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Sunday 9 March 2014

Everybody's Got Their Own Good Reason Why Their Favourite Season Is Their Favourite Season

I can't imagine many people think that Echo And The Bunnymen's 'grey album', the last by the full line up, is their best album but it's got it's moments and two songs that are top notch- The Game and Lips Like Sugar. The band played both live on the telly at some point circa 1988. Lips Like Sugar is really good, the band clicking and stretching the song out. The Game is interesting- there's nothing wrong with Will, Les, Pete and the keyboard player. Ian McCulloch, possibly under the influence of something or other, keeps deciding to switch key and sing lines high, low or somewhere else entirely.



The video for The Game, shot on tour in Brazil, is dead 1980s. Pay special attention to Les' shorts.



For Lips Like Sugar Anton Corbijn uses black and white, the Liverpool waterfront and some moody miming footage, shadows and leather, to good effect. With some giant lips and later on retro sci-fi.



Lips Like Sugar (12" Version)

4 comments:

Echorich said...

"The Gray (Grey) Album" is certainly not EATB's best album effort, but I think that the material was reduced more by final production than intent. Sure they were still chasing real stardom and maybe gave in to what the record company thought would be the solution to attaining that, but the band was in flux going into and then working through this album. EATB has never made it easy on themselves.
There are most certainly two versions of this album one overseen by Gil Norton and one over-sheened by Laurie Latham. You can hear the Norton produced work on many of the b-sides and and extras which have been released. It's much more in keeping with their Ocean Rain sound to my ears. Latham came in with a brief to smooth the edges and find a radio friendly sound.
The fact that the band have distanced themselves from the production says a lot.
If you pulled Bombers Bay, Blue Blue Ocean and maybe New Direction (possibly the Bunnyman track I have the least love for) and replaced them with Hole In The Holy, Rollercoaster and Over Your Shoulder, it would stand up to better scrutiny.

Echorich said...

Sorry, I meant Ship of Fools rather than Over Your Shoulder, but heck, why not both...

Swiss Adam said...

Yer completely right Echorich. I'd put Over Your Shoulder in there- fantastic song where they were trying to outdo the Mary Chain.

Dirk said...

I even think Over Your Shoulder is their very best tune ...