Mercury Rev formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York, as a wildly chaotic, avant-pop sextet. Originally, the psychedelically-inclined group consisted of vocalist David Baker; vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter Jonathan Donahue; guitarist and clarinetist Grasshopper (born Sean Mackiowiak); flutist Suzanne Thorpe (who also played other woodwind instruments); bassist Dave Fridmann; and drummer Jimmy Chambers. The band's first recordings evolved simply as a means of creating soundtracks for their individual student films, and to occasionally make tapes for friends. However, encouraged to expand their musical pursuits by academic mentor Tony Conrad, a fabled minimalist composer and multimedia artist who had performed with John Cale, LaMonte Young, and Faust, the band started to take shape. Meanwhile, Fridmann was enrolled in the musical engineering program at SUNY-Fredonia, some 50 miles to the southwest of Buffalo, giving him free access to the college's studio from midnight until six in the morning, and it was here that the band recorded their first demo tape as Mercury Rev. At the same time as Mercury Rev began recording, Donahue worked as a local concert promoter, and befriended a band called the Flaming Lips, joining them as a guitar technician and soundman. Ultimately, under the alias "Dingus," he worked his way up to lead guitarist for the Flaming Lips and recorded with the band on 1990's 'In A Priest Driven Ambulance'. The album was co-produced by Dave Fridmann, who went on to produce other albums for the Flaming Lips, including 'Hit To Death In The Future Head' in 1992, and the four-CD set 'Zaireeka' in 1997.
With the members scattered across the country and involved in various other projects, the future of Mercury Rev seemed uncertain, but an early demo tape came into the hands of officials at the Rough Trade label in Britain, who approached Baker about signing the band. After securing the record deal, Mercury Rev entered the studio to record their debut album, 'Yerself Is Steam', while at the same time Fridmann and Donahue continued to work with the Flaming Lips. Released in 1991, 'Yerself Is Steam' was largely overlooked in the United States, but became a hit in the United Kingdom, and the band toured Britain to promote the album, though not without incident, as these early live shows tended to be performed without practice sessions or predetermined set lists, and saw the band Rev on the verge of disintegration. On stage, the band was at once fascinating, volatile, and unpredictable, with Baker frequently leaving the stage in the middle of songs to grab a drink, and reports circulated that they were banned from air travel after Donahue and Grasshopper had a brawl during a flight. A second album 'Boces' followed in 1993, and again garnered favourable reviews from the critics, but the tour in support of it fared no better than the previous one, with concert security removing the band during the Lollapalooza 1993 stop in Denver. In late 1993, Baker departed from the band after months of conflict, with the rest of the group continuing to record as a quintet, and they defied speculations again with the release of 1995's 'See You On The Other Side', an album marking Donahue's role as an unchallenged leader. More accessible than prior efforts, the album featured echoes of the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds', New Orleans brass band sounds, and acid jazz, and was a huge leap forward for the band.
With the members scattered across the country and involved in various other projects, the future of Mercury Rev seemed uncertain, but an early demo tape came into the hands of officials at the Rough Trade label in Britain, who approached Baker about signing the band. After securing the record deal, Mercury Rev entered the studio to record their debut album, 'Yerself Is Steam', while at the same time Fridmann and Donahue continued to work with the Flaming Lips. Released in 1991, 'Yerself Is Steam' was largely overlooked in the United States, but became a hit in the United Kingdom, and the band toured Britain to promote the album, though not without incident, as these early live shows tended to be performed without practice sessions or predetermined set lists, and saw the band Rev on the verge of disintegration. On stage, the band was at once fascinating, volatile, and unpredictable, with Baker frequently leaving the stage in the middle of songs to grab a drink, and reports circulated that they were banned from air travel after Donahue and Grasshopper had a brawl during a flight. A second album 'Boces' followed in 1993, and again garnered favourable reviews from the critics, but the tour in support of it fared no better than the previous one, with concert security removing the band during the Lollapalooza 1993 stop in Denver. In late 1993, Baker departed from the band after months of conflict, with the rest of the group continuing to record as a quintet, and they defied speculations again with the release of 1995's 'See You On The Other Side', an album marking Donahue's role as an unchallenged leader. More accessible than prior efforts, the album featured echoes of the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds', New Orleans brass band sounds, and acid jazz, and was a huge leap forward for the band.
Touring the album exposed conflicts within the band, with drummer Chambers quitting several times, and after returning to New York, Donahue took refuge at his house in the Catskills, while Grasshopper retreated to a Jesuit monastery near Saratoga for several weeks. When Donahue and Grasshopper reconvened at their homes in Kingston, New York, in 1997 to record a new Mercury Rev album, they called upon their two famous neighbors Levon Helm and Garth Hudson (both lived in nearby Woodstock) of the legendary group the Band to perform on some songs. The resulting 'Deserter's Song', released in 1998 on the group's new label V2, was the breakthrough album for the group, going gold in England and Ireland, and as of the fall of 1999 it had sold over 250,000 copies. 'All Is Dream' was issued in 2001 and became the band's highest charting album in the UK to date, and included three successful singles, of which 'The Dark Is Rising' reached No. 16 in the UK Singles Chart. 'Deserter's Song' and 'All Is Dream' remain the band's most popular records, and so it was great to find that when 'All Is Dream' was reissued in 2019, it was bolstered by a second disc of b-sides, out-takes and radio sessions. While most of these tracks are well worth a listen, even their takes on 'Nocturne In C# Minor' and 'Prelude In E Flat Minor', there were a couple of obvious demo's which weren't up to the quality of the rest, and a couple of the cover versions didn't really fit, so I've pruned it back to include just the very best songs for a superb 46-minute companion album to 'All Is Dream'.
Track listing
01 Serpentine (b-side of 'Nite And Fog' 2001)
02 Cool Waves (b-side of 'Nite And Fog' 2001)
03 Streets of Laredo (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
04 Nocturne in C# Minor, Opus 27, No.1 (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' 2001)
05 Observation Crest (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
06 Blue Skies (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' DVD EP 2004)
07 Mascara Tears (Outtake)
08 Prelude In E Flat Minor, Opus 48, No 4 (b-side of 'The Dark Is Rising' DVD EP 2004)
09 The Brook Room (Outtake)
10 I Keep A Close Watch (b-side of 'Little Rhymes' 2001)
11 Silver and Gold (Outtake)
12 Gymnopedies #3 (John Peel Session)
13 Mr. Moonlight Will Come (Outtake)
14 Back Into the Sun (You're the One) (Outtake)
11 Silver and Gold (Outtake)
12 Gymnopedies #3 (John Peel Session)
13 Mr. Moonlight Will Come (Outtake)
14 Back Into the Sun (You're the One) (Outtake)
