Recorded at Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California on December 11, 1992.

Audio Mixer: Tchad Blake.

Recording information: Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, CA (12/11/1992).

Photographers: Ralf Strathmann; Bobby Neale Adams .

Unknown Contributor Roles: Dan Pearson; Mark Eitzel; American Music Club; Tim Mooney; Vudi; Bruce Kaphan.

Leave it to American Music Club to make their major-label bow with the most perversely idiosyncratic record in their catalog. Produced with eccentric panache by Mitchell Froom, Mercury spotlights the band at their darkest and most eclectic, favoring odd rhythms, bizarre effects, and extreme arrangements ranging from the synthetic lounge grandeur of the worshipful "Johnny Mathis' Feet" to the swirling sonic maelstrom of the fatalistic "Challenger." Under the cover of defense-mechanism titles like "What Godzilla Said to God When His Name Wasn't Found in the Book of Life," "If I Had a Hammer" and "The Hopes of Dreams of Heaven's 10,000 Whores," Mark Eitzel paints some of his bleakest portraits to date; even the most superficially upbeat tracks -- "Keep Me Around," "Hollywood 4-5-92," "Over and Done" -- are relentlessly grim at their core. A triumph of abject misery. ~ Jason Ankeny

On their major-label debut, American Music Club continues to mine despair from Mark Eitzel's heart, and the results are captivating. Mitchell Froom's production polishes some of their rougher edges, but Mercury is by no means an easy listen. Eitzel's songs are beautifully sad, etched with grace and elegant suffering, as well as an often overlooked self-deprecating humor. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

AMC toiled in obscurity for years, the group's albums delighting only its cult following and discerning critics. When the band's press got too good to ignore, AMC was snapped up by the majors. AMC's Reprise debut, MERCURY, failed to set the charts afire, but it continued the band's artistic progression in spades. Uber-producer Mitchell Froom makes a significant impact on the sound. The looseness of the band's earlier albums is replaced by painstakingly constructed arrangements that are idiosyncratic enough to match the band's songs, but sophisticated enough to bring the band to a new sonic level.

Singer/lyricist Mark Eitzel, never known for his positive outlook, is possibly at his bleakest here, delivering song after song detailing his disappointment, disaffection, and low self-esteem. Fortunately, the masterfully arranged songs are musically varied enough to keep things from getting bogged down. "I've Been a Mess" is something of an AMC theme song, while even Eitzel's songwriting comes under suspicion as he lays his songs down in supplication at "Johnny Mathis' Feet," as the song billows with ironically grandiose keyboards and timpani. After an album full of exotic, angular guitar and keyboard sounds, MERCURY closes with a ragged, tentatively hopeful acoustic ballad "Will You Find Me?"