Search - Mercury Rev :: Deserter's Songs

Give it a chance... or you'll be sorry

E. W. Strubel | FW, Indiana USA | 04/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 1st time that I listened to Deserter's Song I thought "What the &*## is this?". My Wife, who I figured would hate it because of the unusual, even shaky, vocals walks in 3 days later and says, "That Mercury Rev albumn is great!". Again I am thinking "What the &*##?". I Gave it another try and fell in love with it. I have been a huge Sparklehorse fan for years and if I had to squeeze Mercury Rev into the same genra.



Deserter's song is very quickly rising to the top of my all time albumns and is definately worth a listen and then another and another and another..."

Broadway filtered through a Tettix Wave Accumulator (patent

YellowNote | 10/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pretty much every minute detail that can be said about this album has been previously posted, so I will say this for those already familiar with Mercury Rev but have not heard this album:



Deserter's Songs is what happens when you ask Mercury Rev to compose a soundtrack to a Broadway musical. Its use of a full band and strings, odd studio trickery, bowed saws, and epic and sometimes gratuitous, melodramatic moments create a whimsical, musical journey. From the noirish "Holes" which starts the album to the chipper closer, "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp," you can almost picture the red curtain going down while Mercury Rev waves goodbye on stage.



This sort of sound may or may not appeal to fans of older Mercury Rev. To me, its just another progression in Mercury Rev's ever-changing personnel and it sounds wonderful. For maximum aural satisfaction, however, I suggest listening to this album all the way through, as this is a concept album, and its effect would be greatly undermined by selecting random tracks."