1991's 'Everclear' seems to have been pretty much universally accepted as the classic AMC album, but some fans have held the belief that the follow up album 'Mercury' contains the better songs. To these ears anyway, that album had huge potential but was dragged down by Mitchell Froom's stodgy production which now makes the record sound ridiculously dated since it is only 15 years old.
This collection of demos for 'Mercury', available at shows and via AMC's website, lets us hear how it could have sounded and the results are stunning. Without Froom's fussy production the songs can breathe and in some cases sound as good as the live versions Eitzel has been playing for years. 'Apology For An Accident' is absolutely sensationalwith a gripping, edgy vocal performance from Eitzel and a terrific guitar break, 'What Godzilla Said To God...' is lighter than the album version, sounding more like Eitzel's solo recording from 'Songs of Love Live' and 'Gratitude Walks' reminds me of the way they played it at the 2004 reunion shows.
As if this wasn't enough there are some songs that didn't make it on the album. Some have already appeared as b sides but 'Crystal Always Knows' is, to me at least, completely new and a great addition to AMC's cannon. The only gripe with this is that there is no demo of 'Johnny Mathis' Feet', one of Eitzel's finest songs and one of the highlights of 'Mercury', but I guess that is because it was written late.
This is not really an unbiased review as I am an AMC fan, but if you are remotely interested in Eitzel, AMC or discovering the work of one of the World's greatest songwriters, you should buy this.
9.0
['Mercury Demos' are out now via Decor Records in the UK]
2 comments:
Funny, I disagree completely with you regarding Mercury. I think it has the best production of all AMC/Eitzel recordings and is the most focused of all their work. It does not sound dated to me at all.
San Francisco has excellent production as well but seems to be unfocused; it sounds like a collection of singles rather than a coherent album.
60 Watt Silver Lining is amazing too. That album is absolutely perfect to my ears. Fucking Warner Brothers should have held on to Eitzel. What a bunch of drab idiots.
Everclear - now there's an example of crap mixing. It's washed in reverb and sounds entirely dated to me for that reason. Everclear is not nearly as sonically strong as Mercury, SF or 60Watt. Didn't Joe Chicarelli mix most it Everclear? And Chicarelli seems to get a lot of respect in the recording industry. I don't get it. Anyway, AMC never needed reverb to sound good.
But I think Everclear is an amazing album just the same, as is everything they've put out - well, maybe not the very first album, that's the only exception.
I would love for them to get a big recording budget again. Eitzel's voice deserves a five-hundred thousand dollar recording chain.
Thanks for posting regarding the Mercury demos - I'm looking forward to hearing them.
Check out the Everclear rehearsals also out now. While I realize that most people think Everclear is AMC's best album, I have never totally warmed up to it because of the cold production. These versions are SO much better, and the performances have more passion to them. The songs really shine.
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