Alternative music sux! What in the world is alternative music? I have never understood the concept and will never understand it in the future. You call Oasis alternative, Alanis Moresette alternative, now you call Mercury Rev a quirky alternative rock band. What is the similarity between Mercury Rev and the other two? They have become big in the year 1998 with their latest offering `Deserted Songs',(at least among the critics) so you guys must be thinking, it must be another great alternative rock band right? And presumably, `Deserted Songs' is their best album right? Ok, let me tell you, you have made a grave mistake and deserve to be executed. Just check out their earlier `Boces' and this one, which I think is their classic. While `Boces' is noisier and more erratic, this one is diverse. Yes, its vision is much wider than that of `Deserted Songs', I agree with most people, `Deserted Songs' is great. The string arrangement, the exotic guitar effect, the experimental piano intro, it is their most romantic album to date. It can be melancholic and romantic at the same time without sounding anything along the line of saccharine divas. Yes, just like some of the R&B divas out there, soul music also influences the sound of Mercury Rev tremendously, so does progressive rock, ambient, jazz... Eclectic is the word, then again, thanks to most music critics, the word has become such a cliché. Anyway, if you think `Deserted Songs' is great, you have to check this out!!! Just listen to the atonal piano on the first track, as well as many other tracks, you can tell how different this band is. As the first track `Empire State...' proceeds, you can hear so much different instrumentation, everything could sound bloody out of place if another band did it. But on Mercury Rev's hands, everything fits perfectly well, "beautiful" some cry, wait, don't say this before you hear the noise which comes in at 2'30''. The noise sounds nothing like heavy metal, they have absolutely nothing to do with nasty heavy metal bands, the source of this white noise is from jazz, from bebop to be exact. The whole track lasts 7'29'', ambitious effort, but then again, it is absolutely diverse, so you can never get bored of it. `Young Man's Stride' is a punk song for Mercury Rev, for the imbecile bunch who devours trashy punk bands like Rancid and Green Day. Check this one out. As a contrast, to the punkish `Young Man's Stride', `Sudden Ray of Hope' is absolutely wonderful, yes, I admit, it gets noisy sometimes, but that's the pleasure you get when you listen to Mercury Rev's music. Your mood changes constantly, from happy to sad, from sad back to happy. Mercury Rev's music sounds pretty cheerful at first listen, but this is exactly the irony. They are in no way an optimistic bunch. One thing I have to mention is: the brass section on this track is splendid, you don't get to hear that often on another `alternative' band's record, do you? `Everlasting Arm' is an exquisite ballad, the distinctive atonal piano prevail. It could fit perfectly well with the rest of the songs on `Deserted Songs', well, this is even more beautiful than `Goddess On a Hiway', don't you think so? A bliss from start to end. `Racing the Tide' is yet another romantic yet anthemic track. `Close Encounter of the 3rd Grace' sounds not unlike a cross between `Come Together' on Primal Scream and Portishead's `Mysterons', while not as depressive as Portishead, this sounds even spookier, it sounds more like the ghosts are dancing happily. I really adore the part of lyrics on `A Kiss From An Old Flame', it goes something like this `Two fools rush in, you and I." Get it? The music is here at the album's most beautiful, really. Spooky as always, this one sounds even more cheerful. Not only ghosts dance to their music, even the angels come and join them on this track. Both angels and ghosts love their music, why don't you like this? That's the sole thing that has been puzzling me for ages. `Peaceful Night' is a lullaby, but it is one of the weirdest lullaby I have ever heard in my whole life, the way Jonathan sings, he sounds like he has just wet his pants and he is feeling very embarrassed. The way the piano is playing, not unlike those two instrumental tracks on `Deserted Songs'. That song brings an end to the album, even the aftertaste is great. You feel good after listening to their music, isn't that great or what? Sometimes I am thinking, why some great bands' average albums are the ones which brought them to fame? While the best album by them, the ones that should have been classics remain as hidden gem, or they are only discovered until later, it happened to REM's `Murmur' as well as Belle & Sebastian's `Tigermilk'. `See You On the Other Side' is Mercury Rev's best album, if you haven't heard anything from Mercury Rev, buy this one first, it is more traditional Mercury Rev than `Deserted Songs' and this is simply superior. The best thing is: This is NO ALTERNATIVE!!!
They Are No Quirky Alternative Rock Band!!!
NOt their best
