text: echo & the bunnymen ( album ) echo & the bunnymen is the fifth studio album by the english post - punk band echo & the bunnymen , and the last with their drummer pete de freitas , who died in 1989 at age 27 in a motorcycle accident . the album was produced by laurie latham who recorded the album in germany , belgium , london and liverpool after an aborted attempt at recording the album without de freitas and with producer gil norton . with latham being an exacting producer and singer ian mcculloch receiving star treatment and drinking heavily , the recording of the album was more difficult than the band had initially hoped . the album made more use of keyboards than their previous albums , which had been string heavy . although echo & the bunnymen was successful in the united kingdom and , to a lesser degree , the united states , it received mixed reviews from the music press following its release in july 1987 . the album reached number four on the uk albums chart , number 51 on the united states billboard 200 , number 51 on the canadian albums and number 22 on the swedish albums chart . since its release , the album has been certified silver by the british phonographic industry . the album includes the singles " the game " , " lips like sugar " and " bedbugs and ballyhoo " . background echo & the bunnymen took time off from touring , writing and recording after the release of the critically acclaimed ocean rain in 1984 , because the band 's manager , the fabled prankster bill drummond , felt that a year off would help the band write different kinds of songs in preparation for the next album . during the time off , drummer pete de freitas travelled spain and france on his motorcycle , bass guitarist les pattinson worked on his new boat , singer ian mcculloch released a solo single " september song " , leaving guitarist will sergeant as the only band member to spend the time doing nothing . even though the band enjoyed an excellent and creative working relation with drummond , by the end of 1984 they had mutually parted company as the band were not making enough money . under the new management of mick hancock , duran duran 's tour manager , the band returned to work in may 1985 with a tour of scandinavia . they also made a headline appearance at the glastonbury festival on 21 june 1985 , when they played live for the first time two new songs which would later be included on the album – " satellite " and " all in your mind " . now ready to start recording , they entered the studio with their former producer ian broudie and clive langer to record the songs they had played at glastonbury as well as " like a rollercoaster " and " jimmy brown " . not liking the results of this session , the band considered eddy grant and abba 's production team , before settling on laurie latham as their producer . mcculloch had been impressed by the sharp quality of latham 's production on the stranglers ' single " skin deep " . the band met with latham in brussels and recorded " all in your mind " , " like a rollercoaster " and " jimmy brown " , which was renamed " bring on the dancing horses " . " bring on the dancing horses " appeared on the wea compilation album songs to learn & sing in november 1985 and was released as a single in the same month . an early version of " bedbugs and ballyhoo " , a song that would appear on the album , appeared on the b - side to the 12 - inch version . the band faced 1986 with a commitment to record an album , but without their drummer ; a musician who was considered fundamental to the band 's creative success . on 31 december 1985 , de freitas had gone to new orleans with the road crew on a drug binge and there announced his resignation from the band . the band then hired former haircut one hundred drummer blair cunningham for the spring 1986 tour of the united states ; but he didn 't fit in , and after the tour left to join the pretenders . the band then hired former abc drummer david palmer , and recorded a few sessions with producer gil norton for the new album . however , by july 1986 palmer had decided he did not want to remain with the band . as palmer left the band , de freitas returned to the united kingdom and expressed a wish to rejoin . uncertain of de freitas 's commitment to the band , and his fragile mental state , they took him back as a hired hand rather than a full member . now with the line - up that would record echo & the bunnymen , the band gave a live television appearance for the bbc in september 1986 when they played two new songs , " the game " and " lips like sugar " . according to will sergeant , the band were under pressure from warner music chairman rob dickins to produce an album that would replicate the success of peter gabriel 's recent number one album so : " i couldn 't believe it when rob dickins brought us into his office and played us peter gabriel 's album : ' i want you to sound like this ! ' i think he escaped with his life that day . " recording , production and music recording of the tracks that were to appear on echo & the bunnymen began at conny plank 's studio in cologne . both echo & the bunnymen and their label , wea records , were unhappy with the results of the norton sessions with palmer playing drums . keen to record again with de freitas , the band decided to scrap the norton sessions and to start recording a new album with latham who had previously worked with the band on their 1985 single " bring on the dancing horses " . the sessions moved from