All Is Dream

by Mercury Rev

Overview

Moody, majestic, and unpredictable, All Is Dream plays like Deserter's Songs' evil twin, polarizing that album's gently trippy, symphonic pop into paranoid and exuberant extremes that range from the eerie lullaby "Lincoln's Eyes" to the giddy show-tune-in-search-of-a-musical "A Drop in Time." Starting with the symphonic grandeur of "The Dark Is Rising," the album's ambitious, self-indulgent vibe recalls '60s and '70s psych and prog rock concept albums as well as the band's own expansive body of work. The first half of All Is Dream journeys through the group's dark side with songs like the brooding "Tides of the Moon," which pits Jonathan Donahue's spooked, singsong vocals against appropriately unearthly theremins, glockenspiels, and organs, while the second half's "Nite and Fog" and "Little Rhymes" sound twice as sunny compared to the preceding weirdness. The contrast between the album's halves is so sharp that it seems designed for vinyl; flipping this record over would be immensely satisfying. Though nothing on All Is Dream is as immediate as Deserter's Songs' "Goddess on a Hiway" or "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp," this album may be stronger as a whole, moving gracefully from singer/songwriter ballads like the beautiful "Spiders and Flies" to guitar-driven epics like "You're My Queen" and "Hercules." An unfashionably self-indulgent and earnest album, All Is Dream certainly isn't for everyone, and may not even be for some Mercury Rev fans, but in its own personal, insular way, it's another triumph for the band. ~ Heather Phares

Product Details

Release Date:	11/29/2024
Label:	Cherry Red
UPC:	5013929181687
Rank:	163011

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mercury Rev   Primary Artist
Tony Visconti   Guest Artist,Flute,Mellotron
Martha Mooke   Viola
Suzanne Thorpe   Flute
Gregor Kitzis   Violin
Larry Packer   Violin,Soloist
Sarah Adams   Viola
Jeff Mercel   Drums,Piano
Dave Fridmann   Mellotron,Bass
Mary Gavazzi Fridmann   Soprano (Vocal)
Laura Seaton   Viola
Maxine Neuman   Cello
Jason Russo   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Joel Eckhaus   Bowed Saw
Justin Russo   Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes
Aaron Hurwitz   Organ (Hammond)
Amy Helm   Vocals

Technical Credits

Paul McCartney   Composer
Frederic Chopin   Composer
Bill Ward   Composer
Irving Berlin   Composer
Tony Visconti   Orchestration,String Arrangements
Greg Calbi   Mastering
Geezer Butler   Composer
Jonathan Donahue   Composer,Producer
John Cale   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
Scott Petito   Engineer
Jeff Mercel   Mixing,Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Performer
Dave Fridmann   Arranger,Engineer,Producer,Performer,Mixing
Grasshopper   Composer
Joe Concra   Paintings
Steve Gullick   Photography
Jim De Barros   Graphic Design
Max Lichtenstein   Engineer,Producer
Tony Iommi   Composer
Peter Katis   Engineer
Sean "Grasshopper" Mackowiak   Producer
Mercury Rev   Arranger,Photography
Ozzy Osbourne   Composer
David Bowie   Composer
Aaron Hurwitz   Engineer
Erik Satie   Composer
Traditional   Composer