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All Is Dream
by
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
All Is Dream Image
Metascore
80

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

User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 20 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the Buffalo, NY band's follow-up to their acclaimed 1998 release 'Deserter's Songs.'

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Dot Music
    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. Mojo
    90
    If anything, surpasses its illustrious predecessor. [Sep 2001, p.98]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. Pitchfork
    85
    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.
  4. Blender
    80
    Not as revelatory as Deserter's Songs, but a worthy (and lovely) companion piece. [Aug/Sep 2001, p.125]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Austin Chronicle
    78
    Mercury Rev has not only matched the Herculean effort of Deserter's Songs, they've surpassed it.
  6. Rolling Stone
    70
    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.
  7. Trouser Press
    60
    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.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. NealM.
    Dec 20, 2001
    10
    Absolutely amazing.
  2. WodekS.
    Oct 25, 2001
    9
    All is rock. A triumph.
  4. PeterM
    Dec 9, 2004
    9
    Great album!
  5. Ulrich
    Aug 11, 2008
    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 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
  6. rogerthato
    Oct 21, 2006
    2
    Am I the only person who thinks the production on this sounds unreasonably cheesy? All the instruments sound like midi, which - whether or 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

Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Best Album of 2001

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