"Do you think that in a song they openly reference the Smashing Pumpkins from Mellon Collie (!!!)" Are you perhaps referring to the single? I believe the word funny is in the title.
Zaireeka, sorry if I'm being picky. "Mellon Collie" is an album that has marked me quite a lot. Now, "Mellon Collie" is an album that embraces an infinity of styles, from the heaviest hard rock to the gentle and delicate lullaby. Comparing it by pointing out the album as a whole doesn't help me. Do you think the Mercury Rev sound more like "Porcelina" or more like "Bullet with Butterfly Wings?" Or both?
So, let's start with MaledettaPrimavera. The Smashing Pumpkins I'm referring to are definitely not the ones from Bullet with Butterfly Wings (even though the cover of the MR album might suggest otherwise), nor are they the ones from Porcelina. Since you're an expert on SM, I would say they could be the ones from Take me Down, generally speaking, the SM side of James Iha (is that spelled right?). Or perhaps the ones from Blew Away (Pisces Iscariot).
Now I'll respond to you, Josi. Referring back to what you said in your review about Mercury Rev vs Flaming Lips, I agree on the greatness of Yerself Is Steam, which is an "original" and "experimental" album, at least as much as the latter is "common" and "pop." However, I'm not so sure that the Flaming Lips have never done anything at that level of psychedelic experimentation. Perhaps the "ultra-psychedelic" counterpart of the Flaming Lips can be considered Zaireeka. To conclude, I listened to All Is Dream again yesterday, and in some parts, it seemed to me that it really is an album of great suggestion. Will it be a reaction to the listening of the latest one and the disappointment it caused me? At this point, I hope I don't have the same experience with The Secret Migration once the next one is released.
Unbelievable, I thought the references to CSN&Y and the Smashing Pumpkins were a bit bold, and everything else too, but take a look at this review: Articoli | SENTIREASCOLTARE I swear I just read it today.
Nice review, and I completely agree with it; especially the concluding sentence. The gradual slide towards pop (in the sense of "ease," if that's the right term) has been evident since "Deserter's Songs." Yet, Mercury Rev's style keeps it all very solid. I don't know which one I'll prefer in the long run between this and "All Is Dream." Regarding the Flaming Lips: unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to listen to "Zaireeka," and I've heard too little of the other albums from their early phase to compare them to MR's "Yerself...". In all of this, I would like to mention Dave Fridmann again. I don't know how much of the fairy-tale quality in MR's recent works can be attributed to them flattening out to his style and how much is just a simple "correspondence" between the two parties. After all, Dave has been present in MR since the first album. And Sparklehorse, in "It's A Wonderful Life," is not at all flattened out by Dave's style (Linkous is also a producer and has a certain personality...); you've already mentioned the FL. In short, I don't think that Fridmann's touch is too intrusive overall, yes, but it's not so "dominant." Regards.
Two typos in my previous comment: "I will prefer" and not "he will prefer"; in the last sentence, there's an extra "not" between "in short" and "I believe" :) bye
Josi, maybe I need to clarify one thing to avoid confusion. My judgment on this album is relative to what the MR are capable of doing. If this album had been released by one of the many (most) medium/small-sized bands around, I might have given it at least 4/5. But it's the MR. In general, however, in my opinion, but it’s just my opinion, the FL are greater both because they have managed to consistently produce 6 high-level albums that are quite different in ideas and styles (Hit To Death In The Future Head, Transmission From The Satellite Heart, Clouds Taste Metallic, Zaireeka, The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi) and because they continue to maintain their naturalness and spontaneity (at least until now, but I’m waiting for disappointments...)
I'll take this record even though I find the cover rather pathetic...! Butterflies generally make me very sad, just like the circus, carnival, and clowns, especially those that spray water from their eyes...! But this cover is REALLY sad!!! BEST WISHES!
