O Echo & the Bunnymen está de volta. Três lançamentos irão fazer a alegria dos fãs de uma das maiores bandas de rock de todos os tempos. O primeiro já está nas lojas e chama-se Flowers, onze faixas inéditas da parceria Will Sergeant/Ian McCulloch, os dois bunnymens que sobraram pra contar a história. Ao contrário do que o título possa pretensamente sugerir, Flowers é escuro e denso. Guitarras e mais guitarras se sobrepõem sobre a bela voz de Ian McCulloch. Fica parecendo até que Ian e Will haviam travado um acordo. Nesse acordo, Will deixava as rédeas de What Are You Going To Do With Your Life, o álbum anterior, nas mãos de Ian, e o próximo (este Flowers) ficava a cargo de sua guitarra. Assim, tudo que é melodia, cordas e voz à frente no álbum anterior, agora é guitarras, guitarras e mais guitarras. Não há cordas, orquestra, nem fantasma de Burt Bacharah. O duo se rende à paixão por Velvet, Doors e Television e solta um álbum que mais lembra o projeto paralelo deles (Electrafixion) do que os dois álbuns que marcaram a volta da banda. Para completar o quadro, lançaram o disco pelo selo independente Cooking Vynil. Flowers provavelmente será lançado no Brasil pela Sum Records, em breve. 

O segundo brinde ainda está sendo tratado em estúdio. Trata-se do terceiro disco da carreira solo de Ian McCuloch. Ian já assinou contrato com a pequena Jeepster, gravadora responsável pelos lançamentos do Belle and Sebastian. Pouco se sabe sobre esse trabalho, além de que Ian anuncia Natalie Imbruglia e Courtney Love como participações no álbum. É esperar.

O terceiro lançamento é, de longe, o prato mais suculento desse banquete. Chama-se Crystal Days e é um box com quatro cds e 72 faixas. Entre elas, muita coisa ao vivo, muito b-side, muita raridade. Principalmente covers matadoras nas famosas versões ao vivo de 1985, ano que começou a circular o bootleg On Strike, considerado por muitos um dos melhores piratas dos anos 80. Veja o tracking list da caixa e vá guardando dinheiro. O dia cristalino de lançamento será 17 de julho. 

Disc 1
1. MONKEYS (Original Version) 
2. THE PICTURES ON MY WALL (Original Single Version) 
3. READ IT IN BOOKS (Original Single Version) 
4. VILLIERS TERRACE (John Peel Session) 
5. RESCUE (Original Version) 
6. SIMPLE STUFF (B-Side Rescue single)
7. STARS ARE STARS (Original Version) 
8. ALL THAT JAZZ (Original Version) 
9. CROCODILES (Original Version) 
10. THE PUPPET (Original Version) 
11. DO IT CLEAN (Original Version) 
12. SHOW OF STRENGTH (Original Version) 
13. OVER THE WALL (Original Version) 
14. A PROMISE (Original Version) 
15. HEAVEN UP HERE (Original Version) 
16. ALL MY COLOURS (Original Version) 
17. BROKE MY NECK (B-side Long Version) 
18. NO HANDS (John Peel Session) 
19. FUEL (B-side The Back Of Love Single)
20. THE SUBJECT  (B-side The Back Of Love Single)

*RHINO RECORDS - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*  DATE: MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2001  RHINO BRINGS ON THE DANCING HORSES  WITH ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN BOX SET  First Ever Career Retrospective Due July 17  From Liverpool's Best Band (Of The '80s)    LOS ANGELES - Talk about songs to learn and sing! With Ian McCulloch's voice going from a wail to a whisper to a growl, Will Sergeant's guitars giving the tunes a mysterious eastern vibe, and Les Pattinson's bass and Pete DeFrietas' drums creating some of the most solid and driving rock rhythm work of their time, Echo & The Bunnymen wrote some of the most passionate and atmospheric pop songs of the '80s and '90s. Now Rhino/Warner Archives have assembled the definitive overview of the Liverpool band's career with ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: CRYSTAL DAYS 1979-1999. A must-have item for Bunnymen fans, the 4-disc, 72 track box is loaded with previously unreleased tracks, cuts unavailable on CD before, B-sides, live versions and, of course, all of the songs that made the quartet one of the best singles bands ever. Due July 17, the box carries a list price of $59.98 and is available through regular retail and Internet outlets and at www.rhino.com.  ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: CRYSTAL DAYS 1979-1999 collects 72 tracks, including 14 previously unreleased tracks and 23 cuts never before available on CD. The box 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.  Until now, the only Echo & the Bunnymen career retrospective available was the single disc "best of," Songs To Learn And Sing, released in 1985, but that disc barely scratched the surface of treasures the band had to offer, especially since the follow up, their eponymous 1987 record, proved their biggest American hit and reached #4 in Britain.  Bursting out of the post-punk Liverpool scene of the late 1970s, Echo & the Bunnymen shared a neo-psychedelic aesthetic with bands like The Cure, Joy Division, The Fall, The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Teardrop Explodes. The band quickly found a devoted following in the U.K., earning raves in the press for their recordings and their powerful live shows. Their first album, Crocodiles, reached number 17 on the British charts, while their second disc, Heaven Up Here, broke the Top 10 and their third, Porcupine, peaked at #2. The Bunnymen's fourth album, Ocean Rain, their acknowledged classic, reached #4 in England and was their first record to break the U.S. top 100. After a rocky period starting in 1988 which saw the departure of Ian McCulloch, the release of a McCulloch-less Bunnymen album, several side projects and the death of drummer Pete DeFrietas, the band returned (with McCulloch back in front) for the triumphant "reunion" album, Evergreen. Their newest album, Flowers, hits stores in the U.S. May 22. The band will begin an North American tour in July.  *RHINO RECORDS - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*