Echo & the Bunnymen made a dignified return in 1997 with Evergreen, but that record displayed some hints of rustiness and a desire to stay hip – two things notably absent from its superb sequel, What Are You Going to Do With Your Life? Trimmed to just the duo of Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant, Echo has succeeded where many of their peers have failed – they have matured without getting stodgy, they have deepened their signature sound without appearing self-conscious. Indeed, What Are You Going to Do With Your Life? feels of a piece with their earlier albums, not only sonically, but in terms of quality. Clocking in at just 38 minutes, the record is concise and dense with detail, finding the precise tone between the floating grandeur of early Echo and the timeless romanticism of classic torch songs. It's melancholy without ever being self-pitying and it never once sounds gloomy or depressing. The key is that McCulloch and Sergeant never push too hard. They never force themselves to play up-tempo, nor do they try to recapture their "edge" – they settle into a sad groove and find all the possible variations in the sound, both sonically and emotionally.

Channeling the lessons of the experimental Porcupine into more conventional and simple structural parameters, Ocean Rain emerges as Echo & the Bunnymen's most beautiful and memorable effort. Ornamenting Ian McCulloch's most consistently strong collection of songs to date with subdued guitar textures, sweeping string arrangements, and hauntingly evocative production, the album is dramatic and majestic; "The Killing Moon," Ocean Rain's emotional centerpiece, remains the group's unrivalled pinnacle. The 2003 reissue of Ocean Rain features improved sound, new liner notes, loads of photos, and a wealth of bonus tracks. The bulk of the bonus tracks is made up of the Life at Brian's sessions, which found the band playing some of their "hits" like "The Killing Moon," "Stars Are Stars," "Silver," and "Villiers Terrace," as well as a faithful cover of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" in a relaxed, acoustic but still very dramatic setting.

Joel Schumacher's 1987 film The Lost Boys capitalized on a temporary lull in horror movies in the late '80s and created a heavily music-video-influenced vampire homage with enough campy humor, heavy metal costumes, and hunky stars to put a fresh spin on the genre. An amusing piece of eye candy spiked by a few creepy moments, the movie, in typical '80s style, relies heavily on the soundtrack to bolster its emotional core. The soundtrack, like the film, works great on the surface – but don't go much deeper. A mix of covers and bombastic '80s pop originals, the songs work best when they concentrate on the horror factor. Echo & the Bunnymen turn in an excellent cover of the Doors' "People Are Strange" that has a bouncier, more melodic touch than the original. Jimmy Barnes and INXS' "Good Times" is an energetic rocker used to personify the party-hardy SoCal atmosphere of the film. The strongest song is the movie's theme, "Cry Little Sister," a goth-influenced midtempo ballad.

Echo & the Bunnymen caught the group at a fortuitous career juncture; the clutch of songs here were among the hookiest and most memorable the band would ever write, while the arrangements are noticeably clean and punchy, mostly eliminating strings and similar clutter to focus almost exclusively on guitars, keyboards, drums, and occasional percussion touches…