This week we celebrate ‘The Greatest Album Ever Made’ :
Ocean Rain, by Echo & The Bunnymen.
Released the 4th of April, 1984.
The claim comes from the band themselves. With typical bravado, they dubbed it that before its release. And you know what?
They weren’t very far off.
It’s a straight up masterpiece.
The funny thing is it’s not even my favorite of theirs. If pressed, Porcupine and Heaven Up Here edge it out by a hair, but objectively Ocean Rain is their best record.
I absolutely adore it.
It’s a musical adventure padded with lush strings, eastern instrumentation and scales, and they break new ground as a band. Obviously the moodier pieces prove that, but not talked about enough is how radical “Thorn of Crowns” was. Live, during breakdowns of some of their songs, Ian McCulloch was known to riff a little. It’s not the kind of thing that’s easily done on a studio record.
You “just had to be there.”
But he pulled it off.
“C-cc-cucumber… c-cc-cabbage… c-c-c-cauliflower, men on Mars, April showers” is free jazz-level stuff, though.
It’s not every day you break entirely new ground in a pop song.
On the entire record, Les Pattinson and Pete de Freitas, as always, are the most incredible rhythm section imaginable. Will shows, again and again, that notes and space matter more than showiness. He wasn’t the reason I picked up the guitar, but he damn well was the reason I stuck with it.
Why play 20 notes when three will do?
Le note juste.
Ocean Rain was popular when it came out, but the true test is how well a record ages. This album has the same impact it did when it was released.
Not one thing sounds out of place.
It’s a risk to cover a song, especially an iconic one. What does the updated version bring to the party? It can be successful. Grace Jones’ take on “Warm Leatherette” comes to mind.
The Breeders doing “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.”
Madonna and William Orbit’s “Ray Of Light” is a bold take on Curtiss Maldoon’s 1971 single “Sepheryn (Ray of Light).”
But most of the time it’s futile. If you’re gonna do it, you’d better come with the goods.
What was the point of No Doubt’s straight bat version of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life?”
Similarly, when I heard Chvrches cover of Ocean Rain’s “The Killing Moon” all I could think of was “the original is flawless, so why even try?”
Kudos to Pavement for their attempt. At least they kind of made it their own.
When I think of all of the musicians who joined the grim “27 Club,” I probably lament Pete de Freitas’ passing the most. I just wonder what else The Bunnymen could have accomplished had the core four kept creating, continuing to bring in brilliant collaborators. Not just musically, mind you, but visually as well. Every one of the original band’s album covers were fantastic, but their work with Anton Corbijn added a new element. I was reminded of this while at Tallinn Music Week. A retrospective of his work was running at Fotografiska, and the Bunnymen were represented.
An iteration of the band still records and tours today, but even Sergeant admits the original line up remains unmatched.
Ocean Rain remains the ultimate “whole is greater than the sum of the parts” album.
Star Wars fans have their “May the 4th be with you” joke.
The heads call 5/4 “Brubeck Day,” using the date order of Dave’s native country.
But for a few of us, May 4th is the “Greatest Day,” as it’s when we celebrate The Greatest Album Ever Made.
Happy 42nd, Ocean Rain.
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