SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE

"See You On The Other Side" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US rock act Mercury Rev and the first not to feature original lead vocalist David Baker. Guitarist Jonathan Donahue stepped up to replace Baker as the band´s new lead vocalist. The album was released through Beggars Banquet in September 1995. "See You On The Other Side" did not do as well commercially as the band had hoped for. The preceding album "Boces" (1993) peaked at #43 in the UK charts while "See You On The Other Side" only peaked at #108. A big step down in terms of commercial success and a great disappointment to the band. In fact the lack of success almost brought upon the end of Mercury Rev. After completing their touring cycle supporting the album, the band returned home and were close to disbanding. Their manager quit, drummer Jimy Chambers left, the band were in debt, and Donahue went into a deep depression. But that´s of course getting ahead of the story of this album, and I´ll get back to the topic now...

The change on the lead vocalist spot is audible right from the get go as Donahue has a soft voice and mellow vocal approach which is very different from David Baker´s more frantic vocal style. The instrumental part of the music has also changed quite a lot. The music style on the first two albums were a kind of frantic psychadelic rock while the music on "See You On The Other Side" is much more mellow and focused. I hear influences from the most psychadelic Beatles tracks but Pink Floyd ("Meddle" (1971) and "Obscured By Clouds" (1972) period) is to my ears the most major influence on the music.

Those influences are combined with a more contemporary mainstream rock sound, and as a result this doesn´t sound like a retro release, but has an overall more fresh sound to it. Not all tracks are mellow. Tracks like "Empire State" and "Young Man´s Stride" feature some really energetic sections, where the band show a more rock oriented side of themselves. The mix of psychadelic pop and mainstream rock genereally works really well. One of the great features of the album is the way that Suzanne Thorpe´s flute and especially her French Horn playing is incorporated to the songs. Her presense is much more dominant on this album than it was on the first albums from the band. The many psychadelic sound effects courtesy of lead guitarist Grasshopper (real name: Sean Thomas Mackowiak) add much to the music as well. He occasionally also adds clarinet to some of the songs.

The musicianship is strong on the album and in addition to the above mentioned musicians I would like to give a special mention to Chambers because his drumming on the album is creative and energetic which help the songs gain power and drive. This is arguably helped along by an excellent drum production, but every instrument and vocal track are well balanced in the mix, and the sound production is professional and well sounding. Upon conclusion "See You On The Other Side" is a quality release by Mercury Rev and I´m a bit surprised, that it was a commercial failure compared to "Boces" (1993), which is not as accessible as "See You On The Other Side". A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.