Search - Echo & Bunnymen :: Heaven Up There

An alternative view

Richard McGeough | Hong Kong | 05/13/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This came out when I was 12: it would have been far too 'difficult' an album for a young whippersnapper and I was only vaguely aware that the Bunnymen existed at that time. In my early teens I bought a few Bunnymen singles and Ocean Rain; now, 24 years later, I'm trying to fill in the rest of the Bunnymen jigsaw.



After a week of repeated listening, I'd say you can try on this album in either of two ways. Either, you judge it by its stand out songs, which are far and few between: if you can listen half a dozen times and manage to hum more than 2 tunes afterwards, you're doing better than me.



Alternatively, you can put it in context: appreciate that this was a pretty original approach at the time and marvel at the uncanny proto-U2 sound, (which I have to say does precious little to endear it to me). If you're interested in exploring music history largely for its own sake, it's worth hearing in order to understand how we got from Joy Division to U2 within a couple of years. However, if like me you think both Joy Division and U2 are vastly overated, this really isn't going to do much for you.



It's determindly bleak, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but this also captures the Bunnymen at a stage before they got a knack for melody: only 'Over the Wall' and 'A Promise' deliver a decent hook. I've seen Heaven Up Here described as a work of 'rare beauty'. It can also cause a tense, nervous headache.



If you're interested in the early 80's British underground scene, then of course you should hear it, along with the other Bunnymen albums. Compared to the lush Scott Walker-esque Ocean Rain, though, this is half-baked and less than half-rewarding."