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Mercury Rev

PowerCorruptionNPies [Edit] [Delete] 39 replies 12:48, 4 November '13

Thought a few of their singles i.e. Goddess on a Highway were amazing but too lazy until now to listen any further. Where's the best place to start?

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  • Deserter's Songs

    First two albums (Yerself is Steam & Boces) are kind of weird & psycadelic with a different singer. Some people prefer this to the later albums. I'm not into them but do listen to Car Wash Hair which Jonathon sings and is much more like Goddess etc.

    See you on the other side - Jonathon is lead singer and it's a bit more poppy but still a bit psycadelic musically.

    With Deserter's Songs they started doing the epic orchestral folk pop like Goddess on the Highway and Opus 40. It's considered a bit of a classic and I think their best.
    They continuned it that vein with ttheir other albums bit with diminishing returns but with some great songs (Dark is Rising is excelent).

    NickDS | 4 Nov '13, 13:26 | X
  • I'd listen to the first four (up to and including Deserter's Songs), in release order

    and then stop right there.

    funkycow | 4 Nov '13, 13:30 | X
  • yerself is steam / lego my ego. then stop there.

    freddiehubbard | 4 Nov '13, 13:31 | X
  • ignore the idiots above, listen to Secret Migration and Snowflake Midnight.

    Both have some lovely moments on them.

    Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 13:38 | X
    • I agree with Snowflake Midnight.

      But NickDS isn't an idiot. It's not like there's no precedent there. Deserter's Songs is a masterwork. C'mon now.

      ThisTemporaryLife @Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 13:45 | X
      • I meant the other two, he got dragged into it due to the position of his post : )

        Ricky_Ronco @ThisTemporaryLife | 4 Nov '13, 13:50 | X
        ThisTemporaryLife this'd this
        • :)

          NickDS @Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 13:54 | X
          • Cheers

            Yours idiotically.

            funkycow @NickDS | 4 Nov '13, 14:00 | X
  • First three records are the best

    Yerself Is Steam / Boces / See You On The Other Side. All feature a mix of crazy orchestral wigouts, wavey shoegaze drifters and supreme pop belters, often within the same song. Deserters Songs is a classic too, but a far more calculated, safe record. Not delved into the 00s stuff past All Is Dream (which is a decent record, if not a patch on the stuff before it) for fear of being wildly disappointed.

    Right up there with the best bands of the 90s for me.

    dan_thw | 4 Nov '13, 14:04 | X
    andrew_wolfpack, funkycow, matthewslaughter, chasingabee, Dan_S, shimmetry, JimmyHuntspill, incandenza_, knobtwiddler, and PickledOeuf this'd this
  • they are currently recording a new album, which I'm sure the majority of

    posters in this thread will dismiss as rubbish before it's even been finished.

    Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 14:06 | X
    • ever heard of majority rule?

      funkycow @Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 14:18 | X
    • To back up my previous post because you seem so angry

      I have seen them live three times since the end of the touring schedule for All Is Dream and been bored stiff every time. The songs I didn't recognise (which I assume were all new ones - this made up a lot of the set) completely washed over me - lyrically and musically all vastly inferior to the stuff I associate with one of my favourite bands of all time. This wasn't just because I wasn't familiar with them - the songs just didn't do anything. I have absolutely no doubt on this basis that the newer albums would not be anywhere near as good as any of the first four albums, and I would probably even dislike them.

      There is of course the small chance that I might be wrong, so I will give them a listen seeing as you are so strongly advocating their existence. I can only imagine this will end in tears though. Possibly real ones.

      dan_thw @Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 14:36 | X
      • i don't think he'll mind tears

        it's sort of a given for bedwetters

        funkycow @dan_thw | 4 Nov '13, 14:40 | X
      • please don't mis-interpret my posts as angry. Just read them as

        mild indifference to you opinion or anyone else's come to that. It seems this thread is lacking a sense of humour.

        Ricky_Ronco @dan_thw | 4 Nov '13, 15:02 | X
        • would you like a tissue?

          funkycow @Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 15:12 | X
          • ah bless. Do carry on, most entertaining.

            Ricky_Ronco @funkycow | 4 Nov '13, 15:19 | X
            • so said your mum

              funkycow @Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 15:24 | X
        • Well to be fair you have called a couple of people idiots

          then written a snivelly response snorting at everyone else in the thread for holding what I'm pretty sure is a widely held opinion among critics and fans alike that Mercury Rev fell away pretty bad after Deserters Songs. Not sure sense of humour comes into it, even if you were intending a jovial dig in the ribs.

          Tell us why you like the newer albums. Which are the best songs? If you are right and there are indeed some "lovely moments", I would genuinely like to hear them as I'm pretty sure they didn't play them live!

          dan_thw @Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 15:20 | X
          funkycow this'd this
          • You're clearly sensitive so I apologise for calling you an idiot.

            I haven't snorted at anyone. This thread is indicative of most on the music forum. People unable to take a joke when their opinions (widely held by critics or not) are challenged. As for pointing out what is great about their last few albums. You've clearly dismissed them out of hand after hearing a few live tracks so what would be the point of me extolling their virtues ?

