REVIEW: Mercury Rev - All Is Dream
All Is Dream is Mercury Rev's fifth full-length release. It is an album that seems to contradict its self at first, a sort of half and half album, and half conventional pop-rock. While the other more significant half is truly original piece of music which dose not lend it's self easily to any genre of music, so as with all such pieces of work it shall be alternative.
This sort of music will not appeal to everyone (especially at first) in particular fans of Mercury Rev's Goddess On A Highway album but don' let that put you off. All Is Dream grows on you, and as the title suggests it tries to take you to a dream world, which you will find yourself returning to again and again.
The first five songs the album are extremely eerie this is brought about by the use of a range of instruments from French horns, violins and even a bow saw and the true eeriness of Jonathan Donahue's high pitched Neil Young like vocals. This is taken to its greatest level on Lincoln's Eyes a truly chilling song that could be about nothing, or everything who could tell.
Nite and Fog see the start of a more upbeat sound in this album no less dream like, but much more commercial in toady's music market. Your My Queen and Spiders and Flies see a slight return to the first five songs but the last song Hercules, a song that lets you know that it won't be the last time you listen to this album.
All Is Dream is definitely the most original work by any artist in a long time and it is good too. A combination that makes it the best album around at the moment. DOS:01/2002
*****
