing interesting, but pleasant for one time
Meh
I liked this better than I thought I would based on the album cover. Probably won't revisit, but not a bad listen. 3/5
I think this is my first time listening to the post-punk genre. I appreciate the darker sound of the genre. I really dig the sound, really I do. I think this album just suffers from being inconsistent. Some songs are great, but most are just average. Not bad, just average. The lyrics are **sigh** they definitely don't help the averageness of most of the album's songs :/ Fave songs: Going Up, Do It Clean, Villiers Terrace, All That Jazz
britbritbritpop
Not available on Apple Music
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH
Eh, just some run of the mill Brit pop that I’ve heard a bajilion times on here.
I wanted to like it. I thought I would like it. It was only okay.
This is very close to have a bad score, but it barely manages to entertain me. The problem with this album is how stale the ideas are and how lacking of anything interesting it is. For a Post-Punk project, there are not really memorable melodies, moody atmospheres, energy, emotion... anything that is captivating or that impacted me. The reason why I don't dislike it is because I like the singers voice and great intonation, and the grooves, melodies and chord progressions are decent, with a sound that sometimes is reminiscent of The Smiths or The Cure. Doesn't make them great, but at least good enough to not make me lose my focus on other things. Actually, there is a song in here that standouts out from the rest, that being the punk-ish track "Crocodiles" with its nice energy. So when I said before that there is no energy in the record, I meant in general, as there is no other track like this one. In the end, an album that manages to be decent enough to entertain me, regardless of being quite forgettable.
Enjoyable listen. Took me back to my youth. A range of good songs and a couple I remembered enough to sing along to.
i really liked this!
Bland, forgettable and just plain bad. This authors fascination with British new wave continues to astound. A band I’d never heard of with songs that had no recollection and left just as easily. It was when they rhymed song and wrong and later on critics said they loved the lyrics that knew the past is a foreign country. Just abysmal.
Gets the same rating I gave the other album - boring. 2/5
There’s no doubt about the talent, the importance and the impact of this album - however I’m not sure there’s much of a reason for me to come back to this album for additional listens. Do It Clean is my favorite song on the album, and it’s on a playlist or two in my library, but for the most part I prefer to play the bands that were born from this record.
I love a few songs by the band, but a full album of them is too much for me.
Decent 3,5
Ok so I loved this band in high school and was familiar with many songs on this album. Definitely a walk down nostalgia road considerable memories and emotion listening. Semi distracted by lack of bass. Why did this mix this with so much treble? I never noticed when I was younger because I never had a good enough speaker system. As for rating I wanted this to be a 4; I wanted to like it more than I did. What was most telling came after the album. Spotify delivered a string of songs from similar artists - New Order, the Damned, Psychedelic Furs - some of which I’d never heard that I enjoyed considerably more than the album. Apparently I’m craving “dark wave” music in my life. This is the 2nd or 3rd time that’s happened and left me questioning if this record should be a 3. In the end I’ll stick with original impression. But I’ll be listening to the others for next several days. 4/5
Overall it’s fine but it gets a little repetitive.
Ah the Bunnymen, with their sparseness and petulant dark delivery. I was never really into this kind of post-punk meandering, but listening this morning it's ok.
Overall, not a bad album, it was quite nice leaving it in the background while I was doing stuff. It seems to have maybe come out a bit earlier than similar-sounding music, so I assume it must've been relatively popular.
Surprisingly good - at first I thought it was very "any pub band" but it's more like "a great band that I saw in a pub once and now are playing festivals, good for them"
heh...I'm a little behind BUT I'LL LISTEN TO IT ISTG Update: I probably chose a wrong time to listen to it (a very stressful one, FUCK U UABC) so...I'm sorry
Mid
my main thought is that theyve got way more of a Pep In Their Step than i expect from a band in this style! i'd genuinely describe a lot of the guitar lines here as "bright", and, in fleeting moments, even "sweet." it's still quite an emotionally loaded record too...there is ofc weight and cryptic darkness in just about every moment. but where most of this type of post punk is for the stormiest days of winter, this is way more of an autumn night i think. there's a Dream quality that doesn't quite cross over into full nightmare mode. kinda scratched an itch i didnt even know i had...maybe i should return to this in a few months
Really like the band, but this album didn't land at all.
It's a fun album, but I definitely think there's better Post-Punk on the list, even from Echo and the Bunnymen themselves. The whole album falls into one sound and doesn't really venture too far out of it. I do like the one sound the album has, but like I said, they have better albums. Do It Clean is the definite standout of the album, though.
They’re calling it generic old rock slop
I like the use of random instruments like the xylophone and organ and bongos? That aren’t consistently used in the album but like randomly only in certain songs. It felt a little experimental. I HATE their big song Lips like Sugar. I think it was overplayed on 80s on 8 (the Sirius xm station that my dad would play constantly) but I didn’t hate this album. Not my favorite but I can appreciate it
It's a bit mid, innit bruv?
