M. Rev Gets Essential

The Essential Mercury Rev - Stillness Breathes: 1991-2006
Capitalizing on their success in the UK and abroad, this compilation will be available on import starting October 2nd. There will be a limited edition that comes with a bonus disc of b-sides and rarities for fans who already know how important the Rev is.

While I will jump at the chance to pick up any new material from these guys, this offering leaves something to be desired. It is difficult to encapsulate Mercury Rev's varying works in a 'best of' album as Disc 1 of this set tries to do. They do manage to include some of their best, so neophites will still get some good tunes here, but just be aware that a lot more good stuff is missing.

Hardcore fans will probably already have most of what is on Disc 2, and will also buy the set despite that fact since there are several exclusives here (marked with an * in the tracklisting below):

Disc: 1
1. Diamonds
2. Everlasting Arm
3. In A Funny Way
4. Goddess On A Hiway
5. Chasing A Bee
6. Dark Is Rising
7. Black Forest (Lorelei)
8. Holes
9. Car Wash Hair
10. Empire State (Son House In Excelsis)
11. Something For Joey
12. Frittering
13. Drop In Time
14. Opus 40

Disc: 2
1. I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier
2. I Only Have Eyes For You - Mercury Rev & Sean O'Hagan
3. Observatory Crest
4. Streets Of Larado
5. So There - Mercury Rev & Robert Creeley
6. Afraid
7. He Was A Friend Of Mine
8. Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp
9. It's A Man's Man's Man's World
10. Clamor*
11. Seagull*
12. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds*
13. Coney Island Cyclone
14. Silver Street
15. Deadman - Mercury Rev & Alan Vega
16. Philadelphia
17. Good Times Ahead
18. Memory Of A Free Festival*

Mercury Rev's soundtrack to the film Bye Bye Blackbird will also be released overseas on October 2nd.