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List Price: $16.98 | | Label: Cooking Vinyl
Salesrank: 43737
Released: September 20, 2005 |
| Our Price: $6.30 |
| Used Price: $5.23 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Siberia Track Listing:
1. Stormy Weather
2. All Because of You Days
3. Parthenon Drive
4. In the Margins
5. Of a Life
6. Make Us Blind
7. Everything Kills You
8. Siberia
9. Sideways Eight
10. Scissors in the Sand
11. What If We Are?
Editorial Review:
Liverpool's finest are back! Echo & The Bunnymen have just completed their 9th album, "Siberia". It was recorded at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool with the legendary Hugh Jones producing. The band last worked with Hugh on their acclaimed 1981 album, "Heaven Up Here". "Siberia" takes the band back to their roots; it features their dark, swirling fusion of post-punk and Doors inspired psychedelia that brought the group worldwide acclaim and a massive cult following.
Description of Siberia:
From their late ‘70s origins, Echo & the Bunnymen were unfairly lumped in with goth-rockers simply because their music was kind of dark, the boys in the band wore black, and both their name and haircuts were ridiculous. But the group was successful because they wrote awesome, totally distinctive songs that transcended genre trendiness. Now, it's fabulous for their diehard acolytes that Echo & the Bunnymen are still around to make classic post-punk-y Britpop in their signature style, and it would be ridiculous to ask them to write a song like "Going Up" or "The Killing Moon." After all, they already have. But something even approaching that level would be nice, however the band is seeming lackluster and suffers from it. The opening lyrics "And I need it more than love/ And I love it more than life" fail to cut it and seem simply like movement through motions. Longtime fans will find a little comfort amongst their wishes for another vital recording. --Mike McGonigal
Siberia Reviews:
Impressive all around -- and retro 
2008-09-20 - I recently re-discovered Echo and B after hearing they were on a concert tour. Siberia is a great CD that 1. might sound like something from the 80's to a current teenager who would then dismiss it 2. is a terrific CD nonetheless.
Excellent studio production, great lyrics, nicely articulated melodies, and truly expert guitar work together on _all_ of these tracks. The drum work sounds like everything they've done since the 80's but it works. Why change what isnt broken?
Simply Awesome! 
2007-09-30 - Fresh, exciting, haunting. They were, and ARE, an amazing musical outfit, and anyone who has never heard them should buy this album. Tremendous.
Absolute brilliance and beauty...
2007-04-25 - To not "date" myself too much, I'll simply say I've been around long enough to have seen Echo and the Bunnymen multiple times, particularly back when Pete was still with us. I remember the day distinctly when the news of his death via motorcycle broke on Mtv news, back when Mtv was actually decent. Prior to his untimely departure, I think one of the finest performances I ever witnessed was Echo, Gene Loves Jezebel and New Order, back when I lived in S.F. So amazing.
At any rate, on to this release....it's wonderful to see the boys still doing what they do so well. Amidst multiple reincarnations, Electrafixions, and even Echo and the Bunnymen with a different lead singer (Noel Burke, if anyone remembers him...that lp was not as bad as many suggest), the boys have returned to form and to greatness.
This release....well, it's beautiful. From start to finish, it simply is gorgeous. Harkens back to days of "Nothing Lasts Forever," "Candleland," "Bomber's Bay," etc., etc. Not quite where they were at "Ocean Rain" time...but, since when have they been? They have matured even more, and developed an even greater beauty than that which they previously held. I cannot recommend this release highly enough. It is simply stellar.
Aging Wonderfully...
2007-01-31 - Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant are about my age (48), and I think it's amazing that they're still putting out great albums, and touring. They've never sounded better; they have never phoned in an album. They still seem to enjoy what they're doing, and it shows. Another great album...this one "cold," vaguely suggesting danger (e.g., the photo of a door with VERBOTEN stenciled on it).
One of my resolutions is to see them the next time they play in my area. I saw them in 1987, and that concert was magical. If you think Ian's voice sounds great on the recordings, you should hear him live!
While Echo & The Bunnymen's albums aren't noted for humor (this one's particularly pretty intense - no "Baseball Bill" here), words to make you smile occasionally peek through in Ian's observations about himself and life. Will's humor shows on some of the guitar solos. Sure, he uses guitar effects and studio wizardry aplenty here, but ultimately he decides how to augment a song, and he plays many tasteful solos.
Hey Will, your playing is wonderfully creepy, and full of unexpected turns. For example, on "Scissors in the Sand" where for a few seconds you strum away with ALL effects removed. On the previous album, I really like the doodle (4 notes) you play on "King of Kings" just after Ian sings "Came alive in the dead of night..." That always gets me.
"Glad to be alive, at 45."
Yes, we're a little bit older, but still glad to be alive.
3 1/2 stars - An excellent beginning, sags at the last 
2007-01-18 - There's something to be said for the EP format -- five songs, short and sweet, reduced price. There should be no shame in releasing an EP if you can't come up with an album-full of worthy material. Think of the great debut EP from the band Ivy (Lately) or the debut EP from Air (Premiers Symptomes) -- five star efforts with five great tracks each.
The best songs on Siberia can't be praised enough. They represent the best of pop music in this decade. After the fifth or sixth track, though, the music continues on, playing is strong, singing is strong, but the lyrics sound forced, the rhyming too-clever. So, the band ran out of things to say after five songs.
I am mightily impressed with this music, which is my first exposure to Echo and the Bunnymen. It's got melody, a great beat, I love the way the guitar lines counterpoint the vocals, and songs like Parthenon and Stormy Weather touch me with their maturity and self-awareness.
There is one other flaw with Siberia. The sound quality is very poor. The CD barely sounds any better than the MP3s of some of the tracks that I had before I bought the CD. Usually I expect the CD's higher inherent resolution to clarify the individual instruments and reveal more of the recording space. This just sounds like mud -- everything is compressed to the same volume level, the bass doesn't go very low, the highs don't go very high, and all the instruments and vocals mush together into one great mash of hash. In spite of this poor recording and/or mixing, the music itself shines through. I'm sure it would shine through more if greater care had been taken to preserve the original acoustic waveforms present in the studio at the time the record was made. Maybe the producer and the engineers need to be taken out and have their ears cleaned.
