This is 80s indie music, post punk, new wave at its best another great song by them is The Cutter

I've got all the Bunnymen albums up to Ocean Rain. They're all brilliant. After Ocean Rain they became less edgy... a bit pedestrian. This is their mega classic hit from 84.

Just want to say, this is one of the few reaction channels where I'm consistently finding new artists I like (or am just glad I heard). You're crushing it as far as format, sound quality, analysis, etc as well. Really hope your channel keeps growing.

"Bring On The Dancing Horses" is a must. Also suggest "Cuts You Up" - Peter Murphy.

The band, The Church, is in a similar vein...check out "Under the Milky Way". A real shot from the late '80s

In fact I think it's one of my favourite songs of all time - and I'm pretty old. x

The All Night 12" version is so wonderful, over nine minutes of grandness and lush swooshing. I always go for that one!

"Bring On the Dancing Horses" and "The Cutter".

Ian McCulloch's voice is so distinctive. The lyric "Fate up against your will . . . He will wait until you give yourself to him" came to him one morning, like God spoke to him. I believe he did. They did a song in 1987 called "Lips Like Sugar". Recommend it.

I never realised just how good Echo and the Bunnymen were until I got older. I worked with a guy, who was about ten years older than me, many years ago and he would always say that the Bunnymen were the best band of the 80s and the most underrated band ever. I heard their singles when I was young and thought they were pretty good but was too young to really appreciate how good they truly were. I started listening to them properly along with the other bands in their era( Joy Division, New Order, U2, The Smith's, The Cure etc). While all these other bands get all the credit it seems the Bunnymen rarely get a mention. I was blown away by this band. I'm baffled as to why they don't get the same recognition as the likes of Joy Division, New Order and The Smith's. They were the best group of that era IMO and should be getting the recognition and respect they deserve. A truly amazing band!!!!

Killing Joke - Love like blood.

I really like their cover of "People Are Strange" by The Doors, which they made for the 80's horror movie "The Lost Boys". Ray Manzarek from The Doors even joined Echo & The Bunnymen on the Keyboard on this one

On the other side of the echo spectrum is, show of strength, from heaven up here. Echo when they were still rockin'!!!

Heaven Up Here is still one of my favorite albums.

Yay,Yay,Yay! Everyone needs Echo in their life.Why more people haven't reacted to them is beyond me. Mac is the coolest. Good on ya for doing it.

Eighties new wave is the best pop music there is. Try Peter Murphy, "Cuts You Up".

I'm pretty sure this song was my introduction to Echo & the Bunnymen. While I absolutely love the song, I feel as though their earlier albums are better. It depends on the person, of course. Heaven Up Here is probably my favorite album by them. All My Colours aka Zimbo is my jam! I love everything about it.

The Bunnymen have a lot of good songs.

Echo and The Bunnymen is fundamental and they have a lot for you to explore. And since you're touching Echo don't forget their "rivals", The Teardrop Explodes. Ah, Joy Division, Scott Walker, Thindersticks, you're touching the right buttons...

Reminds me of Donnie Darko... brilliant film. Other song by Echo: The Cutter. If you enjoyed them... you have to check out THE CHAMELEONS... the BEST Post-Punk band... They employed a twin-guitar attack that paired perfectly with the fantastic bass and drums. I'd recommend their "hit" Swamp Thing (amaaaaazing)... or "Here Today" (a brilliant, haunting song about the death of John Lennon), Second Skin, In Shreds (a burner!)... INCREDIBLE BAND. (I actually flew from San Francisco to London and then took a train to Manchester to see their reunion... yeah. They were THAT great. Well worth it.)

I like how you cover a range of music. I love the "Heaven Up Here" album, it has great drum figures and amazing singing the opening track "Show of Strength" is a good place to start. Joy Division is just a little bit earlier, Ian Curtis died about the time Echo and The Bunnymen released their first album 1980.

