mercury rev: all is dream

BY JIM LAAKSO

If ever there was a word worthy of suspicion, "album" would be it. Radiohead, Grandaddy, and countless other "artists" (and fuck you, by the way—they're bands, not artists) have produced Albums, with a capital A, in recent years: cohesive collections held together largely by the spirit of self-indulgent Wankery, with a capital W, that existed throughout the entire writing and recording process. Of course, nothing gets the rock-as-serious-art crowd off like an Album, which means that the release of one is always occasion for much joy and pompous proclamation in the filthy land of rock criticism.

So here now is Mercury Rev with All Is Dream, their fifth full-length and, yes, a bona-fide Album. And even though it threatens to go too far from time to time, skirting the fine line that exists between being brilliant and being cringe-worthy, this is a winner. By wisely emphasizing mood over awkward concepts or themes, Mercury Rev pulls through with what may prove to be their most lasting record.

Evident on All Is Dream is the fact that over the years the group has learned how to create a big, powerful sound without using the screaming feedback that dominated their earliest work. Witness "Chains," a song that opens with piano and strings, but soon explodes into a sinister, mellotron- and guitar-heavy rocker that derives more power from drums and keyboards than distortion and volume. Similarly, "You're My Queen" discards the all-out assault of old and builds gracefully to its pounding climax. With All Is Dream, Mercury Rev has finally found a happy medium between the musical muscle of See You On The Other Side (1996) and the sleepy grace of predecessor Deserter's Songs (1998).

The biggest shocker, musically, on All Is Dream comes with "A Drop In Time." The band has shown an interest in old-time theatrical music with "Everlasting Arm" and much of See You On The Other Side, but this string-plucking showtune, laden with harps, female backing vocals, and timpani, takes that interest to a new extreme. Schmaltzy on first listen perhaps, but with an undeniably catchy melody and a sweeping chorus make it an intriguing highpoint.

Lyrically, the band is at its most impenetrable with this release. But even if the listener can't relate to lines like "What explodes like a fractal/Pops like a lite bulb/Strolls in like Joel Gray/At four in th' morning," group mainstay Jonathan Donahue's words remain a strong asset to the record. All Is Dream is more about mood than message, and to that end the often bizarre lyrics, as delivered in Donahue's eerie falsetto, are ideal within the Rev's larger musical setting.

It's that very musical setting, a dark moodiness underscored by Donahue's vocals and heavy use of low strings, pianos, and keyboards, that unifies All Is Dream. It's a record that should be listened to from start to finish. No use trying to pull hit singles from here; the songs are all catchy, but these are compositions that work better in the context of a full record, rather than the radio.

Mercury Rev doesn't need the tenuous lyrical ties of a Radiohead to make a successful Album, nor does it need the conceptual grandiosity of a Grandaddy. What sets Mercury Rev apart from the crowd is the band's focus on the music itself, coupled with an ability to be tasteful in their production and a sharp sense of when to rein in their considerable musical ambitions. This makes for an album that is big without being overblown, smart without being smug, and beautiful without being ridiculous. Song by song, All Is Dream, is how an Album should be made. (V2) 

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