Crocodiles (album)
Encyclopedia
Crocodiles is the debut album by the British post-punk
band Echo & the Bunnymen
. It was released on 18 July 1980 in the United Kingdom and on 17 December 1980 in the United States. The album reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart
. "Pictures on My Wall
" and "Rescue
" had previously been released as singles.
Recorded at Eden Studios
in London and at Rockfield Studios
near Monmouth
in Wales, Crocodiles was produced by Bill Drummond
and David Balfe
, while Ian Broudie
had already produced the single "Rescue". The music and the cover of the album both reflect imagery of darkness and sorrowfulness. The album received favourable reviews from the music press, receiving four out of five stars by both Rolling Stone
and Blender
magazines.
(lead vocals), Will Sergeant
(lead guitar), Les Pattinson
(bass) and a drum machine
. They released their debut single, "The Pictures on My Wall" in May 1979 on the independent label Zoo Records
. The band then signed with WEA
subsidiary label Korova
and were persuaded to employ a drummer. Pete de Freitas
subsequently joined the band and in early 1980 they recorded their second single "Rescue". The single was recorded at Eden Studios in London and produced by fellow Liverpudlian and ex-member of Big in Japan Ian Broudie.
A British tour followed in June 1980 before the band went to Rockfield Studios in Wales to record their debut album. Despite talk of the American singer Del Shannon
being asked to produce the album, it was produced by the band's manager Bill Drummond and his business partner and The Teardrop Explodes
keyboard player
David Balfe. The recording of the album only took three weeks, but Pattinson was still surprised by how boring the recording process was: "There was a lot of hanging about. I didn't get all the 'drop-ins' and 'edits' bit."
described McCulloch's lyrics as a being "scattered with themes of sorrow, horror, and despair, themes that are reinforced by stormy animal/sexual imagery" and American music magazine Creem
described Crocodiles as "a moody, mysterious, fascinating record". In 1981 music journalist David Fricke
, writing for Rolling Stone magazine, said, "Instead of dope, McCulloch trips out on his worst fears: isolation, death and emotional bankruptcy."
In his 2005 book Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978–1984, British music journalist Simon Reynolds
describes the sound of the album as "pared and sparse". He goes on to describe Pattinson's "granite basslines" carrying the melody; Sergeant's guitar playing as "jagged-quartz" and avoiding "anything resembling a solo, apart from the odd flinty peal of lead playing"; de Freitas' drumming as minimal and "surging urgency"; and McCulloch's vocals as having "precocious authority". Reynolds then describes the songs as being rooted in "doubt, anguish, despair" while the "tightness and brightness of their sound transmits contradictory sensations of confidence, vigour and eurphoria." He also describes how the line "Stars are stars and they shine so hard" – from the track "Stars Are Stars" – showed how the band felt no embarrassment in their wish to be famous. In 1989 McCulloch told Reynolds how, as a teenager, he felt there was "a big movie camera in the sky". McCulloch described the opening line of the track "Going Up" – "Ain't thou watching my film" – as a terrible line and he went on to say, "It was meant to be tongue in cheek, but that was what spurred me on."
in Hertfordshire at night and which show themes of introspection, despair and confusion. Describing the picture used on the front cover of the album, music journalist Chris Salewicz said, "[...] the Bunnymen are placed in poses of histrionic despair in a near-neurotically gothic woodland that evokes memories of elfin glades and fabled Arthurian legends." Creem magazine said, "The cover art suggests four boys dazed and confused in a drugged dream, a surreal where-are-we landscape. The Bunnymen's images are of loneliness, disconnection, a world gone awry."
Originally the band wanted the pictures to include burning stakes, however, given the possible KKK connotations, they settled for moody lighting instead. Despite this, McCulloch was pleased with the cover saying "the cover [...] is better to look at than the Mona Lisa". Sergeant was less happy and said, "[he] was pissed off that there was a solo picture of [McCulloch] on the back cover".
in the United Kingdom on 18 July 1980 by Warner Bros.
subsidiary label Korova
. Two tracks, "Do It Clean" and "Read It in Books", were included on the cassette but initially omitted from the LP version of the album because the managing director of Warner Bros., Rob Dickins, thought that they contained obscenities. Dickins realised his error and the tracks were included on the American version of the album, which was released by Sire Records
on 17 December 1980. The two tracks were included with the UK release as a limited edition
single. The album was first released on CD in May 1989 by WEA
in the UK. It was released on CD in the US by Sire Records the following year. The track-listings of these versions were the same as the original LP releases for each country.
