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The Light in You
by
The Light in You Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 13 Ratings

  • Summary: The eighth full-length studio release for the alternative rock band is its first studio album in seven years.
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  • Record Label: Bella Union
  • Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, Dream Pop, Neo-Psychedelia
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Top Track

Are You Ready?
Are you ready? Are you ready now? Are you ready? Are you ready now? Are you ready? Are you ready now? Only in a dream will you see her Flowered hair... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. AllMusic
    Oct 2, 2015
    80
    As The Light in You's title implies, Mercury Rev are seeking life's brightest moments, and they find them--along with some of their most satisfying music in many years.
  2. The Wire
    Sep 1, 2015
    80
    The Light In You is palpably charged with love of music and gratitude for its redemptive powers. [Sep 2015, p.48]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. The Line of Best Fit
    Sep 28, 2015
    80
    It’s not a reinvention, but Mercury Rev did their experimentation on their earlier records. Here they just get on with the job of sounding like nobody else, which suits them very nicely indeed.
  4. Clash Music
    Sep 14, 2015
    70
    While it's lovely to have them back, this album is more of a pleasant addition to the Mercury Rev catalogue than a defining moment.
  5. Pitchfork
    Oct 1, 2015
    70
    As The Light in You’s dichotomous halves prove, Mercury Rev are much better at being trippy than being groovy.
  6. Magnet
    Sep 22, 2015
    70
    Not everything kills, but when the band's "psychedelic rock and blue-eyed soul" finds its groove, it's still a breathless wonder to behold. [No. 124, p.61]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Mojo
    Aug 26, 2015
    60
    Their mellowest ever high. [Oct 2015, p.92]
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See all 17 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. captaincrabface
    Oct 3, 2015
    8
    The Light in You is a great album and for me there best album since All is Dream. It's heartfelt pop music that doesn't sound like anyoneThe Light in You is a great album and for me there best album since All is Dream. It's heartfelt pop music that doesn't sound like anyone else. The record is a lot more interesting than their last few. It embraces styles they haven't tried before, and that you wouldn't expect from the Rev, there's a soul stomper, stax horns, a bluesy love song, songs that could almost be easy listening , and a 70's influenced groove along with the symphonic psychedelia they do so well. Rainy Day Record and Central Park West are two of the best songs I've heard in a long time.

    This is an album that unashamedly references and celebrates a wide variety of music. It's not necessarily cool and not trying to be. It's a long way from Boces and their early records and if you don''t like later Rev this probably won't change your mind.

    The closer Rainy Day record is an anthemic celebration music and that feeling you get once in a while when you hear a great record and discover the power of music again -and the music matches the words. I have a big smile on my face everytime I listen to it.    … Expand
  2. Muzmarinator
    Oct 5, 2015
    8
    its been a long wait between albums for MR. After the more experimental Snowflake Midnight some seven years ago, and the absence of Daveits been a long wait between albums for MR. After the more experimental Snowflake Midnight some seven years ago, and the absence of Dave Fridmann twiddling the knobs, we might expect big changes to the sound in this installment. Well there is and there isn't. In some ways this record is even more lush than its predecessors. For the first half at least its no big departure. Dreamy, exquisitely layered and detailed, the songs float around you. And there are some great tracks. On the second side though (or at least much of it), Mercury Rev become rock revivalists. Its an interesting move but it doesn't entirely work. The lyrics somehow sound more twee than Jonathan's usual mystical musings. Still, the record in all is a grower (like more mercury Rev records) and perhaps northern soul styled Mercury Rev will also be a grower. Intriguing.… Expand

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