Ocean Rain
	Production by all concerned
	Released on April 1984
	UK CHART POSITION #4 . . . US CHART POSITION #87
	Find it at GEMM
25084-1 cover [high resolution photo]

T he wonderful thing about writing a review of Ocean Rain is in the entrance. Do you start by painting the whole piece in gothic indigo? Allude to the optimism and resolve that runs through the work like a silver stream? Get incensed over the sweet-smelling oblations to The Doors? Or shall you compare it to a full moon on a crisp autumn night? Honestly, there’s no wrong way to approach Ocean Rain. It is a luminous work from a band that rarely took its records lightly. Ian McCulloch has never been so endearing, engaging, so eagerly engorged by the listener. The more accessible McCulloch will immediately strike some as a Bono soundalike (the two were the product of the same inspiration and generation), and in fact the richer sound of Ocean Rain does push it into U2’s terrain, all of which detracts nothing from the Bunnymen. Porcupine had presumably been leading up to this, and Ocean Rain is far more psychedelicate than U2’s work to date. On the gothic cuts (“Nocturnal Me,” “The Yo Yo Man,” “The Killing Moon”), the more valid reference point may be Dave Vanian and The Damned anyway. In the final mix, Will Sergeant’s guitars (often acoustic) share space with strings, allowing McCulloch’s voice to rise above the usual fray. Only a few tracks, notably “Crystal Days,” hinge on Sergeant’s electric guitar. Though it generated several big UK hits (“The Killing Moon,” “Silver,” “Seven Seas”), it’s the consistently high quality of the whole album that makes Ocean Rain so winning. Only “Thorn of Crowns,” which smacks of Iggy Pop’s ravings, could be considered inessential. Given the band’s previously prickly work, Ocean Rain is as melodic and accessible an album as Echo & The Bunnymen have released. Many consider it their best work, myself included. If you’re a fan of U2 or The Damned but have yet to bump into the Bunnymen, get your feet wet with Ocean Rain.

25084-1 back cover	25084-1 picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. SILVER    3:18
2. NOCTURNAL ME    4:56
3. CRYSTAL DAYS    2:24
4. THE YO YO MAN    3:09
5. THORN OF CROWNS    4:50
6. THE KILLING MOON    5:45
7. SEVEN SEAS    3:18
8. MY KINGDOM    4:03
9. OCEAN RAIN    5:10
   
   CD reissue bonus tracks
   
10. ANGELS AND DEVILS
11. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
12. KIILING MOON (LIFE AT BRIAN'S VERSION)
13. STARS ARE STARS
14. VILLIERS TERRACE (VERSION)
15. SILVER (VERSION)
16. MY KINGDOM (LIVE)
17. OECAN RAIN (LIVE)
    
    Tracks 1-9 written by Will Sergeant/Ian McCulloch/Les Pattinson/Pete de Freitas

CREDITS

PETE DE FREITAS --
IAN McCULLOCH --
LES PATTINSON --
WILL SERGEANT --
Adam Peters -- orchestral arrangements, piano & solo cello
Henri Lonstan -- engineer
Gil Norton -- engineer, mixing
The Bunnymen -- mixing
Brian Griffin -- photography
Martyn Atkins -- design

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