cologne to icp studios in brussels before returning to cologne and finishing off at the workhouse in london and amazon studios in liverpool . the band hoped that the album would be a collection of simple songs ; however , latham was very specific and exacting , and he would work on one song for as long as a month . recording was also complicated by the star treatment received by mcculloch . this , along with his heavy drinking , alienated him from the rest of the band . in a 1995 interview , band guitarist will sergeant said of mcculloch 's treatment , " we just found it all ridiculous . he had people running around behind him , basically wiping his arse . " mcculloch later said in a 1997 interview : " i knew i was losing it . i was on another planet but then i didn 't want to be on the one [ the other bunnymen ] were on . " while making the album , the band recorded a version of the doors ' 1967 single " people are strange " for the soundtrack of the 1987 film the lost boys . ray manzarek , former keyboard player with the doors , was brought in to provide keyboards on the song . while in the studio , he also contributed keyboards to a re - recording of " bedbugs and ballyhoo " , which had previously been the b - side to the 12 - inch version of " bring on the dancing horses " . once echo & the bunnymen had been recorded the band 's management company , direct management , decided to have it mixed by bruce in the united states . while the album was mixed , the band was on tour in brazil and listened to the finished tracks over the phone . latham moved the band away from the use of strings , which featured heavily on ocean rain and to a lesser extent on porcupine ( 1983 ) , and introduced keyboards to the melody of the tracks . de freitas 's drumming was contained and discreet and mcculloch 's vocals were more restrained . although the album contained hook - heavy tracks such as " lips like sugar " , the guitars on tracks such as " lost and found " are more representative of the album as a whole . the resulting album was disliked by the entire band . describing what he thought of as the over - production of the album sergeant described it as " an overcooked fish " in 1987 ; bass guitarist les pattinson said , " i like the songs , just hated the mixes " ; and in 1995 mcculloch said , " it still sounds crap . " release and critical reception after previewing the album with a short concert on top of the hmv shop on oxford street in london , echo & the bunnymen was first released on 6 july 1987 as an lp and cd by wea records in the united kingdom and elsewhere and by sire records in the united states . the album reached a peak of number four on the uk albums chart . the album became the band 's most successful in the united states where it reached number fifty - one on the billboard 200 . the album also reached number fifty - one on the canadian albums chart and number twenty - two on the swedish albums chart . the album has also been certified silver by the british phonographic industry for having shipped more than 60 , 000 copies . along with the other four of the band 's first five albums , echo & the bunnymen was remastered and reissued on cd in 2003 – these were released for the band 's twenty - fifth anniversary . seven bonus tracks were added to the album and included early versions of " bring on the dancing horses " ( title " jimmy brown " ) , " the game " and " bedbugs and ballyhoo " . also included was a cover version of the doors ' " soul kitchen " , an extended version of " bring on the dancing horses " and the previously unreleased track " hole in the holy " . the reissued album was produced by andy zax and bill inglot and released by rhino entertainment . in his 1987 review of the album for rolling stone magazine , music journalist j. d. considine described latham 's production of the album as " ineffectual " and " well mannered " . he went on say that there was no " anxious energy or knife - edged irony that made the group 's earlier albums so compelling " . he finishes his review by saying the album is " as vacant as it is pretty " . reviewing the 2003 remastered album , andrew harrison for blender magazine 's website said , " and off - message electronics experiments sank their eponymous 1987 comedown ... " taking a more positive stance , david cleary for allmusic describes the album as " the hookiest and most memorable the band would ever write " . having described de freitas 's drumming as solid and veering toward the danceable , and mcculloch 's singing as " restrained and tasteful " , cleary added that , " the production values were excellent , with many subtle touches that do not detract from the album 's overall directness . " although he stated that the production " watered the band 's sound down " , joe tangari for pitchfork media said , " the band 's attempt to reach a wider audience worked out . " three tracks from the album were released as singles . the first of these was " the game " , which was released on 1 june 1987 . this was followed by " lips like sugar " , which was released in august 1987 . the final single to be released from the album was " bedbugs and ballyhoo " , which was also released before the year 's end in the united states and germany . " the game " and " lips like sugar " reached numbers 28 and 36 respectively on the uk singles chart . track listing all tracks written and composed by will sergeant , ian mcculloch and les pattinson except where noted . additional tracks personnel