Search - Echo & the Bunnymen :: Evergreen

And I thought the Bunnymen were deciduous!

B. Poelman | Salt Lake City, Utah United States | 06/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having given up on the Bunnymen after (perhaps upon release of) what the band now refers to as the "Grey album," I had only recently become curious as to what the new line of albums might have to offer. I was a bit more than skeptical, having been such a big fan of the music from the "Heaven Up Here"/"Porcupine" era. I picked up a used copy of "What Are You Going To Do..." about a year and a half ago, and listened with an intentionally open mind. It's been many years after all. Wow. I was actually impressed. This is not the Bunnymen of the 80's, no doubt. But, the emotion and quality of simple songwriting was undeniably solid. After a couple of weeks of occasional listening I was surprised by how much this album took hold of me.



I purposefully put off buying another "new era" Bunnymen release in order to "cleanse the palette." I decided to purchase "Evergreen," and again tried to remain open minded about where the Bunnymen might have been coming from in 1997. In all honesty I was expecting to be disappointed (as I was with WAYGTDWYL), but once again I was very much taken with this album. While there should be no doubt that the Bunnymen are a very different band than they were years before, this more reflective, sedate Bunnymen was still entirely capable of producing meaningful, soulful, and yes, rockin' tunes. Like many others, I would like to see a bit more "noise" from Will, and perhaps more "funk" from Les, but on the whole the transformation/maturation of this legendary band makes a lot of sense to me. There is no escaping growing older, and the way in which the Bunnymen reflect their maturity in no way denies the past and at the same time readily embraces the present/future in the form of beautiful composition, deliberate intention, and a general lack of concern for fulfilling others expectations.



I rarely consider an album worthy of 5 stars, but given the pressure of unrealistic expectations these guys must have faced in making this album I feel obligated."

A real letdown

Theo Ateo | Phoenix, Arizona | 10/13/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Very disappointed, a very boring album. Extremely lame (and I'm a huge fan of the band.)"