Ocean Rain (studio album) by Echo & The Bunnymen

There's a couple of top class tracks on this (we all know what one's they are), that are the definite cornerstone of this album. Without these this album would fall into a very banal category as most other tracks are either average or just above.

This is an album filled with rich and grand instrumentation that results in intriguing and high quality music that I love every time I revisit it. Despite this, there is two huge issues with this record and it is the songs Thorn Of Crowns and The Yo Yo Man. This is because they feel simplistic and don't utilise the orchestral arrangements as much as the other songs. This makes them feel like they don't belong on here as they should be on an earlier release and every time they come on I am sucked out of the album completely. However, everything else on this record is pure brilliance. The instrumentation is complex and diverse whilst also being infectious and catchy. The record opens with what is my favourite Echo & The Bunnymen song of all time in Silver which is packed full of energy and is such an exhilarating song to experience. Then throughout the rest of the album we are treated to musical masterpieces such as The Killing Moon, Seven Seas and another personal favourite Ocean Rain. The bookends of this album are stunning with one perfectly preparing you for the music by pumping you up and the other slowly easing you out of the release with a smooth and beautiful composition. McCulloch has some outstanding vocal and lyrical moments throughout as well. Overall, this is a demonstration of a band at its greatest with a fantastic mix of complexity and catchiness that would be ranked so much higher if it wasn't for those two anomaly songs.

This is a great album, I really like its vibe and sound that is really unique taking what is the best from contemporary bands like R.E.M. or The Smiths. Silver and Crystal Days are immediate bangers, Nocturnal Me was growing on me with each listen, The Yo-Yo Man and Thorn Of Crowns are dragging this album down, because they are just filler and then we have The Killing Moon which is definitely one of the greatest 80s indie rock songs, it sounds like new wave merging into something new & fresh. Seven Seas and My Kingdom are both very enjoyable and underrated tracks, but the second biggest highlight is Ocean Rain - ending track that is immensly beautiful and gorgeous.

From pedro1976 05/02/2022 06:01

Album of the year. 1984

From Jboy56 02/01/2022 13:18

Not me jam, bro

superficial melancholy pop

From santropez 09/22/2019 00:06

Favourite track: "The Killing Moon"
Least-favourite track: "Thorn Of Crowns"

Lush orchestration lifts ocean rain rain above is occasionally repetitive lyrics.

From Brad1770 06/22/2018 11:21

I was always aware of Echo & The Bunnymen with great tracks such as "The Killing Moon" and "Never Stop" but never really got into them as The Smiths debut came out in 1984 the same year as 'Ocean Rain' and I was 100% besotted with The Smiths so my EATBM love affair never happened

This album stands testament to a group at the peak of their powers with standout tracks "The Killing Moon" , "Thorn Of Crown" and title track "Ocean Rain" simply breath taking

This album should have made them massive , but it didn't. I've always said Echo and The Bunnymen were too commercial for the Indie Crowd and too Indie for the commercial crowd , they fell into the cracks between

The Greatest Album Ever Made as it was marketed ? Hardly , but bloody awesome none the less

70 Vegetables Out Of 100

From Crumpet 03/31/2018 16:04

Their masterpiece, every single track on this album is great. This whole album has a similar sound to the best track from their last album ‘The Cutter’ due to the rich instrumentation, which is a great thing in my book. The best of the best include ‘Silver’, ‘Seven Seas’, ‘Ocean Rain’ and, of course, ‘The Killing Moon’.