Remember That Yerself Is Steam - Mercury Rev Poll

i always preferred the demo of 'bee' from the carwash hair single and frittering was always immense live so i'm going with that

No "Car Wash Hair".

oops

frittering

"Car Wash Hair" was a single, separate from the album, which was tacked on to the end of the US 1992 reissue of the album. So yeah, it doesn't count.

This is one of my most treasured records, as I discovered it early on, when I was a wee teenager, & (along with Loveless, Disintegration, Ocean Rain, Technique, etc. etc.) it has had a lasting, formative impression on my psyche. "Chasing a Bee" vs. "Frittering" I'll have to listen to it a couple times this weekend, & then decide.

I remember getting this on the American Rough Trade imprint, which was just about to die, so about a year there I felt I was the only one in my corner of the world who even knew this thing existed until the late fall 92 reissue (with all the extra stuff etc.) Like Pillbox sez it was one of 'those' records for me.

My favorite track from that era in the end might well be the unlisted half-hour collage insanity that's the bonus track on the "Car Wash Hair" single, but if forced to pick one song, "Frittering." It defines a melancholia perfectly, the more so because it's about the only song of the era that made being a wastrel slacker actually seem elegant and epic.

Me thinking about it ten years back. I haven't listened to it much at all since, but I don't think I have to any more.

the more so because it's about the only song of the era that made being a wastrel slacker actually seem elegant and epic

Gonna have to have a think about this one.

Also, you're quite right, that half-hour collage is absolutely brilliant. Will give it another listen soon.

frittering is fucking huge

voted syringe mouth but boces is way better

and i think i just voted syringe mouth because of positive associations with snorry mouth

I prefer Boces too; "Meth Of A Rockette's Kick" is the pinnacle of all things Rev IMO (closely followed by the rest of the album, "Girlfren" excepted)

Actually if you took the last 3 tracks of Boces out (and I do really like Hi-Speed Boats but...) and replaced them with the last 3 tracks of Yerself Is Steam you'd have a MOTHERFUCKING album

I remember getting this on tape, with the free tape attached, which had that excellent version of 'If You Want Me To Stay' on it. Both albums I absolutely adored - if anything, and if my memory serves, the live version of Frittering is even better than the album version.

I never bought anything by them again. Odd. Anyway, erm, Frittering/Chasing in Bee... Frittering I think.

"Like Pillbox sez it was one of 'those' records for me."

surprised you like it so much and Animal Collective's - not so.

Feels, for example has lots of Steam on it.(among other things)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

A full overview of the album by all involved -- including Baker!

http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2015/08/19/magnet-classics-mercury-revs-yrself-is-steam/#more-182655

I was at their first London show in 1991 - Baker and Donahue pretty much got into a punch-up before they'd played a note (to the bemusement of the audience), Baker then spent the entire set sitting cross-legged on the stage strumming a guitar that wasn't plugged in, and when they came back out for the encore they were high-fiving / all friends again. It wouldn't have worked for most bands, but with them it seemed to fit at the time.

Was listening to this today - first time in years - and I'm ready to make a case that this could be the Amer-Indie (sorry!) Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

Interesting Magnet piece above. I haven't listened in a long while to this. I think maybe the better parts of Boces and See You on the Other Side seem like a fuller realisation of what they were trying to get at back then, but who's to really know.

best album ever

yes

It's pretty damn good.

Poll results are 100% correct.

nah VSR is incredible

Boces is the best album ever, this one is pretty good though. :)

I stumbled across this the other day, was pretty fun to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbr_lFcRLAo

i've actually never heard boces so this is a good inspiration

i remember blissing out to yerself is steam constantly in college

it's too bad this band put out two amazing albums and one pretty good album and then immediately broke up and never put anything else out

i've actually never heard boces so this is a good inspiration

yeah i rate it right with YIS, maybe a bit higher tbh. 'girlfren' is my favorite album closer of theirs

See You On the Other Side always seems a bit lost in remembrance but it's a dear friend's favorite Rev album by far.

Anyway: per a post from a friend yesterday, Yerself has turned thirty years old. All my thoughts upthread still stand, and I cosign Elvis T here:

Was listening to this today - first time in years - and I'm ready to make a case that this could be the Amer-Indie (sorry!) Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

― Elvis Telecom, Friday, December 15, 2017 12:36 AM (three years ago)

Obviously it was a standalone single attached to the reissue but, as I just said on the Luna thread, they did a WONDERFUL cover of "Carwash Hair" at last night's NYE show in the second set, and thanks to guest David Knowles (a former bandmate of Luna drummer Lee Wall in Champale), they even did the trumpet part! A real thrill.