New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Kings of Rock Entertainment) Mercury Rev Announce Reissue of Their Seminal Album Deserter's Songs on May 16 via Co-Op Music Free Mp3: "Opus 40"
"...thoroughly, hauntingly beautiful..." - The A.V. Club
"Deserter's Songs, feels like a watershed, the point where their heady mix of orchestral pop, roots rock, psychedelia, prog, choral, and chamber music finally crystallizes into something special and damn near ineffable... let's just call Deserter's Songs the art-rock album of the year." - Entertainment Weekly
"A modern classic." - NME
On May 16, Mercury Rev will return with a deluxe double CD reissue of their classic 1998 album, Deserter's Songs via Co-Op Music. The release comes complete with a 13-track bonus disc of demos, b-sides, rarities and outtakes. And In honor of the album's re-release, Mercury Rev have made their classic song "Opus 40" available for free download. Click HERE to listen to the song (feel free to post and share).
Even for Mercury Rev, who had become know for their arty, left-field pop, Deserter's Songs was something of a revelation. Tweaking their reputation for harsh noisy freakouts, the album was a lush, orchestral counterpoint to the band's catalogue at that point. Incorporating elements of folk, jazz, '60s rock, and even Disney soundtrack fantasia, Deserter's Songs was like nothing that had come before it. Tracks like "The Funny Bird," "Holes," and "Opus 40" were cosmic epics, whose arrangements were simultaneously grandiose and tender.
A paradoxical, unconventional record, the album turned heads and ended up an unexpected, worldwide hit. The album was named "Album of the Year" by NME, MOJO and many other publications. It was the record that broke Mercury Rev into the mainstream in the U.K. and Europe, with the album scoring three Top 40 singles in the U.K. for "Goddess on a Highway", "Holes" and "Opus 40." And in the U.S., the album remains a cult-classic, ready to be reintroduced to the next generation.
Tracklist:
Album:
1. Holes
2. Tonite It Shows
3. Endlessly
4. Collect Coins
5. Opus 40
6. Hudson Line
7. The Happy End (The Drunk Room)
8. Goddess on a Highway
9. The Funny Bird
10. Pick Up If You're There
11. Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp
Bonus Disc:
1) Piano vs. Telephone (Cassette Tape Player Demo)
2) Holes (Bill Laswell 1998 Remix)
3) Pick Up If You're There (DJ Nickel 1998 Remix)
4) Endlessly (Tascam 8-Track Reel to Reel Demo)
5) A Soft Kiss (for waking up) (Cassette Tape Player Demo)
6) Tonite It Shows (Tascam 8-Track Reel to Reel Demo)
7) Looking Back Now, I Can See (Unreleased Mix)
8) Opus 40 (Early Rough Version)
9) Hudson Line (Early Rough Version)
10) Judging By The Moon (Cassette Tape Player Demo)
11) Goddess On A Hiway (1989 Cassette Tape Player Demo)
12) Night On Panther Mountain (Unreleased Mix)
13) Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp (Early Rough Version)
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