Mercury Rev –
DESERTER’S SONGS
I thought about this
one for a few seconds. That mystical charm that Deserter’s Songs had back when I was 20 years old, is it still
there? And the way I lay down in Piazza del Campo a while ago, late at night,
listening to this album to the open sky and a growing sense of calm? Has that
not disappeared like so many other things have?
Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips was a great collection of songs. Deserter’s Songs by Mercury Rev was a
great album. The way one song started, the way another song ended, the way they
all flowed into each other (and flow into each other they did). The dark wonder
of the melodies and the drama and the childishness of the lyrics:
Well, she tossed all night like a
raging sea
Woke up and climbed from the
suicide machine
Their new album does
absolutely nothing for me. It has the style and it has the tunes, but something
has definitely been lost. Not relevance (not even applicable here) and not the
quirkiness of Jonathan Donahue’s voice. However pathetic it way sound, what is
missing is that element of magic. That mystical charm which was paramount on Deserter’s Songs and which was still
felt on All Is Dream.
And sometimes I think
it’s all about “Opus 40”. Now if ever there has been a song that makes me feel
like the happiest and most special kid on Earth…