I didn't really love this :(
Didn’t really get into it so stopped it early on
feel about the same about this album as i did the last album i got from them, only this time i dont like it
Quality album.
Not my favorite EBN album, but still a good listen
Awesome debut, perfect mix of post punk and goth. Some of my favorites of theirs are on here. They had their formula down right from the start. Rating: 4.4
I started to tune out of this one before I even hit the halfway point. It was just dull, nothing about it interested me at all.
Ok so they started off sounding like every other goth alternative 80s band. Like I could make this myself if I had to and FYI I'm not a very good musician
Nothing in or about this album hooked me.
Lots of noise.
Though I have never listened to this album straight though, I was familiar with a good portion of the tunes. I really enjoyed this one.
I imagine that this album, released 3 years before Murmur, was on heavy rotation for Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills as they were developing their own sound. What a debut. Equal parts Joy Division, Cure, and Smiths.
I think Robert has some bias towards post-punk because some of this music is not that revolutionary, but somehow makes this list
One of the great post-punk albums of all time, and while this band would go on to produce more celebrated albums, a strong argument can be made that this is their best.
1,9/5
Who likes this bland stuff
Growing up in the eighties, the new wave movement didn't really catch up on me. In later years the artist of that time, such as The Cure and Joy Division got more and more into my listening habit. Echo and The Bunnymen didn't however made really that transition and with listening to this record I think they distinguish not really from the foresaid artists. An enjoyable album, maybe I will return to them more often, but the chances are that The Cure get more attention from me. 3/5
Weird because I liked the album, but nothing stood out to me. 3.5
Dreary. Just no connection with this. 2
Joy Division are marginally better, still a decent album.
Not for me
Unless Hootie and the Blowfish or Catfish and the Bottlemen are in this list, this might be the worst-named band of the list. This is reminding me of a bunch of other tedious post-punk bands I have heard from this list, and I really didn't need to hear another. 41 minutes I won't get back again but also they could have been worse spent. This sucks but it didn't actually offend me, although the rumour that there are 2 more Echo And The Bunnymen albums on this list does not bring me joy.
I need to give this record a fairer shake than I’ve been able to manage. I’ve listened to parts of it, but it’s been a long day…anyway, what I heard I like alright, but want to like better. I enjoy shoegaze-y stuff, but I wish this was a bit more hooky. To be fair, I need to spend more time on this one. 7/10
This was much more upbeat than I’m used to from them, which was exciting to hear even if they’re more known for their melancholic vibes.
A few cracking tunes on this but overall not a great album. However there are signs of the better things that would come. Still a cracking live band even in 2024 when I saw them.
++: Crocodiles, Rescue, All That Jazz, Happy Death Men +: Going Up, Stars Are Stars, Monkeys, Villiers Terrace +-: Pride, Pictures on My Wall 5,5/10
Had listened to Ocean Rain and Heaven Up Here before, but had never listened to their debut before. Less of the gothy vibes, but still very enjoyable album.
This was good but nothing stood out. At this point one of the pre requisites to be on the list is be from the UK
Moody. Really grew on me. Will listen again. *Hoisted by its own petard. I listened again, and it ain’t a 4. 3.5 rounded down.
Pretty bland.
Etiolated
The 5 first Bunnymen albums with the original line-up are perfect and were essential part of my teenage soundtrack. Crocodiles starts mysteriously with 'Going up', ends up even more mysteriously with 'Happy death men' and is filled with great rock, post punk tunes in between. Great stuff!
#402 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ Revisit? ❌ I've only heard Porcupine before this one and it was for this project. I didn't like it and I'm kind of scared to start this one. Yeah, not my cup of potion, but it's not as annoying as the other one was. So I'll give this an extra point. 2/5
Perfectly fine e post punk but not as good as Ocean Rain and not quite good enough to warrant a spot on the list. I listened twice to really bookend the list and still no songs really stood out, so a 3 it is for album 1089. Quite a ride!
Post-punk but not quite new wave. Very guitar driven with a bit of a hard edge.
What an anticlimactic yet fitting end to this journey. A mediocre and forgettable album by a British Group from the 1980s. It’s been real. Time to finish my last 20 leftovers.
An unpleasant surprise, as I expected to find hidden gems on this album. A couple good songs, but I will forget I ever listened to this album in a week.
As a late Gen Xer, sometimes I feel like if I had been born just a tad earlier in line with my babysitters and cool uncles I'd have a more refined appreciation for early post punk. After all, I do LOVE the genre and all it has to offer. But that being said, because I was only exposed to the latter part of Echo and the Bunnymen's music, I know I appreciate the stuff that came out in the mid to late 80s a little more than this debut. So, because I have a sneaky suspicion there will be later, 5-star albums by this group in this project, I will give this one a 4 because I was just born to late. Still a great album, just not their BEST.
