Live in Madrid cd/DVD out soon

[Mr. Brian]

I happen to love Evergreen and WAYGTDWYL for what they are and Macs voice is still strong there. Things really slipped after that I think.

[Dr Cheese]

I still enjoy Evergreen on the odd occasion that I choose to listen to it and WAYGTDWYL is a perfectly acceptable Mac solo album (it's not Echo and The Bunnymen no matter what it says on the cover) but Flowers? Meh, I can only tolerate the title track these days. Siberia has a couple of tracks I can still listen to without cringing and The Fountain I simply deny the existence of.
For me a new "Bunnymen" album is not something to get excited (or even interested) about. I'll give it a listen then I fully expect it to go the way of all the other post reformation albums.
Prove me wrong Mac, I dare you.

[5times]

Perhaps I'm being over critical. The post reformation albums are not as bad as I might be making out, but, to put it simply, they just bore me. The bunnymen set such a standard with those first four albums and it disappoints me that they can't, or don't, repeat it.



This review on pitchfork for The Fountain sums it up a bit:

Echo and the Bunnymen have now released as many studio albums since their reunion as the original quartet did during its run in the 1980s. Comparing the two careers directly probably isn't fair-- after all, it was the same quartet of Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant, Les Pattinson, and Pete de Freitas that made those first five albums, whereas the reunion version never had de Freitas (he died in a motorcycle accident in 1989) and lost Pattinson after one album. Anyone who thinks bassists and drummers aren't important to the sound of a rock band could take a lesson there, as not having their old rhythm section has clearly made a difference.

Of course, age has too. Whether they were trying to keep up with the Britpop kids (1997's Evergreen), acting their middle age (1999's What Are You Going to Do With Your Life?), returning to their post-punk roots (2001's Flowers), or hitting the autopilot (2005's Siberia), it was always clear that the Bunnymen's second life was (no pun) a mere echo of their first. That autopilot they engaged on Siberia is still pretty well punched on The Fountain. McCulloch's always going to be a great singer, and Sergeant's always going to be a great guitarist with his own style, but the two have reached a point here where they seem to be cranking out these second-generation Bunnymen tunes in the way a Toyota Corolla factory cranks out cars. It's efficient and the quality is solid, but it's not that exciting either.

You do get a few aces, chief among them lead track and single "I Think I Need It Too", which has the classic sonorous McCulloch vocal, some liquid guitar leads from Sergeant, and a big, pumping chorus. "Proxy" is a pleasant surprise, going outside the band's usual box to scare up a piano-driven pop tune with breathy "whoa-oh-oh" backing vocals-- it's infectiously happy, not something you can say about many songs by this band, and if I were choosing, it'd be the next single. A good portion of the rest of the album basically photocopies "I Think I Need It Too", mining the same general sound for less return. "Do You Know Who I Am?" pairs a guitar part so melodically slight it makes little impression with a verse vocal consisting entirely of two-word phrases matching verbs with the word "it." The title track and "Shroud of Turin" are rote mid-tempo Bunnymen.

They get more mileage from the formula on "Drivetime", which has good backing vocals and more considered guitar leads, while "Life of 1,000 Crimes" distinguishes itself with a spry, stomping rhythm, some bells low in the mix and a nimble vocal from McCulloch. That's about 180 degrees from the dour, piano-dominated closer "The Idolness of Gods", where McCulloch sounds weary, perhaps lulled near sleep by the string synthesizer or his own down/ground/drowned rhyme scheme. The band's classic albums and best reunion discs (Evergreen and Flowers) have a cavernous darkness and intensity that McCulloch and Sergeant simply don't muster here. Ultimately, The Fountain is an echo of an echo, inessential to all but the band's most devoted followers.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13592-the-fountain/

[Dr Cheese]

The Fountain is an echo of an echo, inessential to all but the band's most devoted followers.

And not too many of them either I reckon!

[5times]

I'd like to know how many copies of The Fountain were sold, compared to say, Ocean Rain. I'm aware that a lot more records were sold in general in 1984, but, comparatively speaking, there must be a huge difference.

They'll be getting us to pledge for the Garden of Meedin, you watch...

[Mr. Brian]

I'd like to know how many copies of The Fountain were sold, compared to say, Ocean Rain. I'm aware that a lot more records were sold in general in 1984, but, comparatively speaking, there must be a huge difference.

I've tried to get more exact sales figures of Bunnymen albums in general to no avail, just that certain ones were Gold which is 100,000 in the UK (Crocodiles, Porcupine, Ocean Rain, Songs To Learn ) or Silver which is 60,000 in the UK (Grey Album, Evergreen) or whatever. It safe to say that The Fountain did considerably less than 60k. If I had to guess maybe a few thousand and I am being generous.

http://www.bpi.co.uk/certified-awards.aspx (search by Artist and keyword "Bunnymen")

[Grumpy_Jimbo]

It's utter pish, very poor quality I'd advise give it a miss....... Mines is on its way back to Amazon....

[crystal89]

I have the bootleg of the concert anyway. And I got no reply from the management at Bunnymen HQ, which makes me think that it was an enterprising chap who decided to try and make a fast buck. Sadly people will buy it, as they will not know, or be too scared to do a bit of bootlegging!

[meh]

It's utter pish, very poor quality I'd advise give it a miss....... Mines is on its way back to Amazon....

what is, sorry?