m b v

I found myself continuously asking “is this song done yet?” And it never was. It never was.

n v g

At one point I thought I heard something interesting but it turned out it was the theme to 30 Rock that my wife was watching in the next room.

A dude testing out all of the guitar effects in a music store AT THE SAME TIME, and insisting that his rather-be-ANYWHERE-else girlfriends sings along.

I can hardly justify whi this album is included in this list when their two previous albums are already featured. It's a good album, but it brings absolutely nothing new to their sound. To me this was a diminishing return and I'm sure there are far more deserving albums that could have been representend in the book instead of this one.

The first album to make me go back and change a rating. That is damn significant.

An entirely miserable experience. Droney vocals. Droney sound. Awful. Low hum throughout like the neighbours doing his grass

It was like listening at noise rock, shoegaze, electro, indie pop and lofi stuff at the same time. I loved the general feeling that emerges from this record. I will definitely listen to it again.

01/09/2022 my bloody valentine – m b v 4.5/5 This album genre, shoegaze (or ambient music for metalheads); is the definition of music that grows on you with every listen. It has so many layers that you always discover something new. That is one of the reasons why I don’t think I can review this album probably with only 2 or 3 listenings. But one thing is for sure, I like it quite a lot; and I’m going to listen to it more.

Got this all cued up to listen on a drive and when it starts I’m like “oh dang my cord is shredded or it’s not connected right to the car stereo.” Nope I learned that My Bloody Valentine is basically an irritating background din with grinding guitars sometimes over lyrics I can’t really hear. Nope

Nothing new they did could ever beat Loveless but this is a decent attempt.

I feel like this year I finally get 90s music. This is awesome (though, I do agree it makes a bit more sense in the context of a 1997 release). 3.75

Listened to 2 songs and my eyeballs fell out

The fractured, matured sister to Loveless - while the latter has more tracks that I outright enjoy, something within me says that this LP is better in some holistic way. The disjointed grouping of ideas and sometimes rambling nature of the tracks makes that a hard sell, I know, but even in the more abstract, experimental final third of the album there's a complete sense of artistic freedom and creativity that's rare to experience in situ. The opening three songs are by far the band's best production-wise, and 'who sees you' is perhaps the most primal, evocative collection of sounds I can think of (like a melody ripping itself into existence from the sonic vacuum). The lows may be low, but the highs present a band so completely focused on a creative vision and singular sound that they changed the guitar's instrumental trajectory /again/ for an entirely new generation of listeners.

This is what I would imagine that satellites would play to each other as music. Sadly, I’m not very extra-terrestrial.

Cheers. Sons crying.

If you want to listen to 45 minutes of a dude playing with an effects pedal while people moan incoherently, this is the album for you.

You know that feeling in your dreams when you're stuck in mud and you can't seem to get anywhere? That's this. Best Tracks: Only Tomorrow; In Another Way; Nothing Is

I like it, second time I listen to it and I will listen to it again. Not sure if I like the noise genre yet...

was excited to hear this, unfortunately it's nothing special. Sounds unfinished in parts, as the mix goes in and out. Shame, I really try to like MBV as Kevin Shields is such a good dude, but they always disappoint me somewhat

A pile of noise, sometimes pleasant and organized.

My Bloody Valentine? More like My Boring Valentine (got'em). I don't get it - they just drone on and on with the same melodies song in and song out, minimal singing and the parts they do sing it's more like background noise. Not even impressive guitar playing or anything, almost like garage band level of music. 4/10.

I don't have time to type this but 5/5 for sure

Melodic and haunting, this is low key a solid LP. All the hallmarks of an indy album, which for me is what makes this great, its doesnt feel over produced, but its an actual indy sounding LP.

A detailed dossier of the time my wife and I both shat on a dead body.

