Siberia [CD]

Even though for some fans "Evergreen" got close, it was not close enough. "What Are You Going To Do With Your Life?" was a good album, but was too full of ballads and lacking Will Sergeant's distinctive guitar playing. "Flowers" got more into the Bunnymen sound, but didn't quite have what the fans were looking for.

So another album comes along since the 1997 comeback and the hope that McCulloch and Sergeant will be able to pull off a new album that is on par with those greats of the 1980s. For anyone who can't wait until 19th September and wants to fork out slightly more for an import, "Siberia" is already out in Japan.

Hugh Jones, the producer of the Bunnymen's second album "Heaven Up Here" - which most Bunnymen fans see as the band's best work - was brought back into the fold for "Siberia". Hugh Jones has done everything that Bunnymen fans have wanted. It's all there: the classic Bunnymen sound, McCulloch singing with passion, Sergeant's guitars and the distinctive bass sound that Les Pattinson made his own (he left the group back in 1999 and the bass is currently played by Peter Wilkinson). Drummer Simon Finley has also done an excellent job getting near to the drumming abilities of the late Peter DeFreitas. Sergeant recently said that this album was Heaven Up Here Part II and he was not joking. However, "Siberia" is not an exact copy of that album and it is poppy in places. It also sometimes keeps in with the more matured sound that has evolved since 1997 partly to suit the crooning vocal ability that McCulloch has today. But McCulloch and Sergeant have produced a modern-day masterpiece.

If you quickly run through this album there are a couple of slightly more mediocre tracks that could have come off McCulloch's "Slideling" solo album, but one thing that will knock you flying when first listening to the album is the production. Even the Slideling-type songs ("Make Us Blind", "Everything Kills You" and "What if We Are?" are the tracks that spring to mind) are turned into powerful rock anthems with the way that the production has been handled. Think Coldplay's "X&Y" and "A Rush of Blood to the Head" for any similarities in production techniques.

Sergeant's guitar playing will blow your mind. It's almost that he has sat down and listened to every way that he played on HUH and Porcupine and has done it again. Forget John Buckland, The Edge and the others, Will Sergeant is THE King of Kings in terms of guitar playing.

When comparing this album to "Evergreen", "WAYGTDWYL?" or "Flowers", it's a class apart. "Siberia" is everything that a Bunnymen album should be. The echoes of the past - Echo the drum machine makes a welcome return with the Over The Wall-style ending to "Parthenon Days" - a song which is clearly influenced by the first three Bunnymen albums; the Villiers Terrace-style rocking sound of "Scissors In The Sand" (which finishes with an ending that sounds like something similar to the spiralling guitar chord used in "A Promise"), the "Bedbugs & Ballyhoo" vibes of "Siberia" to "The Killing Moon" classic of "In the Margins". The Bunnymen of old are written all over this one.

"In the Margins" is a classic Bunnymen tune. It'll stick in your head for a very long time and Mac sings it beautifully. In terms of the post-1997 Bunnymen songs, this is up there with "Nothing Lasts Forever". "Parthenon Drive" and "Of A Life" are just unbelievable tracks for long-term fans who want the influences of Crocodiles, HUH or Porcupine. The title track "Siberia" again sounds so much like a classic Bunnymen track and shows to the world that McCulloch and Sergeant can still cut the mustard.

Forget the "play it safe" post-1997 sound, the overload of ballads and lack of Will's guitar on "WAYGTDWYL?", the too-soft sound on "Flowers". "Siberia" IS how a Bunnymen album should be done. Highly recommended.