Advantages: The Only Desert Island Disc You'll Ever Need.
Disadvantages: Blast, There's A White Liner In The Distance.

...And right out of the blue came Mercury Rev. Nearly men, who had crafted several flawed albums, until the magical opus that is 'Deserters Songs' reared its head. Add this album to their unforgettable intimate live performances and Mercury Rev rightfully hold pride of place on the a-list of innovative artists. I've always liked 'Boces', one of Mercury Rev's previous albums, because it was it was full of brilliant half ideas. What it lacked in focus, it made up in energy. Songs like 'Something For Joey' will always hold a special place in my heart. 'Deserters Songs' is a different proposition altogether, however. Where Mercury Rev once fumbled (with some success) in the dark, they now provide the bright lights for an art form in serious need of reinvention. 'Holes' kicks off proceedings in reflective mode. Lacking a distinct beat... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: their best yet
Disadvantages: too short

...I was counting the days from the time that this title was announced and wasn't disappointed on the day it was released. As with their last 2 albums I approached it wondering whether they were going to better their previous efforts - again, as with All Is Dream, I found that they done more than that. I came to Mercury Rev in the early 90's when my friend was endlessly playing them but I didn't appreciate them then. It wasn't until I bought Deserters Songs that I realised how different they were. The fact that Deserters Songs was recorded whilst they were all going through cold turkey due to heroin addiction made all the more amazing. When All Is Dream was realised I was slightly underwhelmed but this album was a grower and I soon found that I liked it more than its predecessor. The Secret MIgration however is an instant classic in my... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very good album
Disadvantages: Either like it or hate it

...An inspiring album, one of those anyone will like, similar to artists like Travis or or maybe Abba. The album create a soft moody feel, but very solid. Some outstanding melodies. I bought the album having only heard one of their single "yellow", and I knew I would enjoy it, from past experience. If one likes the kind of musics from Travis, Radiohead, Pulp, Mercury Rev, Black box recorder, should certainly buy this. Although, it is one of those album, you either like it or hate it. Or most often people only likes one or two songs from it.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Psychedelic and beautiful songs
Disadvantages: Dodgy Sax Solos

...To be perfectly honest, I didn't have a clue who Mercury Rev were until 'Deserters' Songs' was released. Even then it took about Four months of the NME waxing lyrical about them to convince me to buy the CD. I never usually trust the NME, but as I chanced to see the inspiring 'Goddess On A Hiway' on Irish TV station TV3 one morning, I was blown away (no not literally!) by it and knew it had to be my next purchase. Today, almost 2 years later, it still gets regular spins on my CD player. Mercury Rev are not the most high profile of bands. They rarely get radio air-play or their videos on MTV. Therefore you should be pretty assured that they must be pretty good and they just get on with making great music. And that's what they do. Their earlier work I have only sampled by way of Napster and it sounds a bit dodgy to me (besides Coney... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: It's a sexy melancholy happy fuzzy emotional security blanket
Disadvantages: ?

...This album exist's in it's own world of fluffy fuzzyness which has been rarely touched on by any other band and even Mercury Rev only managed to pull it off for this album. How this album manages to sound so happy and melancholy at the same time is a total mystery as at the time all the band members hated each other and even refused to live in the same state let alone the same city (Grasshopper, the guitarist, even tried to remove the singers eye with a spoon whilst on a plane flight). Although this can be seen as a bad thing as the obvious total lack of rehersal that went into this album has produced a sound that is totally fresh and free flowing. Improvisation is the order of the day here, in the same manner as old jazz bands, the band members clearly never know what they are about to do before they do it. The only way i can describe... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: The greatest yet by a pretty great band
Disadvantages: Not many people have heard of them

...The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin The Flaming Lips had seemed to have painted themselves into the same arthouse rock corner that Sonic Youth have revelled in for the past 20 years. The plucky junkies from Ohio have spent their last eight albums shocking us with sporadic moments of a greatness, only to slip back into the same old indulgent alternative path trod by so many lesser talents. When fellow travellers Mercury Rev released 1998’s Deserters Songs, the game seemed up. The Flaming Lips looked to be condemned to the pile of nearly made its. The Soft Bulletin changes everything. While British bands can only marvel at the completed adventure that was The Beatles, Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips take the D roads and dirt tracks, taking in such wonders as The Loving Spoonfuls and Captain Beefheart, to arrive at perhaps the last... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good price. Great reviews. Excellent cover CDs
Disadvantages: Not for young teens

...Q magazine has continued to move with the times. It's always been one of the best selling music mags, and has stayed so despite changing fashions and taste in music. It is essentially an adult magazine (no, not THAT sort of adult magazine)so you are unlikely to get an exclusive interview with "Five" or "Steps", but you might with some dinosaur rockstars. But although it tips its cap at The Beatles, Meatloaf or The Stones, it also recognises the "mature" music of Travis, Muse or Mercury Rev. It has a great reviews section (in depth, and without the cynicism that pervades a lot of music journalism), and when there is a free cover CD, it is particularly well worth buying. It's full of quality music. A good buy... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: chilled but with a groove you can get into!
Disadvantages: a bit short

...This album is a new take on old sounds, from bands such as radiohead, pavement in some ways and mercury rev even! it is chilled, but also can be jiggled and sung along to. All the singles are excellent but aren't even the best songs on the album, my favorite being Spies. The album is a little short and you do feel slightly anticlimatic when it comes to the end, but on repeat you never get bored of it, even though its only about 45 minutes long. It has a consistency worthy of The Bends by Radiohead as the songs flow really easily, but dont manage to sound the same throughout, like At The Drive-In's Relationship Of Command. This album completely blows, middle of the road, crappy indie bands like Travis out of the water and should manage to put trendy, poppy b****cks such as S Club 7 back in their rightful place- the job centre. It may... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: It only cost me £3, good rolling basslines
Disadvantages: dull, flat, not enough energy

...have some outrageously cheeky and naive beeping sound's in it though so i'll let them off that one. Another issue i would like to raise is the bizarre choice of guest vocalists on this album. The third track 'Out of Control' not only features that bassline ripped off a Donna Summer disco tune ( as used by Fluke a million times ) but also has Bernard Sumner from New Order on vocals. It may be just me, but i think that this would be a blinding tune if it didn't have the vocals on it. Track 5, 'Let forever be' fetures the ever annoying voice of Noel Gallagher and track 11 features vocals, guitar and piano from Johnathan Donahue of Mercury Rev in a blatant attempt to recreate the last blinding collaboration with Mercury Rev on the Chemical Brothers previous album. The only vocal track that they really manage to pull off is 'asleep from day... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A lenghty, lazy and lovely festival of aromas and lyrical ambiences
Disadvantages: A bit too long, but then you could do with the sleep

...The last independent record shop I happened to be in had this album at No.1 in its customer-voted chart of "alternative" records of 2004. The fact that nobody has ever given a sufficiently meaningful explanation of what "alternative" music actually is shouldn't put us off taking this kind of democracy seriously though. "These Were The Earlies" is certainly well over on the listenable side of unlistenable - it's even enjoyed some graveyard slot Radio 1 airplay. It's also an album that suits both background and foreground consumption - at once lazy and energetic, its dense and melifluous songs are generous to the headphone and washing up listener alike. The most obvious music journalist sort of comparison would be to Soft Bulletin-era Flaming Lips or post-insane era Mercury Rev, but like music journalists themselves these comparisons... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful