Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Monkeys
2. Pictures On My Wall
3. Read It In Books
4. Villiers Terrace
5. Rescue
6. Simple Stuff
7. Stars Are Stars
8. All That Jazz
9. Crocodiles
10. Puppet
11. Do It Clean
12. Show Of Strength
13. Over The Wall
14. Promise
15. Heaven Up Here
16. All My Colours
17. Broke My Neck
18. No Hands
19. Fuel
20. Subject
21. Back Of Love
22. Cutter
23. Way Out And Up We Go
24. Clay
25. Heads Will Roll
26. Gods Will Be Gods
27. Never Stop
28. Watch Out Below
29. Killing Moon
30. Silver
31. Angels And Devils
32. Crystal Days
33. Seven Seas
34. My Kingdom
35. Ocean Rain
36. All You Need Is Love
37. Bring On The Dancing Horses
38. Over Your Shoulder
39. Lover I Love You
40. Satisfaction
41. New Direction
42. Ship Of Fools
43. All My Life
44. Game
45. Bedbugs And Ballyhoo
46. Lips Like Sugar
47. People Are Strange
48. Rollercoaster
49. Don't Let It Get You Down
50. I Want To Be There (When You Come)
51. Nothing Lasts Forever
52. Hurricane
53. Rust
54. What Are You Going To Do With Your Life
55. In The Midnight Hour
56. Start Again
57. Heads Will Roll
58. Bedbugs And Ballyhoo
59. Zimbo - Echo & The Bunnymen/Royal Burundi Drummers
60. Angels And Devils
61. She Cracked
62. It's All Over Now Baby Blue
63. Soul Kitchen
64. Action Woman
65. Paint It Black
66. Run Run Run
67. Friction
68. Crocodiles
69. Heroin
70. Do It Clean

Disc 2:

1. Back Of Love
2. Cutter
3. <ay Out And Up We Go
4. Clay
5. Heads Will Roll
6. Gods Will Be Gods
7. Never Stop
8. Watch Out Below
9. Killing Moon
10. Silver
11. Angels And Devils
12. Crystal Days
13. Seven Seas
14. My Kingdom
15. Ocean Rain
16. All You Need Is Love

Disc 3:

1. Bring On The Dancing Horses
2. Over Your Shoulder
3. Lover I Love You
4. Satisfaction
5. New Direction
6. Ship Of Fools
7. All My Life
8. Game
9. Bedbugs And Ballyhoo
10. Lips Like Sugar
11. People Are Strange
12. Rollercoaster
13. Don't Let It Get You Down
14. I Want To Be There (When You Come)
15. Nothing Lasts Forever
16. Hurricane
17. Rust
18. What Are You Going To Do With Your Life

Disc 4:

1. In The Midnight Hour
2. Start Again
3. Original Cutter (A Drop In The Ocean)
4. Heads Will Roll
5. Bedbugs And Ballyhoo
6. Zimbo - Echo & The Bunnymen/Royal Burundi Drummers
7. Angels And Devils
8. She Cracked
9. It's All Over Now Baby Blue
10. Soul Kitchen
11. Action Woman
12. Paint It Black
13. Run Run Run
14. Friction
15. Crocodiles
16. Heroin
17. Do It Clean

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21595 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-29
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .83 pounds

Customer Reviews

Cherry pickers v Collectors
Who are these boxed sets that anthologize the work of a band or artist across the decades intended to cater for? Is it the newcomer who wants an instant collection and expects to find the cream of their recorded output on one disc? Or is it the collector who has all the albums but is anxious to own digital copies of early singles and rarities, and hopes to find previously unreleased gold dust?
It seems the wary compiler has to steer a middle ground, whilst running the risk of alienating both parties. The cherry pickers don't want obscure early B-sides, the collectors resent buying loads of album tracks all over again to get to the goodies. 
Since this box set came out all the Bunnymen albums have been re-mastered and re-issued with bonus tracks. Many of the tracks that this set was criticised for omitting are now available on these re-issues, and from the lack of duplication in the majority of cases it would seem that they have been intended to complement the box set.
The set kicks off with their earliest release, Monkeys, with Julian Cope on keyboards, originally on a compilation called Street To Street - A Liverpool Album, and has both sides of the earliest Bunnymen single, on the Zoo label, The Pictures On My Wall/Read It In Books. It includes the magnificent 12" versions of Silver, The Killing Moon and Never Stop, and much loved B-sides such as Angels And Devils and Rollercoaster. There are a couple of Peel session tracks, alternate versions, tracks from a scrapped 1986 album and outtakes. The ten year jump to their 1997 reformation happens almost seemlessly and chronologically concludes disc three.
Disc four seems like an afterthought as it scatters a few more worthy rarities before presenting 50 minutes of concert material from 1982-1985, mostly previously unreleased, demonstrating what a fine live band they were.
Two important factors that can assuage the undecided buyer are the quality of the packaging and the price. Crystal Days is attractively packaged, with extensive notes and a track by track commentary from Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant. There are four discs, each with around 75 minutes of music, but value for money will depend on the current asking price and the number of tracks that duplicate those in your collection. Twenty-four of the seventy-two tracks come directly from original albums, exactly a third; perhaps slightly too many given that a few others have been on compilations such as Songs To Learn And Sing and The Cutter, but still leaving plenty for the collector to pick over. 
Since the cherry-picker should find that everything essential to him is here, I think on the whole the compilers have done a fair balancing act and done justice to the band.