Along with their first five albums, Crocodiles was remastered and reissued on CD in 2003 containing ten bonus track
s on the UK version and eight on the US—these releases were marketed as 25th anniversary editions. The UK version contained the missing tracks "Do It Clean" and "Read It in Books". The other bonus tracks included "Simple Stuff" which was the B-side
to the single "Rescue"; early versions of "Villiers Terrace", "Pride" and "Simple Stuff" from the album's recording sessions; and the four tracks from the Shine So Hard
EP, "Crocodiles", "Zimbo", "All That Jazz" and "Over the Wall". The reissued album was produced by music historian Andy Zax
and producer Bill Inglot.
Prior to the album's release, the tracks "Pictures on My Wall"—as "The Pictures on My Wall"—and "Rescue" had already been released as singles. "The Pictures on My Wall" was released on 5 May 1979 and was the band's first single. Originally recorded and released prior to de Freitas joining the band, the song was re-recorded for the album with him playing drums. The band's second single, "Rescue", was released a year later on 5 May 1980 and became the band's first song to chart when it reached number 62 on the UK Singles Chart
.
Scottish band Idlewild
covered
the track "Rescue" on their single "These Wooden Ideas
" in June 2000. In late 2001 American singer-songwriter Kelley Stoltz
released the album Crockodials, which is a track by track cover version of the original Crocodiles album.
-style psychosexual yells, a flair for David Bowie
-like vocal inflections and the nihilistic bark of his punk peers into a disturbing portrait of the singer as a young neurotic." He went on to say, "Behind him, gripping music swells into Doors
-style dirges ('Pictures on My Wall'), PiL
-like guitar dynamics ('Monkeys'), spookily evocative pop ('Rescue') and Yardbirds
-cum-Elevators
ravers jacked up in the New Wave manner ('Do It Clean,' 'Crocodiles')". Reviewing the 2003 remastered version for American music magazine Blenders website, reviewer Andrew Harrison also gave the album four out of five stars and said, "[...] the Bunnymen were a pure nihilistic thrill, with Will Sergeant’s desperate, mantra-like guitar summoning up a primal night of blinking hallucinations."
Following its release, Crocodiles reached a peak of number 17 on the UK Albums Chart in July 1980. The album has since sold over copies and the band was awarded with a gold disc
for the album on 5 December 1984 by the British Phonographic Industry
. In 1993, the NME listed Crocodiles at number 28 in its list of the 50 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2006, Uncut
magazine also listed the album at number 69 on its list of the 100 greatest debut albums.
, Ian McCulloch
, Les Pattinson
and Pete de Freitas
except where noted.
Notes
^1 2 Originally included on the US release of Crocodiles.
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
. It was released on 18 July 1980 in the United Kingdom and on 17 December 1980 in the United States. The album reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. "Pictures on My Wall
The Pictures on My Wall
"The Pictures on My Wall" is the first single released by the band Echo & the Bunnymen and was released in 1979 in a limited issue of 4,000 copies...
" and "Rescue
Rescue (song)
"Rescue" is the second single released by the band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 5 May 1980 and subsequently included on the Crocodiles album, which was released on 18 July 1980. It was the band's first single to chart, reaching number 62 on the UK Singles Chart...
" had previously been released as singles.
Recorded at Eden Studios
Eden Studios
Eden Studios was a commercial recording facility in west London. It opened in 1967, originally at 11 Eden Street in Kingston upon Thames, before moving to 20-24 Beaumont Road in Chiswick in 1972. It was started by Philip Love, Mike Gardner and Piers Ford-Crush. Love and Gardner owned the studio and...
in London and at Rockfield Studios
Rockfield Studios
Rockfield Studios, near Monmouth in Wales and just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire are where many of British rock music’s most successful recordings have been made.-History:...
near Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
in Wales, Crocodiles was produced by Bill Drummond
Bill Drummond
William Ernest Drummond is a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he burned a million pounds in 1994...
and David Balfe
David Balfe
David Balfe is most notable for playing keyboards with The Teardrop Explodes, founding the Zoo and Food record labels, signing Blur and for being the subject of their number one hit - "Country House".-Biography:...
