Album: Loveless
Artist: My Bloody Valentine
Artist: My Bloody Valentine
Born: Dublin
Released: November 1991
Genre: Shoegaze
Isn't Anything took a while to reveal its beauty to me, but with Loveless it was instant. This is one of my favourite guitar albums across all genres, not just shoegaze. This is mainly thanks to the musical vision of Kevin Shields, but also the album's high production values. Although the exact figure is disputed, Creation Records spent a significant sum of money to help My Bloody Valentine achieve their goals, employing a small army of engineers in order to perfect the album's uniquely rich sound. Opener, Only Shallow, makes for a glorious start to the LP and immediately the listener is immersed in MBV's deep waters of guitar vibrato and sampled drum loops. This is one of four songs on the LP co-written by Bilinda Butcher and Kevin Shields, and Butcher's angelic, barely audible vocals add to the dreamy atmosphere ("Speak your troubles / she's not scared / soft like there's silk / everywhere"). Just as MBV decided to open the album with one of its strongest songs, they also decided to close it with Soon, which is nothing short of a masterpiece. Soon is very much of its times, with the acid house dance beat that kicks the song off, but Shield's distinctive glide guitar sound comes to dominate entirely. The music video below is only half as long as the album version, and also has a richer sound than the version of Soon that appeared on the Glider EP in April 1990.
Brian Eno was in awe of the album, especially Soon, saying that the song "set a new standard for pop. It's the vaguest music ever to have been a hit." So many bands in the 1990s tried to replicate this innovative new guitar sound, but nobody really came close. Perhaps one of the most lasting legacies of Loveless was the textured guitar sound of Radiohead, who also pushed forward in new directions. Of the many highlights on the record, some of my favourites (along with Soon and Only Shallow) are To Here Knows When, I Only Said and Blown A Wish. Shields invested everything he had into this album, and stretched his label to the limit in the process, to the extent that MBV and Creation Records parted ways after Loveless' release. The band continued to work, with Shields even apparently dabbling in jungle music inspired by his time living in south London (I would love to hear the results, but it's not certain that these tracks will ever see the light of day). After 22 years, MBV did finally release a third LP, m b v, in early 2013 and the results were superb, while also an evolution away from Loveless. For me though, this record remains their greatest achievement and one of the best albums of the 90s.
Isn't Anything took a while to reveal its beauty to me, but with Loveless it was instant. This is one of my favourite guitar albums across all genres, not just shoegaze. This is mainly thanks to the musical vision of Kevin Shields, but also the album's high production values. Although the exact figure is disputed, Creation Records spent a significant sum of money to help My Bloody Valentine achieve their goals, employing a small army of engineers in order to perfect the album's uniquely rich sound. Opener, Only Shallow, makes for a glorious start to the LP and immediately the listener is immersed in MBV's deep waters of guitar vibrato and sampled drum loops. This is one of four songs on the LP co-written by Bilinda Butcher and Kevin Shields, and Butcher's angelic, barely audible vocals add to the dreamy atmosphere ("Speak your troubles / she's not scared / soft like there's silk / everywhere"). Just as MBV decided to open the album with one of its strongest songs, they also decided to close it with Soon, which is nothing short of a masterpiece. Soon is very much of its times, with the acid house dance beat that kicks the song off, but Shield's distinctive glide guitar sound comes to dominate entirely. The music video below is only half as long as the album version, and also has a richer sound than the version of Soon that appeared on the Glider EP in April 1990.
Brian Eno was in awe of the album, especially Soon, saying that the song "set a new standard for pop. It's the vaguest music ever to have been a hit." So many bands in the 1990s tried to replicate this innovative new guitar sound, but nobody really came close. Perhaps one of the most lasting legacies of Loveless was the textured guitar sound of Radiohead, who also pushed forward in new directions. Of the many highlights on the record, some of my favourites (along with Soon and Only Shallow) are To Here Knows When, I Only Said and Blown A Wish. Shields invested everything he had into this album, and stretched his label to the limit in the process, to the extent that MBV and Creation Records parted ways after Loveless' release. The band continued to work, with Shields even apparently dabbling in jungle music inspired by his time living in south London (I would love to hear the results, but it's not certain that these tracks will ever see the light of day). After 22 years, MBV did finally release a third LP, m b v, in early 2013 and the results were superb, while also an evolution away from Loveless. For me though, this record remains their greatest achievement and one of the best albums of the 90s.
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