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All Is Dream
by Mercury Rev
This is the Buffalo, NY band's follow-up to their acclaimed 1998 release 'Deserter's Songs.'
| LABEL: |
V2 |
| RELEASE DATE: |
11 September 2001 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Indie, Rock |
NOTES: UK Release 27 Aug 2001. Limited edition available in the UK.
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Dot Music
Make no mistake, this album sounds incredible: cascading orchestrations, pulsating and instantly memorable tunes, an atmosphere that's both accessible and palpably psychedelic.
90
Uncut
Like Disney on methadone scored by Jack Nitzsche with a gun against his own head, trying to remember this soundtrack he once wanted to make, which teamed Judy Garland and Neil Young. [Album Of The Month] [Sept 2001, p.86]
90
Playlouder
It's exactly the album we all demanded from them, but moreso.
90
Mojo
If anything, surpasses its illustrious predecessor. [Sep 2001, p.98]
85
Pitchfork
Though their approach hasn't changed from the radically orchestral turn of 1998's Deserter's Songs, these songs are far more personal than their last set.
80
All Music Guide
Moody, majestic, and unpredictable, All Is Dream plays like Deserter's Songs' evil twin, polarizing that album's gently trippy, symphonic pop into paranoid and exuberant extremes.
80
Q Magazine
In truth, there are unexpected delights at every turn here, not least in the realisation that Mercury Rev may only just be hitting their collective stride. [Sep 2001, p.115]
80
PopMatters
Also worth noting is the vulnerability at work that's never surfaced before -- Donahue's voice takes on the pinched, high sound of Neil Young's on more than few songs, and it perfectly suits the sense of enchantment inherent in the album as a whole.
80
Blender
Not as revelatory as Deserter's Songs, but a worthy (and lovely) companion piece. [Aug/Sep 2001, p.125]
80
CDNow
Built around mellotrons, bowed saws, and other odd sonic devices, All Is Dream's arrangements often recall the prog-rock heyday of bands such as Can and Yes, albeit with more somber hues.
80
Neumu.net
Orchestral swells, kaleidoscopic tones and childlike fragility imbue All Is Dream with the theatrics of a trip through wonderland.
80
Sonicnet
Continues in the bucolic vein of Deserter's Songs, and sounds almost as wondrous.
80
Splendid
Mercury Rev's unique talent lies in their ability to take a page from nearly every book and mold it into their own nuanced brand of music.
78
Austin Chronicle
Mercury Rev has not only matched the Herculean effort of Deserter's Songs, they've surpassed it.
75
E! Online
Casual fans of modern rock may drown here (and probably won't get it), but admirers of like-minded artists such as the Flaming Lips and Built to Spill will certainly get Rev-ved up.
70
Spin
They almost reach the orbit of their sister band, the Flaming Lips... [Oct 2001, p.127]
70
Rolling Stone
Their most precise work yet - it's both musically decorous and lyrically savage... But high-pitched repetition of the music and the inaccessibility of the lyrics means that all but the most seriously baked listener has to work to meet the band on their shifting, obscure landscape.
70
Magnet
It isn't very clear what the Rev is trying to get across, if anything at all. But it's a lovely listen all the same. [#51, p.100]
70
The Wire
To expand simple love songs into extravagantly gilded showstoppers is to risk lapsing into bombast. But for all their love of musical saws and [Jonathan] Donahue's quavering voice, Mercury Rev are unashamedly grandiose, and their references may be too in thrall to the rock hegemony for some. [#210, p.60]
70
Alternative Press
If you're prone to enjoying the epic recall in rock, All Is Dream will be your momentary ticket outta here. [Oct 2001, p.82]
70
Village Voice
Like Rubber Soul and Revolver, or Bowie's Low and Heroes, Deserter's Songs and All Is Dream function as bookends rather than as separate works, though the latter, recorded under the cloud of [intended producer Jack] Nitzche's absence, does strike a few too many morose chords.
60
Trouser Press
This fine album contains several striking songs (notably “The Dark Is Rising” and “Nite and Fog”), but it suffers in comparison to the artistic breakthrough of its immediate predecessor.
60
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Mercury Rev's ongoing foray into a strange sort of beauty overload remains a noble endeavor, but it inspires more admiration than emotional attachment.
The average user rating for this album is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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