Echo & The Bunnymen – Ocean Rain [180g Vinyl LP]

Echo & The Bunnymen – Ocean Rain [180g Vinyl LP]

Details

• Format: Vinyl LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo
• Catalogue Number: KODE 8
• Barcode: 190295360863
• Genre: Post-Punk / New Wave / Indie Rock
• Label: Korova / Warner Music UK
• Originally Released: 5 May 1984
• Reissue Released: 15 October 2021
• Pressing: 180 Gram Vinyl
• Condition: New & Sealed

Description

Ocean Rain is the fourth studio album by Echo & The Bunnymen — released on 5 May 1984 on Korova Records — and by widespread consensus their masterpiece, and one of the defining British albums of the 1980s. Where its predecessors Crocodiles (1980), Heaven Up Here (1981) and Porcupine (1983) had refined the band's post-punk guitar sound into something increasingly atmospheric and melodically assured, Ocean Rain represented a deliberate leap into grander, more orchestral territory. Produced by the band alongside Gil Norton, with recording split between Les Studios des Dames in Paris (where the orchestral sessions took place), Amazon Studios in Liverpool and Crescent Studio in Bath, the album employed a 35-piece orchestra throughout — giving it a lush, cinematic sweep that set it apart from anything else in British independent music at the time, and ensuring it has aged with remarkable grace.

The opening track announces the album's ambitions without qualification. "The Killing Moon" — released as a single in January 1984, reaching number nine in the UK — is built on a fingerpicked acoustic guitar figure, a billowing orchestral arrangement, and Ian McCulloch's most emotionally committed vocal performance: a song about fate, desire and premonition that McCulloch has described as arriving fully formed in the night. It remains one of the most perfect British pop singles of the decade and one of the most frequently licensed pieces of music in television and film history — perhaps most memorably used over the opening sequence of Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko (2001), which introduced it to an entirely new generation of listeners. "Silver" and "Seven Seas" — both Top 30 UK singles — demonstrate the band's ability to translate the album's orchestral scale into focused, radio-length pop with genuine emotional weight. The album's other tracks — "Nocturnal Me", "Crystal Days", "The Yo Yo Man", "Thorn of Crowns", "My Kingdom" and the closing title track — are collectively as strong as any consecutive nine-track sequence in the post-punk canon. McCulloch's band at this point — Will Sergeant (guitar), Les Pattinson (bass) and Pete de Freitas (drums) — were at the peak of their collective precision and creative rapport.

The album reached number four on the UK Albums Chart on release and was certified Gold by the BPI. In the decades since, its critical reputation has only grown: NME placed it among their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; The Guardian named it one of the 1000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. McCulloch's consistent contention — that it was "the greatest album ever made" — while characteristically immodest, has attracted rather less argument than such claims usually do.

This 2021 Korova / Warner Music UK reissue — released as part of the Rhino Rocktober 2021 programme — is remastered and pressed on 180 gram black vinyl, housed in a faithful replica of the original sleeve with a printed inner sleeve reproducing the original inlay. The shrinkwrap carries a circular hype sticker reading "Remastered 180gram heavyweight vinyl". Made in the EU.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Silver
2. Nocturnal Me
3. Crystal Days
4. The Yo Yo Man
5. Thorn of Crowns

Side B

1. The Killing Moon
2. Seven Seas
3. My Kingdom
4. Ocean Rain

Credits

• Ian McCulloch – Vocals, Guitar
• Will Sergeant – Guitar
• Les Pattinson – Bass
• Pete de Freitas – Drums
• Gil Norton – Producer
• Echo & The Bunnymen – Producers
• Label – Korova / Warner Music UK