Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing., April 15, 2008
Their best album yet. Ours' third album, Mercy, gets back to the moody, soulful, epic sound of their debut, Distorted Lullabies. Like that album, Mercy ranges in mood from dark ("Murder," "Black") to hopeful ("Ran Away to Tell the World" and "The Worst Things Beautiful," the album's stand-out tracks). But underlying every song is the most profound longing you're likely to hear on a rock album.
Jimmy Gnecco sings about the pain of failed relationships and the hope of recovery and finding something better, as in the opening lines of "Live Again": "The cuts are gonna make you forget years / You married someone's carrying your tears / But you sleep with the ones that keep you from all that / You said yourself you can't afford to feel / So live again." The ending of "The Worst Things Beautiful" also demonstrates this profound optimism in the face of ugliness: "So I'll wake every morning, wake with the sun / Where the worst thing's always the first thing to come / Find a way to move on, and a way to be strong / Because some things do change / Some things come that make / The worst things beautiful."
Oh, and Jimmy Gnecco can *sing*. In fact, he may be the best singer in the rock world today (the only serious competition that I'm aware of is Matt Bellamy from Muse).
The inevitable comparisons will be made to Muse, as well as U2, Radiohead, and of course Jeff Buckley, but such comparisons are really just groping in the dark, because Ours is unique. But they'll give you a hint to the extent that, if you like those other bands, you will probably appreciate Ours as well.
Ours fans have been waiting for this album for many years now, and it was worth the wait. If you're not a fan already, you should be. Pick up this album. And if you have a chance to see them play live, don't miss it--they're astonishingly good, one of those rare bands that actually sounds even better live than on their studio albums, and in this case that's a high standard.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eloquent, Soulful, Raw, Emotive, April 16, 2008
Like many others, I have patiently (and not-so-patiently) eagerly awaited Ours' third album. And as others have mentioned, it has been 6 LONG years since "Precious" was released. Most recently, the two live performances I was lucky enough to see in the past year have held me over quite well as "Mercy..." was continually pushed back.
As you might have imagined, this is not an unbiased review. However, I did have great expectations for this release. Previously I had waited with great anticipation of other releases and have been severely let down (Taproot, OneSideZero, Boy Hits Car, come to mind). Rest assured there is no let down with "Mercy...". I will not take you play-by-play through each and every song, that's part of the journey you need to take when you pop in this CD for the first time. And what a wonderful journey it is.
If you like Ours, you'll love "Mercy...". If you have yet to hear Ours, give them a listen; start with any of their releases, you can't go wrong. Is "Mercy..." their best album yet? Well, I've only listened to it one time through so I'm not ready to make that statement yet. But it is nothing short of great.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mercy (Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy) is the birth of a new, yet more brillaint than ever OURS,, April 24, 2008
I almost died choking from excitement to see that my campus radio station received its advance copy of Mercy (Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy). I've been a fan of Ours for 7 years and have eagerly awaited the release of Mercy for 6 of them, since they first started to work on it and play new songs in 2002. This CD is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL, since receiving my copy I have listened to this album over two dozen times. I have listened to the song Mercy over 200 times itself. Despite the band releasing some tracks on their myspace through out the years, the cd from start to finish is an experience that you really need to hear for yourself to fully enjoy. I cannot say how much this CD has been worth the wait. Every second of these 6 years was worth it because MERCY is truly a masterpiece and now that it is finally released in the way Jimmy Gnecco and the rest of the band want it to be heard, it is not disappointing in the slightest bit. This is a CD that makes you love music, that makes you appreciated a talented vocalist, songwriter and musician.
The lyrics, the packaging, all so emotional and beautiful. I've been near near tears listening to this music the first time and several times since my first listen, track 1 to 12 is pure genius. It's a BEAUTIFUL CD, that's all I can say, I am so speechless right now and it's a magical, beautiful thing, a great feeling to know that my favorite band, my favorite group of musicians were able to take songs that sound great live and make it a new experience on record, even to those who have heard these songs so many times live over the years. The band has finally shaped its sound into a cohesive, unique group that is different than any other Ours cd, let a lone any other band. This was my attempt to put my feelings into words and I don't think I can do the CD justice... Mercy is overwhelming, and just brilliant. I've heard these songs develop live throughout the years and trust me, this band is brilliant live, but to hear them on record thinking it was impossible to beat their live performance, I was truly blown away and you will be too.
The guitar riffs compliment the vocals, each song has an introduction and an outro that creatively add to the substance of each song. The lyrics are heart wrenching at times, melancholy and hopeful and overall well written. Murder features a discrete use of a trumpet that compliments the instrumentals, and acoustic guitars, keyboards and orchestration are heard to add many layers to each song that unravel into an epic listening experience. Mercy is a timeless record.
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