Crocodiles

by

Echo & The Bunnymen

Edit

Firstly, to those reviewers who gave this one star, may I suggest taking up a different hobby than listening to music? Anyone who think this rates one star must either be deaf or have appalling taste. Not to mention that some of the complaints make no sense.

The running order is THE ORIGINAL ORDER. Like a lot of bands, Echo's debut got issued later in the U.S. than in England, and the label added some tracks (Do it Clean and Read It In Books) which had been released as a single in the UK. This reissue sticks to the original order and adds the single after the lp.

As far as lyrics go, the orginal album's sleeve had a pic of the band and underneath it was a snippet of lyric from each song on the record, along with (I think) one or two lyrics which would appear on Heaven Up Here. So I don't have a problem with there being no lyrics here; there weren't complete lyrics on the original release either.

The sound is awesome. Remember, this was the debut release from a "new wave" guitar band from Liverpool; four guys aged 19-20 playing their vision of rock and roll. Yeah the guitars sound jagged, that was the POINT. The band would eventually embrace more lush production with albums like "Ocean Rain" but "Crocodiles" is pure guitar-driven fun, coupled with Ian's dark and occasionally goofy lyrics.

The album is perfect, start to finish. As far as the bonus material, this is what reissues are supposed to be like: chock full of good rare stuff! Look what you get:

- a couple of super-early tracks cut as a three-piece with "Echo" the drum machine, before Pete De Frietas came on board. Primitive yet still very much worthy of the band's name.

- "Simple Stuff" my second favorite b-side (after "Angels & Devils"). This is nice raw sounding mid-tempo rocker that was originally a b-side to Rescue. It conjures up a somewhat spooky mood.

- The ULTIMATE bonus: the "Shine So Hard" ep. I remember it took me a couple of years to get this thing on vinyl back in the mid-80's; it has been out of print for almost 20 years. This is prime live stuff! All four songs (Crocodiles, Zimbo (renamed "All My Colours" on their second album), Over The Wall, and All That Jazz) are dispatched with energy that borders on ferocity, and the sound is excellent. I would have paid 15 bucks just to get this ep; it's certainly a great treat to get to upgrade my worn-out vinyl of "Crocodiles" and get "Shine So Hard" as part of the deal.

This is one of the BEST reissues I've ever purchased from any band. Again, I have no idea what the one-star people are talking about. I would recommend this album and Ocean Rain to anyone who is looking to find out about this band.