Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Monkeys (original version)
2. The Pictures On My Wall (original single version)
3. Read It In Books (original single version)
4. Villiers Terrace (John Peel session)
5. Rescue
6. Simple Stuff
7. Stars Are Stars
8. All That Jazz
9. Crocodiles
10. The Puppet
11. Do It Clean
12. Show Of Strength
13. Over The Wall
14. A Promise
15. Heaven Up Here
16. All My Colours
17. Broke My Neck (long version)
18. No Hands (John Peel session)
19. Fuel
20. The Subject

Disc 2:

1. The Back Of Love
2. The Cutter
3. Way Out And Up We Go
4. Clay
5. Heads Will Roll
6. Gods Will Be Gods (alternate version)
7. Never Stop (Discotheque)
8. Watch Out Below (John Peel session)
9. The Killing Moon (All Night version)
10. Silver (Tidal Wave)
11. Angels And Devils
12. Crystal Days
13. Seven Seas
14. My Kingdom
15. Ocean Rain
16. All You Need Is Love

Disc 3:

1. Bring On The Dancing Horses
2. Over Your Shoulder
3. Lover I Love
4. Satisfaction
5. New Direction (original version)
6. Ship Of Fools
7. All My Life
8. The Game
9. Bedbugs And Ballyhoo
10. Lips Like Sugar (single version)
11. People Are Strange
12. Rollercoaster
13. Don't Let It Get You Down
14. I Want To Be There (When You Come)
15. Nothing Lasts Forever
16. Hurricane
17. Rust
18. What Are You Going To Do With Your Life?

Disc 4:

1. In The Midnight Hour
2. Start Again (live, 1987)
3. The Original Cutter - A Drop In The Ocean
4. Heads Will Roll (Summer version)
5. Bedbugs And Ballyhoo (original single version)
6. Zimbo (live, 1982 with The Royal Burundi Drummers)
7. Angels And Devils (live, 1985)
8. She Cracked (live, 1985)
9. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (live, 1985)
10. Soul Kitchen (live, 1985)
11. Action Woman (live, 1985)
12. Paint It Black (live, 1985)
13. Run, Run, Run (live, 1985)
14. Friction (live, 1985)
15. Crocodiles (live, 1985)
16. Heroin (live, 1983)
17. Do It Clean (live, 1983)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65171 in Music
• Released on: 2001-07-17
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Original recording remastered

Album Description
Echo & The Bunnymen - Crystal Days 1979-1999 collects 72 tracks, including 14 previously unreleased tracks and 23 cuts never before available on CD. This Rhino Records box set spans the whole of the Bunnymen's career, from their very first recording ('Monkeys') through selections from 1999's What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? The first three discs include all the classic singles and album tracks, as well as rare B-sides, outtakes, unreleased songs intended for a scrapped 1986 album and a pair of lost tunes rescued from the vaults of the BBC. Disc Four kicks off with a few more rarities and alternate takes before plunging into a 50-minute demonstration of the Bunnymen in peak live form, covering Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Jonathan Richman, Television, The Doors and the Velvet Underground in addition to searing versions of their own songs.

Amazon.com
Though a much-ballyhooed phenomenon that influenced modern bands as diverse as Pavement, Hole, and Flaming Lips, Liverpool's Echo & the Bunnymen tellingly had their biggest American successes ("Lips Like Sugar" and a cover of the Doors' "People Are Strange") just as they were beginning to come apart at the seams. With frontman Ian McCulloch wailing his impressionistic/expressionistic lyrics (occasionally so obtuse it was hard to tell which adjective applied) over Will Sergeant's fevered, jaggedly hypnotic guitar lines like a shamanic voice in the wilderness, the Bunnymen didn't so much push rock's boundaries as redraw them entirely to their own grand specifications. Compiled with a fan's zeal and the frank circumspection of hindsight, this richly annotated (including running track-by-track commentary by McCulloch and Sergeant) four-disc set documents the Bunnymen from their awkwardly determined '79 tracks and singles through highlights from their '80s albums and a gratifying late '90s comeback. Sprinkled generously throughout are singles, B-sides, Peel Session outtakes, and live tracks that add insightful details to their compelling, if decidedly star-crossed tale. Disc four will be especially welcomed by the faithful, containing mostly live tracks from '83 to '87 and an unlikely, eclectic array of covers ranging from Dylan's "It's All Over Now" and the Stones' "Paint It Black" through the Doors, Lou Reed, and Television that suggest these were impossibly ambitious musicians who made their mark first and discovered their roots later. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Oh, the days!
An awesome package! When I first saw it set on the "New Releases" rack, I said to myself, "Oh, great. All the songs I already have packaged in a pretty book." Upon further inspection, I was amazed to find that there are nearly forty songs/versions I'd never heard. Peel Sessions! B-Sides! Live performances! Outtakes! Well worth the price. I'm listening to it right now, and I know that this is going to be my main spin for the rest of the summer. E&theBMen are so amazing, especially the early stuff. Saw them in 85, having only heard "Seven Seas". I was immediately hooked. Not too fond of the recent stuff. Thankfully, though, this package is bottom heavy, that is, most emphasis is on the early and mid period Echo. If you are an Echo fan, you must own this. If you are calculating its worth by counting the songs you already have, forget it. Even the album cuts have been re-mastered beautifully.

Better Buy It
A couple very good reviews on this box set already in here, but I thought I would throw my two cents in the ring. A great box set for the Echo fan. Cool pictures and a lot of unreleased stuff here. I bought this in Chicago at an in store appearance and the band said they were very proud of all this stuff and were amazed when they heard the final product because they used some high speed equipment to remaster these old recordings that were thought to be lost. I am amazed by these guys each time I hear this music. They have really grown musically, but retain that great sound they've always had. The new releases are just as good because they keep that same sound they've had since Urgh! A Music War. Good stuff here and well worth the price. Not easy to find in the stores anymore so you may need to order it online.

A must for the die-hard
If you're trying to decide whether to buy this, here's how it works. Do you already own Crocodiles, Heaven Up Here, Porcupine, and Ocean Rain? If not, buy them. They are classics, and you can get the four of them together for less than the price of this set. If you love those four discs and want more, then buy this. It has good digital recordings of the original Bedbugs and Ballyhoo, Over Your Shoulder, and Angels and Devils, which are among their best songs and aren't otherwise available on disc. Plus the long version of Silver, and a few other goodies that have been out of print for years. There also are some good live numbers on disc four. The songs from the first four albums that appear here sound perhaps a little cleaner than on their original CDs, but if you are thinking of buying this set just to get upgraded sound on those numbers, I predict you will find the difference small for the price. Much of the rest of the stuff here is junk that's fun to have but not as much fun to listen to -- alternate takes or unreleased songs that were suppressed all these years for good reason. There also are a few tracks from the recent comeback albums, about which the less said the better.

Basically there is about one disc worth of stuff you will listen to a lot, and three discs worth of stuff that has some curiosity value but that you probably won't listen to very often (assuming you own the first four albums). All in all, not a great value but an absolutely necessary and delightful purchase for the big fan. The annotations inside are sometimes interesting but nothing reveletory.