Songs to Learn and Sing

Along with Julian Cope and the Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen redefined psychedelia in Britain for the 1980s crowd, adding icy guitar riffs to productions that eyed the dance floor with both passion and suspicion, ushering in a new wave of UK pop in the process. This 1985 collection draws together the highlights and British hits from the band’s first four albums, including two single-only releases, 1980’s “The Puppet” and 1983’s “Never Stop,” and the previously unissued track “Bring On the Dancing Horses” that eventually appeared on the 1986 soundtrack for Pretty In Pink. The band never broke past cult status in the U.S., but the raw power of “Do It Clean” and the moody drama of the gorgeous “The Killing Moon” established the group as steady contemporaries of the Cure and New Order on the alternative and college radio charts of the day. Singer Ian McCulloch worked as a solo artist, but eventually rejoined the group. This remains the group’s most crucial period.