Customer Reviews

Me & Mr. Ray

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't say really. I love "Surprise Surprise Surprise" just as much (maybe even more). I have a history with this band; a deep connection inside emotionally. Everytime I listen to anything from Miracle Legion, I get lost. Lost in this wonderful, interesting place unlike no other.

I don't know what it exactly is that appeals to me so much in Miracle Legion's music. Of course, the music is simply great, but there's something incredibly vague about it all.

Specifically, I love Miracle Legion because of Mark Mulcahy, the best vocalist/songwriter/solo artist on the planet. I love Miracle Legion because of Ray Neal; his lovely guitar sounds are what primarily make up Miracle Legion. I love Miracle Legion because I feel like I'm... home when I listen to it. It may sound a bit weird, but it's totally true.

When I listen to "Me & Mr. Ray," for example, I don't feel so alone in this world anymore. I feel like Mark and Mr. Ray are right above me, watching every step I make, always seemingly there. And, believe me, the world is a much better place with them in it.

I can't tell you how much Miracle Legion is underrated. You go to allmusic.com, and you'll see a Miracle Legion discography with misspelled names, odd low-star reviews (what the heck?), and no tracklistings. There's one functional fansite out there (as of this writing), and it hasn't been updated since sometime in the mid-nineties. Amazon, this otherwise terrific online store, places a picture of a cardboard puzzle instead of the actual CD cover for ML's somewhat spotty "Portrait Of A Damaged Family."

However, there is a following. Albeit small. You just have to look in the right place to be a part of it (Mezzotint's offical website has a wonderful mailing list). It makes the situation a little better, admittedly, to talk to people about your favorite Miracle Legion song or how great Mark Mulcahy's "Fathering" was.

I've only known of this band for approximately two years, yet I feel like I've known them my whole life. Once you let this music sink in, it'll never completely come out -- and you'll want it there forever. Songs like "Sailors and Animals," "You're The One Lee" and "Gigantic Transatlantic Trunk Call" are beautiful, moving, and above all, perfect.

I don't know what it is with this band. Okay, I'm rambling now, and I'll try my best to stop it, but I really don't know what it is with this band. No other band has stayed with me for so long. I've had so many phases in my music tastes; jangle pop (which early Miracle Legion is firmly rooted in) to post-punk, post-punk to lo-fi, lo-fi to indie rock, and back again -- all through out this, Miracle Legion has always remained my favorite band, no matter how much it contrasted with my other current music tastes.

Personally, I think I like "Surprise Surprise Surprise" a little more than this album, for nostalgic reasons mostly. But "Me & Mr. Ray" is still one of my favorite albums, ever, and (sorry for sounding like an egotistical idiot) I've listened to quite a lot of music.

There's so much more to say, so many more stories to tell, so much more concerning Miracle Legion. If I could, I would tell you everything... but it might make for a rather boring read (this review probably already is). Just give Miracle Legion a chance. With this record, Mark and Mr. Ray are always there, waiting for you. Listening to each song is like having a great conversation with them.

And, as odd and incredibly stupid as this sounds, they're my best friends.

This is Miracle Legion's best recording, and that's saying something. Every track on the album is excellent--I can't even try to pick a favorite. It's sad that neither Mulcahy nor Miracle Legion were able to put out another recording thus far that can match the brilliance of "Me and Mr. Ray."

Sadder still is the fact that the album is out of print, and the masters are probably gathering dust in a storage space of warehouse somewhere. If there is ever justice, these masters will be returned to Mulcahy and Neal, remastered, and re-released to a new generation of thoughtful music fans.

The track listing for this release is:

1. The ladies from town
2. And then?
3. Old and new
4. Sailors and animals
5. If she could cry
6. Pull the wagon
7. You're the one lee
8. Even better
9. Cold shoulder balcony
10. Gigantic transatlantic trunk call

...to whomever decided to re-release this, if that's what I'm to believe. The original Rough Trade release of this is one of the most beautiful CD's in my collection. Anyone having the gumption to re-release the rest of the ML catalog would be a true musical hero of our times, in my humble opinion.

Miracle Legion is essentially a stripped-down, two-man band on this incredibly moving album. I was visiting a friend in the mountains of Wyoming and he handed me this album and said "I think you'll like this." Thus began my love affair with this largely ignored band that I never had the pleasure of seeing live. This is not a perfect record; the band, much like the early O.M.D., misses with some strange found-tape experiments (listen to the beginning of "Gigantic Transatlantic Trunk Call"). There are three transcendent songs on this album that make it well worth whatever efforts the listener has to make to get a copy (it's very rare; Morgan Creek's re-release has been postponed multiple times). These songs are the ballad "Ladies From Town," the wonderful "Old & New," and the haunting, majestic "Pull the Wagon." Although not as cohesive as their more recent "Portrait of a Damaged Family," "Me & Mr. Ray" remains, in my mind, ML's finest work. It evokes dramatic images of unrequited soul-searching that only become more powerful with successive listenings.

Miracle Legion is perhaps the world's most underrated band. Their lyrics and melodies would make just about anyone melt, but there's nothing sappy here! This album is quirkier than their earlier releases, with a few oddballs mixed in with some solid songs. Also, this album is essentially "unplugged" which gives it a sort of unrehearsed sound.

This is an amazing piece of work. Recorded at Prince's Paisley Park studio, just acoustic Mr. Ray and Mark. FYI it's available at the mezzotint (dot com) store, $30 for the CD and $10 vinyl or cassette, brand new.

I've loved this band for a long time. I first heard of them when I saw a video of Your the One Lee on MTV's 120 mins. I fell instantly in love totally under the spell of Ray and Mark's mesmerizing tune. I found the tape, didn't bother to by the cd (that cost me big in the distant future) My tape bit the big one and for 14 years I never heard the hauntingly beautiful songs from this the best album of all time! I can't begin to explain why these guys touch me like they do only other fans will understand it I'd pay anything to see these guys They are the most underappriciated band I know I;m glad I was able to secure a copy of this album recently now that I have it copied to my computer I'm thinking of locking it up in a vault maybe taking out an insurence policy for it...yeah its that good!

Miracle Legion is essentially a stripped-down, two-man band on this incredibly moving album. I was visiting a friend in the mountains of Wyoming and he handed me this album and said "I think you'll like this." Thus began my love affair with this largely ignored band that I never had the pleasure of seeing live. This is not a perfect record; the band, much like the early O.M.D., misses with some strange found-tape experiments (listen to the beginning of "Gigantic Transatlantic Trunk Call"). There are three transcendent songs on this album that make it well worth whatever efforts the listener has to make to get a copy (it's very rare; Morgan Creek's re-release has been postponed multiple times). These songs are the ballad "Ladies From Town," the wonderful "Old & New," and the haunting, majestic "Pull the Wagon." Although not as cohesive as their more recent "Portrait of a Damaged Family," "Me & Mr. Ray" remains, in my mind, ML's finest work. It evokes dramatic images of unrequited soul-searching that only become more powerful with successive listenings.

Possibly the best album ever made