All Is Dream - Mercury Rev
All Is Dream Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the Buffalo, NY band's follow-up to their acclaimed 1998 release 'Deserter's Songs.'
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. 100
    Make no mistake, this album sounds incredible: cascading orchestrations, pulsating and instantly memorable tunes, an atmosphere that's both accessible and palpably psychedelic.
  2. Continues in the bucolic vein of Deserter's Songs, and sounds almost as wondrous.
  3. Orchestral swells, kaleidoscopic tones and childlike fragility imbue All Is Dream with the theatrics of a trip through wonderland.
  4. Mercury Rev's ongoing foray into a strange sort of beauty overload remains a noble endeavor, but it inspires more admiration than emotional attachment.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. NealM.
    10
    Absolutely amazing.
  2. PeterM
    9
    Great album!
  3. Ulrich
    5
    Never has a 'rock' album rocked as little as this! There is a lot of fanatical Rev fans so they must do something right......i just find them really boring! I can understand comparisons with The Flaming Lips who make similar music but with less annoying vocals and with a likability and personality that the rev seem to lack. Whereas the Lips can evoke and convey emotions and feelings that can be quite profound, i find the Rev convey feelings that are merely abstract which for me removes the humanity from the music and therefore dulls its impact. ps. note to "E Online"........mercury rev sound fuck all like Built to Spill..........ridiculous comment. Expand
  4. rogerthato
    2
    Am I the only person who thinks the production on this sounds unreasonably cheesy? All the instruments sound like midi, which - whether or not they are meant to sound that way - ruin the otherwise decent songs. It's very frustrating to listen to. Expand

See all 6 User Reviews