*Crocodiles* I'm going to be the weirdo of the group and say I liked *Porcupine* more than this album, but *Ocean Rain* less than this album. As far as for *Crocs*... The more U2 they sounded the better the album was for me. The more they sounded like a Temu Banshees they sounded, the less I enjoyed it. (7.45) ★★★½
Melodic post-punk. 4 stars
For whatever reason, this band never really did much for me. There are elements here that are remiscent of bands I do like -- a little U2 here, a little Cure there, a little Joy Division over there -- but all together, it's just kind of okay. Not sure what is really holding me back from appreciating them more. 3 stars.
True average schmo debut from the dodgily coiffured Liverpudlian glumsters. It’s a pinch of Cure, dash of Doors, drizzle of Joy Division and a boatload of average Joe Bloggs. Produced mainly by Bill Drummond of fellow 1001-sters The KLF although the one actual mildly catchy minor gem Rescue was produced by Ian Broudie aka The Lightning Seeds. This album isn’t quite the painful bore that Porcupine was but is also still a million miles from Ocean Rain. Need to call in Crocodile Dundee to clear these drab bozo crocs from the list.
I don’t fully understand the appeal of this band. They aren’t doing anything that hasn’t been done better by other bands.
This is a 1980 debut album. Later Eco and the Bunnymen may be better than this. Could well have been an important foundation for the development of the indie sector. When you listen to an album like this through the prism of the current day it doesn't have the same impact I suspect. Sounded ok, but not one to reach for unless you are a huge fan of the band.
The only Echo And The Bunnymen song I’m familiar with is The Killing Moon, but I’ve been meaning to listen to more of the band for a while now. To be honest though, I found this to be quite underwhelming. There wasn’t much here to make it stand out against other albums of similar kin. Overall, fine, but largely forgettable.
Et eller annet sted mellom Television og jangle pop? Både i chronology og i sound. Liker det mens det går, men synes det er litt fattig på låter og hooks.
Kult
This is a band that should be better than they are. Killing Moon is such an incredible song and they really never did anything else like that. This album was just okay. It started off and I was thinking, okay maybe this is their best work, but it then just kinda sits there and nothing happens.
it was just meh, some good guitar but that awful vocal style spoiled it for me
Okay. Ultimately forgettable. It was good enough to not turn over.
Ma proovisin mõnele loole võimaluse anda, aga esimene asi, mida see mulle meenutab on The Smith'i ja ma vihkan The Smith'i kogu oma südame ja aju ja neerudega. Ma lihtsalt ei talu sellist mehe häält nii et tai saand isegi võimalust
(3/5) It's like The Cure was a little bit happier. Heavy on the treble and reverb as is common in the era, this was a passable 35 minutes of early 80's New Wave/Brit pop. I think I liked it a shade better than The Cure, hence the '3', but I'm probably not coming back to it. Standout tracks were "Crocodiles", "Rescue", & "All That Jazz". The rest was just sorta there and blended into each other..
I'd only vaguely heard of this one, and only in reference to The Cure. Almost immediately I saw the resemblance, and at times it even felt as though the singer were imitating Robert Smith. While reviews and critics point out their vastly different approaches and styles to the same genre of music, I had trouble finding those differences, perhaps in a good way because I do appreciate the occasional Cure excursion. All around decent early 80s art rock album with as few low points as it had high points, it's a 3.5/5 that I may revisit but don't care to round up for now.
