John Cale - Mercy

An all round solid album. It might be a bit long or slow but it's very psychedelic and ethereal.

Going into this I was very sceptical about the rating of this album, as a few people have scored this album pretty high, and my initial reaction was that it sounded dull and boring as this is a style that I'm not too familiar with, so it took me a while to warm up to the sound, but when I did around halfway through the album I started to enjoy the sound a bit more and it started to click.

It's very angelic and has some really nice melodies, and the production is really good with it sounding rich and full. And there are a lot of notable features on this album such as Weyes Blood and Animal Collective who did a pretty good job. I'm not familiar with John Cale's work as a solo artist, although I've listened to a few of The Velvet Underground's albums before, but this is not a sound I'd expect from someone who played in a band like that, nor from someone who is 80 years old.

Overall though, I'd say it could be a bit shorter but it's really calming and has some great moments.