Review

Here is the final draft of my review of the website;

Two decades since their latest release in 1991, shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine have finally decided to stun fans and release a remastered reissue collection containing their Creation Records back catalogue – with an EP collection, 1988’s full-length debut ‘Isn’t Anything’ and, most notably, their breakthrough album Loveless. This set has been in the making since 2004, and after years of setbacks and delays, is finally hitting shelves on 7^th May.

Since forming in Dublin in 1984, My Bloody Valentine have endured a number of image, sound and line-up changes. The band started off as a gloomy, gothic Birthday Party homage, fronted by ex-vocalist Dave Conway. Soon after, bassist Bilinda Butcher joined the band, Conway left, and the Valentines signed for Alan McGee’s Creation, drastically changing their sound from the aforementioned whimsical fuzz-punk to the blissed out, tremolo arm-bending sound the band are critically acclaimed for creating today – exemplified in their 1991 masterpiece Loveless.

Frontman Kevin Shields, when approached about what it is Loveless is attempting to achieve, often urges listeners to disregard what it is about popular music that draws them to it – whether it’s lyrics, vocal strength, typical song structures or anything else, and appreciate Loveless for what it is – a sonic soundscape, like an orchestra decked out with Fender Jazzmaster guitars documenting a dream sequence. But the album does not become lethargic, despite all of this. There are moments that grab the listener by the throat and force them onto the dancefloor all the same.

Opening with ‘Only Shallow,’ in which the guitars see-saw their way in and out of focus before settling down into clean, jangly strums and Butcher’s sleepily hazy vocals, Loveless relies heavily on this idea of blending textures, layers of soaring guitars and making instrumentation and voice indistinguishable, which it does to great effect.

Follow up ‘Loomer’ assumes the same sort of recipe; overdriven guitars in the foreground, layered in textural guitars in behind – which gives their aesthetically simple pop songs a dynamism that hasn’t been replicated since. Sure, bands have tried, with Americans Fleeting Joys’ 2006 album Despondent Transponder being branded as nothing more than a pastiche by some, but the gulf in song-writing quality, stemming from Shields’ rumoured Brian Wilson style perfectionism (Shields was declared clinically insane at one stage, and the album took two years in the studio to record, costing at least £300,000 of Creation’s funds to produce, almost bankrupting the label) is plain to see.

‘Loomer’ brings the pace of the hard-hitting opener down to a steady, yet guitar-laden lullaby. The thing with Loveless is that none of the songs are overbearingly ‘heavy,’ per se. The songs just almost use the layers of guitar to blanket the listener, making for the more upbeat songs like ‘Only Shallow’ quite a claustrophobic feeling, with nowhere to escape. The densest of songs coming in the form of ‘Touched,’ which is a short keyboard driven instrumental piece bridging ‘Loomer’ with album high point ‘To Here Knows When,’ that could almost accompany a 1950s silent cowboy film. Cinematic in one of the truest senses of the word, you have to hear it to believe it.

‘To Here Knows When,’ arguably one of the album’s defining moments, pitches Butcher’s soft vocals soaring over the gentle roar of Shields’ guitar, characteristically bending in and out of key, backed with a beat that wouldn’t be out of place in a Happy Mondays song. Before launching into ‘When You Sleep,’ which slaps the listener back into focus, there is one of a number of codas placed between each song, which helps to set Loveless apart from most of its peers. The one following ‘To Here Knows When’ is similar in atmosphere and feeling to ‘Touched,’ which really, in truth, serves as not much more than an extended coda itself.

Off the top of my head, it is difficult to really think of any other rock albums from the early 90s that try to redefine sound and structure in music in a similar way to how Loveless does. There is always talk of genre-defining records; Nirvana’s Nevermind defining grunge, The Beatles defining pop music, Elvis Presley with rock ‘n’ roll, The Stone Roses synonymous with Madchester and so forth; My Bloody Valentine sound nothing alike their ‘shoegaze’ peers – bands such as Ride, Lush, Chapterhouse – but Loveless is still regarded as the sound of the genre ‘that celebrates itself.’ Something that the band themselves weren’t too keen on.

Following on from ‘To Here Knows When,’ the album starts to take more of a grip on traditional rock music. Enter ‘When You Sleep.’ Don’t get me wrong, all of the My Bloody Valentine traits are there; Shields’ indistinguishable vocals blending with the music, the recognisable drum machine that adds to Loveless’ charm, but this time there is more of a verse/chorus/verse style dynamic. Well, not really a ‘chorus.’ More of an instrumental break­­­­­. But the thought is there.

‘When You Sleep’ ends in a crescendo of energy, culminating in yet another coda, shimmering its way into ‘I Only Said’ like the sun ducking into the ocean’s horizon. The next song maintains the energy that its predecessor musters up; the guitars bending in and out of pitch more so than ever, again creating that feeling of being blanketed by the guitars, as they blend and once again, use the same verse/instrumental break/verse structure introduced in ‘When You Sleep.’ ‘Come In Alone’ follows this surge in energy, keeping steady but hitting hard, maintaining the dissonance and swooping guitars that make the band who they are.

‘Sometimes,’ featured in Sofia Copolla’s 2003 film Lost in Translation, breaks the mould that the preceding tracks have built up; an acoustic song drowned in thick, warm feedback, defining the very heartbeat of the album, complimented by Shields’ hushed vocals. The song builds up to a climax that ends with a driving keyboard accompaniment that really sums up the diversity the album has to offer.

Culminating in ‘Soon,’ via ‘Blown a Wish’ – the album at its most airy and shimmering, and ‘What You Want’ crashing its way like waves against the shore, highlighted by more synthesized lead melodies, the album builds into what is arguably the highest point of the band’s entire output, let alone this album. Enter ‘Soon,’ a seven minute dance inspired track with a hip hop drum sample. The song starts off with guitar feedback lingering, its ghostly trails leading into a slick drum sample, before the rest of the instruments kick in. The bass line bounces chirpily before Shields’ ethereal guitar shrieks and squallers, layering the song with that signature MBV sound without detracting from its edgy and unique dance floor filling capabilities. Perfection.

The album is often accused of a high degree of studio trickery, and whilst the band strongly denies there is anything in the rumours, it’s no wonder that the average listener would make the mistake. Loveless does not sound like a cheap production by any means. It is the sound of an unstable perfectionist on the cusp of a breakdown, entranced and determined to achieve this elaborate musical vision, no matter the cost. Like Brian Wilson and Syd Barratt before him, Shields provides all of the elusiveness and mystique needed to be deemed an eccentric and reclusive genius; but Loveless definitely proves that Shields knew best.