Echo & the Bunnymen - "Heaven Up Here" Classic Or Dude?

I like it a lot -- for some, I know, it's their most depressed and sprawling album, but that could be why I like it a lot. "Over the Wall," "All My Colours" and "A Promise" are reason enough to love it to bits, but the whole thing hangs together so damn well, and Will Sergeant is The Man.

Absolute classic.

To get back to the question - Classic, as are each of the 5 original EATB albums.

There's a four disc box set due out in America in a couple of months, that should be a treat. Hopefully that means all the weird B-sides will finally be in one place, stuff like "Fuel."

You are definitely right about letting U2's uselessness speak for itself. I heard the new album at a friend's place last month -- nondescript garbage. A friend says they were good in concert, but the last time I was a real U2 fan at all was 1988...and then they put out _Rattle and Hum_. I actually bought it the first day it came out, and shortly thereafter realized what a dread mistake I had made.

In the meantime, a new Nuggets box? Hmm...

i prefer "ocean rain," meself.

(i like k.o.d., btw)

Turquoise Days is the hidden gem on this record.

Since Nobody Could Possibly Give A Shit What Is Coming Out Of Ian McCulloch's mouth, the individual songs that are the most melodic or dramatic tend to stick out for me, rather than any song's "point". Just like Interpol. :)

But "The Cutter" is IMO one of the greatest songs of the '80s.

STL&S is one of my favorite records (I just listened to it this weekend), yet I've never felt compelled to buy any individual Bunnymen recs. I think "Seven Seas" is my favorite tune.

When I first heard 'Over the Wall' on the radio, I thought it was Pink Floyd.

He might be imitating Julian Cope, who is his true rival. They both hate U2 and appear to have hated them for a long time, ever since the early 80's. I'm sure Julian Cope slagging U2 in his liner notes was a good way to expedite his getting kicked off Island Records too.

I just got Heaven Up Here and I'm going to see what I think. I love Porcupine and Ocean Rain, so this should be no trouble.

There should be a "Ian McCullough vs. Julian Cope - Classic or Drude" thread.

::::sigh::::::

I think I'll be quite alright with "Songs To Learn And Sing" being the only Echo in my collection....

Best of's are for grandmothers!

I bought Heaven Up Here cuz it was cheap and Courtney Love worshipped it

Never on God's cursed Earth has there been a dumber reason for buying an album.

After favoring each of the first four records for short spells, Crocodiles has emerged as the very best.

But it's a rare occasion that I'll put on one of their records anymore.

"'Do It Clean' should have been the single, but Rob [Dickins, MD of WEA] never saw it, insisted it could only be the B-side. 'The Puppet' was the one hiccup until 1985- wasn't my fault - I hated 'The Puppet'!"

I guess the record label in the States thought "Do It Clean" was about drugs (it prolly is) so didn't want it to be a single.

Bonus points for the killer sleeve art (sigh, I miss LPs...) on the full length and the "A Promise" 12" -- perfectly rendered to mirror the music contained therein, as many great UK groups of the time had a penchant for doing (Smiths retro pics, New Order's minimal graphics, etc.)

I think HUH was kinda like a goth (or long raincoat, I s'pose) blueprint album, as much as Siouxsie's "Ju-Ju" from around the same time.

i didn't really think of this, but there's some truth to this. i am also beginning to think that porcupine is a sort of proto-shoegazer album, what with all the reverb and studio trickery going on. it doesn't sound that out of place in comparison to slowdive or ride.

though unlike anthony i actually like EATB a lot, i basically agree with this sentiment. the bunnymen may be the ultimate "pay no mind to the lyrics, it's the music" band.

and until colin pointed it out, i never heard the "pining for the pork of the porcupine" lyrical atrocity. even now i pay it no mind.

*cue the sudden shift towards the end of "Show of Strength" where everything is all stoned drone and those massive De Freitas thwacks and bashes...*

CLASSIC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozO_UDKK1Vw

This is their best album.

https://thequietus.com/articles/30032-echo-and-the-bunnymen-heaven-up-here

I really like this piece, even if it feels a bit pretentious at times, but then the Bunnymen were all about pretentions.

This is their best album.

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, January 11, 2019 2:47 PM

i completely agree, me from two years ago.

Listening to it now for the first time in decades, and it's sounding better than I thought it would! Although I still think I prefer Porcupine.

I really like this piece, even if it feels a bit pretentious at times, but then the Bunnymen were all about pretentions.

ILM will always be a safe-space for pretension.

back at a time when left-field music didn't often make significant inroads into the pop chart.

seems wrong

tfw the drummer is a beast

He's certainly more subtle than the previous individual filling the slot.

Happened to have found this cd in a pile of cds taht have been sitting on a shelf behind my worktable presumably from having ripped them to ATRAC for my walkman a few years ago. Which is not a good thing, should have listened to it more recently. But it has been on my 3changer this week.
Have loved this since i got it though. Had an earlier cd version from th emid 90s. Had only picked up Porcupine around the time . I think I got that from a record shop in the market upstairs in Carnaby st, loved the Cutter when it was in the charts.
Heaven Up Here has some weird puerile situations happening in the lyrics but the lyrics seem to go together well.~
Also has some really great angst filled stuff. Like they wuz existentialists and shit.
LP cover seems oddly fitting.
& I am always reminded of the Birthday Party's response to seeing the band live at the Lyceum shortly after arriving in London. It apparently heavily disenchanted them after thinking London would be filled with bands like the Pop Group and other things as seriously inventive and breaking new ground. Not fey New Wave types or whatever.
Still I think it holds up as do the lps either side of it. Probably Ocean Rain too. I think the Crystal Days box set hasa lot of moments too.