Mercury (American Music Club album)

Mercury
Studio album by American Music Club
Released	March 1993
Recorded	1992
Genre	Indie rock, Slowcore
Length	49:37
Label	Reprise (released on Virgin Records in the U.K.)
Producer	Mitchell Froom
American Music Club chronology
Everclear (1991) Mercury (1993) San Francisco (1994)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

Mercury is the sixth album by San Francisco indie rock group American Music Club, released in early 1993. It was their major-label debut.

"Over and Done" and "Johnny Mathis' Feet" were released as singles on the 7", CD single and cassingle formats. The Johnny Mathis' Feet CD had a 10-track bonus live CD; it was recorded at Slim's in San Francisco on June 15, 1993, and is usually called Live at Slim's. "I've Been a Mess" has remained a staple of the band's concerts to the present day. The album's title comes from a beverage featured in the lyrics of "Challenger."

All lyrics were written by Mark Eitzel; all songs by Eitzel/ American Music Club.

A black-and-white 11-minute promotional VHS tape, generally referred to as "1992 press kit," was issued in advance of the album's release. This contained interviews with each band member, live performances, studio footage, clips of Eitzel riding his bike by the ocean, etc. The band members talk at length about the origins of AMC, with two of them commenting on how scary it is to be in the band.

Spin magazine voted Mercury the #14 best album of 1993.

Influence

Franz Nicolay, of The Hold Steady, states that Mercury is one of his biggest musical influences.^[3]

Track listing

1. "Gratitude Walks" - 4:14
2. "If I Had a Hammer" - 3:36
3. "Challenger" - 2:57
4. "I've Been a Mess" - 4:24
5. "Hollywood 4-5-92" - 4:12
6. "What Godzilla Said to God When His Name Wasn't Found in the Book of Life" - 3:40
7. "Keep Me Around" - 2:53
8. "Dallas, Airports, Bodybags" - 2:00
9. "Apology for an Accident" - 3:57
10. "Over and Done" - 3:05
11. "Johnny Mathis' Feet" - 3:40
12. "The Hopes and Dreams of Heaven's 10,000 Whores" - 4:20
13. "More Hopes and Dreams" - 1:55
14. "Will You Find Me?" - 4:06

Personnel

• Produced by Mitchell Froom
• Engineered and mixed by Tchad Blake
• Assistant engineer (and additional engineering on "Over and Done"): John Paterno
• Recorded and mixed at Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, November/December 1992
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering
• Management: Wally Brill and Ross Schwartz for Building Management
• American Music Club: Bruce Kaphan, Daniel Pearson, Mark Eitzel, Tim Mooney, Vudi
• Art direction: Tom Recchion & Jeff Gold
• Design: Tom Recchion
• Cover & inlay photography: Bobby Neal Adams
• Other photography: Ralf Strathmann
• All songs written by Mark Eitzel and published by Songs Of PolyGram International Inc./I Failed In Life Music, BMI

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Rolling Stone review
3. ^ http://www.stereokill.net/2009/02/interview-franz-nicolay-the-hold-steady/

External links

• Placement on Spin's 1993 list
• Stylus "On Second Thought" album review, 2007