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

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Echo's Heaven Up Here: their masterpiece or Doors meet VU meet Joy Division crap?

Luís Sousa, Friday, 4 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Based on some SoCal fans I know, unquestionably dude. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

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.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 4 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"And we're so damned drunk that we can't afford the beer..."

Absolute classic.

masonic boom, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Of its time, but hasn't really transcended its time. Weird to think that in the UK at least they were pretty well neck and neck with U2 in popularity (almost at a Blur/Oasis level) until Red Rocks. I thought "Heaven" was the greatest album ever made back in '81, but - alas, things move on.

Marcello Carlin, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Following on from Marcello - Mac obviously has not got over losing the popularity battle with U2, and still takes every opportunity to slag them in interviews, for example this month's Uncut. I can't understand why he's not content let U2's uselessness speak for itself. It seems odd to see EATB still struggling along on Cooking Vinyl, of all labels.

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

Dr. C, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The current Echo is a cabaret act, I think, but a good one, having seen them about two years back. Still, no DeFreitas, no real band.

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.

Ned Raggett, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, I noticed the EATB box on the Rhino site whilst looking for details of the new Nuggets box. Should be worth getting. I don't know that I agree with you, Ned, about the current version of the band. As long as Mac and Will are both still on board it works for me. The last album was fine (WAYGTDWYL) - a kind of half way point between Ocean Rain and its follow-up. Slightly too many strings, but still good to have around.

Dr. C, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

That's why the show wasn't a bad one, but it just wasn't a totally gripping one. DeFreitas really was the secret weapon of the original band. But I agree _What Do..._ was a pleasant listen.

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

Ned Raggett, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I got all the first four albums in a big second-hand spending spree in I think '89, convinced I'd discovered a new favourite band. I hadn't, but I enjoyed them all - "Heaven Up Here" I liked the least by far, though (Where are the songs? was my instinct). All my friends took the piss for "Zimbo" and with hindsight they were probably right.

Tom, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

five months pass...
I dug my "Heaven Up Here" cassette out to see what I think these days. I'd have to say: dud. There are some things I like about their sound, but I cannot get past this singer.

DeRayMi, Monday, 5 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...
Classic. Beautiful, intense, thought-provoking songs. Crocodiles is among my favorite debut records of all time, then this monster, then Porcupine - classic all.

John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Sunday, 9 March 2003 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

i like it well enough, for "over my wall," though i've always found Ian McCullough particularly unlistenably whiny on "a promise."

i prefer "ocean rain," meself.

Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 9 March 2003 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Dud.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 9 March 2003 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I swear, Mr. Miccio, I am going to tie you down and make you listen to this and Kitchens of Distinction's Strange Free World and you WILL finally admit to their greatness. Or else you have to burn your Interpol singles while I LAUGH.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 10 March 2003 03:23 (twenty-two years ago)

there is someone who will not confess to the gloriousness of Strange Free World? heretic

keith (keithmcl), Monday, 10 March 2003 04:11 (twenty-two years ago)

this album is overrated

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

jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 March 2003 04:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Brilliant brilliant brilliant. And not even their best one. That would be Ocean Rain.

Turquoise Days is the hidden gem on this record.

Tijn Gilissen, Monday, 10 March 2003 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic. Heaven Up Here is my favorite Bunnymen album - but Ocean Rain has some of my fave individual tracks on it ("Thorn of Crowns" inparticularly).

christoff (christoff), Monday, 10 March 2003 20:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Ned, you don't have to hold me down to get me to listen to "Heaven Up Here." I threw it on recently to decide whether or not I want to keep it. I think I'll be quite alright with "Songs To Learn And Sing" being the only Echo in my collection (I bought Heaven Up Here cuz it was cheap and Courtney Love worshipped it, which seemed interesting. Shoulda remembered her top 10 consisted almost entirely of albums by her former boyfriends).

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 10 March 2003 22:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, then all is well. Still, copy "Over the Wall" to mp3 or something before you pass it on.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 10 March 2003 22:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Echo and the Bunnymen are best when enjoyed on a song-by-song basis rather than an album basis: discuss.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 March 2003 22:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I think I'm gonna tape "Over The Wall" and one or two others before I give it to some local anglophile (copy to mp3? you hi-tech muthas...I got Heaven Up Here on VIN-YEEEL!).

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.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 10 March 2003 22:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Echo and the Bunnymen are best when enjoyed on a song-by-song basis rather than an album basis: discuss.

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.

Mr. Diamond (diamond), Monday, 10 March 2003 22:51 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...
porcupine is better ... in fact, only ocean rain is better. porcupine takes the best features of heaven up here and ocean rain, it's bunnymentalist!

Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Porcupine is dashed hard work to listen to. It also has the worst lyric ever written: 'Pining for the pork of the porcupine".

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

colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Mac obviously has not got over losing the popularity battle with U2, and still takes every opportunity to slag them in interviews, for example this month's Uncut.