Variety: 3 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 3 = 3.8 rounded up to a 4 "Can you hear it?/ The sound of something burning/ Something changing/ On the merry-go-round tonight" I listened to this just once before and remember liking it enough, but scrolling through my iPod it looks like I mostly kept a selection of stuff from various albums. That was almost 20 years back, so maybe the heart has grown fonder? Like a lot of people my age I think I must have first been aware of these guys from "The Killing Moon" being on the Donnie Darko soundtrack. That's a hell of a measuring stick for even some all time great bands' best work to go up against, but if anything, I've become more accepting of the unsung and workmanlike material from bands that in previous years I would have dismissed out of hand. I am also very partial towards the post-punk era, and the UK acts from the period in particular, so don't expect too mush drama. THE TRACKS Side one "Going Up" - Atmospheric, energetic and dark with our opener. Just what I would have expected. I think a lot of the music from acts like this owe much more of a debt to 60s psych and garage than most might think, and this comes off like a solid mix of some elements from that along with a decidedly krautrock influence in the rhythm section. McCulloch himself, like probably all of the singers from this period cannot help but to wear the Bowie influences on his sleeve. Maybe a tiny bit of Jim Morrison thrown in as well. "Stars Are Stars" - Man, that guitar tone... whoo. Perfection to me. For a debut album, the band is showing a lot of craft and the steady hand to deliver it. While maybe not fully formed, they are closer than most at this point. This one kind of does it all, and has a kind of wall of sound quality ( good connotations there) that I'd stack up against some of the more experienced bands of the time. I think The Cure ( they will come up a lot in this review as they're sort of my measure of success for all the acts that were all circling similar aural territory) didn't get there until their second. "Pride" - There's that motorik beat again to start us off. McCulloch leans heavier into the MOrrison vibes for his coals here, and we're lead along by a great bass line accented with some interested bits like a xylophone. This is crunchy in a Gang of Four way, and full of enough texture that it lands well enough, but doesn't quite make it over the edge into greatness for me. "Monkeys" - This one does though. The Band is one of the few 80s acts I think that can ( occasionally) stand toe to toe with U2 for sheer epicness. Simple Minds is maybe the other big touchstone in that regard. Here it comes across largely in the short chorus which soars very effectively over the heads of a lot of bands who try this same trick. "Crocodiles" - This one hits as well. The energy on display, generated from the driving rhythm section, and sustained by the ringing guitar lasts right up until the last note, and sacrificed not an ounce of tunefulness at the expense of all that power. Side two "Rescue" - This one feels much more in line with what their sound would develop into. A cleaner, more relaxed and confident sound, that doesn't bounce so hard off of a mainstream radio so hard. This is one I do occasionally hear on a certain satellite radio channel, and while it plays second fiddle to their biggest hit, I think is comparable in quality to "Bring on the Dancing Horses", "The Cutter", or "Lips Like Sugar". "Villiers Terrace" - Another one that's fine enough, but which never hits those great heights and stays very squarely in the middle of the lane. "Pictures on My Wall" - Here we go. Some gothy synths, the deep watery bass line, and the thunder effects on this downbeat number certainly push them towards, but not completely into, spooky bats and capes territory. Not sure they have ever been considered a goth band though. Like the Cure they probably did influence some goth bands though. they are just too bright and poppy in other regards. "All That Jazz" - This was decent if a bit simple compared to everything around it. Getting some Banshees vibes off this, though not sure who would have been influencing who at this stage. "Happy Death Men" - The goth-adjacent rep must have only been fueled by this track. Subject matter, the discordant touches, the echoey vocals, and the all around dark atmosphere serve the idea well that these guys were possibly chumming around with the likes of Bauhaus. Maybe not Sisters of Mercy though. There's too much glam left in them here to go full goth. The Doors "The End" is definitely a chaotic touchpoint for how this wraps up though. Wonderful. HIGHLIGHTS - "Going Up" - "Stars Are Stars" - "Monkeys" - "Crocodiles" - "Rescue" - "Pictures on My Wall" - "Happy Death Men" MIDLIGHTS - "Pride" - "Villiers Terrace" - "All That Jazz" LOWLIGHTS - FINAL THOUGHTS The story goes that if Ian McCulloch hadn't been such a bell end during press, the band would have gotten a better shake. I'm not so sure though unless all this praise I'm seeing is all just 20/20 hindsight. Seems like the critics liked their stuff just fine. And in the few interview snippets I've watched it seems pretty obvious McCulloch is trying to be funny. Maybe he was more of a jerk behind the scenes and it made existing as a cohesive unit an untenable situation. Who knows. I can say it doesn't really seem like any sort of tragedy to me considering they released a good six albums during their heyday, with another six over the years as a legacy act. So I can't exactly feel sorry for them or mourn some sort of Cire-like career they might have had. I think this seems about right, and likely they got a better shake than most. Musically this was all gravy to me. The whole thing sits right in my wheelhouse, and I could easily see throwing this on in the future. I see we have two more albums by these guys waiting in the wings, and I'm looking forward to them. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Nah FURTHER LISTENING - Boy by U2 - From the Lions Mouth by The Sound - Seventeen Seconds by The Cure - Script of the Bridge by The Chameleons - The Blurred Crusade by The Church
This is a new listen to me. What awaits from the band with the great name, Echo and the Bunnymen. Seems they were bigger in the UK than the US, which is why I have never heard of them. Let's see what the day has in store. Looking back from 2026, I hear The Cure, but you know, if they had slightly more bounce in their step. Still, we’re in quite moody territory, brooding on dark thoughts. It does it well though. Deep bass lines and guitar parts that fold over them. I enjoyed it. What this project is showing me is that apparently I enjoy the sparse Brit-punk sound. It may never, or very rarely. strike me as 5-star outstanding, but its familiar enough to sit with for a turn or two. Also, this is a band I can hear covering The Doors on some cult classic movie somewhere down the line.
Super debut from a great band.
