Echo & The Bunnymen - Songs To Learn And Sing 1985

Easily the most accessible of the Bunnymen albums and just full of hummable tunes. I have previously expressed my respect for Ian McCulloch by making him the first post of this here blog. Many have expressed similarities between Mac's voice and that of Jim Morrison and they have a pretty good arguement on this record but we find Mac to be much more than some bloke trying to trade on his copycat abilities to some overly self-indulgent death-obsessed junkie. Althoug he came pretty close on the death obsessed junkie department for a while there if you believe what you read in the NME (Please God let none of us believe the NME overmuch). The lyrics and sound of the music set tham far part from their contemporaries in their time and they sound very crisp today as well. My only fault with this album is that it came out to early - the original line-up of the Bunnymen only made one more record and it was, to me, a whopper. Roundly criticized for being too produced and commercial (which is like arguing that something is 'too good' - bunch of wankers) I thoroughly enjoyed and still listen to their final, self-titled release. If this collection had waited it could have included at least 4 or 5 songs from that last relase and been a great double album, maybe? But that's just my opinion. Take this and enjoy the great Echo & The Bunnymen and pay to see them live if possible, I hear it's great and if you get a deal on tickets - let a brother know.

http://rapidshare.de/files/32896109/Songs_To_Learn___Sing.zip