Mercy (Steve Jones album)


Mercy is a 1987 hard rock album by Steve Jones. It was the first solo album from Jones, a former member of the Sex Pistols. The single "Mercy" was used in a Miami Vice episode called "Stone's War" and was also featured on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album. The song "With You or Without You" was used in, and is on the soundtrack for, Jonathan Demme's 1986 film Something Wild. "Raining in My Heart" was originally recorded as "When Dreaming Fails", a 1985 demo with Iggy Pop which they recorded at Olivier Ferrand's home studio in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. Jones added new lyrics. Jones reflected in 2017 that he doesn't like the song "Drugs Suck", proclaiming that: "It's sounds like I'm preachy, I don't like being preachy, if people wanna get high, good, do your thing″.

Track listing

All songs by Steve Jones, except where indicated
;Side one
  1. "Mercy" – 5:04
  2. "Give It Up" – 4:55
  3. "That's Enough" – 4:05
  4. "Raining in My Heart" – 5:33
  5. "With You or Without You" – 4:29
;Side two
  2. "Pleasure and Pain" – 4:51
  3. "Pretty Baby" – 6:01
  4. "Drugs Suck" – 4:30
  5. "Through the Night" – 4:43
  6. "Love Letters" – 2:57

    Personnel

For his solo debut, Jones chose a sparse arrangement and played most instruments himself. He partners with just two drummers and a keyboardist as he "gamely sing-speaks his way through".

Production

Critic Ira Robbins notes that original punk rocker Jones "caught followers off guard" with this release. Unexpectedly, the album "allows low-key, sentimental moments – like the title track, the hopelessly sappy "Love Letters" and others – to mingle with the rock numbers".