Every Album Ever | Episode 138: Mercury Rev

This week we’re discussing every album by Mercury Rev. Led by Jonathan Donahue and Grasshopper (with huge contributions by Dave Fridmann), Mercury Rev left their mark on indie rock with their 1998 album, Deserter’s Songs. But they have so many other albums that are either insanely underrated or overlooked completely. Their friendship with the Flaming Lips explains the stylistic similarities between the two, but their songwriting stands on its own.
Intro/Band Overview 00:00
Yerself Is Steam 15:50
Boces 26:37
See You on the Other Side 37:48
Deserter’s Songs 50:10
All Is Dream 1:03:06
The Secret Migration 1:10:49
Snowflake Midnight 1:20:28
Strange Attractor 1:27:22
Inner Autumn Outer Space 1:32:26
The Light in You 1:35:56
Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited 1:45:01
Outro 1:53:01
Patreon: / everyalbumever
Spotify episode playlist: open.spotify.com/user/motherp...
Merch: pandermonkey.creator-spring.com/
Instagram:
Mike / pandermonkey
Alex / motherpuncher
Tom Osman’s stuff:
Bandcamp: tomosman.bandcamp.com/album/s...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/0l3hxP...
Apple: / so-much-for-all-in-a-d...
Substack: tomosman.substack.com/
Instagram: / tomosmansounds
Twitter: / tomosmansounds
Facebook: / tomosmansounds
Audio on Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Audio on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/3nN2VXi...
Mike’s Picks:
See You on the Other Side (1995) - Best Album, Personal Favorite
Inner Autumn Outer Space (2013) - Worst Album
The Light in You (2015) - Least Favorite
Alex’s Picks:
All Is Dream (2001) - Best Album
See You on the Other Side (1995) - Personal Favorite
Inner Autumn Outer Space (2013) - Worst Album, Least Favorite
Albums we discussed this episode..
Yerself Is Steam (1991)
Boces (1993)
See You on the Other Side (1995)
Deserter’s Songs (1998)
All Is Dream (2001)
The Secret Migration (2005)
Snowflake Midnight (2008)
Strange Attractor (2008)
Inner Autumn Outer Space (2013)
The Light in You (2015)
Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited (2019)
#EveryAlbumEver #MercuryRev

[@EveryAlbumEver]

Intro/Band Overview 00:00 Yerself Is Steam 15:50 Boces 26:37 See You on the Other Side 37:48 Deserter’s Songs 50:10 All Is Dream 1:03:06 The Secret Migration 1:10:49 Snowflake Midnight 1:20:28 Strange Attractor 1:27:22 Inner Autumn Outer Space 1:32:26 The Light in You 1:35:56 Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited 1:45:01 Outro 1:53:01

[@flint2001]

Thank you sooooo much for this video! Rev fan, so this is bliss! This has never been done before, so thanks again!

[@adamsvideos4521]

John Donahue singe Frittering on "Yer Self Is Steam." I love that one, lot of noise but not hurting your ears noise. It can put you in a very pensive state.

[@Finnbarrs]

I do appreciate their honesty on The Light In You Album 😂❤

[@tomosmansounds]

The Dust Brothers worked on Paul's Boutique, not The Chemical Brothers. It's extra confusing because that's what The Chemical Brothers called themselves for a bit, but when the original Dust Brothers got famous The Chemical Brothers had to change to their current name.

[@alexandervolz5310]

I got my god dang brothers mixed up.

[@Finnbarrs]

Oh, dude! I always wondered about that! Thanks for clearing that one up

[@slaydesaid8741]

Just found your channel now. Having looked at the bands you've been covering it is really strange that I haven't been exposed to it before since you are definitely covering genres that are totally in my ballpark. KZbin need to improve on their algorithm. Easy subscribe by me. Thanks for doing this.

[@adamsvideos4521]

The guy in the blue shirt looks like the lead singer Jonathan Donahue.

[@ignatiusjackson235]

Great video. One of yer bests.

[@c11p]

Was a huge fan in the early 90s... their sonic schizophrenia was a big selling point for me. The recorded output was one adventure, and their live shows were another; would see them at the dive clubs in NY - both wonderful, incredible experiences. I recall having to scour local record stores for the first Harmony Rockets (side project) disc, and being elated at finding it. Lost some interest after Baker left (formed a new project, Shady, afterwards), although the gigs on the See You on the Other Side tour were great. By the fourth MR album, I was not nearly as invested but am happy they are still chugging along. BOCES (pronounced "Bow-sees" and my perennial favorite) was named after the New York State trade school program. As a New Yorker, seeing this title when the album was released made me happy. And the opener is the BEST. Talk about cinematic!

[@gladroad]

Wayne Cohen 🤣

[@biygas]

Way bigger fan of the noiser stuff

[@mitchellhedden1978]

Fun ep.

[@bivisbuns]

Cool vid! I personally prefer the first two records by a landslide - Yerself Is Steam imo is the best, the noise is intentional

[@ignatiusjackson235]

Also, I like the Pander Monkey EP more than I thought I would. Intriguing stuff, lad. Not what I expected, quite unique.

[@mitchellhedden1978]

Don’t forget to smash that like button.

[@M_B_J]

Yes!!! Mostly familiar with the first four albums, all good to great in their own way. I may or may not have declared (while fairly high) that "Boces is Sgt Pepper's, it's Pet Sounds". Also, Empire State is amazing, particularly the middle section.

[@mitchellhedden1978]

Did this band bring you here?

[@M_B_J]

@@mitchellhedden1978 nope, love this podcast. One of my picks is coming up actually.

[@mitchellhedden1978]

@@M_B_J Nice. How long ago did you request it?

[@M_B_J]

@@mitchellhedden1978 I joined the Patreon in February. There was already quite a backlog of requests at that point, so a bit of a wait.

[@mitchellhedden1978]

@@M_B_J Is yours The Sound?

[@srobeyful]

I became a fan when Boces came out, so the loss of David Baker came as a bit of a disappointment to me. Even so, See You on the Other Side immediately hit me as a great album - all the swelling sonic maelstrom of the “noisy” stuff but with very nuanced and musical textures. I turned a couple of friends onto it. Deserter’s Songs is where I initially jumped ship - Jonathan’s voice and the preponderance of quiet and delicate tunes disappointed me a lot. I eventually came back around with fresh ears and can enjoy it and the following albums for what they are. I nodded in agreement to myself when Mike noted with All is Dream that that was the point in the band’s discography where the vocal style could become a deal breaker. Incidentally I wasn’t aware there were any albums after Snowflake Midnight until I saw this video. Enjoying your channel. Great work, boys!

[@Vinylfromtheunderground]

For me my top 3 are 1. Boces 2. See you on the other side 3. Deserter songs

[@nathanielm4033]

That synth in SYotOS is I believe "The Tetrix Wave Accumaltor" :) So glad you liked it, and recognised it deserved plaudits - one of my favourite albums of all time (especially Sudden Ray of Hope - and Everlasting Arm). Better than Deserter's Songs! Bizzarely not well regarded even amongst fans.

[@adamsvideos4521]

They're still touring and have an active website. Just like Faith No More :) Have yall reviewed them yet? There's a group you'll get lost in the weeds with starting with Courtney Love. Hello I'm Captain A.D.D., sorry for digressing.

[@RedArmada]

Blue and Black is pretty dark...

[@mitchellhedden1978]

Time stamps, boys.

[@marketville]

51:10 yeah...both bands are actually copying Daniel Johnston