Upon A Mouse #2: Echo Of Past Glories

Another dip into my contributions to The 20 Greatest Eponymous Albums Of All Time series, which recently concluded at No Badger Required. 

From a shortlist of 43 candidates - itself from a longlist of suggestions offered by the Musical Jury - I voted for and commented on my personal Top 20 submissions, some of which made to the published 20 Greatest Eponymous Albums Of All Time, some didn't. 

Whilst Junior's mama used to say lots of useful things like,

"Take your time young man"

"Don't you rush to get old"

"Take it in your stride" and 

"Live your life"

Momma K's mantra was "Waste not, want not". So, here are a selection of my picks with expanded comments, a few video clips and a completely random header photo, snapped off the telly during a bored moment and having no connection whatsoever to the record or artist in question.

Today's eponymous album scraping in at #19, with a mere two points, is by Echo & The Bunnymen.

 

To be honest, I really grappled with scoring and ranking this record. Compared to other releases in 1987, it’s a great album. Compared to the Echo & The Bunnymen albums that preceded this self-titled collection, they had done so much better. 

Laurie Latham’s production on EATB comes in for a lot of stick, and admittedly other producers - especially Ian Broudie’s approach - unlocked something in the band that isn’t quite realised here, but there are some very, very good songs to be found.

I prefer the version of Bedbugs And Ballyhoo on the B-side of Bring On The Dancing Horses, which came out in 1985, but it remains one of the finest songs they ever recorded. And Lips Like Sugar should have been a far bigger hit than it was, spending a mere 4 weeks in the UK chart at #57, then #37, then #36, then #53 before disappearing altogether.

I really, really like Blue Blue Ocean, but is it better than Ocean Rain? No. All My Life is a decent song, but is it a better album closer than Ocean Rain? No.

I was a latecomer to Echo & The Bunnymen's album, coming in via The Songs To Learn & Sing singles compilation, then filling in the gaps later, so I probably don't have the same reaction to listening to their 1987 effort that longer term fans will have had at the time. 

However, it's impossible to deny that the album as a whole is lacking, because Echo & The Bunnymen set the bar so high with their previous releases.

 

 

Today's cover star is Rose Ayling-Ellis, actor and Strictly Come Dancing winner, in a scene from 2025 ITVX drama Code Of Silence. 

Despite the interesting premise - deaf civilian volunteers to help the police with lip reading, gets caught up in a life-threatening situation - I found it a bit underwhelming and not the best use of Rose's acting skills. I'm clearly in the minority as a second series is currently in production.