Deserter’s Songs

ou, esse eh bão hein!!!
dá pra notar uma pegada meio flaming lips, mas fazendo algo bem original, né. vários instrumentos, muita maluquice.
a guitarra em a funny bird eh pedrada demais

Deserter's Songs by Mercury Rev was a really enjoyable listen. Their sound is incredibly dreamy and whimsical, built around beautiful melodies and rich arrangements that make the album feel very different from most other bands and genres. At times it almost feels more like a film soundtrack than a traditional rock album.

There’s a warmth and atmosphere running throughout the record that makes it very easy to sink into. The orchestration and production are excellent, and while the album can drift a little in places, it never loses its charm. Songs like “Holes”, “Opus 40” and especially “Goddess on a Hiway” really stood out and gave the album some genuinely memorable moments.

Overall, this is an album I enjoyed a lot more than I expected to and one that creates a really unique mood from start to finish.

Favourite tracks: “Goddess on a Hiway” is a superb song. “Holes” and “Opus 40” were also highlights
Least favourite tracks: “Endlessly” felt a little too much like a Christmas carol for me — it gave off strong “Silent Night” vibes
Album artwork: Dark album cover, but I really like it

Kinda like a UK version of Calexico in that they finally made an album for themselves and it hit bigger than any previous efforts. I hear a little overlap in sound as well, but way less ‘American Southwest’ here. So far it has the same ‘dark winter night record’ vibe that I enjoy so much about Calexico’s Feast Of Wire. No, I can’t explain that, I think you just gotta listen to both albums to get it.
Not sure yet how I feel about the falsetto vocals sprinkled around the tracks I’ve heard so far, he seems to dabble in both Neil Young and Tom Petty territory at different times (also, a dash of John Lennon). That’s a fun intersection of cliches, but maybe too much for one band. I can hear some Fastball creeping in on “Opus 40”, but overall, a lot of Flaming Lips style expansive ‘vastness’ in the sound. Definitely drawing a lot of influence there. 1998 Album Of The Year feels like maybe a stretch, but I’m enjoying it on my first pass. I like the organ and saxophone inclusions though.

I think it’s a solid 4. More listens could get me to go higher but maybe only to 4.5

Pretty uncanny resemblance to flaming lips in the vocals. This was fine, not sure why it's on this list.

Listened twice to this today, never heard of the band and not sure why this is marked firstly as shoegaze as there is none of that here, maybe one of their other albums is - I don't know. However this is quite an enjoyable ride, psychedelic, some ambient, some baroque pop influences. Really quite good alternative album, 3 stars for sure and 3.0 on RYM. Possibly artist to revisit?

I’d never heard of Mercure Rev before, even though some of the “Deserter’s Songs” sound familiar to me. In any case, this is just another mediocre ’90s alternative rock band, and I can’t find anything else noteworthy about it.
At the start of this project, I had a bunch of ’80s new wave albums, most of which sounded more or less the same—now the same thing seems to be happening with the dominant style of the ’90s. Too bad!

I think this is an album that would benefit a lot from just shutting yourself off from all other stimuli and taking it in on its own, free of distractions. It's a bit of an odd collection of songs but it has soul and atmosphere in spades. The vocals are a little unconventional and can be grating at times if I'm entirely honest, but I can't deny that they contribute to the unique texture of the record. Something about the sound here feels like such a perfect snapshot of that pre-turn of the millenium era. I find it oddly nostalgic even though I was just an infant when this came out and indeed I've never even heard any of the songs before.

I think I'd need to listen to this album at least another 2-3 times to really collect my thoughts on it and write a more substantial review as there's a lot going on here, but suffice to say that although I didn't absolutely love it, I do believe it's a very interesting and worthwhile listen.

Ok...is that a fucking saw he's playing on the first track? Interesting start. Track 3 and the saw is back, with some high pitched synth generated wailing.

This definitely isn't an album you want to get stuck on a plane with. Yet here I am, in a descent, ears popping and this high pitched cacophony in my ears.

I am totally clueless coming into this album. Is it a band? Or a guy in his bedroom with a lot of electronics (and a saw) and Apple Garage Band? I'm thinking the latter. I guess the best I can say about this is it had kept my interest. But it's not something I'll need adding to my playlist.

I suspect that this might be an album that grows on me with future listens, but today it didn't quite sit right. Will probably revisit this review with the edit option in a few weeks.

Great example of a style of music I would normally hate, but something here pulled me in. Hard to even describe what I mean, but this is chock full of moments and movements that effortlessly flow into each other, creating a really interesting listen. Difficult to nail down any distinct genre here. This truly feels like a band doing what they want and not caring at all how it is received (I dig that).

A very solid and underrated indie album in the vein of the Flaming Lips

mellow nice album

Favorite track(s): Holes, Opus 40, Goddess on a Hiway, The Funny Bird

Hmm... not bad, but also not great

I was honestly surprised at how much i enjoyed Deserter's Songs. I guess there were two major factors that helped in boosting my enjoyment of this album. 1. I had to listen to Ramblin' Jack Elliott yesterday so my standards were lowered and 2. I listened to this after a long day at work. There is also just the fact that the album is just really good. It reminds me of Lost Souls by Doves in a lot of ways. The album was super relaxing and always had something weird and different waiting for me at every turn. Even the intermission-esque tracks were always very enjoyable. I might not like it as much as the album mentioned above but i still thought this was a really enjoyable album.
Best Song: Opus 40
Worst Song: Endlessly

Tried to get into it, but couldn’t

Goddess on a Hiway is the first Mercury Rev song i remember hearing, thank i think to Mark snd Lard on Radio 1. It’s such a beautiful track i was compelled to buy the album.

Holes sets the scene perfectly for the album as a whole. Its skeletal instrumentation and pained vocals create an atmospheric wonderland.

I really like the chugging backing to Hudson Line that perfectly captures a steam engine plowing along the tracks and is relatively upbeat in tone

I have never listened to this album despite loving Goddess on a Hiway, Holes and Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp as singles in the 90s.

I kept expecting Endlessly to turn into Silent Night and then the bowed saw appeared - I always enjoy a weird instrument appearing and reading that Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips were sharing a studio and producer during the recording of this makes complete sense.

However the instrumental The Happy End (The Drunk Room) is a strong of example of why I suspect some people hate this album: it could certainly be accused of pretentiousness. But then Goddess on a Hiway is up next and I forgive them everything because it's a perfect 90s alt-rock classic. I really enjoyed The Funny Bird immediately afterwards too.

I enjoyed this a lot. I would say it's a 3.5 for me, and I've really agonised over rounding up or down but the second half felt really strong to me so I think I'm going to go:

4/5

First track Holes was absolutely doing my nut in cause I knew I recognised it from somewhere. Turns out it was in Sing 2 which I’ve watched with the kids approximately 600 times lol. As for the album, it was bloody great. I was on the fence about giving it the full 5 stars until Goddess On A Hiway which is an OUTSTANDING track. I ended up listening to it 3 times before continuing on. Second listen of the album I loved it and had zero doubts about the score.

Top Track - Goddess On A Hiway

I was pretty bored with this one. This is my second ‘best’ album of the year of 1998 this week. Must have been a slow year.