Nothing special
Not my cup of tea.
It's fine, but it hasn't got anything that I really like or love or will remember for a while. It still sounds good enough to get a 3/5. But it doesn't impress me much.
I like E&TB, they have some amazing songs but is this truly an album everyone should hear before they die? Nope. I continue to have a daily battle with the criteria, how this list is compiled & what's included. This sounds like an early 80's new wave album, I'm not sure what sets it apart other than establishing their sound & setting the table for future success and longevity. I liked the moody opener, "Going Up" (1.2M listens), and I preferred "Monkeys" (570K) over the "more" popular tracks "Do It Clean" (4.8M) and "Stars Are Stars" (1.2M). Most people will find this album dull and boring. It sure doesn't break any new ground and the majority of the songs are underwhelming (listen to the last 3 tracks!?). The listener counts for a 50 yr old album are very low. 2.5 stars. It doesn't belong on this list, it's just not worthy.
Probably needs another listen, but not quite my jam. Was never really feeling it. Just had it over the speakers in the workshop.
"Crocodiles" is a solid debut album. The melodies are creative and interesting, and the musicianship is first-rate.
Oh boy another brit pop album as if the first hundred weren't enough. At least it's not more Elvis fucking Costello
I'll give them credit, I might like them the best out of all the New Wave bands I've ever heard. Or maybe that's damning them with faint praise? I am glad this is a short album. Villiers Terrace is just a super repetitive annoyance. If I've said it once, I've said it 1,001 times because that's how many New Wave albums are apparently on this list, New Wave sucks.
please save me from the 3/5 rock albums
Alright
Not quite as good as prior Echo and the Bunnymen but an ok listen.
I don't feel like this ever got anywhere. Needed more oomph
The only exposure to Echo and the Bunnymen I have had is The Killing Moon track and their cover of People Are Strange from the Lost Boys Soundtrack. So I was interested to see what this debut album would be like. On the whole I enjoyed it, the album didn’t blow my mind but I liked it enough to add it to my library for another listen. Nothing stood out, it was just consistent. Good!
Another classic debut album. This is great. In my opinion one of the grossly underrated band of that era.
Honestly, could probably just copy and paste my review from the other Echo and the Bunnymen album for this one
The two hits I knew of Echo and The Bunnymen - which are great - before this list really did not prepare me for how boring I would find this band.
nothing special
Not for me but a good example of the genre
me gusto mucho la verdad!! lo disfrute, buen disco. no tengo mucho especial, me gusta el sonido, la bata, el primer tema me gusta la entrada.
It's absolutely fine.
Really not for me, but I can hear more interesting elements than in other post punk albums: the guitars are occasionally more ear catching, and the vocals are ok. The first half was a fraction more interesting than the second half. Meh. 2.5/5 -> 3/5
bom pra cacete hein pqp o sentimento de escuridão e miséria nesse aqui é brutal tá doido
climinha RUIM nesse daqui, coisa boa demais. ainda tem umas guitarrinha boa pra caramba aqui hein bão DEMAIS. mas ainda nao eh o peak deles né, só um ótimo debut!!
Overall Rating - 3.08/5 (6.17/10). Whoever put this list together really loves British Post-Punk. This is decent, but nothing necessarily great.
I like the bass-driven alt-rock/pop-rock sound. They sound a lot like U2 or INXS or one of those bands. It's a good record and I'm glad I heard it. The echo-y 80's reverb-drenched vocal mix gets old after a while.
Самая красивая челка в музыкальной индустрии. Красивый дебютный альбом, который с каждой песней круто разгоняется. Крокодилы, коровы, кролики, люди-кролики. Всем респект! Бесконечно люблюююю
Пост-панк как пост-панк, добавил, конечно, себе, но вряд ли часто возвращаться буду
❤️❤️❤️
возможно альбом не самый лучший, некоторые песни группу нравятся, но тут 2.5 скорее
It was fine, but it sounded like the Doors, the Clash and a number of other bands of this time frame. I am not sure they really added anything new to music. Its not bad, but no idea why its one I had to listen to before I died.
Pretty cool. The song writing is interesting and I especially enjoyed the guitars. I think they sound a bit like U2 at times. Favorites: Do It Clean, Villers Terrace, All that Jazz. The only song I didn't like was Happy Death Man. The rest were okay and could probably grow on me with repeated listens.
I enjoyed the sum of this more than its individual parts. It was cool music that was fun to vibe to more than any specific songs being standouts.
A decent debut. You can hear the influence of a band like Joy Division on the first song. They would eventually become a better band and the music is definitely good. I think the songs could be better and I’m glad it’s on the list because you see where a band begins.
Easy to give it a five—When I was a college dj, I played this too often. Hearing it away, i remember why.
A bit tedious. Not sure why it's on the list.