A proper successor to the masterpiece of Loveless that evolves into something that seems both very natural to mbv's style and completely foreign and exciting. We start off with some nostalgic, calming ethereal tracks that seem like outtakes to Loveless. Shoegaze fans will immediately fall in love with the 3 fuzzy openers. "only tomorrow" is the most accessible song on the album, definitely something I'd recommend to someone getting into noise pop. Gives me goosebumps, especially during the solo. I love the whispery vocals that add another layer to the hazy cloud of noise. I also love when the sound appears to go in the wrong direction (your ears can tell it's off) but is swayed back to rhythm intentionally. You can tell they perfected each song... and it turns they did over nearly two decades. The songs are long and dramatic, taking you so many places that when they cut off, it takes you completely by surprise, out of the trance they put you in. The 4th song "is this and yes" takes you in a new direction: a lot cleaner with just two layers of synths, Butcher's grunts, and a very distant drumming pattern. My personal favorite is "if i am", a more hopeful and happier track, reminds me of Cocteau Twins actually. "new you" is another favorite, with the intro giving me goosebumps and putting a smile on my face. I absolutely love that transition at the minute mark from the swirly opener to the clear verse. Another noise-pop masterpiece you just wouldn't hear in their previous works. The last third takes a very dramatic shift into the avant-garde with no forewarning as "in another way" cuts into the music out of nowhere. It's fast-paced and could induce feelings of anxiety, but is still just as controlled and beautiful as the rest of the album. There's something nostalgic about the string-like instrumentals between verses; reminds me of PS2-era soundtracks I think. The next track "nothing is" is the most abrasive: characterized by a seemingly neverending second-long loop of the same drum beats and riffs. Finally, the closer "wonder 2" is another fairly abrasive and anxiety-inducing track, although this one returns to the pop roots of the earlier tracks with the melodic and energetic singing and riffs behind all the chaos, before the vocals fade away and the rambunctious noise completely takes over, slowly and silently dying down to a satisfying conclusion. I've been giving a lot of 5 stars lately, but I can't help but have this one join the club too. I'm a bit indifferent because I'd want to play this album for its warm and soothing feelings, but it strays away from that in the last third, and I'd just have to be careful about playing the whole thing. They're all fantastic songs, even the weird, unsettling "nothing is." But nevertheless, it's an incredible listen that leaves the shoegaze fan satisfied.

Phew. OK. This was a nice surprise. My first thought was "ugh, only 9 albums in and I'm going to have to cut my ears off". In my head 'My Bloody Valentine' equals 'Bullet for my valentine' which turns out actually means I thought 'My Chemical Romance'. 'm b v' is none of that. It's a gloriously wonky, fuzzy, buzzy stream of noise that I can fully get behind. I'm not sure what I would classify it as. It reminds me more of trip-hoppy Bristolian stuff. But punkier. And also more ethereal. Really pleased to have discovered it.

Christ, this is ten years old already?! I was quite excited about it at the time, but now all that sticks is the jungle song and this exquisite burst of feedback on the second track, a squall that’s up there with the one that opens the second guitar solo in the live version of ‘What Goes On’ on the Peel Slowly box set, an electronic creak so delightful that it automatically makes the entire record worthwhile. How does Kevin Shields write such instantly forgettable song titles? It’s a genuine gift that he honed over the course of MBV’s career - Isn’t Anything actually has quite a few memorable titles, Loveless less so, though Only Shallow, Loomer and Soon have some stick, but m b v smashes it, with only wonder 2 still lingering in memory. I’m sure Kevin’s trolling us with the “2” there… I shall listen to the album now. It’s further move towards mood and timbre works, though there are tunes here. Second track (only tomorrow, had to look it up) does a nifty trick in using a stuttering guitar effect to compose the main motif, a wet dream for psychedelic gear heads - nice one, Kevlar! The delightful feedback squall is around 1:56, if anyone wants to look it up… MBV attracts obsessives, who radiated a field of rumour and random facts around them such that if you read the UK music press in the 90s you’d absorb stuff from, even as a casual MBV-liker. What’s nice about this album is that it came out utterly unannounced maybe a decade after most had stopped caring about this myth of an album, no fanfare, and sounded exactly like them, and even had a jungle track throwing back to that week or so when quite a few people got excited for a week when they heard MBV had a jungle-album oven-ready in 1996 or so. Heck, I was excited. It’s a pretty good album! I doubt I’ll listen to it more than once every few years, but I’d say the same about Loveless. Aside: two of my favourite tracks by Kevin Shields are the result of him dicking around with other bands’s work to create chaos - his mbvarkestra remix of Primal Scream’s “If they move, kill ‘em” and Mogwai’s “Fear Satan”. I wish he’d display more freedom with his own band’s work, MBV free jazz.

