Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight

Even though the seventh studio album by Mercury Rev called Snowflake Midnight does not shine as much as the first four albums, it is nonetheless a significant improvement over dull and toothless Secret Migration (2005). I was afraid of hearing signs of serious stagnation, but the new album sounds surprisingly well. It's been quite a while since Rev last retooled their sound. Here Rev relies on electronics. While such move of combining electronica with rock is not really innovative and some of the synth sounds border slightly on new-age, the result is still quite potent. Rev hasn't sounded this vital or bold for ages. There is less orchestral instrumentation on this album and Jonathan Donahue's voice sounds more natural, relying less on cloying falsetto and occasionally even going lower in terms of notes. Occasionally the psychedelic wall of sound rears its head, hinting a bit at the early Rev, but it's more polished and more reminiscent of the sonic language as heard on Blonde Redhead's 23. Standout track "Senses on Fire" is a good example of a polished noise pop driven by motorik krautrock pulse. Not a classic album, but nonetheless the boldest and most exploratory since the underrated See You On the Other Side.

Mercury Rev - See You On the Other Side

After the eccentric and volatile frontman David Baker left in 1994, Mercury Rev went on with guitarist Jonathan Donahue taking over the lead vocals. Musically, a lot of the rough extreme experimentation was subdued in favor of lusher gentler arrangements that pretty much foresaw the direction Mercury Rev would take subsequently. At the same time, Rev retains the rock intensity and psychedelic wall of sound that characterized the Baker era band. Thus, See You On the Other Side is a transitional album and it's also the band's most underrated record. It didn't do well commercially and it is often overlooked in favor of both the first two albums and then the next one after that.

The album nonetheless is a very consistent, but an eclectic affair, combining spacy experimentation, rockouts, jazz touches and pocket symphony arrangement into a coherent forty minute whole. This is the brightest and happiest Rev album to date, as most of the tunes are in major key and feature many blissful melodies and friendly textures. There is one heavy punk-ish song called "Young Man's Stride", but mostly this is kindler, gentler Mercury Rev. "Everlasting Arm" and "Peaceful Night" refer to the retro sensibilities that Rev would subsequently explore, but there's also a fair bit of territory never covered before or since. "Sudden Ray of Hope" is a blissful tune with its sunshine harmonies and easy going feel matched with heavy rush of guitars a la Boces, but without the lunacy of that album. On this track, and in fact, most of the album, is where Suzanne Thorpe's flute contributions are really noticeable. A talented player, who shies away from show-off to contribute memorable and sweet countermelodies instead which serve to add another important layer in the mix. Two lengthy workouts, "Empire State" and "Racing The Tide", are psychedelic space-rock numbers tied to Boces in terms of intensity, but more melodic and multi-layered in approach. Overall not merely a transitional album, but a unique work that Rev never duplicated later, on its own right.