Echo and the Bunnymen - Siberia

I’ll come out of the closet right now and say that though I am an avid independent rock fan I had zero knowledge of Echo and The Bunnymen. I knew they were an influential back from across the pond, but other than that I hadn’t heard a single note of their music. I decided to pop my Echo cherry by reviewing this album, and while I don’t totally regret it, it wasn’t the experience it was built up to be. Having no previous knowledge of a band can be good and bad. On one hand it gives you no point of reference, but on the other it provides a more honest impression of the album as a stand alone piece of art. Why point this out? Basically so Echo fanboys don’t ream me for an ignorant review, and to show a method to my madness. “Stormy Weather” starts the album out very nicely as a great up-tempo opening track. It grabs you and gives a great first impression of the band and the disc. “All Because Of You Days” is a moody rocker that really reels you in and doesn’t let go. Then I was quickly awoken by the strongest song on the disc, “Of A Life,” with its great building intro to an addictive guitar hook. Outside of the above mentioned tracks, I found the disc to be decent but only slightly above average. Songs like “Parthenon Drive,” “In The Margins,” and “Make Us Blind” start out nicely but slowly fail to build to anything. Characteristic of the album, the songs just don't jump off the disc at you. Well written and moody just doesn’t translate into appealing enough to carry the album to anything more than just ok. [www.bunnymen.com]