Played in the opening scene for the movie Donnie Darko - great movie btw.

They are probably the best band to come out of liverpool, artistically, since the beatles

Great tune. I remember working for them around the time this song was released. They came to my local concert venue, in Blackburn, where I worked as lighting designer and operator .... pretty sure I only operated "Spot light" that night though. Another bunch of Northern chancers lol ... From Liverpool if I remember correctly. Great reaction as always :)

Ooh, the eighties... another rabbit hole. I remember this song and the band name was everywhere. Cool band names like The Mighty Lemon Drops, The Church, Simple Minds, The Cure, XTC, English Beat, The Fixx, The Specials, Big Country, The Cult... early to mid eighties. Killer Moon by T- bone Burnett popped into my head also. Cool song choice. Time to paint. Thx for the L. Shankar/ Porcupine tip, you know who you are. Take care everyone, Peace and Music

Great band, especially the first four albums are fantastic. The the tracks Porcupine or Over The Wall, massive and dark walls of sound!

This song always makes me 😢

In the eighties, I listened a lot to the records of Echo and The Bunnymen whose syle is a mixture of Post-punk / New Wave and Neo-psychedelia. The Ocean Rain album from which "The Killing Moon" is extracted, contains softer songs compared to their first three albums. the presence of orchestral arrangements and acoustic guitar confirms this. I tend to prefer their previous album, Porcupine in which we can hear the Indian violinist L. Shankar as a guest and I particularly appreciate their very first, Crocodiles which has a more 'rock' tone in a sense but dark and tinted with Neo-psychedelia. Their second, Heaven Up Here is much colder and foggy and contains more abstract songs in the sense that we no longer really hear verses / choruses while the rhythmic becomes more tribal. in a sense, this is their most Post-punk work. Try listening to the following songs: - "The Cutter" (from Porcupine: 1983) - "All My Colors" (from Heaven Up Here: 1981) - "Rescue" or "Pictures on My Wall" (from Crocodiles: 1980) Other contemporary bands from Echo and the Bunnymen also from Liverpool were Wah! fronted by singer Pete Wylie and The Teardrop Explodes fronted by multi-instrumentalist singer Julian Cope (prior to that, these 2 were part of an ephemeral band called The Crucial Three with future Echo and The Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch !). Try listening to at least one track from The Teardrop Explodes! i suggest the introspective "The Great Dominions" (from Wilder: 1981)

One of the GREAT songs of the 80's. Love these guys. Their whole catalog is stellar. Dive deep, JP. You won't be disappointed.

They are post-Joy Division. By this time Joy Division is New Order. Echo & The Bunnymen are full on 80s Brit electro post-punk so, contemporary with Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Cure, Flock of Seagulls and Simple Minds.

JP. They were a deep band. Any track off Crocodiles is a must Inc the title track. Thank you.

Great stuff from them ....☝️

A lot of people often make comments about The Bunnymen sounding like Joy Division, New Order and even The Smith's. The Bunnymen were formed around the same time as Joy Division. Like Joy Division, it took a while before their debut album was released. Joy Division released their first less than a year before The Bunnymen's first album. These bands all had similar influences like Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Velvet Underground, The Doors, David Bowie etc. They were on their second album by the time New Order released their first album so I don't think it's fair to say they sound like these bands. They all sound a bit similar because they all had similar influences.

I was just about to ask you if you would care to take a listen to Echo and the Bunnymen when I saw that you already had done a listen. So cool that you’re recommending a listen. I like that! 🤗 Please continue to do so😇You get closer, and that’s inspiring 😊 You listen so much to the music that I like, and when you do, it’s like I’m there listening with you 🤗 I’m so glad for your channel. thank you! 😇

Thank you for reacting to Echo and the Bunnymen. I would love see more reactions of them.

Nice job JP, great analysis. This is a great song... probably my favorite form this band. Glad you enjoyed it!

