ALBUMS
Release Date: 21/07/03
Chart Position: 45
Cat No: 5046668862
Format: CD
TRACKLISTING:
1. Further 9. Falling Without You
2. Can’t Explain 10. Still
3. Electricity 11. Will You Wait Here
4. When You Sleep 12. This Is
5. If You Asked
6. I Would
7. Nowhere
8. Falling For You
Info: Songs by Rob McVey
All tracks published by Warner Chappell
Produced and Engineered by Rick Parashar
Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge
Track 1 Original Producer – Brian Rose Original Engineer – Dave Burnham
Additional Engineering and Pro Tools by Christian Mock and Geoff Ott
Mastered by Ted Jenson @ Sterling Sound, NY
Stirlings Arranged and Conducted by Paul Buckmaster
Additional Background vocals on track 1 by Sarah Shawcross & Sharon Hart
Additional Background vocals on track 5 & 8 by Sarah Shawcross
Additional Background vocal arrangements on tracks 1, 4, 5 & 8 by Sarah Shawcross
Recorded at London Bridge Studios, Seattle, WA, Assisted by Honchol Sin
Tracks 1, 6, 9, 10, 11 & 12 Orchestra Contractor and Concert Master – Simon James
Strings Engineered by Reed Ruddy
Strings Recorded at Studio X, Seattle, WA. Strings Assisted by Sam Hofstedt
Track 5 Original drums recorded by Nick Williams and Phil Bullyment
Photography by Mary Scanlon
Design by Free Barrabas!
Additonal Info: This is the debut album from Longview which was well recieved from the media but not the public due to it's lowly chart positioning of 45. But that didn't stop them promoting it non-stop for near two years. 'Mercury' features 12 tracks of pure brilliance and well written land-scaping songs by frontman Rob McVey. Produced by Rick Parashar, it was recorded in Seattle and includes strings by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
Amazon.co.uk review...
Manchester-based indie-rock outfit Longview are in pursuit of a grand, romantic--indeed, religious--vision, and on their debut album, Mercury, they realise it with no lack of wide-eyed faith. "God's love will save our lives / It will come shining bright," sings frontman Rob McVey on the opening "Further", indicating, in this age when Christian rock is typically dismissed as the tritest of the trite, a rather surprising bravery of conviction. Luckily, however, there's far more to Mercury than over-serious religious zeal. Fulsome guitar vistas like "Will You Wait Here" and "Electricity" touch at the dreamy psychedelia of fellow Mancunians Doves or Elbow--albeit an Elbow realised without Guy Garvey's trademarked curmudgeonly attitude and invested with a hearty optimism. Importantly, for Longview, there are hit singles in the waiting here: "I Would" is a windswept take on the sort of lilting piano balladry that Coldplay did before them, and Echo and the Bunnymen did long before them; and the thunderous "When You Sleep" marches along with a righteous ire little seen since the Smiths flounced through these parts. -- Louis Pattison