Band : Mercury Rev
Album title : Deserter's Songs Instrumental Edition
Label : V2 Records
Distributor : V2
Release date : 16/05/2011
Release : Re-issue with bonus disc(s)

Nice, there you get two discs titled Deserter's Songs Bonus Disk and Beyond The Swirling Clouds – An Evening At Barrowland Ballroom...with no further explanations, what-so-ever! Well, perhaps one is supposed to now all about a band with a history going back to the late '80s, and has 8 full-length albums (one of which a download-only), 22 singles/ EP's and 3 compilation albums to its name? Well, of course we dó know something about the history of this Buffalo, NY borne Alternative Rock/ Pop band!

The band's first albums (1991's Yerself Is Steam, 1993's Boces, and 1995's See You On The Other Side) originally saw the band playing an experimental Psychedelic Rock gradually shifting towards a more melodic and ornate sound, something which came about with original lead singer David Baker leaving after the band's second album. Although warmly received by the critics, the albums did not garner the band the commercial success they were expecting. So they decided to make a last album all for themselves, rather than to please commercial influences. To their surprise, 1998's Deserter's Songs (which had a host of guest musicians, including The Band's drummer Levon Helm and sax player Gardt Hudson on one song each) became the band's most successful album, making 'em big celebrities in Europe and the UK, and also leaving a mark on the US market. The album sprouted no less than 5 singles (one a re-issue of the first, making an even better rating than the original release), all of which made the charts (3 even went into the Top 40), except the Australia-only Holes.

A special edition of the album was released in 2005 with a bonus DVD, featuring an album-length companion film to the album as well as video clips for the tracks “Opus 40” and “Goddess On A Hiway” (both of which had been singles) and a bonus audio track (a Chemical Brothers remix of the track “Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp”). It was rumoured in early 2007 that a 10-year Anniversary Edition of the album would be released, but this never came to be. In stead, on the album's 10th anniversary (September 28, 2008, to be exact) the band released the new (their 7th) studio album Snowflake Midnight, as well as the free download album Strange Attractor. Now IF I read my sources correct (info taken from the band's page at Wikipedia – same source that brought forth the above), an instrumental version of the Deserter's Songs would've been released in May 2011...and that might very well be the one here (couldn't tell for certain, as we didn't get thàt part of the album, now did we?), hence the titling of the review above (I mean, I had to surmise that one for myself from a simple one-line mentioning in a total of 14 pages of info, would you believe? Do you even care?).

The album is released as a 2-disc affair, the second disc a compilation of home-recorded demos, 8-track demo recordings, early rough versions, unreleased mixes, and a couple of official re-mixes (Bill Laswell man-handling the band's hit song “Holes”, and one Nickle B doin' the same with “Pick Up, If You're There”). I'm sure the bonus disc is seen as a got-to-have thing for the die-hard fans, because personally I didn't care much for frontman Jonathan Donahue's home recordings on the piano. Nice for the fan to find out how a song is borne, but compared to the more ornate versions of the full songs (with the added rhythm section, string arrangements, and oft swirling electric guitar) those demoes are a little lame.

More interesting even, is this album's Limited Edition, which sees the addition of a third disc titled Beyond the Swirling Clouds – An Evening At Barrowland Ballroom, because as the title suggests, this is a 2005 live recording from Glasgow, Scotland...and constitutes the band's very first official live album to date! Most probably, the edition has already been sold out by now, but if you happen to come across it, BUY! It showcases the band at it's strongest (bar studio recordings, of course), while at the same time also tale-telling about the frontman's vocal frailty (his almost falsetto high-pitched signature voice really màkes this band, although the dreamy music should not be underrated)! Right, as I didn't get the instrumental album to listen to, and as the rest of this release is either compilation or live stuff...I cannot rate this review. You understand, do you? I mean, it's not like I was gonna bombard it into my year-lists, you know?!

Tony.