Cuiiiiny, how can butterflies make you feel sad???? Nooooo. Anyway, this is a mercurius butterfly... look here: (remove the spaces) did they choose it on purpose? :-)
Let's say more that the animal butterfly, seeing it represented... like, here it is, just like on the cover, or in a tattoo... brrr the tattoo of a butterfly how horrid... or even worse, butterfly collections... who knows ZZZZzzzzzz maybe I repressed some nice guy who attracted me with a butterfly collection....??? Then you know we darcledis are not nature lovers in general.... :-)))
Josi_ :-D,... old flatterer, you know I can't resist compliments; if you define the butterfly as sweet and disdainful like you did with me, how could I not like it!!! But come on: we all agree on the circus, carnival, and clowns??? Next Sunday, with another couple, we have to take the little ones to the carnival, one dressed as an elephant and the other as a little tiger. Guest Stars: the Lecciso twins. We’ve already decided to indulge in substances and/or alcohol to cope with the situation until the end. And they also throw sweets... groups of crazy yokels who form a circle to grab as much as they can. I'll be just disdainful there, Jos...! Re-Birthday wishes, Zar... I'm re-reading all your reviews; they're beautiful...
It’s quite normal to know the Flaming Lips and not Mercury Rev, but the opposite is absolutely not the case. To fully understand the music of the latter, at least from the early albums, one must be familiar with the discography of the Flaming Lips (perhaps this is why your review is rather lacking). Yerself Is Steam is a great album, but it’s absolutely lacking when compared to all the records of the Flaming Lips... I don’t want to stir up controversy, but how can one not mention Telephatic Surgery? Perhaps you’re not familiar with it? In short, the comparison is unreasonable! Dave Fridman and Jonathan were members of the Lips and still collaborate, but that's not the main point; remember that the head of all this is Wayne Coyne!
Thank you for the wishes everyone. At first, I didn’t understand Josi’s. Then I remembered I had left my birth date on the forum… Thank you so much also to Cleo, especially for what was said about my reviews. I hope I can remember yours too, but that’s not really my strong suit. Ah, how I feel… antennas!! PS. Josi, I know I seem like a longtime fan of the FL, but I only discovered them in 2001.
Benzo24, I already feel quite ignorant myself for the gap of the FL first phase, so please don't twist the knife in the wound :) Anyway, I believe that in order to evaluate the Mercury Rev of today, we need the MR of the past and the FL of today. Just as to evaluate the MR of the past, we needed the FL of the past. (Don't worry, it's just a tongue twister; I'm not being serious)
Come on Josi, it's not that serious not to know the very first FL!! Nobody's perfect after all!! Certainly, in the first three albums, which are still very amateurish and raw, there are the seeds of what they will become (including, for example, UFO Story, that passion for film music that has taken tangible form in TSB). One thing I haven't mentioned yet about FL is that I really love their themes, which are definitely not light as their way of presenting themselves might suggest (with fake blood splattered in your face, Bugs Bunny, etc.). They tackle existential themes that often speak of death and the ultimate meaning of life. Speaking of which, there's something I wanted to suggest. In your review of The Secret, you mentioned that you are reading a collection of fantasy stories. I had an idea. An album as a soundtrack for a book. For example, The Secret Migration as the soundtrack for the collection you were talking about. Who has other ideas? PS. Recently, while I was absentmindedly watching the credits of a cartoon (Duck Rodgers or something like that) on RAI2, I saw the name The Flaming Lips as the authors of the cartoon's theme. Incredible, but with these weirdos, you can expect anything, like a song (There You Are, beautiful) that digresses on the meaning of life, telling us about a guy who while driving "wishing the stars" ends up off the road "face on the road, fuck as dead," and who, after a day, composes the soundtrack for a cartoon.
In fact, my parallel album/book had that very intent. Beautiful idea, zaireeka, you should create a forum for it! By the way, what do you think of "Christmas On Mars"?
Well, nice comments, but for me, like Zaireeka, this album didn't say much on the first listen, but I didn’t expect anything. Deserter's Song was too beautiful to be true, even for them; it’s the result of an irreplicable intuition, light-years ahead compared to their discography, a bit like Forever Changes in the discography of the Love (with due proportions, of course). As for the combination of FL and MR: in my opinion, the MR, at least until Deserter's Song, have been improving (sorry Zaireeka, but I've already told you that I find Yerself Is Steam truly dispersed and a bit convoluted), while the FL (and here I fully agree with Benzo) in their first 3/4 albums are much better than everything they’ve done afterward. And I’m not saying this to be snobby. I discovered the FL with Soft Bulletin and it didn’t say anything to me; listening to the earlier stuff was already better, and after buying the triple box set I got excited. OH My Gawd!! it's a masterpiece. However, I admit that the FL are a bit better in terms of production quality than the MR, whom I adored for just one album.