No. 177 Loved this way more than I expected to.
This was their first album so their sound wasn’t fully formed yet. This had elements of the Clash, early U2 and REM.
I liked this, but it doesn’t stand out in a crowd.
Cool album. You can hear how it'll evolve into their later work. That bass is sweet.
thought it'd be weirder. not a lot stuck out. it sounded dope, but probably won't revisit. favorite song is Pride. soft 3
Rating: 6/10 It’s a decent debut. Taken right from the time of the post-Joy Division beginning of the 80’s post punk wave, dark rhythmic grooves. I would probably rather listen to early Cure but I’m surprisingly not too familiar with Echo and they might have better albums after this. First couple tracks are good and I liked Rescue well enough
Decent but not as capturing as Echo and his Men can be - also gets a little weird and too zany for me towards the end 5.8/10
3-4
Seems like something that I would really love, but I’ve kept coming back to this and just didn’t get into it like I thought. Overall 3.5/5 but rating down since it didn’t hold my attention as much
Not bad. Reminds me of music from the skate games. The title track is easily the best on the album ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Es el segundo álbum de esta banda que escuché mediante la página y vuelvo a convencerme que no es una banda para mí. Este álbum es mejor que el otro que escuche igual
Feels very stock British punk. Don't have much positive or negative to say here other than it feels like filler.
I like new wave and goth. It’s just atmospheric and fun. I liked the other album (Porcupine) maybe a little more overall, but I enjoyed this debut
Did not expect to like the album as much as I did. Standouts were "Crocodiles", "Rescue" , "Villiers Terrace" and "All That Jazz". The bass and guitar was really great.
One thing this list is succeeding at is reducing my ability to tolerate middling quality British bands.
Much as I like Echo and the Bunnymen, this wouldn't be my favourite of their albums. But I'd certainly rate this a solid 4. In the club I used to frequent in the early 80s, there was a punter who looked like McCulloch. His Pernod and black got spilt on my jacket, leaving a near permanent stain. I don't think it was the real McCulloch!
No notable songs.
A bit raw, a bit bleak, a bit proto.
It's good, but that's about it. I enjoyed the opening track and expected better afterwards. The mix gets tinny on a few songs, especially on some of the guitar tones and they get piercing. The vocal performance isn't something that I was able to enjoy for more than a couple songs, it got old. 2.9/5
Punk
Uncharacteristically huge sounding post-punk. Still rather goth-y and dark, bery anthemic, reminiscent of early early U2, I wonder why they didn't become such as big. I love the way the cover photograph is lit, such an otherworldly feel. And their two other albums on this list are even better. Key tracks: Stars Are Stars Pride Pictures on My Wall Happy Death Men
Kind've a gnarly band name. I'm a little scared. Wait no I like this. Very Springsteenesque. Very interesting. Gives me halloween vibes. This could be the soundtrack to a shitty cult classic slasher movie. I really like the way this sounds. Great songs. Not really remarkable. Favourite: The Pictures On My Wall Least favourite: Crocodiles
This was good. Can definitely hear the influence on The Cure.
Early alternative rock
I don't know what to say about this one....was it innovative in 1980 or something? It sounds like 100 other better records. It borders on 70s rock and the punk movement that's about to start, but does neither well enough to hold your interest. Cool cover, though
Spikier than their later stuff, really good
très random
banal mais agréable
Sympa mais random
cant say I ever got too into this band and this record didnt really resonate with me. I know the band name, I know the songs, but could never find myself coming back to listen.
I always feel as though, as a 90s indie kid and John Peel fan, I should like post-punk more than I do, but I just can't warm to it. I think it's the production values, all echoey vocals and scratchy guitars. I'm glad I've given this a proper listen, as I've always meant to get to know the band, but nothing on it grabbed me hugely.
Zero desire to ever listen to any of this again.
They do be echoing
443/1089 - For some reason this reminded me of the Orange Juice album I had a year ago. I have no recollection of what either this album or the Orange Juice one sounds like. It's all vague post-punk mush to me.
2.5 stars
Easy rating. One of my faves and a go-to for some great memories. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them live back then. Not interested with whatever iteration the band continues. We still have the 1st 2 (okay, maybe 3) albums.
All day
Need to listen more but overall liked
music is love
mid. not bad, not good, will never listen to again unremarkable
Never listened to this band before and don’t think id do it again
Cerramos semana cortísima con el debut de los grosos de Echo And The Bunnymen. Qué género hermoso el punk y todo lo que generó: que el post-punk, que lo gótico, que el new wave y el darkwave. Y así hasta el infinito. Hasta la semana que viene.
7/10
My third Echo album, didn't like the first two, rated a one and a two. Surprised that this one was more interesting and had a bit more of an impact on me, but not enough to move me into a 3. More listenable but still wouldn't choose to listen.
