I used to subscribe to Uncut magazine, and they gave Deserter’s Songs album of the month. I was in record shop in Partick and there it was on CD really cheap so had to be purchased. Went home, listened to it, hated it, and saw why someone had sold it to the shop so quick.
I have a friend who is obsessed about music as much as me and we were out for pints and usual chat regarding what had we bought. He had bought a fair few but he had wasted his money as he had hardly taken Deserter's Songs out of his CD player. Maybe I was wrong.
Try again, not so bad, try again, aye it’s okay, try again, is Goddess on a Hiway one of the best songs ever.
Simple fact is once I was used to Jonathan Donahue’s voice, I loved it. Musical saws, harpsichords, flutes and trombones are some of the wide ranging instruments that appear over the eleven tracks and each listen something new pops up that you had not heard before.
Holes starts us strongly but leads us into the remarkable Tonite it Shows, few songs are this good but Opus 40 and The Hudson Line surpass it. Then we get to the aforementioned Goddess on a Hiway, still played every few weeks by myself.
This album was made when the band were at their lowest ebb, and they were not sure if this would be it for Mercury Rev maybe they thought what the hell. In the age of streaming songs this is an album to immerse yourself in through multiple plays.
Plus, sometimes listen to your friends, sometimes they talk sense.
9/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: Goddess on a Hiway