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It’s hard to parse the band’s ultimate intentions, but there’s no doubt that every note and lyric on this album are in fact intended, and, most importantly, sincere.
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Overall Snowflake Midnight isn’t quite the disaster that the disillusioned might have expected.
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The results are uneven but rarely dull.
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They’ve set their laser harp on “snooze” and come up with a yawn-inspiring set of digital whoosh over which to chant some nonsense that at best resembles the Chemical Brothers at their worst.
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There are flashes of thrilling chaos but all too often they are contained and subdued by fussy programming.
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Ten years after Deserter's Songs became a gorgeous Americana classic, Mercury Rev have made another masterpiece.
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MojoThis Rev record is another triumph in which all is dream and this sometimes symbolism, the overall effect trippy, though less dark than of yore. [Oct 2008, p.102]
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Its dependence on fussy, meticulous electronic elements tempers some of the band's drippier new-agey tendencies, which makes it easier to appreciate how often Snowflake finds Mercury Rev at their most majestic and most ambitious.
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Mercury Rev's overarcing vision of tenderhearted sonic sprawl is often moving, if occasionally also moving ones eyes to roll.
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What ultimately saves Snowflake Midnight from following The Secret Migration up the band's collective keister is the song positioned to serve as its climax, 'Dream of a Young Girl as a Flower.'
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Snowflake Midnight ranges widely, from synth-heavy orchestration to film-score dramarama. And between those ambient bookends, there's virtually no filler.
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At its best, Mercury Rev is secretly an Americana band (see Levon Helm and Garth Hudson's appearances on Deserter's Songs), tricking out solid songs with studio know-how; their collapse into catchall experimentation is brave, but ultimately not the best route.
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Snowflake Midnight works as a soothing, gently inspiring song cycle, the likes of which Mercury Rev hasn't made since "See You on the Other Side."
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Mercury Rev haven’t quite mastered this new toolkit they’ve taken on, and their proggy/bombastic/unabashedly emotional side makes them hard to swallow for some.
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Alternative PressIt's as dreamy as Mercury Rev have ever sounded. [Oct 2008, p.161]
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Under The RadarSnowflake Midnight continues with the too-clean, too-electronic devolpments of "The Secret Migration." [Fall 2008, p.77]
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Nevertheless, this is still a hugely satisfying album and one that easily lends itself to total immersion, revealing its charms steadily over time.
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Surprisingly though, Snowflake Midnight, if it is heard widely outside of fan circles, may win the band more fans than their more straightforward output.
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Beautiful yet detached, the music often bursts into life but more frequently simply drifts, all too willing to fall hypnotised under its own spell.
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Q MagazineAmbitious, yes, inventive, sometimes, but waiting for those rare moments of clarity is like trying to catch a cloud in a colander. [Nov 208, p.118]
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As it stands here, it too often feels as if the tools mastered them.
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The WireThis is a magical and bafflingly arresting album. [Sep 2008, p.53]
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Mercury Rev has talked about reinvention and veering away from its comfort zone, which is only to be commended, but the band has really fallen flat on its face here.