I like it, feels very 80s and that's not a bad thing. I imagine going through the city with this on headphones, feeling like in an intro to some movie.
I think I only ever had the compilation album "Songs to Learn and Sing" back in the day, so I probably haven't heard this many tracks from Echo and the Bunnymen before today, but this is a solid album and I enjoyed it, especially on what was an otherwise dreadful day. Rescue and Do It Clean are classics, but the rest is good too.
After 200+ days of doing this project, I’ve more or less settled on how I score things. New albums start at 3 stars. It’s enjoyable to listen to. There’s nothing particularly bad about it, but there's nothing particularly special about it either. Albums I really enjoy, or that do something special or interesting, move up to 4 stars. If it’s a slog, it drops to 2. If it’s an offensive to the senses, it gets 1 star. And 5 stars are reserved for perfect albums, the classics. “Crocodiles” is solid. It’s got that early post-punk thing going on. It’s moody, raw and has some decent riffs and melodies here and there. I liked it, but nothing really stood out or stuck with me after. It’s enjoyable to listen to. There’s nothing particularly bad about it, but there's nothing particularly special about it either. 3 stars.
Oh to be a bunnyman
Wow, very tight
(4/7) it's fine
I just listened some of the first second and thi is already so cool, i love it. (but now i have to go to sleep)
Solid overall and in my sonic wheelhouse, but no real standout tracks and (without really knowing their discography) I suspect they have better albums. Probably a 3.499, but I'm in a rounding down mood today.
I'm familiar with their later work, but not at all with this album. Which is a shame, as I bloody loved it! Fantastic post-punk tunes, with really fab basslines, wonderful songs and overall a marvellous package. Highly recommended, I'm a bit surprised at the level of hate in some of the reviews!!
U2 like
8/10
A strong dose of “ehh” on this one. Competently made, and with reasonable-enough musical ability. It’s just not engaging, and wafts and rambles through the whole thing. Boring. 2.5 rounded down.
Not terrible but not inspiring
An okay album, but nothing special here. They feel earnest, if not a bit naive and more than a bit eye-rolling. I disagree with anyone who maintains that this album is not goth. CROCODILES is TOTALLY goth. The moody subject matter and the brooding bass lines! Totally sounds like a colleague to, and inspiration for, such well acknowledged goth acts like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Bauhaus. Having said that though, Echo and the Bunnymen never felt essential to me in the way that The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Bauhaus do. They just feel like an also ran.
I love Echo and the Bunnymen so this was an easy listen.
no me gustó ninguna salvo la primera
Decent record, but not their best.
Echo and the Bunnymen – Crocodiles (1980) On Day 95, I found Crocodiles to be another decent listen, but again, not particularly groundbreaking. While it has a solid, "jagged" production and a consistent post-punk energy that sets a good mood, it didn't leave a lasting impression. The musicianship is clearly high-level, and it avoids being boring, but it lacks the "triumphant" spark or the immersive soul needed to push it into a higher tier. It’s a respectable body of work that works well as a backdrop, but it doesn't offer enough "playlist-ready" standouts to move the needle. A steady 3/5.
Basic
Cracking album! Never heard any of these songs before but not a bad track on the album and worthy of a place on the list, for me. 4
A PRETTY GOOD ALBUM TO BE HONEST, didn't expect the vibes I got Today´s Bird: Green Frogmouth
Sounds before Oasis
Hei tää on ihan super! Miks en oo ikinä kuunnellut näitä? Curee/JoyDiv kategoriaa mut kepeetä ja kivaa!
4/5 I need more of this in my life
2 - not terrible but forgettable
I looked back at the other Echo album I've rated, 1983s Porcupine. TL;DR Waily and dull 2* I'm not hearing that at all on this album. It's very Cure/Siouxsie-like. Metalic guitar sounds and more brooding and rhythmic vocals. The songs are structured and individual. And I'm not bored. So that happened between 1980 and 1983? Can we blame Thatcher for this as well? 3½
filler album, both in content and for this list. NME described it as the best 1980 album by a british band which is an incredibly low bar. it's not bad it's just not really Anything noteworthy. i listened to this one at the gym so i had plenty ability to focus on it but there are only a few tracks like "pride" or "monkeys" that had me even tapping my foot. the guitar tone on some of these tracks just made me think of the band molchat doma who i'd much rather be listening to instead. besides, men shouldn't be bunnies. those are for women.
Y'all didn't need to make 1001 albums into a list if you didn't have 1001 albums to fill it with. This is kinda mediocre filler. I like a LOT of post-punk, but this is like what I imagine someone who doesn't like post-punk hears when they hear good post-punk. It drags on whilst sounding very much like every-other 80s post-punk bands B-side tracks. Except that's the whole album here. It's not terrible by any means, there's definitely been far worse on this list so far, I just felt like there were no standouts and looking through wikipedia and other reviews I can't really find anything noteable about the album to justify its inclusion.
