Mezcal Head

Mezcal Head is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Swervedriver. It was released on 27 September 1993 by Creation Records in the United Kingdom and on 5 October 1993 by A&M Records in the United States.[3][4]

Mezcal Head
Studio album by
Swervedriver
Released27 September 1993 (1993-09-27)
Studio
  • Trident 2
  • Famous Castle
  • First Protocol
  • Splatterhouse
  • Broadwater Farm
GenreShoegazing[1], grunge[2]
Length48:58
LabelCreation
Producer
Swervedriver chronology
Raise
(1991)		 Mezcal Head
(1993)		 Ejector Seat Reservation
(1995)

Background and release

In 1993, Swervedriver re-emerged with the core of Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge, along with newly recruited drummer Jez Hindmarsh (a.k.a. "Jez"), and released Mezcal Head. The album gave them their most successful single, "Duel", which NME named its "single of the week" and for which a music video was released. Franklin and Hartridge both perform bass on the album, as they were left without a bassist when Adi Vines departed before recording began.

"Never Lose That Feeling", from the 1992 EP of the same name, and the extended krautrock/drone/saxophone instrumental "Never Learn" were added as a single bonus track to the US edition of the CD. Swervedriver toured US arenas with The Smashing Pumpkins and Shudder to Think in October and November 1993.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The A.V. ClubA[6]
Blurt8/10[7]
Entertainment WeeklyB[8]
Mojo[9]
NME8/10[10]
Pitchfork8.0/10[11]
PopMatters9/10[12]
Q[13]
Spectrum Culture4.5/5[14]

Alternative Press ranked Mezcal Head at numbers 39 and 90 on its "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s" and "Top 99 of '85–'95" lists respectively.[15][16] It was also ranked at number 265 on Spin's "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)" list.[17] Pitchfork ranked the album at number 10 on its list of "The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time" in 2016.[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Swervedriver, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."For Seeking Heat"3:48
2."Duel"6:19
3."Blowin' Cool"3:55
4."MM Abduction"2:51
5."Last Train to Satansville"6:45
6."Harry & Maggie"5:27
7."A Change Is Gonna Come"4:01
8."Girl on a Motorbike"4:09
9."Duress" (written by Marc Waterman)8:03
10."You Find It Everywhere"4:10
US edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Never Lose That Feeling/Never Learn"11:51
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Planes over the Skyline"4:41
12."Year of the Girl"5:24
2008 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Never Lose That Feeling/Never Learn" (mislabeled as "Never Lose That Feeling")11:51
12."Planes over the Skyline"5:24
13."Hitcher"3:27
14."Cars Converge on Paris"6:31

More information

The U.K. CD has "Mickey" and "Dragging It Under" printed on the CD as tracks 4 and 6. The U.S. CD has "Harry and Maggie (Dragging It Under)" printed on the CD as track 6. The U.S. promo is identical to the official release except that it has the word "PROMOTIONAL" printed on the CD. The Japanese edition comes with a biography and lyrics.[18]

The tracks Duel and Last Train to Satansville were featured in the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation and 3DO versions of the game Road Rash.

The track "Duel" was featured on the 2008 video game Burnout Paradise. "Mezcal" is censored from the song's album listing in the game due to connotations with alcoholic beverages.

Personnel

Credits for Mezcal Head adapted from liner notes.[19]

Charts
Chart (1993) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 55
gollark: It's kind of a social experiment/
gollark: Yes.
gollark: https://osmarks.tk/incdec/ <- new game.
gollark: It's chunkloaded but that never seems to work.
gollark: Well, the skynet relay is in an obscure bit of the End, you see.

References
  1. "The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time". Pitchfork. 24 October 2016. p. 5. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  2. https://www.loudersound.com/features/swervedriver-how-we-made-mezcal-head
  3. Mezcal Head (press advertisement). Creation Records. 1993. Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  4. Heim, Chris (1 October 1993). "Pipeline". Chicago Tribune.
  5. Rabid, Jack. "Mezcal Head – Swervedriver". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  6. Modell, Josh (10 February 2009). "Swervedriver: Raise / Mezcal Head". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  7. Judge, Stephen (30 March 2009). "Swervedriver – Raise + Mezcal Head [reissues]". Blurt. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  8. "Swervedriver: Mezcal Head". Entertainment Weekly. 29 October 1993. p. 74.
  9. "Swervedriver: Mezcal Head". Mojo. p. 119. [T]his Oxford quartet mixed post-Sonic Youth tuff gnarl with metal-Morricone menace, pachydermal Crazy Horse grooves and acres of billowing low-end.
  10. "Swervedriver: Mezcal Head". NME. 25 September 1993. p. 36.
  11. Tangari, Joe (2 April 2009). "Swervedriver: Raise / Mezcal Head". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  12. Bergstrom, John (5 February 2009). "Swervedriver: Raise / Mezcal Head". PopMatters. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  13. "Swervedriver: Mezcal Head". Q. No. 86. November 1993. p. 137.
  14. Spadea, Jory (26 January 2009). "Swervedriver: Raise / Mezcal Head". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  15. "Top 99 of '85–'95". Alternative Press. No. 84. July 1995. p. 104.
  16. "The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90's". Alternative Press. No. 125. December 1998.
  17. Unterberger, Andrew (11 May 2015). "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014) — 265. Swervedriver, Mezcal Head (A&M, 1993)". Spin. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  18. Swervedriver Discography Archived 2007-12-15 at the Wayback Machine
  19. Mezcal Head (liner notes). Swervedriver. Creation Records. 1993. CRECD 143.CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
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