ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN SIBERIA ALBUM COOKING VINYL RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 21, 2005 REVIEW: OCTOBER 31, 2005

The amazement I felt when I heard this album is indescribable. You know how it is when a band comes back together and makes their reunion album, everyone pays attention and expectations run high. Generally afterwards, however, if the band still remains no one really notices their efforts.

"Siberia" is the fourth album from this Liverpool institution since their return in 1997 with "Evergreen". The only original members who remain are the potent songwriting team of front man Ian "Mac" McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant.

It is one of their best. I say this as a fan who has not bought anything from them since their acrimonious 1987 self-titled release  jokingly nicknamed "The Grey Album". "All Because of You Days", "Parthenon Drive", "Everything Kills You", "Of a Life"... these songs are surely every bit the measure of the Bunnymen's youthful excesses. "Parthenon Drive" in particular is an amazing recollection of not only Mac's life but that of the band's; it really makes you stop and pay attention. The Bunnymen believe and so do I.

For a group who have inspired so many (The Jesus and Mary Chain, U2 and The Mighty Lemon Drops most obviously), the Bunnymen spent most of the 90:s as a fractured lot with Will and company trying to soldier on without Mac and Ian himself embarking on a solo career which produced few sparks and even fewer sales. But for me, Echo and The Bunnymen have always sounded out of this world, intoxicatingly addictive, an act destined for immortality.

And now? They are very much alive these days, the chemistry of the band has never been better. For those fans who did not think it was possible to ever go back to the way it was, "Siberia" shows not only how the power of memory endures but also how beautiful it can be to have an old friend come back and help make some new ones.

PETER MARKS