This band's version of brit-pop-punk-rock didn't particularly impress me, as I would rather listen to acts that likely inspired their sound on this album like David Bowie or The Cure. But nothing offensive
Meh.
80's new wave sound. Like it
Não curti não
This started off with kind of a sixties vibe to it, but it didn't persist. I don't dislike it but I don't love it. I guess Echo and the Bunnymen are just a three star band for me.
Not as good as I had expected
Caught myself tapping my toes. Generally a fan back in the day, at least the hits. Can’t say that they really stuck since the 80s, but strong 80s music nonetheless.
It was decent, one of the many echo and the bunnymen albums which keep appearing on this list.
They grew into something more than this album.
It's hard to rate something like this objectively or explain why you like it sometimes when something is just your kind of shit. It's a shame this album ends on Happy Death Man, though, which was by far my least favorite track. You know when you flip back over to your music app to check on how long of a song is left, because the song is that distractingly annoying? Yeah.
I don't think it's bad but it's also really forgettable in comparison to other albums of theirs
2.7
Its okay but i much prefer alligators by Rabbitboys
Going Up 3.4 Do It Clean 3.2 Stars Are Stars 3.5 Pride 3.3 Monkeys 3.5 Crocodiles 3.2 Rescue 3.5 Villiers Terrace 3.3 Read It in Books 3.3 Pictures on My Wall 3.2 All That Jazz 3.4 Happy Death Men 3.5 Score: 3.358333333
This band is awesome. They are referenced in the movie High Fidelity, that's probalby why I looked into them years ago. I've also heard Tom Petty mention them in interviews. I've also listened them a lot on satelite radio and random playlists, but never an album all the way through. 4/5 Bands I hear: fugazi, the replacements, the cure
love the raw sound, guess i listened to newer stuff, no memorable songs sadly, but pretty good impression of the album
Early promise from the bunnymen. Some great songs like rescue and villiers terrace. Better albums to come in a decade that belonged to them as much as u2 or the smiths. Some songs are lost in the mix. An album that could have been redone possibly
I do love these guys but isn't this the 3rd Echo & Bmen album on the list?
I feel transported into a dark and smokey club circa the late 80s when there was only one place to be, exactly where ever you were. No phones to distract or show other places more enticing. Just one timeline. The sound of a low beat creating the heart beat for everyone - synchronicity.
In the early 80s E&TB, Psychedelic Furs and Simple Minds were so far ahead of the game - and by game I mean U2. Spread across multiple albums for each band - fun guitar sounds (as well as keyboards and the occasional sax), charismatic front men, quality songs and most importantly - pop sensibilities mixed with an degree of experimentation. In the end - stadium anthems prevailed. Crocodiles doesn't reach for the rafters but it does a lot well. Perhaps a bit pedestrian but highly listenable and well crafted. It sits between two worlds and in the end occupies its own space. They would continue to improve until they didn't.
Competent 80s music.
Not the best Echo and The Bunnymen, which makes sense given it's a debut album. Still a decent short (32 min) record. Standout is "Do It Clean" catchy, pop track with interesting electronic layering interspersed.
Felt like something that should be in my wheelhouse but just couldn't get particularly interested.
01) Going Up - 7,0 02) Do It Clean - 6,5 03) Stars Are Stars - 6,5 04) Pride - 7,0 05) Monkeys - 6,5 06) Crocodiles - 7,0 07) Rescue - 7,0 08) Villiers Terrace - 6,5 09) Read It in Books - 6,5 10) Pictures on My Wall - 6,5 11) All That Jazz - 6,0 12) Happy Death Men - 5,5 TOTAL: 6,54 (65/100) Current ranking: 576/847
It all sounds the same. There is no difference between songs. Disappointing.
This was better than I thought. A nice little collection of 80's power pop.
Tried many times but can't just into this band. They seem to have been influenced by Bowie when it comes to vocal style. They just don't seem to pull it off well.
Sure!
3/5
Slightly jangly
2,5
It was boring
This is better than ocean rain. Sounds like early U2, but still not good enough to make it stand out from a very congested crowd.
Not really paid much attention to EaTB. They're a talented bunch with some great tracks. This album is pretty good, but I can't be sure I'll go back often. Some times a bit "The Cure" other times I can hear some U2. They're probably understated, so they get a 4.
Nothing inherently wrong with this one it's just kind of boring. Rock & pop from the 70s/80s gets all this shine but when you really dive in, the whole genre is top heavy. The greats are great, but you have this kinda stuff that is considered middle class and doesn't hold up. I didn't really have much fun after the first few tracks. It became background music that I'd hear in an old record store. Highlights: Do It Clean, Rescue