Mercury Rev – All is Dream (2001)

This was the first Mercury Rev album I ever heard. I had heard about the band earlier on, and someone mentioned that it sounds a bit like The Flaming Lips, which got me interested. I then borrowed this CD from the library and I was sold from the start. All Is Dream remains my favourite Mercury Rev album even if Deserter's Song is more legendary to big masses. The album contains massive sounds and amazing orchestrations. And yes, it does indeed, sound a bit like The Flaming Lips from time to time, but I actually have grown to like Mercury Rev even more than The Flaming Lips. The high-pitched vocals sound untrained but that just gives this music mystique and authenticity. The melodies are absolutely brilliant ranging from hopeful and happy to sad and melancholic. I bought this album on vinyl while living in Finland.



The album kicks off beautifully with a larger than life song The Dark Is Rising, which has amazing string arrangements and orchestrations. The following song Tides of the Moon changes the mood quite a bit. This song is heavy and dark with some amazing musical saw bits that you can actually hear throughout the album. This song really reminds me of Blonde Redhead. Chains introduces heavier guitars and melodies that go to outright despair. This song is what I would call brilliant songwriting. Lincoln's Eyes tones the sound down to eerie and scary almost ambient levels. There's a similar kind of psychedelia as on some Beatles recordings, but this just takes it so much further. The vocals sound like they were sung from under the sea. However, also this song grows to full strength, almost post rock, in the end. Nite and Fog is a pop song that almost sounds cheery after the first half of the album.

Little Rhymes is a beautiful dream pop song that uses excellent sliding electric guitars. A Drop in Time is one of my favourite songs on this album. There are some amazing string arrangements and the melody is outright baroque pop. There are some psychedelic almost Disney-style harmonies in places. You're My Queen picks up the pace and sounds like more traditional indie rock from the turn of the millennium. Spiders and Flies sounds like the last dark hours of the day. It sounds like a song that you should listen to while walking in the dark towards home after a night on the town. Possibly in rain. The mainly piano piece reminds me of Tom Waits in some mysterious way even if the vocals are completely different. The album ends with probably the only weaker song on the album, Hercules, that doesn't have as magical mood as the other songs. I feel like that's the only weaker link on this album which frankly makes this album an amazing success.

As you might expect from a band that sounds this glorious, Mercury Rev has some great music videos. I really want to emphasise the greatness of the opening track The Dark Is Rising, so I'm linking a music video of that song here. This music video shows a beautiful orange sky that looks like another planet. It also has some great astronomical equipment and a bullfrog. The vocalist David Baker has that great end of the 90's emo look  with black hair that I myself was trying to copy back in the day.

I was introduced to Mercury Rev quite late so I didn't listen to the band when this album came out, but it has, nevertheless, become one of the great bands for me. They sounds truly original and this is definitely one of their best albums.

Listen to the album on Spotify.