Part of the soundtrack of my student days. Loved Echo and The Bunnymen and would also, like others, recommend The Cutter and Bring On The Dancing Horses as other listens, ( though they are worth exploring beyond that). Nice to see you discover them and like them.

Aaammmaazzzing band. Thank you...this is my era and my jam. This is emo of the 80s. We were called death rockers or new wavers. Lol Do more !!!! Do Incubus!!!!

The fact you give your own random listen to song made me instantly subscribe. I like finding tubers I've never watched before reacting to my favorite songs. You won this round for Killing Moon 🙂 hooray for you!

A perfect slice of Liverpudlian 80's pop. Produced by David Loyd who produced Peter Gabriels 4 solo album. One other of their tracks to give a listen to would be "The Cutter" A contemporary of theirs was a Manchester band called The Stone Roses... One of theirs to give a reaction to is "I Am The Resurrection". This track is well worth a listen.

Crocodiles is my favorite album,w/ Ocean Rain a close second Check out the Cutter,or Do it Clean, or the Rescue Never Stop.. God I could go on and on. sorry I love this band,in fact I'm sitting in an Echo t-shirt right now. Thank you so much and sorry for the ramble.

Loved your analysis of this tune.

This song and Under the Milky Way Tonight by the Church were alt anthems of the late 80s

Ocean Rain from the same album... sweeping, tender, majestic... or explore the album From The Lions Mouth by The Sound

I can’t help but smile when I hear the name of this group. 😊

EATB are my all time favorite band. Thank you for featuring Killing Moon. I hope you went on to explore their back catalog.

A classic. A big influence on a whole generation of underground gothic lovers. Inspired by Scott Walkrer

Forgot how damn good this song is.

I recall this song either from a friend's stereo or in a New Wave dance bar where it was time to dance slow. This period of music had a pattern of bands collectively sounding similar in a way where the instruments moved liked big waves in the night on some dark shore. I wonder if there's a book that can describe that period of collective musical thinking. It was a kind of pre-Goth subculture on which a lot of lead vocalists sang arias and came from a place of the lonely. The singer and his Gothic poetry was the main feature and expressive instrumental solos were minimal if at all. Not really my preference although there were bands at the time who had similar ways of expression, the one that comes to mind that I think is more interesting and diverse and individualistic being Japan.

DUDE, JP-this entire album. Their best. Masterpiece. Great, great band.

The Bunnymen were a one off. America beckoned at one point with all that slogging around faceless venues so they said - "Nah we can't be doing with all that clichéd rock n roll stuff We will do a tour of the Pharoah Islands off the North Scotland coast instead". I loved them for that.

Good breakdown of the lyrics. I saw the Cutter and Never Stop below. Those are solid choices for their upbeat tunes. I like the brooding side of the band better. Porcupine's title track, or Stars Are Stars are my recommendations.

Echo and The Bunnymen is a fantastic band! I had the pleasure of seeing them live twice in the eighties. Worth your time to listen to their album Porcupine and Crocodile.

Not that their music is that similar but I hear The Doors as a possible influence.

Nothing new under the sun, as we say here... But very pleasant. The very short intro, apart from arangement and instrumentation make me think of old ITC series from my generation, as a John Barry theme... Thank you JP

I agree with your take 100%. This is new wave and highly influential to future grunge type bands.

Another great review! I also like "Lips Like Sugar" by this band.

One of those songs and sounds that made the 80s such a special time, such a special 'verse.

Ocean Rain "the greatest album ever made" Mac-

"The Killing Moon" is (in my opinion) one of the best songs that came out of the '80s...evokes such a mysterious and gorgeous mood, could listen to it over and over...

