Echo & The Bunnymen - More Songs To Learn And Sing

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RHINO TEACHES MORE SONGS TO LEARN AND SING

Echo & The Bunnymen Classic Retrospective Expanded to Create a Career-Spanning CD/DVD Set Featuring 25 Years of Music and Videos Available From Rhino January 23

December 06 2006
LOS ANGELES --
Hot on the heels of the classic 1984 album Ocean Rain, Echo & The Bunnymen took a moment to survey their career with a compilation that not only distilled the essence of the Liverpool quartet's swirling mix of post-punk brooding, psychedelia and otherworldly textures, but also established the group as one of the seminal bands of the '80s. Rhino Records transforms the original into a CD and DVD set representing more than 25 years of essential music from Echo & The Bunnymen.

The CD contains 20 tracks that follow the band's progression from their 1980 debut, Crocodiles, to their latest, 2005's Siberia. The DVD spotlights eight videos recorded between 1983 to 1999 including some of Echo & The Bunnymen's best-known songs such as "The Cutter," "The Killing Moon," "Nothing Lasts Forever," "Rust" and "Bring On The Dancing Horses," which appeared on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack.

The original 11-track version of Songs To Learn And Sing was released in 1985 and spanned five years and four studio albums by singer Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant, bassist Les Pattinson and drummer Pete DeFreitas. Rhino's updated version pulls songs from six additional albums including music made after DeFreitas was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1989 and Pattinson's departure from the group in 1999. MORE SONGS TO LEARN AND SING includes fan favorites that appeared on the original: "Do It Clean," "The Back Of Love," "A Promise," "Never Stop," "Silver" and more. The expanded version adds latter-day classics: "The Game" and "Lips Like Sugar" from 1987's self-titled release (aka The Grey Album); a cover of The Doors' "People Are Strange" from The Lost Boys Soundtrack; plus "Nothing Lasts Forever," "Don't Let It Get You Down" and "I Want To Be There (When You Come)" from 1997's Evergreen. The album also spotlights songs from a trio of Echo & The Bunnymen albums helmed by McCulloch and Sergeant including "Rust," "It's Alright" and "Stormy Weather."

Bursting out of the post-punk Liverpool scene of the late 1970s, Echo & The Bunnymen shared a neo-psychedelic aesthetic with bands like The Cure, Joy Division, The Fall, The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Teardrop Explodes. The band quickly found a devoted following in the U.K., earning raves in the press for their recordings and their powerful live shows. Coldplay's Chris Martin has cited the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch on many occasions as a huge influence and inspiration.