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**Echo & The Bunnymen - Songs To Learn And Sing**
★★★★☆

While Ocean Rain rightfully claims the throne as Echo & The Bunnymen's masterpiece—a sweeping, orchestral triumph that found Ian McCulloch and company at their most grandiose and emotionally devastating—their 1985 compilation Songs To Learn And Sing serves as the perfect gateway drug for anyone looking to understand why these Liverpool post-punks became one of the most influential bands of the 1980s alternative scene.

The Bunnymen had already carved out their unique niche in the musical landscape by the time this collection arrived. Emerging from Liverpool's fertile late-70s scene alongside contemporaries like The Teardrop Explodes, they quickly distinguished themselves from the pack with their atmospheric blend of post-punk urgency and psychedelic grandeur. While other bands were stripping rock down to its bare essentials, Echo & The Bunnymen were busy adding layers—Will Sergeant's shimmering, effects-laden guitar work, Les Pattinson's melodic bass lines, and Pete de Freitas's tribal drumming all swirling around McCulloch's imperious vocals like a sonic cathedral.

Songs To Learn And Sing captures the band during their imperial phase, collecting singles and key album tracks from their first four LPs. The compilation opens with "Rescue," a perfect distillation of everything that made the Bunnymen special—McCulloch's voice soaring over Sergeant's jangling guitar arpeggios while the rhythm section locks into an irresistible groove that's both driving and dreamlike. It's anthemic without being obvious, mysterious without being pretentious, and it sets the tone for what follows.

The real treasures here are the singles that defined an era. "The Killing Moon," perhaps their finest moment, remains one of the most haunting and beautiful songs of the decade. McCulloch's opening vocal line—"Under blue moon I saw you"—delivered with the gravity of a biblical proclamation, immediately transports listeners into the band's nocturnal world. The song builds with inexorable momentum, Sergeant's guitar creating cascades of sound that feel both earthly and celestial. It's no wonder the track has endured as a touchstone for countless indie bands who followed.

"Silver" showcases another facet of their brilliance, with its hypnotic rhythm and McCulloch's vocals floating over a bed of shimmering guitars that seem to capture actual moonlight. The song demonstrates how the Bunnymen could create music that was simultaneously accessible and otherworldly, pop songs that felt like transmissions from some more romantic dimension.

The inclusion of "Bring On The Dancing Horses" adds a different flavor to the mix—more direct and punchy than their usual fare, but still unmistakably theirs. Meanwhile, tracks like "Never Stop" and "The Back of Love" remind us that beneath all the atmospheric beauty, this was still fundamentally a rock band with serious chops and an understanding of how to craft a hook.

McCulloch's presence throughout is commanding without being overbearing. His voice—equal parts Jim Morrison's mystical gravitas and David Bowie's theatrical flair—serves as the perfect vehicle for lyrics that manage to be both deeply personal and universally resonant. He sings about love, loss, and longing with the conviction of someone who believes every word matters, and somehow makes lines that might sound ridiculous from another singer feel profound.

The compilation format actually works in the band's favor here, presenting their strongest material without the occasional indulgences that could bog down their full-length releases. It's Echo & The Bunnymen with all the fat trimmed away, revealing the lean muscle of their songcraft.

In the broader context of their career, Songs To Learn And Sing represents the band at their commercial and creative peak. While they would continue making music well into the following decades, with varying degrees of success, this collection captures lightning in a bottle—a moment when everything aligned perfectly for a group of young men from Liverpool who dared to dream big and somehow made those dreams reality.

The album's legacy is evident in the countless bands who've borrowed from the Bunnymen's template—from Interpol's angular post-punk revival to the atmospheric indie rock of bands like Editors and Kasabian. Songs To Learn And Sing remains essential listening, a masterclass in how to balance accessibility with artistry, and proof that sometimes the best way to understand a great band is through their greatest hits.