Into Paradise

Dour Liverpudlian rockers Echo & The Bunnymen cast a long shadow over the U.K. music scene in the late '80s and early '90s, from which many worshipful groups never emerged. Dublin quartet Into Paradise started its career well within that darkness, but later emerged (albeit briefly) with a sound worth hearing. ================================================= The group's self-titled debut, released in 1990 and produced by ex-Sound frontman Adrian Borland, found Into Paradise--singer/guitarist Dave Long, guitarist/keyboardist James Eadie, bassist Rachel Tighe and drummer Ronan Clarke--owing a heavy debt to the Bunnymen's landmark 1980 LP, Crocodiles. The guitar sound is sometimes fuller than Echo axeman Will Sergeant's usual scratchy tone, but the plodding, weary songs and Long's unmistakably McCulloch-like caterwauling made the band's primary reference point obvious. The shame was that a few genuinely good tracks got buried in the band's attempt at homage. However, someone kicked Into Paradise firmly in the collective rear just in time for the release of Churchtown the following year--the group sounded newly-energized on uptempo, invigorating cuts like "Rain Comes Down," their best-ever song, and "Bring Me Up." Produced again by Borland, Churchtown showed off a large-scale dramatic sweep reminiscent of Simple Minds, augmented by consistently strong, attractive melodies that kept even slower tracks like "I'm Still Waiting" out of the dirgelike territory of yore. The band followed that triumph with a pair of U.K.-only EPs--Down All The Days (1992) and For No One (1993)--before disappearing from view shortly afterwards. But Into Paradise's short time in the limelight should, if nothing else, give hope to those numerous groups striving nobly to elude the creative noose of their influences. ++++ Written by Dan Leroy

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