Mercury

Description

Mercury is the final studio album by the American alternative rock band The Prayer Chain, released on Rode Dog Records in May 1995, a sub-label of Reunion Records. The album was produced by Steve Hindalong of The Choir fame. The album track “Waterdogs” received the 1996 Dove Awards for Modern Rock/Alternative Recorded Song.

“Andrew is currently in the Violet Burning whose new record – which is extremely good – is coming out in the next few months. Tim is currently working on a praise/solo record with Jyro from Mortal, that should be out in the next year or so. Myself and Wayne are playing and recording with Starflyer 59. Me and him are also working on some other musical things. Hopefully in the next year or so Andy, Wayne and myself will start writing again. So there will be even more music coming out of the Prayer Chain disbanding, and probably more interesting as well.” [Eric Campuzano]

[Bruce A. Brown, CCM, May 1995]

Just as they took an axe to the sunny pop of Whirlpool with Shawl, the Prayer Chain here seek distance from their second album by offering their most expertly conceived record. Where Shawl wanted to be an important record, Mercury actually is one, a haunting study in numbness that appropriates planetary imagery as a potent metaphor for human isolation. Eric Campuzano’s lyrics, so labored and awkward in the past, are perfectly suited to Mercury’s languid, chilly atmosphere. As they did on Shawl, the Prayer Chain slam the door on bandwagoneers with the opening track. «Humb» is a rolling, blown-speaker psalm that buries Tim Taber’s voice beneath layers of echo and shoves Campuzano’s bass so far forward in the mix it bludgeons all other instruments. Though the band quickly redirects with the scorching «Waterdogs», they have accomplished their purpose of mercilessly unseating the listener within the album’s first 30 seconds. The rest of Mercury is characterized by willfully creeping tempos, shadowy, snaking guitar lines, and Tim Taber’s drained, emotionless vocals. The record feels like a horror film. There is an intangible menace to songs like «Grylliade» and «Creole» that deepens when Taber sings stark prophecies like, “All the old ghosts will let you know just how far gone you are.” As with all masterworks, Mercury was rejected by horrified record executives who could not wrap their heads around what it was the Prayer Chain were trying to do. Its release was delayed for months as the band was forced to remix, remaster, and re-record until the label felt satisfied. Inside reports hold that the initial version of Mercury was even more unnerving than the final one, bordering at times on being thoroughly unlistenable. Pity it will never see the light of day. [J. Edward Keyes, AMG]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/mercury/1639196776)

CD tracklist:

01. Humb – 5:42
02. Waterdogs – 3:23
03. Grylliade – 5:21
04. Creole – 6:26
05. Sky High – 8:58
06. Mercury – 4:31
07. Shiver – 5:21
08. Manta Rae – 3:19
09. Bendy Line – 5:13
10. Sun Stoned – 8:39

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Reunion Records. Re-issued as a 12-inch vinyl double LP in 2015. Available at Bandcamp: https://theprayerchain.bandcamp.com/album/mercury

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[youtube_sc url=”ZPaFPIwtFv4″ title=”The Prayer Chain Mercury Listening Party 8-1-2015, Nashville, TN” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]