Mezcal Head

Swervedriver

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (October 12, 1993)
• Original Release Date: October 5, 1993
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B00000EAFS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,071,912 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. For Seeking Heat

2. Duel

3. Blowin' Cool

4. MM Abduction

5. Last Train to Satansville

6. Harry and Maggie

7. Change Is Gonna Come

8. Girl on a Motorbike

9. Duress

10. You Find It Everywhere

11. Never Lose That Feeling/Never Learn

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's easy to get sucked into Swervedriver's sweeping, panoramic guitar rock. On Mezcal Head, the Oxford quartet creates such a vivid feeling of driving through the desert at night that you can almost see the cactuses rushing by. It's an exhilarating and sometimes turbulent joyride, but it's always worth it. Indispensable tracks such as "Duel" and "Last Train to Satansville" spiral with ethereal guitars and propulsive rhythms, while singer Adam Franklin's hoarse voice gives the music a hopeless romanticism and restlessness. This is some of the best and most underrated rock music of the '90s. --Aidin Vaziri

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The more I listen . . ., April 30, 2002

By	Dan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mezcal Head (Audio CD)

. . . the better it gets. I was introduced to Swervedriver through the Playstation game Road Rash, and I came across Mezcal Head in the Used section of a local music store. The only songs I wanted were Duel and Last Train to Satansville, but when I listened to the whole album, I was blown away by the summer-dusk feel of the music and the gritty, hopelessly passionate textures interwoven throughout. It makes no difference where I am; the moment I stick in this cd, I am instantly transported to a convertible '69 Vette blazing down a lonesome highway in Arizona with the waning sun setting fire to the land, turning rock formations into golden sculptures. My favorite songs include Blowin Cool, Never Lose That Feeling, and Duress, although the whole album is excellent and has a cohesiveness and thematic intensity that many albums seem to lack nowadays. Duress is a stunning, ultrapassionate panorama of steamy love on a dense, vivid night in July, when time moves sluggishly through the dank air and the sound of the insects and the scent of the summer air binds up all the past and future into one sweltering moment of passion. You will not be disappointed if you buy this album.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tied for best album of the 90s, December 31, 2000

By	Rocklover1968 "rockandrolllover" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mezcal Head (Audio CD)

Along with OK Computer, this is the most memorable album of the decade. Gets better with age - if you listen with headphones, tracks you thought you knew like best friends reveal new wrinkles and surprises (just like best friends).

If i ever have kids, they'll be begging me to turn this one off in 2025.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "can spark neon from candlelight", July 24, 2004

By	mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Mezcal Head (Audio CD)

Swervedriver was my favorite band during my high school/early college days. The most underrated band of the 1990s by far. I cannot believe these guys never became huge! Mezcal Head was their second album after their excellent, albeit muffled-sounding, debut. It sports improved production after Raise. It also is a heavier sounding album. That I rank this album Swervedriver's third best is not a knock on the album, it is just a demonstration of how awesome these "shoegazers" were (and maybe still can be). The first two tracks blow the roof off! "Blowin' Cool" would have made a wonderful single. It has a very accessible sound, with a catchy chorus and, surprisingly, nice vocals. "Last Train Satansville" was a great single (you can just feel that engine rumblin' down the tracks!) but, here, it drags a little bit. The vocals end around the three-minute mark, but the band rides that locomotive for a full 6:45. "A Change is Gonna Come" and "You Find It Everywhere" are two more catchy tracks. "Duress," although a fine song, takes 3:00 to really get going. The final track is another great Swervedriver track but, like "Satansville," the instrumental ending goes on, and on. This jazzy one continues for over six minutes! This is an awesome album. Without the long, drawn-out tracks, it would rank up to, and maybe even surpass the brilliant Raise! As it is, however, I don't think it's as solid as Raise for the very reason that I have to skip through almost 12 minutes of music to get to the good stuff. Raise set a very high standard finally broken with the un-freakin'-believable 99th Dream (if you do not have that CD, get it now!). Mezcal Head didn't quite reach it but is damn good and re-established Swervedriver as one of the most under-appreciated bands of the 1990s!