Mercury

Long-view, Longview | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 17, 2011)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Columbia
• ASIN: B0007OP28O
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,022 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Despite sharing a weakness for sweeping, bittersweet guitar rock with Coldplay, Long-view is not just another smudged Xerox of the original. Mercury finds the British group not only grasping for its own identity but other, more elusive things. Melodies unravel slowly, each note of every song aims to pull at the heartstrings, and the lyrics seem to indicate that singer Rob McVey spends just about every night flopping around his bed mulling all kinds of existential conundrums. But redemption is always around the corner in storming tunes like "Further" and "Will You Wait Here." And at least they don't sound like Travis--much. So a work in progress, to be sure, but the end result could be something quite fetish-worthy. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

Mercury by Long-view

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mercurial, April 16, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mercury (Audio CD)

Manchester has churned out some of the best Britpop bands in history: The Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, Elbow, Joy Division and the Doves. It's not easy to follow in enormous footsteps like those, but with their debut "Mercury," the new band Long-View seems to be giving it a good go.

Only time will tell if Long-View will reach the same artistic heights. But their panorama-rock is certainly a solid listen, with their hints of shoegazer pop and detached vocals. It hints at other bands -- the Verve, Embrace and Travis among them -- in the Brit-rock listings. Fortunately these influences don't stick out like sore thumbs.

The expansive intro "Further" is an epic, uplifting rocker, with a semi-religious finale ("God's love will save our sun and thy will be done"). It reminded me of a guitar-driven sibling of Muse. Sadly the grittier songs that follow are not nearly as thrilling. But at least they stand on their own as pretty good rock songs, with hints of those panoramic heights.

With repeated listens, it actually comes to mind that... well, maybe the seemingly lesser songs are actually better than "Further." Certainly they are more complex: A driving riff here, a subtle piano solo there, a soaring ballad fuelled just by percussion and a chiming guitar, a hint of strings, and a distinctly jazzy stretch of drumming.

Rob McVey has a smooth, fairly powerful voice, which he puts to good use in the angsty songs. Fortunately he doesn't fall into the trap of getting melodramatic -- he sounds moody, but not like he's about to jump off a skyscraper. With that, you can actually ignore the blander lyrical sentiments that he sings ("You don't know what you do to me/and I know I don't want to be"). The songs grow progressively stronger as "Mercury" goes on ("I'd never light up your eyes like they should/but I'd stay for you"), giving glimpses of the life they've all lived.

These Manchester lads aren't quite up to the level of their fellows yet, but "Mercury" is a solid, listenable rock album with some moments of true beauty. Definitely worth checking out.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mercurial, April 12, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mercury (Audio CD)

Manchester has churned out some of the best Britpop bands in history: The Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, Elbow, Joy Division and the Doves. It's not easy to follow in enormous footsteps like those, but with their debut "Mercury," the new band Long-View seems to be giving it a good go.

Only time will tell if Long-View will reach the same artistic heights. But their panorama-rock is certainly a solid listen, with their hints of shoegazer pop and detached vocals. It hints at other bands -- the Verve, Embrace and Travis among them -- in the Brit-rock listings. Fortunately these influences don't stick out like sore thumbs.

The expansive intro "Further" is an epic, uplifting rocker, with a semi-religious finale ("God's love will save our sun and thy will be done"). It reminded me of a guitar-driven sibling of Muse. Sadly the grittier songs that follow are not nearly as thrilling. But at least they stand on their own as pretty good rock songs, with hints of those panoramic heights.

With repeated listens, it actually comes to mind that... well, maybe the seemingly lesser songs are actually better than "Further." Certainly they are more complex: A driving riff here, a subtle piano solo there, a soaring ballad fuelled just by percussion and a chiming guitar, a hint of strings, and a distinctly jazzy stretch of drumming.

Rob McVey has a smooth, fairly powerful voice, which he puts to good use in the angsty songs. Fortunately he doesn't fall into the trap of getting melodramatic -- he sounds moody, but not like he's about to jump off a skyscraper. With that, you can actually ignore the blander lyrical sentiments that he sings ("You don't know what you do to me/and I know I don't want to be"). The songs grow progressively stronger as "Mercury" goes on ("I'd never light up your eyes like they should/but I'd stay for you"), giving glimpses of the life they've all lived.

These Manchester lads aren't quite up to the level of their fellows yet, but "Mercury" is a solid, listenable rock album with some moments of true beauty. Definitely worth checking out.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent CD, but little variety..., October 12, 2003

By 

Laurence Doyle "(Actually Simon Doyle)" (Surrey United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mercury (Audio CD)

I bought this album on a wing and a prayer, following hearing 'Further' on Q TV, and becoming instantly addicted to the mellow guitaring and vocaling, strongly remeniscent of songs such as Iris (Goo Goo Dolls).
They do not disappoint in length - it is a sufficiently long CD with some brilliant tracks. Many brilliant tracks in fact!
Ones especially worthy of note are:

Further (10/10) - A truely superb track, I can't get it out of my head
Can't Explain (10) - Another truely brilliant track with a very nice acoustic guitar opening
Electricity - My personal favourite. The mellow vocals combine brilliantly with the haunting instruments.

My only true critism of this album is the lack of ambition in the singer's vocal range. He has a lovely haunting voice, but often it sounds ocassionally monotonous, which leads to some of the songs sounding 'samey'
Nevertheless, a brilliant album to buy and listen to.