Excellent, but a missed opportunity
Firstly, lets discuss what you get. 72 tracks, 17 Previously Unreleased Tracks, 21 Rare Tracks and B-Sides never available before on CD. Despite that, I personally believe that a great opportunity has been missed here. I think it is fair to say, that a box set is going to appeal mainly to fans. So why waste space with material that almsot all fans will have already.

Disc 1 Is made up of the bands early work, some of which has never appeared on CD before. Track 1, Monkeys, is the original version, with Julian Cope on keyboards. Tacks 2-3 also being Original Single Versions, with Track 4 being a John Peel Session Recording. From an historical perspective, these tracks are a must for any fan as this was the sound of the early Bunnymen. However, very little else on Disc 1 is new to us. With the exception of Tracks 6, 17,18, 19, 20, all of which are B-sides to singles and 12 inch singles. Tracks 17 and 20 being of particular interest. Track 10 - The Puppet and Track 11 - Do it Clean did not appear on any studio albums and deserve to be here, however, that leaves a whopping 9 tracks that most if not all fans, would already have. I would have liked to have seen the remainder of the John Peel Session recodings that appeared on cassette, which included, Ashes To Ashes, Monkeys, Read It In Books. Also wasted, was the opportunity to release the tracks that appeared on the 1981 release EP Shine So Hard, which included brilliant versions of Crocodiles, All That Jazz, Zimbo, Over The Wall. All of which appear in a familar form on Disc 1 anyway.

Disc 2 Is much more interesting, despite 4 out of the first 5 tracks being familar recordings. Track 3 - Way out and Up We Go, a B-side to The Cutter, and a worthwhile addition. Tracks 6-11 are gems, all either being 12 versions or B-sides never available before on CD. All brilliant songs in their own right. Again however, here we see yet more missed chances to include worthwhile additional material. We do not get the accoustic versions of The Killing Moon, Stars Are Stars and Villers Terrace, which appear on the same 12 inch single as All You Need is Love.

Disc 3 Is by far the most interesting disc out of the four. Track 1, Bring On The Dancing Horses, again, could have been the 12inch version. Strangly, Tracks 2 and 6, both B-Sides to singles are included, but not the alternative version to Lost and Found, which appeared on the B-side to the same 12 inch as Track 6.

Track 3, Lover I Love You is a real find. I had never heard it before, although if you listen closely, you will recognise it despite it never having been released. Also new, Tracks 4 - Satisfaction and Track 5 - New Direction (Original Version). Tracks 7-10, again all familiar, missing the chance for the 12inch version of Lips Like Sugar. Track 12 - Rollercoster is a personal favourite and a must addition. The remaining tracks on Disc 3, all familiar.

Disc 4 Is the only disc that can actually be classed as completely worthwhile, despite being somewhat muddled. Track 3 - The Original Cutter, which is brilliant, Track 4 - Heads Will Roll (Summer Version) and Track 5 - Bedbugs & Ballyhoo (Original Version) all clearly belonging to either disc 2 or 3.

The live stuff is good to see, but with the inclusion of the live tracks I mentioned earlier, could have made this a worthwhile project.

All these things said, should not detract from the fact that the Bunnymen have finally had the Box Set treatment done. Andy Zax who compiled it, could have made better choices and made this a truly essential piece of Bunnydom, but when push comes to shove, it is simply an expanded best of.

However, with the obvious strength of ALL the tracks on this set, you MUST buy it anyway. It is packaged to die for. A glossy 66 page booklet is included and the long box itself is PERFECT.

I mention all the points above, I.E. the exclsuion of certain tracks etc, simply because I am a huge fan of this band and would like all their material on CD. However, there is only one piece of advice for anyone thinking of buying this - DO IT

Excellent and must for any real Bunnymen fan
This is an excellent collection and a must for any true Bunnymen fan. Although it is excellent it could have been better, there are some classic songs B sides etc. which could and should have been included to give the full story.