Gostei bastante porque esse estilo já faz parte do meu repertório. Achei bem diferentão a forma como eles executam as músicas, o que me deixou bastante animada. Gostei.

Muito barulho por nada.

A follow up album to Loveless was an impossible task. It is so sui generis that it created a subgenre within shoegaze that still reverberates today.

Straight noise

I don’t get it

I like me some shoegaze, but this ain't my taste...

I’m sorry but this shit sucks lol

Ethereal music, not horrible, but actually forgot I was listening to it at one point.

This doesn't reach the threshold, what a bloody crap.

Couldn’t stand the singing. I kept waiting for music to play and all I got was random noises.

- This never ends. It's like the same song over and over. - Probably met it in the wrong moment of my life.

I'm fine with the fact they feel the need to do this, but please can they please fuck off somewhere else to do it.

Okay, so there's unique sound here. That said, "unique" does not necessarily imply "good". In this particular case, affairs are borderline unlistenable.

This is appalling.. "nothing is" - legit, is this stuck in the groove? Dismal, almost unlistenable. The absolute best thing one can say of this is that the relief one feels when it stops is extremely welcome.

At least now I can honestly say that I know why this album was voted off the island. This thing is BRUTAL. I never asked for a shoegaze birthday, but the algorithm dug deep into the discard pile to deliver what's possibly the worst of the genre. Let's stop saying Shoegaze by the way. And Yacht Rock for that matter.

It sounds as if the band is even bored by these songs.

Terrible

1/5 Yeah, I’m not finishing this.

Not for me, I respect the experimental style but some of these songs are a great reminder that—> random noises != music

Noisy, muddled and often unlistenable (e.g. "who sees you"), this is another one of those albums that seems to be the list simply because the band is from the UK. It is difficult to understand the vocals as the lead singer mumbles his way through the songs. "is this and yes" is another example of how awful things get. It's like one of those songs that the free streaming channels play on show breaks because they can't get anyone to advertise with them. Don't get me wrong, I love guitars and fuzz pedals but this was too much much fuzz. Even the vocals are fuzzy. Why so much fuzz? I couldn't wait for the album to end but it did. It was terrible.

Rubbish. Moaning and noise

Indescribably boring. This genre as a whole completely flies in the face of what I find fun and engaging when it comes to listening to music. Interesting production, stylistic diversity, instrumental virtuosity, lyrical depth. All of which are not present here. If the goal of this type of music is to put you into a boredom induced sleep, mission achieved. I will never revisit another MBV album in my life. My bloody waste of time.

It's not enough to be making a different sound - it's still got be pleasant, so that people will want to listen to it. This is horrible and I don't want to hear it. I think there might be some reasonable melodies in there somewhere, but it's just lost in the wall of noise. I know some people think it's great, but I'm never going to be one of them. I don't care if it's 'art' - it sounds awful, so it isn't music.

I've never liked Shoegaze music and this album is a prime example of why... its murky, noisy, muddy sounding and headache inducing.

