Loveless

To simply call this album the apotheosis of the shoegazing scene--that brief epoch of U.K. indie-rock in which bands turned away from melodic clarity and instead chased after the incendiary rapture of sheer guitar-driven noise--would be an understatement. LOVELESS is the sound of what might've happened if Brian Eno had produced DAYDREAM NATION. Or perhaps it's the thundering ambience of SISTER recorded backwards. Whatever the case, rarely has such a pristine, hypnotic record had such an ungodly amount of sonic tonnage. Opening with four quick beats from some kind of skeletal kick-drum and then proceeding through eleven gleaming movements of titanic distortion and severe melancholy, MBV's great wall of guitar architecture on this recording stands as a monument to the brilliance of its inventors. Released at roughly the same time that Nirvana birthed NEVERMIND, LOVELESS could not have been more different and yet as utterly relevant in shaping future soundscapes. A heavy, heavy record.

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.50)
- Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."

Spin (9/99, p.126)
- Ranked #16 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."

Q (10/01, p.49)
- Ranked #39 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime"

Q (12/99, p.70)
- Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."

Melody Maker (12/91)
- Ranked #7 in Melody Maker's list of the `Top 30 Albums Of 1991.'

Alternative Press (7/95, p.79)
- Ranked #14 in AP's list of the `Top 99 Of '85-'95' - "...overcame their influences and fulfilled their promise....a record at once so exhausting yet exhilarating, so beautiful yet ugly, so soothing and swirling yet chaotic and dissonant....It will alter your perception of everything music can be..."

Rolling Stone (3/5/92, p.68)
- 4 Stars - Excellent - "...guitarists Bilinda Butcher and Kevin Shields gently breathe pretty tunes into the thick, sweet waves of droning distortion....In My Bloody Valentine's magical kingdom, cacophany is the mind-altering path to beauty..."

New York Times (1/1/92)
- "...While most current rock prizes crisply articulated digital sounds and rhymes, My Bloody Valentine offers pure defiance: songs in which thickly layered guitars and nearly indecipherable voices add up to a tuneful murk, elusive but memorable..."

Q (1/92, p.71)
- 4 Stars - Very Good - "...the last word in noise-pop....amounts to a virtual reinvention of the guitar....The rock-is-dead argument could very well stop here..."

Entertainment Weekly (2/21/92, p.55)
- "...simply the most astounding-sounding album produced last year..." - Rating: A

Alternative Press (5/01, pp.90-1)
- "...One of rock's greatest, most innovative and most celebrated albums..."