I don't feel like breaking this CD, given that I downloaded it and listened to it once and it wasn't bad. It's clear that it's not at the level of the previous ones... especially "All Is Dream," which I was obsessed with for a while. I discovered The Flaming Lips with "Clouds Taste Metallic," and they blew me away... I don't know anything from before that. The stuff that came after is acceptable but nothing extraordinary. I don't know if I'll buy this MR album, but I repeat, I don't feel like slamming it to this extent. We'll see...
So Christmas On Mars... What can I say, if it ever comes out and is released on DVD (I don't think it will hit theaters in Italy....) I will buy it. Attached to one of the EPs there is also the trailer. It's pure FL style! Humanx4, Clouds Taste Metallic is great. Just the lines from When you smile: "All of the subatomic pieces come together and Unfold themselves in a second... Every single molecule is right, when you smile" are worth the entire album.
Josi, to say that I envy you is putting it mildly. Not that I particularly want to live in Milan, but around here, certain things are just dreams for me... If the MR came to do a little concert from Rome downwards, I would probably be willing to travel a few kilometers to see them, just like I did for Sparklehose and the FL (well, for them I made it all the way to Rimini).
Anyway, let me know how it went. It’s really hard for me to imagine what an acoustic performance by the MR could be like since their music is mainly made up of sound alchemies.
As for deserter's songs... I find that cloying too! Even though the first three tracks drive me crazy with that fairy-tale overdose of mellotron. I also go wild for the instrumental pieces. Of course, opus40 and deltasun bottleneck stomp are ridiculously poppy.
Anonimo
1 feb 05Are you perhaps referring to the single? I believe the word funny is in the title.
josi_
1 feb 05Hal
1 feb 05MaledettaPrimavera
1 feb 05vv
1 feb 05zaireeka
1 feb 05zaireeka
1 feb 05zaireeka
1 feb 05zaireeka
1 feb 05Articoli | SENTIREASCOLTARE
zaireeka
1 feb 05josi_
2 feb 05josi_
2 feb 05zaireeka
2 feb 05josi_
2 feb 05Cleo
2 feb 05Cleo
2 feb 05zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
2 feb 05Cleo
2 feb 05josi_
2 feb 05Cleo
2 feb 05But come on: we all agree on the circus, carnival, and clowns??? Next Sunday, with another couple, we have to take the little ones to the carnival, one dressed as an elephant and the other as a little tiger. Guest Stars: the Lecciso twins. We’ve already decided to indulge in substances and/or alcohol to cope with the situation until the end. And they also throw sweets... groups of crazy yokels who form a circle to grab as much as they can. I'll be just disdainful there, Jos...! Re-Birthday wishes, Zar... I'm re-reading all your reviews; they're beautiful...
benzo24
2 feb 05zaireeka
2 feb 05PS. Josi, I know I seem like a longtime fan of the FL, but I only discovered them in 2001.
zaireeka
2 feb 05josi_
2 feb 05zaireeka
2 feb 05PS. Recently, while I was absentmindedly watching the credits of a cartoon (Duck Rodgers or something like that) on RAI2, I saw the name The Flaming Lips as the authors of the cartoon's theme. Incredible, but with these weirdos, you can expect anything, like a song (There You Are, beautiful) that digresses on the meaning of life, telling us about a guy who while driving "wishing the stars" ends up off the road "face on the road, fuck as dead," and who, after a day, composes the soundtrack for a cartoon.
josi_
3 feb 05psychopompe
3 feb 05humax4
3 feb 05zaireeka
3 feb 05"All of the subatomic pieces come together and
Unfold themselves in a second...
Every single molecule is right,
when you smile"
are worth the entire album.
josi_
4 feb 05Cleo
4 feb 05josi_
4 feb 05Cleo
4 feb 05zaireeka
4 feb 05zaireeka
4 feb 05josi_
5 feb 05Giubbo
10 feb 05luca reed
13 feb 05GustavoTanz
1 apr 09