Everyone likes a little bit of experimental sounds to be in their rock, but some people like it in smaller doses. This listener is the latter. Moments later a person may wonder why they are easily offended or short-tempered and this album likely caused it. Perhaps there is a mood conducive to both enjoying the melodically pleasing songs and not feel offensively interrupted by the seemingly deliberate out of tune elements. Maybe this is the price humanity pays for art it does not want.

I had heard the name of the band but never heard their music, which is unlike anything else I’ve heard. I looked up all the lyrics on genius.com, and the only comment on any of the songs could have been a comment on all the songs — every line is “wonderfully cryptic.”

Hypnotizing and fascinating. Similar to one of my favorite bands, Slowdive and 4AD label groups. Real find.

Such a large shadow was cast on My Bloody Valentine in the years following Loveless that it became all the more plausible that no new music would ever come from them again. Now that m b v has past its ten year threshold, it can be safely said that, no matter how close we may appear to be, the large shadow appears to be in the shape of this album than the one that preceded them. For m b v is not just a continuation of what Loveless achieved, it is also a markedly decisive evolution of their sound, incorporating spacy ambiance, sudden stops and instrumental passages that pulverize and leaves one asking for more. For an album whose anticipation was greater than expected, the wait was rather worth it.

Superb album that gives the lie to the idea that records after long hiatus are never good. This is excellent. Such a lush and glorious sound. It's not quite as good as Loveless, but MBV albums are so rare that doesn't matter. Finishes off with a wonderful cacophony as well.

Two decades to make this album and it's pretty great. Hope we get another before 2033.

I have only ever heard 'when you sleep' from 'loveless' before. I love that song so I'm expecting good things. The first song clearly demonstrates that this album is still shoegaze, like 'loveless' 22 years before. However, the more I listen, it sounds like it was influenced by... pop. Specifically electropop, with loops. Not what I was expecting on the second half, from 'if i [sic] am' until the end. In fact, 'nothing is' is a rave track and no-one can tell me otherwise. I can understand the lead singer better on this album, which is positive. I'm thinking an 8 or a 9 out of 10. 'new you' was probably my favourite, but none, including that one, really stood out. Nevertheless, I loved the overall cohesive sound so I'll give it a 9/10. I will listen again.

mbv! I’m a fan and always have been. This record could have been a huge risk as Loveless was a milestone record for the band and the genre. The wait certainly paid off and this album, while just shy of the greatness of Loveless, is excellent.

Mmm cozy warm musical blanket.

To me this is still the "new" MBV album that I had not got around to listen to, but then I discovered it is already eleven years old. In any case, I listened to it today multiple times. It is excellent and contains both accessible and less accessible songs (towards the end). I liked all of them, and this is a 5* album. To compare: the previous two MBV albums are 10/10 (made more impact and have a bit stronger songs) whereas I would give this one 9/10.

wow so atmospheric

My Bloody Valentine took over two decades to follow their masterpiece, 'Loveless.' It was well worth it. m b v treads familiar ground, but infuses it with a thoughtfulness and more adept touch. The electronic elements are well placed among the drones and noise, and the androgynous vocals flit in and out throughout the music. m b v may not be as groundbreaking as Loveless, but it is still incredibly beautiful and a worthy addition to the discography.

Amazing rainy day album, sounds so familiar tho I’ve never heard of them. Rock/indie vibes. Something unsettling, yet so comforting that’s created in this album. Lots of dissonance which you don’t get to hear much and is also very hard to do properly. It’s the stuff that tickles your brain in all the right wrong-ways. I think I like it extra cause I love sci-fi movies and a lot of the great ones from recently feature music similar to this. Type of dystopian feel

So so so good

Oneirically unhinged! Love the otherness of this, the changes in pitch and tempo that you make you think either the music is fucked, or your head is. Pretty sure I saw them on the tour promoting this album, and I think it was maybe the single loudest gig I've ever been to - louder than any metal band I've seen. Just an ego-obliterating wash of vibration. 🤘 Fave track - "New You", but this is an album album.

