Zimbo (live, 1982 with The Royal Burundi Drummers)
Angels And Devils (live, 1985)
She Cracked (live, 1985)
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (live, 1985)
Soul Kitchen (live, 1985)
Action Woman (live, 1985)
Paint It Black (live, 1985)
Run, Run, Run (live, 1985)
Friction (live, 1985)
Crocodiles (live, 1985)
Heroin (live, 1983)
Do It Clean (live, 1983)
Echo & The Bunnymen - Crystal Days 1979-1999 collects 72 tracks, including 14 previously unreleased tracks and 23 cuts never before available on CD. This Rhino Records box set spans the whole of the Bunnymen's career, ... more »from their very first recording ('Monkeys') through selections from 1999's What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? The first three discs include all the classic singles and album tracks, as well as rare B-sides, outtakes, unreleased songs intended for a scrapped 1986 album and a pair of lost tunes rescued from the vaults of the BBC. Disc Four kicks off with a few more rarities and alternate takes before plunging into a 50-minute demonstration of the Bunnymen in peak live form, covering Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Jonathan Richman, Television, The Doors and the Velvet Underground in addition to searing versions of their own songs.« less
Echo & The Bunnymen - Crystal Days 1979-1999 collects 72 tracks, including 14 previously unreleased tracks and 23 cuts never before available on CD. This Rhino Records box set spans the whole of the Bunnymen's career, from their very first recording ('Monkeys') through selections from 1999's What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? The first three discs include all the classic singles and album tracks, as well as rare B-sides, outtakes, unreleased songs intended for a scrapped 1986 album and a pair of lost tunes rescued from the vaults of the BBC. Disc Four kicks off with a few more rarities and alternate takes before plunging into a 50-minute demonstration of the Bunnymen in peak live form, covering Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Jonathan Richman, Television, The Doors and the Velvet Underground in addition to searing versions of their own songs.
"If you're trying to decide whether to buy this, here's how it works. Do you already own Crocodiles, Heaven Up Here, Porcupine, and Ocean Rain? If not, buy them. They are classics, and you can get the four of them together for less than the price of this set. If you love those four discs and want more, then buy this. It has good digital recordings of the original Bedbugs and Ballyhoo, Over Your Shoulder, and Angels and Devils, which are among their best songs and aren't otherwise available on disc. Plus the long version of Silver, and a few other goodies that have been out of print for years. There also are some good live numbers on disc four. The songs from the first four albums that appear here sound perhaps a little cleaner than on their original CDs, but if you are thinking of buying this set just to get upgraded sound on those numbers, I predict you will find the difference small for the price. Much of the rest of the stuff here is junk that's fun to have but not as much fun to listen to -- alternate takes or unreleased songs that were suppressed all these years for good reason. There also are a few tracks from the recent comeback albums, about which the less said the better. Basically there is about one disc worth of stuff you will listen to a lot, and three discs worth of stuff that has some curiosity value but that you probably won't listen to very often (assuming you own the first four albums). All in all, not a great value but an absolutely necessary and delightful purchase for the big fan. The annotations inside are sometimes interesting but nothing reveletory."
Oh, the days!
Robert Westermeyer | Olivenhain, CA United States | 07/19/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"An awesome package! When I first saw it set on the "New Releases" rack, I said to myself, "Oh, great. All the songs I already have packaged in a pretty book." Upon further inspection, I was amazed to find that there are nearly forty songs/versions I'd never heard. Peel Sessions! B-Sides! Live performances! Outtakes! Well worth the price. I'm listening to it right now, and I know that this is going to be my main spin for the rest of the summer. E&theBMen are so amazing, especially the early stuff. Saw them in 85, having only heard "Seven Seas". I was immediately hooked. Not too fond of the recent stuff. Thankfully, though, this package is bottom heavy, that is, most emphasis is on the early and mid period Echo. If you are an Echo fan, you must own this. If you are calculating its worth by counting the songs you already have, forget it. Even the album cuts have been re-mastered beautifully."
Better Buy It
Wallace V. French III | Boston MA | 07/02/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A couple very good reviews on this box set already in here, but I thought I would throw my two cents in the ring. A great box set for the Echo fan. Cool pictures and a lot of unreleased stuff here. I bought this in Chicago at an in store appearance and the band said they were very proud of all this stuff and were amazed when they heard the final product because they used some high speed equipment to remaster these old recordings that were thought to be lost. I am amazed by these guys each time I hear this music. They have really grown musically, but retain that great sound they've always had. The new releases are just as good because they keep that same sound they've had since Urgh! A Music War. Good stuff here and well worth the price. Not easy to find in the stores anymore so you may need to order it online."
Good Bunnymen compilation but lacks complete rarities
Tonya M Rexroth | Vancouver, Wa. United States | 08/25/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Being a Bunnymen fan since the 80's I've always longed for some of the rarer b-sides that this set has to offer. Unfortunately though, it falls short in delivering most of the peel sessions and some of the live versions still found on vinyl. I feel that much disc space was wasted on the more common songs still available on the back catalogue which deem most of it as a greatest hits + b-sides set. The common songs basically take up 2 discs worth and are very redundant if you already have most of their back catalogue. I would have liked to see a disc devoted to all their peel sessions and maybe a complete live show on another disc instead of live snippets thrown together. All in all though, still a must have for new fans(greatest hits) and old fans (rarities) alike."
Fill in all the gaps
John Hilgart | Memphis, TN USA | 11/24/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If your main interest in reading the reviews is to find out just what you get beyond the tracks from the five original albums, read on: This set offers spectacularly remastered versions of nearly every non-album track from the band's original run. Everything sounds great, including the four primitive songs from the very early drum-machine period. There's 90 minutes of non-album studio material from the period up to/including "Ocean Rain." This includes the two most essential/otherwise unreleased songs from the Peel Sessions. There's another 45-50 minutes of studio material from the post-"Ocean Rain" to '87 break up period. In addition to the singles/b-sides, there are three strong outtakes of original songs from the grey album's earliest sessions, which were much fiestier than the eventual album. Add to this one song in live form that never got a studio take plus a wonderful bunny-ized version of "In the Midnight Hour," and you've got a very solid unreleased "album." Finally, there's another hour of devastating live material, only a bit of which has been released. A huge chunk of the famous covers set is here. If you remove all the album tracks you already have (and I have only a few quibbles about what was left off), you still have three full/nearly-full discs of music. Then there's the lengthy booklet with song by song commentary, which is great. It's an overpriced set, but now that I've bought it, I have no regrets."