Mercury Rev is an American rock music group, formed in the mid 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker (vocals), Jonathan Donahue (vocals,guitars), Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a. "Grasshopper" (guitars, clarinet), Suzanne Thorpe (flute), Dave Fridmann (bass) and Jimy Chambers (drums).
With their early records, Mercury Rev offered experimental, psychedelic rock, which gradually shifted to a melodic, ornate sound. Mercury Rev is often compared to The Flaming Lips, and in fact have close ties: Soon after the band's formation, Donahue also joined the Flaming Lips as second guitarist and appeared on two of their albums. Furthermore, since the 1990 album In a Priest Driven Ambulance, Dave Fridmann has co-produced every Flaming Lips studio album to date except 1993'sTransmissions from the Satellite Heart.
Despite considerable critical acclaim, their early releases never gave Mercury Rev more than cult popularity, though they appeared on the smaller second stage at some 1993 Lollapalooza stops. Baker left after their second record, Boces (1993), citing musical and personal disputes; he later recorded an album as Shady. With his departure, the darker, more experimental and less accessible features of their music began to disappear.
The band's first post-Baker album, See You on the Other Side (1995), found them in transition, and the 1998 release of the acclaimed Deserter's Songs (which featured appearances by Garth Hudson and Levon Helm of The Band) made Mercury Rev unexpected pop stars. In the UK, NME Magazine made Deserter's Songs their Album of the Year. Donahue's earnest, high-pitched vocals and concentration on relatively concise, melodic songs gave the band's material an entirely new feel and much increased popularity (Deserter's Songs spawned three UK top 40 singles).
All Is Dream was issued in 2001. It managed a UK top 20 single, "The Dark is Rising," which reached #16 in the UK Top 40.
Mercury Rev's much-anticipated The Secret Migration was released on January 24, 2005. This was followed up in 2006 by a compilation album called The Essential Mercury Rev: Stillness Breathes 1991-2006 and the film soundtrack album Hello Blackbird. According to the band's Myspace page, two new studio albums will be released on September 29, 2008.
Deserter's Songs is the fourth album by the rock band Mercury Rev, released in 1998. British music magazine NME named Deserter's Songs album of the year for 1998.
A 10th anniversary edition of the album was rumored to be released on March 5, 2007, but never came to fruition. Mercury Rev released their seventh studio albumSnowflake Midnight on Deserter's Songs' actual 10-year anniversary, September 29, 2008.
Tracklisting:
All lyrics by Jonathan Donahue, except "Hudson Line" by Sean "Grasshopper" Mackiowiak, and "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp" by Jimy Chambers. All music by Jonathan Donahue and Sean "Grasshopper" Mackiowiak.
- "Holes" – 5:55
- "Tonite It Shows" – 3:40
- "Endlessly" – 4:25
- "I Collect Coins" – 1:27
- "Opus 40" – 5:10
- "Hudson Line" – 2:54
- "The Happy End (The Drunk Room)" – 2:06
- "Goddess on a Hiway" – 3:45
- "The Funny Bird" – 5:51
- "Pick Up If You're There" – 3:05
- "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp"
(Untitled instrumental) (hidden track) – 6:17
Mercury Rev:
- Jonathan Donahue – vocals, acoustic guitar, chamberlain strings
- Sean "Grasshopper" Mackiowiak – guitar reels, vocals on #6, woodwinds
- Jimy Chambers – clavinet, harpsichord, drums
- Dave Fridmann – piano, bass, mellotron, backing vocals
- Suzanne Thorpe – flutes
- Adam Snyder – B3, Mellotron, wurlitzer
Additional Musicians:
- Levon Helm - Drums on "Opus 40"
- Garth Hudson - Tenor & alto sax on "Hudson Line"
- Amy Helm & Marie Spinosa - Female vox and whistling
- Mary Gavazzi Fridmann - Female soprano
- Jeff Mercel - Drums
- Joel Eckhouse - Bowed saw
- Rachel Handman - Violins
- Matt Jordan - Flugelhorns
- Jim Burgess - Trombones
- Aaron Hurwitz - Piano
- Scott Petito - Upright electric bass
- Garrett Uhlenbrock - Slide guitar
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