I adore this band so much you have no idea

I am not super familiar with MBV but when I think of them, I think of soft grunge which is probably not too far off. But with this project, it seemed a lot more trance and electronic. I really liked how those two sounds blend together on this record. Not a single skip for me, perfect atmosphere to chill and do some work with. I seriously kept coming back to this, officially a mbv FAN

Any follow-up to the flawless Loveless was going to be a daunting effort with impossible expectations. That the follow-up took 20+ years only adds to those expectations. Despite all of that m b v landed as a great third record from My Bloody Valentine. It has everything you'd expect from the band. It doesn't ascend to the impossible heights of Loveless but it's still a phenomenal album and a great companion listen to their previous masterpiece.

This album is like a long weekend with nothing to do but by Saturday morning, you've gotten lost in something completely gluttonous and consuming and just give in. This is yours, you keep it all to yourself and quietly decide this is how you're going to spend the next three days ... getting lost in the drone-y feedback and static abyss.

I wasn't sure how much I would like this album at first but I think by the time it got to who sees you I really got into it. It's best to not think too much and just crank the volume, sit back and chill. The final song is fantastic and it gets so pleasantly loud. I listened to it a 2nd time right after. Score: 90 Art: 60

The shoegaze GOATs. Honestly this album may even beat out Loveless for me. I can’t believe it really happened still.

This is an album I have been dragging my heels on for nearly 10 years. I have no reason to have done so. I love Loveless. I knew MBV hadn’t made an album in a lifetime. I knew this album was getting rave reviews and appearing on year-end best of lists. What was I listening to instead in 2013? Mostly Foster the People, Naked and Famous and Two Door Cinema Club. I should have been listening to this, just vibe out to it in my old basement apartment. My Bloody Valentine I started listening to in my early 20s. I was in my third, maybe fourth year of university and while already a scholar of Britpop, I started digging deeper into some of the other bands that preceded the 90s boom. I loved those Ride albums. I love only Just Like Honey by the Jesus and Mary Chain(I cannot with the rest of their catalogue. I’m likely going to have to face Psychocandy at some point on this list). Even the revivalists Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. But the top is My Bloody Valentine and that album Loveless. I got into MBV most of all because their music weirdly sounded like music from Final Fantasy 7 (also had references with in game billboards) which I had been obsessed with 10 years earlier. I had also seen Lost in Translation during this period of my life and after that how could you not live shoegaze music. MBV (the album) sounds like a companion piece to Loveless. It still has that beautiful noise-pop sound going on and still manages to have catchy songs even though there is nearly always a wall of sound coming at you at all times. The winners here are she found out and only tomorrow. Truly wild that this group makes one of the best albums of all time, make everyone of their contemporaries look like musical morons, their record label drops them because they spent too much money, then come back nearly 20 years later and pitch a perfect game. I listened to this today while I mowed my lawn. I now have to schedule time when I can just lay on the floor, put this on an iPod, completely vibe out and become 24 again

So great. What a comeback

Love this! Soft, whispering, pretty, melodic vocals backed by layers of fuzzy distortion and trance-like rhythms. A sweet spot of aggressive rock and alternative noise, which MBV influenced and perfected!

Un incontournable du shoegaze période 5eme république. Un bruit d’aspirateur en fin de vie pour certains, le cri d’une armée de angsty teenagers pour d’autres.

10/10 wow, MBVs discography is so good I guess all I have left to hear is Isn’t Anything

Crossing one off the backlog with this listen. Very enjoyable experience, great comeback album that you can easily get lost in. Heavier and more distorted than their earlier efforts, in the best way. The song nothing is was an anomaly - I listened multiple times and just can't wrap my head around it.

I love the ethereal fuzz of MY Bloody Valentine so much. This is my 3rd album of theirs on this list, and they absolutely grow in my estimation each and every time. This rating is really for the band overall, I'm not sure if this individual album is truly their best. I'll need to revisit it over the rest of my life!

