In-Store Session: Eternal Life.

Ours - Mercy (Dancing For The Death Of An Imaginary Enemy)
Posted by Laila Hanson on 07-Jul-08 @ 01:16 PM

[3.5/5]
Typically, anything you read about Ours' Jimmy Gnecco and his hyper-dramatic, octave-obliterating falsetto will mention Jeff Buckley within three sentences. (If you're keeping score at home, we couldn't make it further than the first.) Although Gnecco initiated Ours two years before his friend Buckley unveiled Grace, Gnecco's vocal and physical resemblance to the late songwriter created an unfair comparison for the band to live up to. While Gnecco struggled to maintain creative control with Ours' DreamWorks releases (2001's Distorted Lullabies and 2002's Precious), newfound freedom with producer Rick Rubin allowed the band to make Mercy the album they always wanted to make--which doesn't sound too discernibly different from the albums they didn't. While Precious restrained Gnecco's sprawling vocal range into straight-ahead rock, most of Mercy would fit neatly onto Lullabies, featuring vast, atmospheric forays into glam-inspired theatrics ("Live Again") tempered with driving, Eastern-inspired undercurrents ("Murder"). It's easily the most even entry into the Ours oeuvre, each song layered to the brim with an amalgam of anthemic, U2 arena rock and Dredg-like modern prog. Although the album lacks a certain urgency and the lyrics fall short of poetry, for better or worse, it's entirely possible Mercy would thrive in a world without Grace. (AMERICAN) Tim Karan

ROCKS LIKE:
Jeff Buckley's Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk
U2's Achtung Baby
Vast's Nude

IN-STORE SESSION WITH FRONTMAN JIMMY GNECCO

You weren't completely happy with the way your first two albums turned out. Is Mercy what you intended to create when you signed a decade ago?
Completely. Distorted Lullabies turned into something different than we set out to do, and Precious was done really quickly. But with this one, we went back to some of our songs from the early '90s and reworked them just to get in touch with the sound we originally had back then.

Why revisit early material now?
It was unsettling and discouraging for me to carry around all of these great songs that we never got to do anything with. When we started working with [producer] Rick Rubin, he said, "I loved the way you guys sounded [before you signed], and that's the kind of record you should make."

Your own press release says you're "perceived as uncompromising and difficult." Did that attitude come in handy with Mercy?
I think so. I wanted this to be the definitive Ours record. If you're working with me and committed to making something natural, then we won't have a problem. If something feels unnatural, I'll say, "No." In the eyes of a lot of people, that makes me difficult. But if you ask any of the producers I've worked with, they'll say, "He just knows what he wants."

What did you want for Mercy?
I wanted the arrangements to feel open with a meditative feel to them. I wanted a certain drum sound. Years ago, we used these multiple grooves with two drum kits simultaneously. We touched on that with "Fallen Souls" on [Distorted Lullabies], but we never got to take it where we wanted. With Mercy, I wanted the drums to have this earthy, primal feel--songs that people could just get lost in.

You were friends with Jeff Buckley. How do you respond to people who accuse you of adopting his sound and image?
It's sad because I've done everything I could not to do that. My path was carved before anybody became aware of Jeff. I got to know him maybe eight months before he died. I really loved him. I was thrilled he was doing what we both set out to do--combining soul music with rock that comes from the hip like Led Zeppelin and droning things like Indian music. I felt like I was looking into a mirror. I was excited because he validated everything I wanted to do, but it was bittersweet because I knew that nobody would be able to say "Ours" without mentioning him because he broke before we did. I've had to embrace that comparisons to Jeff will just always exist. --Tim Karan


Official Website: http://www.americanrecordings.com


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