Search - Echo & Bunnymen :: Siberia

As vital and as vibrant as ever

Kristin F. Smith | Timothy's, on the Bayswater Road | 09/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Echo and the Bunnymen remain as vital and as vibrant as ever, and SIBERIA stands tall among their best works.

On this album, the Bunnymen - and producer Hugh Jones (HEAVEN UP HERE) have found the perfect blend of Ian McCulloch's melodic romanticism and Will Sergeant's driving, jangling, soul-burnishing guitars. These are songs that pull at the heart and rouse the spirit. And they'll sound just as great after the five hundredth play; this is a keeper.

SIBERIA pulses with energy, from the relentless forward momentum of "Stormy Weather" to the earnest passion of "All Because of You Days"; the devilish little keyboards of "Make Us Blind"; the wickedly witty wordplay of "Sideways Eight" and the unabashed balladry of "What if We Are". Even the glum notion that "Everything Kills You" becomes an anthem of life-affirming beauty.

Highlights are numerous, with "In the Margins" first among them. This swooping, soaring dream vision of a song belongs up in the ninth sphere with such Bunnymen classics as "The Killing Moon".

The title track, coldly beautiful and complex, benefits from repeated listening. There is a lot going on here, including some of McCulloch's best lyrics:

"Where am I

Still trying to find the light that burns the northern sky

A rarer borealis

Born to be

Made of lights"

"Parthenon Drive" takes a psychedelic-tinged, guitar-throbbing trip down memory lane, while "Scissors in the Sand" offers a wonderfully nightmarish jumble of childhood memories: `magic' trees, "Something on the roof", silverfish, ventriloquism ....

"Of a Life" looks to both past and future as McCulloch enthusiastically declares himself done with "begging", "bends" and "jumping off the mountain", and after "a song to learn and sing/Of a life requited".

SIBERIA delivers an album full of terrific songs, to requite the faith of Bunnymen acolytes and novices alike.



"

MAGICAL BEAUTY!

12 Eloquent Dots | Sitting next to that girl right over there. | 09/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"They really hit a stride with this release. All Because of You Days is a special song. The jangles are beautiful as they rotate with the beats. I can't find a single problem with any song. This Siberia doesn't leave me cold, it leaves me with wanting more."

A lush soundscape resplendent with lyrical delights

C. MacGregor | Seabrook, Texas USA | 09/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"To be honest with you I did not expect much from this Bunnymen album. Their last full-length CD, Flowers, never really sat right with me. Perhaps it was the lyrical content, or the somewhat lackluster production, I don't know. It never really gelled for me. Siberia though... what a welcome surprise.



The best thing about this collection is Will's strong presence. His jangling guitar work is some of the best it's been in ages; swirling around the songs giving your ears a chance to explore the Bunnymen's sound-scape as if the last twenty-odd years had been frozen in time. Tracks like 'Siberia' are a fine example of why this band has always been as much Will's as it is Mac's. When his guitar takes a break at the halfway point you find yourself wanting him to return.



Speaking of Mac, or writing about him as it were, he's in fine form too. His older, mellowed vocals seem more comfortable to him now. Gone are his attempts to recapture the bark of his younger days and instead you find him comfortably crooning some fo his best lyrics in years. Certainly his writing is far better than it was on Slideling, his solo album from 2003. His voice is still one of the best when whispering out a lyric or crooning out a stanza. He makes the perfect compliment to the psychedelic showmanship of Will's guitar.



The first single, 'Stormy Weather' is classic Bunnymen and the production of Hugh Jones is a welcome touch on this CD. The much commented 'Parthenon Drive' revisits older cuts like 'The Cutter' while finding a mature Mac reflecting on his life a la Frank Sinatra in 'It was a very good year.' Will's guitar in Parthenon Drive is too exquisite for mere words to relate.



Tracks like 'Scissors in the Sand' take you back to the old days of the Bunnymen, yet on this CD they seem almost out of place with far more mature and complex songs coming from the band. The final track, 'What if we are?' an ode to the eternal optimism of love, gives us promise that the next album still has the capability of topping the last.



That is something that Echo and the Bunnymen have always been able to deliver. The promise that their best will always be surpassed by their next. For the past twenty years I've been a fan and I expect that if they're still recording in twenty more I'll still be surprised that they are as vibrant and amazing as they are today."