I'm loving listening to this again. It sounds amazing.
LOVING IT
LOVING IT
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Yep and yep.
wikipedia said:it received enthusiastic reviews from critics, who praised its sonic innovations
Great post as always Scutter -I've loved listening to this again. I don't think I listened since their last album came out a couple of years back and it had even kind of gone out of my head.
I'd never consider this among my favorite albums but I do like it a lot. I came to it in the mid-90s sometime. I don't remember when exactly. It was during college, at a time when most people were listening to Green Day's Dookie, or The Bends by Radiohead. I listened to those too, but I remember getting the bus home one night, listening to Dave Fanning on the radio. He played Loveless. I recall how the song washed over me but when it finished, Fanning was gushing over it. He said it was the best song he'd ever heard, from the best album he'd ever head. In the times before social media you would tend to take notice when you hear a comment like that, from somebody like him.
I picked up a copy of the album not long after. As per what @dunderhead said, it was part of some sale offer so it didn't exactly break the bank.
Its a strange thing to listen to an album that you expect to like, that you want to like, that you know you should like, but that you don't like once you've heard it. It did absolutely nothing for me. I couldn't pick the melodies out, I couldn't make out anything lyrics-wise, there was nothing here that I'd consider 'my bag'.
2 songs started to get some traction with me after a while. 'When You Sleep' (which I'd consider to be one of my favorite songs to this day), and 'Sometimes', but the album never really sat well with me, as a whole.
I wasn't really that big into the shoegaze scene then. I'm still not, but I have listened a bit to other bands from that genre and generally would consider that I like it.
Even now I wouldn't go as far as to say the album is great. Its very good, but it relies on a couple of songs to prop the rest up IMO.
And I was a bit disappointed when I read Alan McGee's Creation Records book, about how the recording of this album was off the scales in terms of cost and Shields being a cantankerous fucker.
I looked it up on wikipedia there now to see if the details were there. 250 grand it says it cost. 250 grand in 1991.
Do I hear 250 grand's worth of production there? I'd never claim to have the most cultured ear ever, but would it have been that much different if they just played the songs live with a few effects pedals? I mean, anyone who saw their live shows recently will attest to how amazing they were.
Which sonic innovations? Is it not just some guitars and keyboards and a bit of distortion? And the vocals are so understated that I wouldn't see anything to get too excited about there.
I reckon the point I'm getting at is, though I like the album, and now that I know it a lot better than I did when I first got it, I really don't see what the fuss about it is.
It must be great to be in one of these bands that are so cool as to be beyond criticism. I don't know how bands get to achieve that kind of status. Its as if the music is so 'out there' that critics are afraid to diss it for fear of damaging their own cred.
I was a big fan of Primal Scream up until they turned absolute shite (not coincidentally, probably after Sheilds left the band). They had a song on their XTRMNTR album (their best, IMO), called 'Shoot Speed/Kill Light'. Shields' guitar playing on that is incredible. I used to blast it out in the car around the time it came out, when I'd be driving into work at about 6:30am to shake off the cobwebs. And he toured fairly extensively with them at the time too, and it was always a pleasure to see him play (understated and all as his stage presence was).
And of course he turned up on stage with Patti Smith last year too, which was a nice, unexpected treat.
Of the 2 EP gigs, I only saw the first one. I didn't fancy travelling down to Stradbally for their second show, for a fairly light looking lineup for that friday evening (was a bit sick too, if I recall correctly).
The first one was great though. I remember they came on after Grinderman and how almost nobody left the tent between the Grinderman and MBV sets. And other bands who I'd seen playing that day all came over to see them. I guess there was a lot of buzz about them, even from people who might not necessarily have been that familiar with them.
(I got me picture taken with Hercules and Love Affair just before the set!).
I remember David Kitt standing beside me singing out every word to every song (I didn't even know the songs had actual, proper words).
And it was fucking loud. Nearly blew the head off me. And it was amazing. And if it turns out to be the only time I ever get to see MBV play, so be it, at least it was amazing. One of the best things I have ever seen.
I don't think I've ever recommended this album to anyone when they ask me to suggest music to them to listen to. I was asked by someone who had heard of it, who wanted to know what I thought of it, and telling them to go-for-it, but be aware that its not the most instantly-accessible record ever.
I'd consider this comfort listening for me now. I find it very relaxing to listen to. Almost the same way I would when listening to ambient or modern classical.
I don't know when I'll listen to it again. Once in a while I'll dig it out, but it was great to have the excuse to listen to it again for the last week. I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than I ever have.
That isn't the most indepth analysis of an album that there ever was. But, based on the fact that I like it a lot, and that it contains (at least) one of the best songs I've ever heard, it gets a solid 4.5/5 from me (will round down this time though).
I did hear it in 91!I think if you would have heard this in '91 you'd be more likely to understand how different it was and why it got praised so highly in the years after.
I was only a nipperProbably depends what age you were in 91 in fairness.
that was more aimed at the people who actually said they didn't hear it til the late 90s and wondered wahat all the fuss was.I did hear it in 91!
Ditto. Can't really give it much analysis; very difficult to be objective. I gave it another blast on the bus this morning. It was never an album that was a big deal for me, but it's still sounds pretty good.Incredibly hard to be objective about this one, it is just part of the furniture at this stage. But I love it, even my paper thin shitey vinyl pressing.
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