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Mercury Rev are an American rock music group, formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker (vocals), Jonathan Donahue (vocals, guitars), Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a. "Grasshopper" (guitars, clarinet), Suzanne Thorpe (flute), Dave Fridmann (bass) and Jimy Chambers (drums).
With their early records, Mercury Rev offered experimental, psychedelic rock, which gradually shifted to a melodic, ornate sound. Mercury Rev are often compared to The Flaming Lips, and in fact have close ties: Soon after the band's formation, Donahue also joined the Flaming Lips as second guitarist and appeared on two of their albums. Furthermore, several Flaming Lips recordings have been produced by Mercury Rev's Dave Fridmann.
Despite considerable critical acclaim, their early releases never gave Mercury Rev more than cult popularity, though they appeared on the smaller second stage at some 1993 Lollapalooza stops. Baker left after their second record, Boces (1993), citing musical and personal disputes; he later recorded an album as Shady. With his departure, the darker, more experimental and less accessible features of their music began to disappear.
The band's first post-Baker album, See You on the Other Side (1995), found them in transition, and the 1998 release of the acclaimed Deserter's Songs (which featured appearances by Garth Hudson and Levon Helm of The Band) made Mercury Rev unexpected pop stars. Donahue's earnest, high-pitched vocals and concentration on relatively concise, melodic songs gave the band's material an entirely new feel and much increased popularity. Deserter's Songs spawned three UK top 40 singles and was music magazine NME's album of the year for 1998 (see 1998 in music). All is Dream, issued in 2001, managed a UK top 20 single.
Mercury Rev's much-anticipated The Secret Migration was released on January 24, 2005.
Discography
Chart positions listed are for the UK; the band has not charted in the U.S.
Albums
EPs / singles
- 1992 - Lego My Ego (Released as a compilation with Yerself Is Steam)
- 1992 - Car Wash Hair
- 1992 - If You Want Me to Stay
- 1993 - The Hum is Coming From Her
- 1993 - Chasing a Bee
- 1993 - Bronx Cheer
- 1993 - Something for Joey
- 1995 - Everlasting Arm
- 1995 - Young Man's Stride
- 1998 - Goddess on a Hiway #26 (1999 reissue)
- 1998 - Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp #26
- 1999 - Opus 40 #31
- 1999 - Holes (Australia only)
- 2001 - Nite and Fog
- 2002 - The Dark is Rising #16
- 2002 - Little Rhymes
- 2004 - Secret for a Song (Internet download only)
- 2005 - In a Funny Way #28
- 2005 - Across Yer Ocean
See also
External links
American musical groups | Peel Sessions artists | Indie rock groups | Buffalo, New York
Mercury Rev | Mercury Rev | Mercury Rev | Mercury Rev | Mercury Rev
"Mercury Rev"