Echo & The Bunnymen

One of the most thrilling bands to emerge in the post-punk era, Echo & The Bunnymen drew from '60s rock and psychedelia to power their brooding, nervy and exhilarating songs. Formed in 1978 in Liverpool by singer Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson, the group swiftly made their ambitions clear, with the fevered sound of early singles like 1980's "Rescue" soon replaced by music of a grander scale. On albums such as 1984's Ocean Rain, Echo & The Bunnymen applied post-punk fervour to arrangements and instrumentation that evoked the dark intensity of The Doors and The Velvet Underground as well as Scott Walker's orchestral grandeur. Despite the success of hits like 1985's "Bring On the Dancing Horses" and 1987's "Lips Like Sugar", rocky dynamics within the group led to a split in 1988, followed by drummer Pete de Freitas' death in a motorcycle crash a year later. But the core trio's reformation in the mid-’90s resulted in later peaks such as 1997's shimmering Evergreen and 2014's forceful Meteorites.