, while Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie is a British singer-songwriter, musician and record producer from Liverpool, England. After emerging from the post punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to form the short-lived groups Original Mirrors and Care in the early 1980s as well...
had already produced the single "Rescue". The music and the cover of the album both reflect imagery of darkness and sorrowfulness. The album received favourable reviews from the music press, receiving four out of five stars by both Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
magazines.
Background and recording
Echo & the Bunnymen formed in 1979 and originally consisted of Ian McCullochIan McCulloch (singer)
Ian Stephen McCulloch is an English singer, born in Liverpool, and is best known as the frontman for the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen.-Career:...
(lead vocals), Will Sergeant
Will Sergeant
Will Sergeant is an English guitarist, best known for being a member of Echo & the Bunnymen. Born in the centre of Liverpool, he grew up in the suburb of Melling and attended nearby Deyes High School...
(lead guitar), Les Pattinson
Les Pattinson
Les Pattinson is an English musician, best known for his work as the bassist and co-writer of the Liverpool based band, Echo & the Bunnymen....
(bass) and a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
. They released their debut single, "The Pictures on My Wall" in May 1979 on the independent label Zoo Records
Zoo Records
Zoo Records was a British independent record label formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978. Zoo was launched in order to release the work of the perennially struggling Liverpool band, Big in Japan...
. The band then signed with WEA
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
subsidiary label Korova
Korova (record label)
Korova is a record label, distributed by the Warner Elektra Asylum group of record companies.The imprint was founded in 1979 as an outlet for Echo & the Bunnymen, with its first album release being their debut Crocodiles...
and were persuaded to employ a drummer. Pete de Freitas
Pete de Freitas
Pete Louis Vincent de Freitas was a musician and producer, best known as a drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen, and whose drumming skills have been compared to Dave Grohl's....
subsequently joined the band and in early 1980 they recorded their second single "Rescue". The single was recorded at Eden Studios in London and produced by fellow Liverpudlian and ex-member of Big in Japan Ian Broudie.
A British tour followed in June 1980 before the band went to Rockfield Studios in Wales to record their debut album. Despite talk of the American singer Del Shannon
Del Shannon
Del Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.- Biography :...
being asked to produce the album, it was produced by the band's manager Bill Drummond and his business partner and The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward" the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s, the group also launched the career of group frontman...
keyboard player
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
David Balfe. The recording of the album only took three weeks, but Pattinson was still surprised by how boring the recording process was: "There was a lot of hanging about. I didn't get all the 'drop-ins' and 'edits' bit."
Music and lyrics
The music on Crocodiles is generally dark and moody: In 1980, the British music magazine NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
described McCulloch's lyrics as a being "scattered with themes of sorrow, horror, and despair, themes that are reinforced by stormy animal/sexual imagery" and American music magazine Creem
Creem
Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...
described Crocodiles as "a moody, mysterious, fascinating record". In 1981 music journalist David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
, writing for Rolling Stone magazine, said, "Instead of dope, McCulloch trips out on his worst fears: isolation, death and emotional bankruptcy."
In his 2005 book Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978–1984, British music journalist Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds is an English music critic who is well-known for his writings on electronic dance music and for coining the term "post-rock". Besides electronic dance music, Reynolds has written about a wide range of artists and musical genres, and has written books on post-punk and rock...
describes the sound of the album as "pared and sparse". He goes on to describe Pattinson's "granite basslines" carrying the melody; Sergeant's guitar playing as "jagged-quartz" and avoiding "anything resembling a solo, apart from the odd flinty peal of lead playing"; de Freitas' drumming as minimal and "surging urgency"; and McCulloch's vocals as having "precocious authority". Reynolds then describes the songs as being rooted in "doubt, anguish, despair" while the "tightness and brightness of their sound transmits contradictory sensations of confidence, vigour and eurphoria." He also describes how the line "Stars are stars and they shine so hard" – from the track "Stars Are Stars" – showed how the band felt no embarrassment in their wish to be famous. In 1989 McCulloch told Reynolds how, as a teenager, he felt there was "a big movie camera in the sky". McCulloch described the opening line of the track "Going Up" – "Ain't thou watching my film" – as a terrible line and he went on to say, "It was meant to be tongue in cheek, but that was what spurred me on."
