Mercury is the sixth album by San Francisco indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 group American Music Club

American Music Club

American Music Club is a San Francisco-based alternative rock band led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel.-History:Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in Okinawa, Taiwan, Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1981...

, 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

Mark Eitzel

Mark Eitzel is a musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club.-History:Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohio and the United Kingdom. He moved to America in 1979.He started making music while he was...

; 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

Franz Nicolay

Franz Nicolay is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He is perhaps best known for playing the accordion and the piano in The World/Inferno Friendship Society and playing keyboards in The Hold Steady from 2005 to 2010...

, of The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2004. The band consists of Craig Finn , Tad Kubler , Galen Polivka , Bobby Drake , and Steve Selvidge...

, states that Mercury is one of his biggest musical influences.

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
  Mitchell Froom
  -Career:Froom began his career as a keyboard player in Sonoma County, California. The band Crossfire featured two keyboards players; Mitchell on one side of the stage and brother David on the other with Gary Pihl on guitar...
  
  
• Engineered and mixed by Tchad Blake
  Tchad Blake
  Tchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...
  
  
• 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
  Bob Ludwig
  Bob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....
  
   at Gateway Mastering
• Management: Wally Brill and Ross Schwartz for Building Management
• American Music Club: Bruce Kaphan
  Bruce Kaphan
  Bruce Kaphan is a musician who has worked on many studio projects, often as a pedal steel player, from 1970 to 2011. In particular he was a member of American Music Club.-Albums:Albums he has worked on include:* Schoolyard Ghosts* Everclear...
  
  , Daniel Pearson, Mark Eitzel
  Mark Eitzel
  Mark Eitzel is a musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club.-History:Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohio and the United Kingdom. He moved to America in 1979.He started making music while he was...
  
  , Tim Mooney, Vudi
  Vudi
  Vudi is the nickname of Mark Pankler , guitarist with San Francisco based indie rock band American Music Club. He is also the vocalist and guitarist in San Francisco based indie rock band Clovis de Floret....
  
  
• Art direction: Tom Recchion & Jeff Gold
  Jeff Gold
  Jeff Gold is an American record label executive, Grammy award-winning art director, music historian and archivist, and music memorabilia collector-dealer, who was executive vice president/general manager of Warner Bros...
  
  
• 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

External links

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