The 1981 Listening Post - Echo and the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here

 Echo and the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here

#222

By Chris Kouzes

May 1981

Echo and the Bunnymen

Heaven Up Here

Genre: Alternative

Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Chris’ Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Highlights

A Promise

All My Colours

Show of Strength

I graduated high school in a Chicago suburb in 1986. So bands like R.E.M., The Replacements, The Smiths and Husker Du were vastly influential in forming my musical tastes. The next tier of bands included The Hoodoo Gurus, The English Beat, Joy Division/New Order…and Echo and the Bunnymen. I distinctly remember this album coming out and picking it up that summer. Lucky to have a few hip record stores in town and, at the time, a great radio station in WXRT. 

 “Show of Strength” is a solid and logical opener (from this collection of songs). “With a Hip” and  “Over the Wall” are both good, with traces of classic Echo. “It Was a Pleasure” goes nowhere. But, but…the first real classic in the Echo canon arrives with “The Promise.” Incredible vocals, guitar…and maracas. End of Side One. 

As we head into the second side, let’s take a minute to talk about the U2 comparisons that have badgered the band seemingly their entire career. Do they sound like U2 at times? Yes and no. Do they sound much like Boy/October U2, some, but not much. In hindsight, the guitars in songs like “Heaven in Here” (lead off track on Side 2) and the entirety of “All My Colours” sounds like Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree-era U2. History really should reflect more how much U2 sounds like and were influenced by Echo and the Bunnymen than vice versa.

Back to Side Two, just mentioned tracks one & three. The second track, “The Disease,” is a throwaway. Tracks four (“No Dark Things”) and five (“Turquoise Days”) are trying too hard to be interesting. Which brings us to the closer, “All I Want.” It’s fine enough. It succeeds more on the push/pull of the arrangement more than it being a good song. 

 

Musically, Ian McCulloch found his voice early on and Will Sergeant’s guitar is very Will Sergeant throughout. Moody, slinky guitar lines weave throughout nearly every song. But the band’s real weapon is drummer Pete de Freitas. Powerhouse when needed, but throws in all kinds of nimble drum fills to make things really interesting. Ironic considering that only about a year before this album they were using a drum machine. There’s also A LOT of production going on in these songs. Layers upon layers of guitars and overdubs galore. But what’s great is that this, as with a lot of their albums, is that the production is pretty timeless. With the exception of the odd synthesizer, all real instruments here and nothings screams “early 80’s” production.

There is more good than not on this record. In baseball terms, “Heaven Up Here” is a double, but with grit and determination, stretched into a triple. The bones of what makes Echo and the Bunnymen so great are here, they’re just waiting for consistently better songs. Home runs will come with the albums Porcupine and, their masterpiece, Ocean Rain.

https://open.spotify.com/album/29rkfL25uKOkVOhyr1CmXJ?si=x6w2cgyETC2wkslOXxtaFw