Cover
The photographs used on the cover of the Crocodiles were taken by photographer Brian Griffin. Griffin took a series of pictures of the band in woods near RickmansworthRickmansworth
Rickmansworth is a town in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England, 4¼ miles west of Watford.The town has a population of around 15,000 people and lies on the Grand Union Canal and the River Colne, at the northern end of the Colne Valley regional park.Rickmansworth is a small town in...
in Hertfordshire at night and which show themes of introspection, despair and confusion. Describing the picture used on the front cover of the album, music journalist Chris Salewicz said, "[...] the Bunnymen are placed in poses of histrionic despair in a near-neurotically gothic woodland that evokes memories of elfin glades and fabled Arthurian legends." Creem magazine said, "The cover art suggests four boys dazed and confused in a drugged dream, a surreal where-are-we landscape. The Bunnymen's images are of loneliness, disconnection, a world gone awry."
Originally the band wanted the pictures to include burning stakes, however, given the possible KKK connotations, they settled for moody lighting instead. Despite this, McCulloch was pleased with the cover saying "the cover [...] is better to look at than the Mona Lisa". Sergeant was less happy and said, "[he] was pissed off that there was a solo picture of [McCulloch] on the back cover".
Releases
The album was originally released as an LPLP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
in the United Kingdom on 18 July 1980 by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
subsidiary label Korova
Korova (record label)
Korova is a record label, distributed by the Warner Elektra Asylum group of record companies.The imprint was founded in 1979 as an outlet for Echo & the Bunnymen, with its first album release being their debut Crocodiles...
. Two tracks, "Do It Clean" and "Read It in Books", were included on the cassette but initially omitted from the LP version of the album because the managing director of Warner Bros., Rob Dickins, thought that they contained obscenities. Dickins realised his error and the tracks were included on the American version of the album, which was released by Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
on 17 December 1980. The two tracks were included with the UK release as a limited edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
single. The album was first released on CD in May 1989 by WEA
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in the UK. It was released on CD in the US by Sire Records the following year. The track-listings of these versions were the same as the original LP releases for each country.
Along with their first five albums, Crocodiles was remastered and reissued on CD in 2003 containing ten bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
s on the UK version and eight on the US—these releases were marketed as 25th anniversary editions. The UK version contained the missing tracks "Do It Clean" and "Read It in Books". The other bonus tracks included "Simple Stuff" which was the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to the single "Rescue"; early versions of "Villiers Terrace", "Pride" and "Simple Stuff" from the album's recording sessions; and the four tracks from the Shine So Hard
Shine So Hard
Shine So Hard is a live 12" EP released by the band Echo & the Bunnymen on 10 April 1981. The EP reached number 37 on the UK Singles Chart.-Overview:...
EP, "Crocodiles", "Zimbo", "All That Jazz" and "Over the Wall". The reissued album was produced by music historian Andy Zax
Andy Zax
Andy Zax is a music historian and producer of CD boxed sets and reissues by Talking Heads, Rod Stewart, Echo & the Bunnymen, Television, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Judee Sill, John Cale, Nico, The Neon Philharmonic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, The Sisters of Mercy,...
and producer Bill Inglot.
Prior to the album's release, the tracks "Pictures on My Wall"—as "The Pictures on My Wall"—and "Rescue" had already been released as singles. "The Pictures on My Wall" was released on 5 May 1979 and was the band's first single. Originally recorded and released prior to de Freitas joining the band, the song was re-recorded for the album with him playing drums. The band's second single, "Rescue", was released a year later on 5 May 1980 and became the band's first song to chart when it reached number 62 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
Scottish band Idlewild
Idlewild (band)
Idlewild are a Scottish rock band, formed in Edinburgh, in 1995, comprising Roddy Woomble , Rod Jones , Colin Newton , Allan Stewart and Gareth Russell...
covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
the track "Rescue" on their single "These Wooden Ideas
These Wooden Ideas
"These Wooden Ideas" is a song by Scottish rock band Idlewild, from their 2000 album 100 Broken Windows. It was the third single to be released from the album in June 2000 and charted at #32 in the UK Singles Chart ....
