Echo & The Bunnymen

Ocean Rain

Oceans and Mountains

Review Score:

(10/10)
Out of my 600 plus albums, this is one of my top 20 of all time. Edging out their other albums as the best, Ocean Rain is a well-crafted masterpiece by a unique talent at their creative hieght. The rich atmosphere rivals any great modern record (OK Computer, A Northern Soul, Achtung Baby) while predating them by many years. Echo had a distinctive moody that must be heard to be appreciated, best described by frontman Ian McCulloch:"We're a mountains and oceans band". Ian was a huge Frank Sinatra fan, and brought one of the most powerful and beautiful baritones ever heard in rock. The album flows from start to finish effortlessly. Their isn't a bad song on this record. The title track is haunting with perfectly crafted lyrics-"now your hurricanes/have brought down this ocean rain/to bathe me again/my ship's asail/can you hear it's tender frame/screaming from beneathe the waves". Seven Seas is a classic staple of alternative pop, as is The Killing Moon. Thorn of Crowns is one of the best song titles I have ever heard, and shows off what made Echo so special: they were alternative when alternative meant doing something no one else had ever done. An evocative, mystical masterpiece.

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