            Ricky_Ronco @dan_thw | 4 Nov '13, 15:38 | X
            • Can do nothing but shake my head at this

              dan_thw @Ricky_Ronco | 4 Nov '13, 15:43 | X
      • would you really just dismiss new sutf

        on the basis of going to a gig and not being that impressed? They're not the greatest live band in the world.

        icehockeyhair @dan_thw | 4 Nov '13, 16:39 | X
        • Well, yes

          It wasn't a case of bad sound or poor performance, I could hear the songs being played and none of them grabbed me in the slightest. They made up probably 70% of the set. This is opposed to when I saw them showcasing stuff from All Is Dream before it came out, which sounded great live. And that turned out to be a good, but still a little disappointing album that I bought at the time and can't say I have listened to in the last ten years.

          There's lots of decent music out there, and to be honest I'd rather not spend £12 or whatever on an album I'm likely to be pretty disappointed by and listen to once or twice before shelving. With the advent of spotify and so on, I should probably give these records a listen just in case they are somehow shockingly underrated masterpieces - I would genuinely love to be proved wrong and have another album or two to love by a band that has made three or four of my favourite albums ever - but I don't have the money to go out and buy records of songs that I was hugely unimpressed by at live shows in the hope they are somehow transformed into completely different songs on record.

          Surely tours are undertaken to support records? I went to the show and didn't enjoy it so didn't buy the record. Maybe this isn't how it works any more. I don't know.

          dan_thw @icehockeyhair | 4 Nov '13, 17:20 | X
  • Yerself is Steam.

    Nothing else comes close.

    fellover | 4 Nov '13, 14:16 | X
    matthewslaughter and The_Groke this'd this
  • ferchrissake

    Deserter's Songs is a pretty great album, as is All Is Dream, but not liking it doesn't make you a humourless bed-wetting shit-stain or whatever.

    Christ. As if that even needs saying.

    icehockeyhair | 4 Nov '13, 16:35 | X
    • I've just read all these posts with an idiotic smile on my face

      I hope no-one is actually taking any of this seriously!

      funkycow @icehockeyhair | 4 Nov '13, 16:44 | X
  • I'm in a minority of one here

    but I think All is Dream (the follow-up to Deserter's Songs) is its equal.

    I will say this uncontroversial truth though. Mercury Rev's best song isn't Goddess or Opus 40. It's the first song off of Deserter's - Holes. Awesome song, awesome imagery.

    kostenurky | 4 Nov '13, 16:53 | X
    • You might be right

      it is pretty magical

      funkycow @kostenurky | 4 Nov '13, 16:54 | X
      NickDS this'd this
      • he is right

        NYFYO @funkycow | 4 Nov '13, 23:42 | X
        thewarn this'd this
  • I love All is Dream

    And Secret Migration is their pastoral, bucolic record. Never understood the hate for those two albums. Lot's to love about both of them but they are different then Deserter Songs in some ways. Snowlake didn't really click with people and at least with that one I can kind of see why. Though they at least tried something different.

    auteur55 | 4 Nov '13, 18:30 | X
  • I'm going to have to join in here

    Seen them live before All Is Dream came out and went out and got that album, thinking Goddess On A Highway was going to be on there. Clearly it wasn't, but it's still a great album.

    I think if yam expecting more like their earlier stuff then yes, AID is the start of their turn towards floaty, light stuff that seems more restrained, but that's not necessarily a bad ting.

    StormsOnTheMoon | 5 Nov '13, 17:21 | X
  • Loved the first 4 albums

    and All is Dream does have some great songs on there - I feel they just started getting a bit Dungeons and Dragons though. I revisited Secret Migration recently after reading a related post and it is ok but definitely my least favourite.

    RockyORourke | 6 Nov '13, 10:13 | X
    NickDS this'd this
    • Yes, it all gets a bit Tolkien doesn't it!

      I loved Deserters songs and Dark is rising single but was pretty disapoint by All is Dream. Pleasent but it never clicked. Secret Migration is an architypla 3* album. Nice enough if you're a fan, some decent songs (I like the ''dark country ride'' one) but nothing amazing and you're not going to be listening to it years later.

      This thread made me listen to Deserters Songs for the first time in ages. Still wonderful.

      NickDS @RockyORourke | 6 Nov '13, 10:40 | X
      • I listened to All Is Dream last night, just because I haven't heard it in awhile

        And you're right there, it gets a lot more ethereal for lack of a better word. They kind of lost, or abandoned, their heavier inclinations from then on, which most fans miss.

        StormsOnTheMoon @NickDS | 6 Nov '13, 12:47 | X
  • I was gonna say the best Mercury Rev song was 'Bronx Cheer'

    but it's definitely 'Chasing a Bee', isn't it.

    incandenza_ | 6 Nov '13, 13:46 | X
    chasingabee this'd this
    • nah, frittering

      funkycow @incandenza_ | 6 Nov '13, 13:57 | X
      • nah, meth of a rockettes kick

        knobtwiddler @funkycow | 7 Nov '13, 12:33 | X
  • i love mercury rev

    for me its a first place tie between deserters songs and yerself is steam. the best examples of both of their distinct phases.

    best tracks: opus 40, holes, frittering, car wash hair, everlasting arm, dark is rising, something for joey, funny bird, chasing a bee

    watsona7 | 6 Nov '13, 14:03 | X
    incandenza_ this'd this
  • give this one a spin - Sudden Ray of Hope

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Snkm_Wjbo

    chridgriebe | 6 Nov '13, 14:11 | X
  • If you want superb out there weirdness - Yerself is Steam

    if you want one of the best alt-rock albums of all time - Deserter's Songs.

    MrScagdenSir | 6 Nov '13, 14:24 | X
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