" in June 2000. In late 2001 American singer-songwriter Kelley Stoltz
Kelley Stoltz
Kelley Stoltz is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He currently resides in San Francisco, Calif.. His music has been compared to that of Brian Wilson, The Velvet Underground, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen.-Musical career:...
released the album Crockodials, which is a track by track cover version of the original Crocodiles album.
Reception
Writing for NME in 1980 Chis Salewicz described the album as "being probably the best album this year by a British band". Reviewing the album in 1981 for Rolling Stone magazine, David Fricke awarded it four out of five stars and said when describing McCulloch's vocals, "[He] specializes in a sort of apocalyptic brooding, combining Jim MorrisonJim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
-style psychosexual yells, a flair for David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
-like vocal inflections and the nihilistic bark of his punk peers into a disturbing portrait of the singer as a young neurotic." He went on to say, "Behind him, gripping music swells into Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
-style dirges ('Pictures on My Wall'), PiL
Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by vocalist John Lydon , guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble, with frequent subsequent personnel changes. Lydon is the sole constant member of the band....
-like guitar dynamics ('Monkeys'), spookily evocative pop ('Rescue') and Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
-cum-Elevators
13th Floor Elevators
The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969...
ravers jacked up in the New Wave manner ('Do It Clean,' 'Crocodiles')". Reviewing the 2003 remastered version for American music magazine Blenders website, reviewer Andrew Harrison also gave the album four out of five stars and said, "[...] the Bunnymen were a pure nihilistic thrill, with Will Sergeant’s desperate, mantra-like guitar summoning up a primal night of blinking hallucinations."
Following its release, Crocodiles reached a peak of number 17 on the UK Albums Chart in July 1980. The album has since sold over copies and the band was awarded with a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
for the album on 5 December 1984 by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
. In 1993, the NME listed Crocodiles at number 28 in its list of the 50 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2006, Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
magazine also listed the album at number 69 on its list of the 100 greatest debut albums.
Track listing
All tracks written by Will SergeantWill Sergeant
Will Sergeant is an English guitarist, best known for being a member of Echo & the Bunnymen. Born in the centre of Liverpool, he grew up in the suburb of Melling and attended nearby Deyes High School...
, Ian McCulloch
Ian McCulloch (singer)
Ian Stephen McCulloch is an English singer, born in Liverpool, and is best known as the frontman for the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen.-Career:...
, Les Pattinson
Les Pattinson
Les Pattinson is an English musician, best known for his work as the bassist and co-writer of the Liverpool based band, Echo & the Bunnymen....
and Pete de Freitas
Pete de Freitas
Pete Louis Vincent de Freitas was a musician and producer, best known as a drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen, and whose drumming skills have been compared to Dave Grohl's....
except where noted.
Side one
- "Going Up" – 3:57
- "Stars Are Stars" – 2:45
- "Pride" – 2:41
- "Monkeys" – 2:49
- "Crocodiles" – 2:38
Side two
- "RescueRescue (song)"Rescue" is the second single released by the band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 5 May 1980 and subsequently included on the Crocodiles album, which was released on 18 July 1980. It was the band's first single to chart, reaching number 62 on the UK Singles Chart...
" – 4:26 - "Villiers Terrace" – 2:44
- "Pictures on My WallThe Pictures on My Wall"The Pictures on My Wall" is the first single released by the band Echo & the Bunnymen and was released in 1979 in a limited issue of 4,000 copies...
