Mercury Rev
All Is Dream
V2 Records
What if the Beatles had never dropped acid? It’s virtually impossible to conceive the importance of that event. Countless upon countless rock bands owe their entire existence to that event, Mercury Rev included. From the band’s conception as lead singer/guitarist and then part-time Flaming Lips guy Jonathan Donahue’s avant rock/jazz experiment to their current status as purveyors of bombastic prog-rock style show tunes, Mercury Rev has never been afraid to wear their many influences loudly. All Is Dream, their fifth release, finds them settling into more of a personal space. "The Dark Is Rising" is a roller coaster of an opening track; huge orchestral swooping choruses turn into stark piano/vocal passages and back again. Donahue’s littlekid voice sounds especially fragile buried amidst strings and tympanis, but the effect is overwhelmingly optimistic. "You fly in the face of the sun/You float in the tides of the moon." Most of the lyrics reference dreams Jonathan claims to have had, dreams of him with "eyes like Abe Lincoln" or hanging out with Hercules. Anything set against a backdrop this exquisite would seem poetic, but what is here works pretty well. This band gets big points on instrumentation alone. Mellotrons, flutes, French horns, violins, and cellos all make appearances - they even got a guy playing a bowed saw on a couple tracks. "A Drop In Time" is a Broadway anthem waiting to happen, all pomp and wistfulness. This paired with the band’s last release, Deserter’s Songs, finds Mercury Rev settling comfortably into a kind of tranquility - soft-core psychedelia at its bleeding heart finest.-Andrew Watson
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