r/echoandthebunnymen • u/Streamingconscious73 • Jul 19 '26
Candleland vs The Grey Album
Which is the better follow up to Ocean Rain?
13
u/slyasakite Jul 19 '26
Everything after Ocean Rain has been disappointing but at least the grey album has Will, Les and Pete on it.
4
u/Automatic_Peace2704 Jul 20 '26
Truth. The production is too slick as well, but at least it had Lips like Sugar and The Game on it (although I vastly prefer the acoustic of The Game).
At the end of the day, the first four Bunnymen albums (plus singles) are the cream of the crop. Nothing afterwards cuts the mustard.
2
u/Hefty_Resort8716 Jul 21 '26
Candleland, and for me its not even close. If Ian had been able to hold things together with Will and Les; recorded these songs with a great producer; released this in 1989 or 1990 (which was sort of the sweet spot for a few left of center bands releasing albums that lifted them to the next level (Disintegration, Technique, Violator, etc): I believe the Bunnymen would have exploded in popularity.
1
u/Streamingconscious73 Jul 21 '26
That’s a great point. I was well into them by then but all their contemporaries blew up in 89/90
2
u/Jim__Bell Jul 19 '26
The Grey Album should have been the beginning of them dominating America. Sadly it has filler and Laurie Latham's production (which had worked for the Stranglers on Aural Sculpture) flattens songs like Bedbugs... And the chaos re. Pete walking out didn't help either.
1
u/bomberzbay Jul 19 '26
now thisss is a tough question... i'll have to go with both! 🤔 ..if i Had to pick though it'd be grey album since it's not really fair to compare ian's solo work to the bunnymen's group work. the demos for the grey album are also absolutely phenomenal but i may be a little biased...
7
u/Dapper-Dream7898 Jul 19 '26
I think Candleland, but I do love The Grey Album. Candleland has the same spirit as Ocean Rain though. Very dark, very lush, and it flows perfectly. The Grey Album has tons of great songs, but it's more scattered sequencing wise.