Mercury

American Music Club

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 23, 1993)
• Original Release Date: March 23, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002MIV
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #134,668 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After nearly ten years of toiling in obscurity to the occasional rave review, San Francisco's AMC receive an avalanche of praise for their previous album (1991's Everclear) and are signed to a major label. With producer Mitchell Froom and his engineer Tchad Blake in control, the band set out to record the most difficult album of their career. From the opening daybreak challenge of "Gratitude Walks" to the poignant lost-art-sea ending of "Will You Find Me?" Mercury succeeds on all counts. Singer Mark Eitzel's tales of pain and desperation are taken to the next level by elliptical lyrics and an intricate band mix of pedal steel, electric guitar, and waltz-time drumming. --Rob O'Connor

Product Description

After nearly ten years of toiling in obscurity to the occasional rave review, San Francisco's AMC receive an avalanche of praise for their previous album (1991's Everclear) and are signed to a major label. With producer Mitchell Froom and his engineer Tchad Blake in control, the band set out to record the most difficult album of their career. From the opening daybreak challenge of "Gratitude Walks" to the poignant lost-art-sea ending of "Will You Find Me?" Mercury succeeds on all counts. Singer Mark Eitzel's tales of pain and desperation are taken to the next level by elliptical lyrics and an intricate band mix of pedal steel, electric guitar, and waltz-time drumming. EMI. 1993. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Top Records of the 90's, November 3, 2004

By	Robert L. Wehrle (Charleston, WV United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Yes, this might not be for everybody, I'll admit it took me years to "get" some of the tracks on this album. But patience leads to a lifetime of joy with this record. The production is fantastic. Remember when music sounded like it was made by real people playing real instruments made of wood and metal? This is it. Lyrically stunning. Instrumentally beautiful and powerful. Give it a chance and let it into your psyche. A lost classic.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like musical heroin, September 15, 2005

By	F. A Ognibene "kyle carpenter" (Germantown, TN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mercury is an album that I cannot seem to take out of my cd player. I want to because of the fear of burning out on it, but it's such an addictive album, that you never want it to stop. This is AMC's masterpiece. Everclear is a much more harrowing affair, and while this album is no walk in the park, the songs take on a much more metaphorical style than they did on Everclear. Eitzel is in top form here. The whole band is absolutely fantastic on this, especially Vudi, whose guitar playing boggles the mind, with sheets of noise and delicate finger picked solos. I have never heard another guitarist play something like the Challenger (maybe My Bloody Valentine), but to be able to make a wall of sound guitar part along with lyrics, and make it into a somewhat normal format is groundbreaking. But back to Eitzel's lyrics. Every line on this album is amazing. To me, his words on this album are like the musical equvialent of Burroughs Naked Lunch. Everytime I read through Naked Lunch, or any of the other cut ups, they begin to make more and more sense, until i finally grasp the basis of the story. Mercury is much like that. With every repeated listen, more and more is understood and discovered. The overall tone of the album is very lost at sea sounding. If you were to be out in the middle of the ocean on a boat, with no one around(I guess like the cover of Eitzel's 60 Watt Silver Lining) this album would fit the mood perfectly. But unfortunately, there are no oceans near me, so I am reduced to sitting in my bedroom, lights of, the blue fluorescent glow of my cd player filling the room, and the first few notes of Gratitude Walks playing, sending me into a musically euphoric state. But once you get this album, you won't be able to stop playing it. It won't leave your cd player. Honestly.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best AMC album, May 9, 1999

By	Paul Compton ([e-mail]) (Alpine, Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

Simply put, when I'm in a sad mood, Mark Eitzel is my favorite songwriter. When I'm in a better mood, it is probably Bruce Cockburn (though Bruce has albums and songs to fit any mood). While my moods may be simple, the comfort and intoxication I've found in Mark's musical offerings throughout the years has been anything but. I have all of Mark's albums (either made with Vudi and the gang in AMC, or on his own since breaking up the band) and this one, "Mercury," is the best. "Mercury" establishes an atmosphere nothing short of rapturous. This album definitely requires multiple listenings to fully appreciate the musical and lyrical nuances. Musical angst and release are here perfected. Yes, Mitchell Froom's production brought out the best in these songs. "Mercury" was, in fact, the first AMC record to be truly well-produced. "San Francisco" ended up being the only other. Don't get me wrong, though; while the production on the earlier AMC album "California" was anemic, it is still my second or third favorite AMC album -- studio dollars do not a great album make. But American Music Club is not Guided by Voices (the absolute deities of lo-fi), so the production is nice. There may be a few of you out there who have only heard Mark Eitzel's solo albums. If so, get readied to be floored -- his best AMC albums outshine (or outdark?) any of his solo albums.