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.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:32 (twenty-one years ago)

i found this album so intensely boring i can't remember a single thing about it.

strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:34 (twenty-one years ago)

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. Ocean Rain is a better album to start with, and has funnier lyrics, even more stupid than those found on the Cure's "The Top" album.

flowersdie (flowersdie), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 11:56 (twenty-one years ago)

dude looked like a classic
(once uponza time, as's been said upthread) (but i haven't listened to my vinyl copy for longalonga time now)

t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 12:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Classic. I always liked how all the songs are built up from the drums and bass in a really organic, dynamic sort of way. Cuz the best thing about the Bunnymen were that they were greater than the sum of their parts.

Aaron W (Aaron W), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 13:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Dud.
-- Anthony Miccio

::::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.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 13:38 (twenty-one years ago)


"Bring on the Dancing Horses" is about the fuckin worst song ever.
"The Puppet" is one of the best of its era/genre.

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.

dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 13:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Heh. Mac said:

"'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.

Aaron W (Aaron W), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Classic. A true "album" where all the tunes feed off of one another, as evidenced by the fact that the single "A Promise" isn't even the best tune here.

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.)

Hutlock (Hutlock), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 14:33 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm beginning to think that EATB were my favorite eighties brit band (other than maybe the smiths). i listen to them far more than i listen to the cure, depeche mode, new order, the psychedelic furs, the smiths(!), and the other usual suspects these days.

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.

Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 15:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Believe you me, all the shoegazers knew their Echo. (MBV might actually be the exception, I think Kevin had other interests and ideas.)

Thy Lethal Zen Ned (Ned), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to love this album, but I haven't listened to in years so I don't know what I would think of it now.

Larcole (Nicole), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I still think it's a dud overall but I'll admit it's the most fascinating of the Echo full-lengths I've heard. I taped a solid four or five songs off it before chucking it, which is quite a bit.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 18:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I will never understand your ways, Anthony.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Love my ways, it's a new road: I follow where my mind goes.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

"all my colours" has become one of my favorite songs ... esp. the "zimbo" version on the crystal days box-set (which has been easily the best acquisition i've made this year).

Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 23 August 2003 07:13 (twenty-one years ago)

four weeks pass...
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. :)

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.

Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 20 September 2003 04:40 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, I have no idea what the fuck "the cutter" is about

cinniblount (James Blount), Saturday, 20 September 2003 04:48 (twenty-one years ago)

presumably it's about a barber

cinniblount (James Blount), Saturday, 20 September 2003 04:48 (twenty-one years ago)

it's about cutting the mustard ... that much i could make out!

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.

Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 20 September 2003 04:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm sure I remember Ian McCulloch talking about the lyrics to the Cutter and pointing out they were just deliberately stupid lyrics so as they could have a laugh at hearing students come up with meaningful interpretations of them.

Keith Watson (kmw), Saturday, 20 September 2003 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

see? even the band knows they're a joke.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 September 2003 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

you know, anthony, i need some new samsonites ... it's a good thing that i didn't show up to the NYC FAP!

Little Big Macher (llamasfur), Saturday, 20 September 2003 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Bring on the dancing horses, tough stuff.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 September 2003 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

fuck bringing on the dancing horses, i'm bringing the cutter and i'm gonna do it so clean that you'll be without a hip before you notice that yer pining fer the pork of the porcupine or kissing the tortoise shell!

Little Big Macher (llamasfur), Saturday, 20 September 2003 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

What bothers me more than anything is that I recognize all these references. For an Echo hater I'm pretty well-versed in their oeuvre.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 September 2003 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, but are you the "shall" in "po-ten-tial" or are you the "suck" in "cess"?

Little Big Macher (llamasfur), Saturday, 20 September 2003 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

eleven months pass...
I said up at the start that I like it a lot -- cranking the remastered version I have now, it's clear I absolutely fucking love this thing.

*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...*

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 01:23 (twenty years ago)

Hugh Jones: Classic

Paul (scifisoul), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 01:51 (twenty years ago)

Julian Cope got a swipe at EATB in on the radio this evening..

Bumfluff, Wednesday, 8 September 2004 02:23 (twenty years ago)

yeah, but is he the half of half n half? (everybody now)

Paul (scifisoul), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 02:30 (twenty years ago)

It was done jokingly

Bumfluff, Wednesday, 8 September 2004 02:34 (twenty years ago)

fourteen years pass...

CLASSIC

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

reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 11 January 2019 22:39 (six years ago)

This is their best album.

Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 11 January 2019 22:47 (six years ago)

two years pass...

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.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 3 June 2021 02:28 (four years ago)

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.

things repeat forever and there never is a remedy (Austin), Thursday, 3 June 2021 03:13 (four 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.

Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 3 June 2021 03:48 (four years ago)

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.

Spencer Chow, Thursday, 3 June 2021 16:38 (four years ago)

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

seems wrong

visiting, Thursday, 3 June 2021 16:51 (four years ago)

tfw the drummer is a beast

mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 17 June 2021 01:34 (three years ago)

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

Stevolende, Thursday, 17 June 2021 06:08 (three years ago)

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.

Stevolende, Thursday, 17 June 2021 13:10 (three years ago)


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