The haunting deep vocals reminds me of some Bowie or maybe some Roxy Music. Worth another listen to me. Good point on how important mood is to music. I laughed really hard when you said "it might be Metal" and then braced yourself like you were opening a hot oven😁 Maybe a random recommendation from your playlist could be a regular feature. I wouldn't know about the music I love dearly today if I had been too close-minded to listen to recommendations. Keep up the good work. You are a born entertainer🙂

Love this! x

Other E and the Bmen tunes to hear are: Silver, Never Stop, Heads will Roll, New Direction, Buried Alive. Contemporaries of them are probably The Teardrop Explodes and The Fall.

Great band. Started listening to seven seas and bring on the dancing horses then the rest was even better.

Silver - Echo and the bunnymen

Maybe there is some atmospheric vibes from Joy Division but the overall mood is less depressing - in fact I find this song quite uplifting and listened many times while watching the sea at night (maybe under the moonlight) real poetry. I guess this the most psychedelic side of post punk and If you like this song and this band I also suggest to check Psychedelic Furs' "Heaven".

My favorite band, seen them like 10 times here in the states. Listen closely to the opening riff, its Bowie's Space Oddisey cord backwards. Listen to their album Songs to Learn and Sing, Ocean Rain and the Gray album. All the other albums are pretty awesome too but if you want your crash course listen to those then move to the others.

I'm a long time Bunnymen fan. Their album Heaven Up Here is a must! Check it out in its entirety - you won't be disappointed and that's "A Promise" :-)

Great analysis JP. They’re easily one of my favorite bands. Their first 4 albums are all solid. Their 2nd “ Heaven Up Here “ makes my top 10 of favorite albums. It gloomy post punk that rocks harder than that song and the rest of “ Ocean Rain “. I would say The Cure are more contemporaries than Joy Division, but you’re not off base making that comparison. I know I’ve mentioned this before but there are some current post punk bands that are killing it in 2020. In your spare time put The Murder Capital, Idles, Fontaines D.C., Shame and Fews on your list. .

Ian McCulloch, the lead singer for this band has a solo career too. One of my favorites of his is a cover of a Leonard Cohen song, "Lover, Lover, Lover". I don't generally like covers, but this one caught my ear. Check it out!

Loved the reaction. This week's Top 40 was so rich in talent. It had that great mixture of up and coming Indie artists and one of the most controversial number one's of the decade. It was a wonderful time for music. Enjoy. 😊 Echo & The Bunnymen's 'The Killing Moon' entered the UK Top 40 on the 28th Jan 1984. It peaked at no.9 The top 10 this week was: 1 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (Released in 1983 but when the UK's main radio station (Radio 1) banned it from their playlist because of the sexual overtones of the lyrics, it soared to No.1 2 - Paul McCartney - Pipes of Peace 3 - Joe Fagan - That's livin' alright 4 - Howard Jones - What is love 5 - Cyndi Lauper - Girls just wanna have fun 6 - Shaky & Bonnie - A rockin' good way 7 - Snowy White - Bird of paradise 8 - John Lennon - Nobody told me 9 - Big Country - Wonderland 10 -Matthew Wilder - Break my stride New entries and climbers this week were: Eurythmics - Here comes the rain Fiction Factory - (Feels like) heaven China Crisis - Wishful thinking Icicle Works - Love is a wonderful colour Echo & The Bunnymen - The killing moon Queen - Radio ga ga Madonna - Holiday The Alarm - Where were you hiding when the storm broke Rick Springfield - The human touch The Smiths - What difference does it make Simple Minds - Speed your love to me Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive

Hi Justin. I really enjoy your reaction/reviews. I like how you analyze the layers of the music and song production. You break it down and rebuild it without distorting it. And moreover when you get back to the lyrics. Too many people overthink the song (not just this one lol). I noticed you try to get into the mind of the writer without over thinking it too much. Not looking for some "hidden message". Simply understanding that the lyrics are like poetry of a feeling put to ink and the music is the heartbeat. Combined, they bring the song to life. Keep up the great reaction/reviews 👍👍

Echo and The Bunnymen a great and influential band.

