Rating: NNN
A four-disc confirmation that Echo & the Bunnymen’s creativity, which peaked with 84’s Ocean Rain, had all but vanished by 85. Crystal Days isn’t just a straight repackaging of their studio albums with a few b-sides thrown in. Instead, it’s a well-reasoned attempt to document the group’s best work by gathering the definitive versions of each song, using superior single mixes and alternate takes whenever appropriate. Material released by the Ian McCulloch-less Bunnymen is conspicuously absent. The fourth disc includes previously unreleased live recordings from their covers tour of 85, which, in retrospect, would’ve made for a tidy denouement.
