Published on Jul 11, 1998
Here in the computer room of the Pierce Memorial Archives, I
keep a list of all the bands we’ve reviewed on “The Daily Vault,”
as well as how long it’s been since they’ve graced our pages. A
side list I keep is called “10 Missing In Action” – these are the
acts who have the longest time accumulated since their last review.
And, wouldn’t you know it, Steve Jones – the first artist to ever
be reviewed on this site – is at the top of the “Missing In Action”
list.
After digging his 1987 solo debut
Mercy out of the depths of the Archives, I remembered why it
had been buried back there so long. The album, while it has its
merits, is hardly the kind of effort you would have expected one of
the fathers of punk rock to have put out.
After a public battle with drugs which he eventually won, Jones
re-emerged on the rock scene, ready to stake his claim as one of
the genre’s premier musicians. Unfortunately, the title track of
this disc (and the first cut on the album) hardly has the goods to
back him up. Jones’s singing rarely goes above a regular croon, and
his guitar playing, while solid, is not as punchy or flashy as one
would have expected, especially considering his work with the Sex
Pistols.
And after fighting such a harrowing battle with drug addiction,
one would have expected a stronger song behind “Drugs Suck,” a song
which could almost qualify as a ballad. I will admit that since the
last time I listened to this disc before filing it (way back in
1990), I didn’t hear the background montage which seemed to serve
as the warning on the danger of drugs. Be that as it may, the
message doesn’t carry much farther than the strong title, and this
effort turns out to be a major disappointment.
Eventually, Jones does re-discover the volume knob on his Les
Paul, and the guitars have much more bite on songs like “Give It
Up” and “That’s Enough”. However, Jones’s singing still doesn’t
have the urgency that he would later capture on the follow-up
album,
Fire And Gasoline. Still, the good efforts (of which I would
have said there were none back in 1990) are definitely worthy of
the listener’s attention.
However,
Mercy is an album steeped in mediocrity, as evidenced by
songs like “Raining In My Heart” and a surprising choice of cover
songs, “Love Letters”. (Then again, former bandmate Sid Vicious
covered Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” so nothing should shock me
anymore.) These are songs that should have spent a little more time
in development to turn them into something magical and powerful.
Instead, they just kind of sit there like a lump in your
headphones.
Jones is a much better guitarist and musician than
Mercy proves, and he would eventually demonstrate his
talents before fading into the background again. While
Mercy does have some decent material on it, this one is
strictly for the fans – that is, if you can still find a copy of
this long out-of-print release.