Justin you absolutely did mean that bunnies are always at it. Procreate. Musical ideas multiply, and tumble out, over each other. The whole album is excellent. One of my favourites from that time.

Echo was the name of the Drum Machine they used in their early days.

Good tune. Reminds me of my youth.....and of Donnie Darko, donkeys years later of course :-)

Great band, JP. If you want another aspect of the band, try the song "Lips Like Sugar". Other songs to consider include "Villiers Terrace", "Show of Strength", "My Kingdom", "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo", and "Never Stop".

SCIENCE is Incubus' best album...but to each his own...anyways, this song has been my infatuation this year. It is just hitting different this year. Love it

Hi JP. Great choice again mate. Now you know where Chris Martin of Coldplay got his vocal style from. Thank you.

Vampires were very popular in the 80's, i.e., movies, music, heck, a lot of Goth. Anyway, look thru the eyes of a victim, aware the vampire is coming for him, unable to resist his hypnotizing eyes, until.....

I love Echo and the Bunnymen Ian McCulloch does have that voice reminiscent of Scott Walker, You should try the Cutter a really great song and also I really like Crystal days, but there’s loads to choose from, Bring on the dancing horses and Seven seas, also a great cover of the doors people are strange. Enjoy

happy to just discover ur channel! thanks, keep up the good work. would u do a Porcupine tree (former band of Steven Wilson) reaction next time u feel like prog? anesthetize or time flies f.ex.

The Cutter is worth checking out.

I haven't heard this in a long while. I've only heard the compilation album "Songs to Learn and Sing" which is in my CD collection. I like it but never explored further.

The Doors & Jim Morrison had a big influence on their music

This got a lot of radio play, still sounds good.

man this is my favorite period of music the proto-goth post-punk era and I love this song also you shoukd check out "bring on the dancing horses" by echo

Listen to the entire "Heaven Up Here" album 1981.

Hello JustJP Have a listen to John miles , Music . Released in 1975 I think . Never gets played but a classic in my book. CHEERS!!

Although they are not normally regarded as a "goth band" I think they must have inspired a lot of later bands that are put in that bracket, and with this song in particular.

Ian McCollough said that this was the best song ever written. He should know, he wrote it.

You're right with the Joy Division comparisons...they WERE contemporaries and later were friendly rivals with New Order.

I like it when you recommend songs from your playlist. It gives me other music to check out. You probably know my musical tastes well enough to know which I liked better between the two (Incubus > EatB). What was the song you played at the beginning of the video? That sounded good. Also, did you play White Hot by Loathe in your opening sequence? I like that one, too, and I picked it because of you.

Would love to hear your thoughts on The Cocteau Twins doing perhaps Summerhead.... groundbreaking stuff, you won't be disappointed...

Forgot how much I liked this song - haven’t heard it in decades Reminds me now of Modern English and The Smiths ( you’re right , I hear The Cure here also ) Unrelated : You should check out The Jam - Town Called Malice You might also want to delve in to The Fixx : Stand or Fall , Red Skies , One Thing Leads to Another , Saved by Zero

Joy Divisions and Cure are contemporary with them. Radiohead and Muse are definitely influenced by them. And they were forthright about their love of the doors. Check out the cutter from their album porcupine.

They were contemporaries. I saw them both together back in the day (or maybe it was New Order by then), Echo opened up for New Order.

Great song. Influence is a blender. There's also The Cure and Siouxsie & The Banshees thrown in there.

I did like this stuff as a teenager in the '80s, not hairspray rock, not punk, not bubblegum. But I wasn't a brooding kid so my preference in lesser-traveled music leaned more toward Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, David & David, even Los Lobos.

Band name and song sounds familiar. Enjoyed the song and vocals were great. Feeling a new wave vibe. Any song suggestions for this band? I'd like to hear more. Nice choice and reaction. "It's like bunnies, they get on top of each other" LMAO:)