" (Sergeant, McCulloch, Pattinson) – 2:52 - "All That Jazz" – 2:43
- "Happy Death Men" – 4:56
Side one
- "Going Up" – 3:57
- "Do It Clean" – 2:44
- "Stars Are Stars" – 2:45
- "Pride" – 2:41
- "Monkeys" – 2:49
- "Crocodiles" – 2:38
Side two
- "Rescue" – 4:26
- "Villiers Terrace" – 2:44
- "Read It in Books" (McCulloch, Julian CopeJulian CopeJulian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
) – 2:31 - "Pictures on My Wall" (Sergeant, McCulloch, Pattinson) – 2:52
- "All That Jazz" – 2:43
- "Happy Death Men" – 4:56
2003 bonus tracks
- "Do It Clean"[A] – 2:44
- "Read It in Books"[A] (McCulloch, Cope) – 2:31
- "Simple Stuff" – 2:38
- "Villiers Terrace" (early version) – 3:08
- "Pride" (early version) – 2:54
- "Simple Stuff" (early version) – 2:37
- "Crocodiles"[B] (live) – 5:09
- "Zimbo"[B] (live) – 3:36
- "All That Jazz"[B] (live) – 2:53
- "Over the Wall"[B] (live) – 5:28
Notes
^1 2 Originally included on the US release of Crocodiles.
- B. ^1 2 3 4 From the Shine So HardShine So HardShine So Hard is a live 12" EP released by the band Echo & the Bunnymen on 10 April 1981. The EP reached number 37 on the UK Singles Chart.-Overview:...
EP (Korona ECHO 1, 1981). Recorded live at the Pavilion Gardens, BuxtonBuxtonBuxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
, UK, 17 January 1981.
Personnel
- Ian McCullochIan McCulloch (singer)Ian Stephen McCulloch is an English singer, born in Liverpool, and is best known as the frontman for the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen.-Career:...
– vocals, guitar - Will SergeantWill SergeantWill Sergeant is an English guitarist, best known for being a member of Echo & the Bunnymen. Born in the centre of Liverpool, he grew up in the suburb of Melling and attended nearby Deyes High School...
– lead guitar - Les PattinsonLes PattinsonLes Pattinson is an English musician, best known for his work as the bassist and co-writer of the Liverpool based band, Echo & the Bunnymen....
– bass - Pete de FreitasPete de FreitasPete Louis Vincent de Freitas was a musician and producer, best known as a drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen, and whose drumming skills have been compared to Dave Grohl's....
– drums - Bill DrummondBill DrummondWilliam Ernest Drummond is a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he burned a million pounds in 1994...
[C] – producer (original album and Shine So HardShine So HardShine So Hard is a live 12" EP released by the band Echo & the Bunnymen on 10 April 1981. The EP reached number 37 on the UK Singles Chart.-Overview:...
tracks) - David BalfeDavid BalfeDavid Balfe is most notable for playing keyboards with The Teardrop Explodes, founding the Zoo and Food record labels, signing Blur and for being the subject of their number one hit - "Country House".-Biography:...
[C] – producer (original album), keyboards - Ian BroudieIan BroudieIan Broudie is a British singer-songwriter, musician and record producer from Liverpool, England. After emerging from the post punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to form the short-lived groups Original Mirrors and Care in the early 1980s as well...
– producer ("Pride" and "Rescue") - The BunnymenEcho & the BunnymenEcho & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
– producer ("Simple Stuff") - Pat Moran – producer (early versions)
- Hugh Jones – producer (Shine So Hard tracks), engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
(original album) - Andy ZaxAndy ZaxAndy Zax is a music historian and producer of CD boxed sets and reissues by Talking Heads, Rod Stewart, Echo & the Bunnymen, Television, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Judee Sill, John Cale, Nico, The Neon Philharmonic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, The Sisters of Mercy,...
– reissueReissueA reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
producer - Bill Inglot – reissue producer, remasterRemasterRemaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ing - Rod HouisonRod HouisonRodney Houison is a musician, producer, and sound engineer who has worked with The Who, Pete Townshend, Cliff Richard, Shakin' Stevens, Judge Dread, and Echo & the Bunnymen.He has also worked with and is married to Miriam Stockley...
– engineer ("Pride" and "Rescue") - Gary Edwards – engineer (early versions)
- Dan Hersch – remastering
- Brian Griffin – cover photography
- Bill Butt – insert photography
Notes
^1 2 Credited as The Chameleons.