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Boces

 

  • Artist: Mercury Rev
  • Rating: StarStarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: June 01, 1993
  • Total Time: 53:33
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

With Boces, Mercury Rev took everything that made Yerself Is Steam such an impressive debut and made their second album even more so. Over the course of ten minutes, opening epic "Meth of a Rockette's Kick" moves from dreamy musing to guitar-fueled crests -- and throws in flutes, harps, a brass section, and a choir for good measure -- announcing that the group is at the height of its powers. Thrashy freakouts like "Trickle Down" sound even more explosive and stand in sharper contrast to the Technicolor pop of "Something for Joey" and "Hi Speed Boats," while the sweetly lovelorn "Bronx Cheer" and "Downs Are Feminine Balloons" (key lyric: "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's up") reveal the vulnerability beneath the group's jet-powered guitars. But Boces doesn't just perfect the sound Mercury Rev pioneered on Yerself Is Steam, it expands it in predictably unpredictable ways. The Cheshire cat jazz-pop of "Boys Peel Out," the sleepwalking speed metal of "Snorry Mouth," and the spooky, smoky finale "Girlfren," though very different from each other, are equally captivating examples of the band's witty, innovative modus operandi. Mercury Rev never released another album as joyfully, unselfconsciously creative as Boces; after chief weirdo David Baker departed, the band pursued other fascinating directions, but this album remains one of the highest points of its career. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Meth of a Rockette's Kick Mercury Rev (10:29)
Trickle Down Mercury Rev (5:04)
Bronx Cheer Mercury Rev (2:49)
Boys Peel Out Mercury Rev (4:28)
Downs Are Feminine Balloons Mercury Rev (6:29)
Something for Joey Mercury Rev (4:06)
Snorry Mouth Mercury Rev (10:55)
Hi-Speed Boats Mercury Rev (4:00)
Continuous Drunks and Blunders Mercury Rev (:48)
Girlfren Jonathan Richman Mercury Rev (4:41)

Credits

Jonathan Donahue (Guitar), C. Gavazzi (French Horn), David Baker (Vocals), Grasshopper (?), Suzanne Thorpe (Flute (Bass)), J. Burgess (Trombone), Julie Baker (Vocals), Jimy Chambers (Producer), Dave Fridmann (Bass), Grasshopper (Producer), David Baker (Producer), Julie Baker (Violin), Jimy Chambers (?), Suzanne Thorpe (Producer), Suzanne Thorpe (Fife), Mercury Rev (Producer), Dave Fridmann (?), Dave Fridmann (Producer), Jonathan Donahue (Vocals), Grasshopper (Guitar), Jimy Chambers (Drums), Jonathan Donahue (Producer)
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Wikipedia: Boces
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Boces
Studio album by Mercury Rev
Released June 1, 1993
Recorded 1992-1993
Genre Rock
Length 53:55
Label Beggars Banquet Records
Producer David Baker, Jonathan Donahue, Dave Fridmann, Grasshopper, Suzanne Thorpe, Jimy Chambers
Professional reviews
Mercury Rev chronology
Yerself Is Steam
(1991)
Boces
(1993)
See You on the Other Side
(1995)

Boces is the second album by Mercury Rev, released in 1993. The band has explained the title as being inspired by the name of the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services in New York State, a vocational school system in the band's home state.

During the tour (on Lollapalooza) for this album, the band were forced off the stage for being too loud and noisy; according to legend, their soundman was taken away in a headlock.

The video for "Something for Joey" features black and white images of children in spacesuits juxtaposed with phallic images of rockets, and a bizarre plot involving Mercury Rev playing the song on a spaceship filled with naked women, while Ron Jeremy and another porn star play a sex god and goddess, respectively. Apparently, the parents of the children in the black and white shots were not told what the other images would be in the video, and were extremely upset to find out, forcing the director to re-edit the original video.[citation needed]

Since the late 90s, Mercury Rev have very rarely (if ever) performed songs from Boces, as the songs remind the band of the turbulent circumstances surrounding its recording.

Track listing

  1. "Meth of a Rockette's Kick" – 10:29
  2. "Trickle Down" – 5:04
  3. "Bronx Cheer" – 2:49
  4. "Boys Peel Out" – 4:28
  5. "Downs Are Feminine Balloons" – 6:29
  6. "Something for Joey" – 4:06
  7. "Snorry Mouth" – 10:55
  8. "Hi-Speed Boats" – 4:00
  9. "Continuous Drunks and Blunders" – 0:48
  10. "Girlfren" – 4:41

All songs written by Mercury Rev.

Personnel

  • Jimy Chambers – Drumming, AtlasSweepstakes
  • Jonathan Donahue – Silver Pickup Guitar, Vocals between Ventolin hits
  • Grasshopper – Dither Guitar, Licorice Stick
  • Suzanne Thorpe – Rooster Tail Bass Flute, Chevron Fife
  • Dave Fridmann – Bass Explore, Exhaled band-with Magnetics
  • David Baker – Vocals

 
 
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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Boces" Read more

 

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