Gwah

There is no mistaking a mbv record

Imagine putting out a literal masterpiece and then having the task of creating something to come after it. Now, m b v is no loveless, but it’s still really fucking good and definitely holds its own! Love it.

Loved this!! Really dig the sludgy fuzzed out vibe, fav song was who sees you. Def gonna keep this on rotation and check out more of their stuff

Mbv I had them mixed up with My Chemical Romance- so I was really surprised. Was not expecting noisey, textural art rock. Probably the best of this kind of stuff we’ve had so far. I love the super saturated fuzzed out sound on the first few tunes. After a while I kind of need a break dynamically or texturally. Some of this is pretty challenging like the repetitive broken record thing that happens. Cool to have a repetitive trance inducing thing but still pretty challenging. I like the 2nd half of the album and cool how the sound changes throughout kept surprising me. Last song I think “Wonder 2” was my favorite. Something about the busy drums with the swelly guitars reminded me of tales of topographic oceans. Pretty crazy how it was recorded over 13 years. Kind of interesting how it can sound drastically different and consistent at same time. tough one to rate. Some of it is so great but also challenging enough that I probably won’t always want to listen throughout. 5

Nice change of pace

I feel like I’m gonna be in the minority here but I loved this album. Only tomorrow especially at the end was great. Love all the percussion in who sees you. Nothing is could be edited down but that’s my only complaint. I would listen to this album over and over again and feel like I would like new things.

Surpreendente a beleza sonora desse álbum. Realmente entregaram uma experiência auditiva carregada de camadas sonoras e principalmente pelas guitarras distorcidas.

i hadn't given this album a real shot before this - i kinda thought it would be mediocre, but it was pretty damn good. not on the level of loveless of course but still great. it's kinda difficult for me to rate shoegaze albums because as long as the album is good I kind just sink into the feeling but I think a five is in order.

Didn't know this was on the list! I mostly consider this a slightly different and slightly less good album than Loveless. I'd guess I listen to Loveless 10-15 times for every listen of m b v on average? That said... I always feel surprised by this one when I listen to it. I do feel it holds up better than Isn't Anything. Better than Ride - Nowhere for sure. Less good than Slowdive - Slowdive if we're talking shoegaze reunion albums. Certainly less good than Slowdive - Souvlaki. So once again I find myself comparing an album to some of my favorites of all time, deciding whether it's a 4 or a 5. ...And it's definitely a 5. I guess it's more like a 4.5 rounded up, but... No way I'm giving this the same rating as Nowhere lol. It's shoegaze, the production is fucking wild and beautiful... Doesn't hurt I saw them live on this tour. I love it. How about a 4.85? That feels right.

my brain today is very well reflected by the sounds that come from this album.

Gr8 innit

I really enjoyed this album. "Soundscape album" bucket. Very high distortion, very high reverb, dreamy and dissonant.

good but not my style

cool

Sure it can't really compete with 'Loveless' but what can. Nobody does it like My Bloody Valentine does, so even if this isn't their best, the deafening wall of sound that masks those sweet pop songs hiding underneath is still worth a 5 to me. Over the course of this album i found myself increasing the volume steadily throughout, until I finished it at about twice the volume I started it on.

Letting this wash over me like a wave of fuzzy distorted endorphins. Fantastic stuff. (Loveless is even better).

It’s like the Platonic ideal of an MBV album without being cartoonish or self-caricature.

I expected to hate this but I think I love it. I love the dense sound bed created by the guitars, together with the unrelenting beat. The mysterious, reverby vocals and the surf guitar licks are the perfect icing on top.

So delighted when I got to the end of a long, stressful day and discovered the album was mbv. I know this album back to back anyway, but always enjoy listening again. So beautiful and warm. It has my fave song on there 'who sees you'. I love how their songs build and build. Its a 5 star