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My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
SYFFAL Roundtable Record Reviews
The Roundtable is our semi-weekly group analysis of albums from the past that are considered classics, colossal flops, or controversial for one reason or another. This week we are reviewing the landmark shoegaze album Loveless from the Irish band My Bloody Valentine.
Loveless while remaining somewhere in the middle of commercial success landscape has been heralded by critics as a breakthrough album which has been featured on numerous best of the 1990s and greatest of all time lists. While many critics found the bands live show to be antagonistic at best and shit at worst, it does little to affect the perception that it is the most important album in the genre and one of the most important in general. Loveless has throngs of fans including some of the music’s most luminary artists. Artist from Brian Eno, to Robert Smith, to Billy Corgan, to Trent Reznor, to Trey Anastasio to Robert Pollard; they all hold this project in the highest regard and were blown away by it.
History has been kind to the project and the band, when for all intents and purposes Kevin Shields, the bands lead vocalist, lead guitarist and primary song writers seems to be a monumental dick. Breaking new barriers in sonic production in guitar based rock. Loveless will remain a classic in the minds of many. See how it holds up with our panel.
Brendan - Loveless
Album Rating:
Brendan Ryan
What's the best track and why?
Loomer. It's so goddamn noisy that it never gets stuck in your head. Every time you hear it it's like the first time. An auditory deflowering, if you will.
I recommend listening to this record while...
Your girlfriend is yelling at you for something you did wrong, because you won't be able to hear a word she says. Or screams.
While I listened to this record, I pictured...
The tops of my shoes.
Anything else to add?
The iconic shoegaze album, a genre that has seeped in to the alternative music culture more than anybody ever thought it would. This is a rare case of an important record that's a great listen and not just something music nerds hold dear because they love it and no one else does.
Roy - Loveless
Album Rating:
Roy Wyeth Jr.
What's the best track and why?
Loomer.. because it can still make my brain feel better.
I recommend listening to this record while...
Sitting outdoors on an 85 degree day with minimal clothing & headphones cranked, completely stoned.
While I listened to this record, I pictured...
Sun rays obscuring bikini bottoms while slowly swimming underwater, completely stoned.
Anything else to add?
Yeah, so that's what I used to use this album for... passing time alone outdoors while stoned. Whether at an apartment pool, the water parks we'd frequent over long summers with nothing to do, or even in my parents backyard hammock in high school. I'd have given Loveless a solid 8.5 rating back then, but now it seems a little too out of touch... or maybe it just saddens me that such specific images are already memories half forgotten.
Tim - Loveless
Album Rating:
Tim Baker
What's the best track and why?
I absolutely hated this, I only made it four tracks deep before having to change it and go to another album. So the best track was the one on the other album washed the taste of this albums stale ass out of my earholes.
I recommend listening to this record while...
Torturing someone or yourself. Did I mention that this album SUCKS!!!!!!!
While I listened to this record, I pictured...
I pictured myself at a boxed wine party at Bard College. The party sucked, it was cold and rainy and my feet were soaked.
Anything else to add?
I gave this album one star only because zero stars or negative stars were not an option made available to me.
Dick - Loveless
Album Rating:
Dick Richardson
What's the best track and why?
When You Sleep - The tune instantly got stuck in my head after a single listening. I found it to be the least drone-y and, as a result, most remarkable.
I recommend listening to this record while...
Driving to/from the beach with your windows down and cheap beer spilled on your shorts. I can imagine it providing a pleasant background to conversation while performing said activity.
While I listened to this record, I pictured...
Playing the SNES title Earthbound while clothed in adult-sized footed pajamas. The room has cream-colored walls with skylights. To your right is a ceramic bowl containing yellow Starburst candies.
Anything else to add?
I did enjoy a lot of the aesthetics this album had to offer, but at times things felt outright disjointed and repetitive. My appreciation likely would've been increased ten-fold had I experienced it within the context of the year in which it was released. Something tells me the sound engineers involved had intended for a wad if stained flannel to be placed in front of both speakers for optimal acoustic conditioning.
Ted - Loveless
Album Rating:
Ted Singer
What's the best track and why?
I've got a few that consistently rise above the tide; Only Shallow, I Only Said and Come in Alone. I tend to like the more melodic and less soundscapey tracks even though I understand those walls of sound are what make the album so influential.
I recommend listening to this record while...
Inhaling nitrous
While I listened to this record, I pictured...
The Smashing Pumpkins. Although the Pumpkins were established when this record came out, it is clear that Billy Corgan listened to it and was inspired because he hired one of Loveless' primary producers, Alan Moulder, to produce "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". Smart move by Corgan as who, but rock snobs, were aware of My Bloody Valentine when this record came out? Like any genre defining album, it sounds like a lot of stuff that came after it.
Anything else to add?
This record is considered a landmark "Shoegaze" album which reminds me how much I like the taxonomy of musical movements. While shoegaze got its name from the observation that many of the bands just played intently and eschewed stage antics ("they're just up there playing and looking at their shoes"), one of the sonic hallmarks was a wall of sound led by heavily distorted guitars and the vocals blending into the mix. That really stuck out to me as I listened to this record, the vocals were truly just another sound in the overall soup.
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