Echo & The Bunnymen: Ian McCulloch (vocals, guitar); Will Sergeant (guitar); Les Pattinson (bass); Pete De Freitas (drums). Additional personnel: Shankar (strings). Recorded at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth and Amazon Studios, Liverpool, England. Long out of print, PORCUPINE, Echo & the Bunnymen's third album, has garnered a reputation for being as prickly as its namesake. Although the record is lined with jagged guitars and is arguably the band's darkest offering, these aspects suit the Bunnymen just fine. Ian McCulloch, in particular, sounds right at home on this brooding set of songs, with his deep, Jim Morrison-esque vocals perfectly conveying his intriguing, shadowy tales. PORCUPINE is front-loaded with its two key singles--the startling The Cutter and the strangely grand The Back of Love. Both songs benefit from the dramatic string playing of Shankar, who also lends an ominous drone to Heads Will Roll. Throughout the album, McCulloch conjures up vivid lyrical imagery with his powerful voice, from the demonic depths of My White Devil and Higher Hell to the soaring heights of God Will Be Gods and In Bluer Skies.