Album Review:
Pools of Mercury
- Release Date: 1998
- Genre: Rock
- Label: Polygram
- Total Time: 45:57
- Artist: Jim Carroll
- Rating:
- Styles: Punk, New Wave, American Punk
- Track Picks: "Falling Down Laughing," "Hairshirt Fracture," "Train Surfing"
Review
Writing is obviously Jim Carroll's first passion and music follows as his second, and as a poet, musician, and cultural figure, writing remains his cathartic way. It's strange, but intricately moving. His numerous books (Living at the Movies [1973], The Basketball Diaries [1978], Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries, 1971-1973 [1987], Fear of Dreaming [1993], and Void of Course [1998]) showcase his mystery through vivid wordplay, but his musicianship is equally intriguing. Carroll returns to the song board to release Pools of Mercury, marking his first original recording with the Jim Carroll Band since 1983. His latest work makes a stunning effort uniting lyrics and prose, and his passion is real. His words are droning, but an energetic slang is evident. His wit is appealing, but don't call him bubbly. Carroll is frank, peeling conflict to the core. There is no fluff, no cushion, for he fully exposes the mystifying inquisitions and the harsh issues of where the world stands in his eyes.Pools of Mercury defines Carroll's raw personal caliber once more throughout his expressive integrity to hit his own personal relevance. His words create a desire -- a desire to find a solution, to think about controversy, and to take on the questionable visions chucked out by society's negative realms. He dips into the creases of desperation and frustration, molding a marriage of poetic words with musical traits. "Train Surfing" and "Things That Fly" from Fear of Dreaming naturally rise above string accompaniment. "Falling Down Laughing" swirls with lingering guitar loops and twitching bass and Carroll's nasal New York drawl is the attraction, and the one-time proclaimed "Dylan of the '80s" has magically done it again. Carroll's perseverance as a writer, poet, and musician exudes an honest proletarian approach among social conformists and followers. He continues to trudge on Pools of Mercury, his effort to cleanse himself once more through his words. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
Tracks
| Track Title | iTunes | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Train Surfing | Jim Carroll, Anton Sanko, Frank Vilardi | Jim Carroll | (1:45) | |
| Falling Down Laughing | Jim Carroll, Robert Roth | Jim Carroll | (3:57) | |
| Zeno's Law of High-Heeled Shoes | Jim Carroll, David Torn, Anton Sanko | Jim Carroll | (1:53) | |
| Desert Town | Jim Carroll, Anton Sanko, Tristan Avakian | Jim Carroll | (3:46) | |
| It Goes | Jim Carroll, Anton Sanko, Gordon Minette | Jim Carroll | (1:20) | |
| My Ruins | Jim Carroll, Anton Sanko | Jim Carroll | (1:46) | |
| Pools of Mercury | Jim Carroll, Anton Sanko, Erik Sanko, Tristan Avakian | Jim Carroll | (4:34) | |
| Things That Fly | Jim Carroll, Erik Sanko | Jim Carroll | (1:56) | |
| I Am Not Kurt Schwitters | Jim Carroll, David Torn, Anton Sanko | Jim Carroll | (3:23) | |
| Hairshirt Fracture |  |
Jim Carroll, Robert Roth | Jim Carroll | (4:27) |
| Female as Thunder | Jim Carroll, Lenny Kaye | Jim Carroll | (1:30) | |
| Cinco de Mayo | Jim Carroll, Anton Sanko, Gordon Minette | Jim Carroll | (1:38) | |
| Message Left on a Phone Machine | Jim Carroll, Anton Sanko, Frank Vilardi, Gordon Minette | Jim Carroll | (3:39) | |
| The Beast Within | Jim Carroll, Lenny Kaye, Anton Sanko | Jim Carroll | (4:01) | |
| 8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain | Jim Carroll, Anton Sanko, Tristan Avakian | Jim Carroll | (6:22) |
