m b v

What was this

Type of music that gets played as you get sucked into a blackhole. It's amazing. The riffs are so catchy, just covered in layers of grime. Deserves all the hype. Is this and yes arrives perfectly to break up the heavy sound, it's light and beautiful.

I get why this gets a lot of hate - shoegaze is probably one of my most acquired tastes - but there's real talent here and the chords under all the distortion are very good. Sometimes they get lost in the sauce but I enjoyed it as a whole. Highlights: Who Sees You, If I Am

1/51/5

boring

My Bloody Valentine MBV 1* Third My Bloody Valentine album which is two too many. I completely understand why Loveless is on the list, it's not my thing but it's an important album. MBV is the same but worse. Shoegaze is not a genre I enjoy but this isn't even a good example of it

i don't really like them unfortunately, just a little too bummer-y

Yeah this just didn't do anything for me. Bunch of background noise with music vaguely layered over it. 1/5

Utterly bloated and disappointing. The genres were promising, I wanted to be the contrarian and rate this low-rate album higher that everyone else just to be different and annoying, but this album is, in fact, just bad. It's so swathy and bruised and macerated that there's not one single standout sound, let alone stand out song.

god... hard listen ... easiest thing was determining what the album title, "m b v " stands for... more bullshit vocals

More like My Bloody Fax machine!

Very moody and vibey. Fun at times but tedious at others.

This was a rough album for this listener. I felt like I went from dream mode to straight acid trip. Was this intended to be a "trip out" album? Found it difficult to know when songs started and ended. I only listened twice, but really, that's all I could take. It wasn't blood from my ears, but I didn't really enjoy either. Last 2 songs kinda pushed me from "not terrible" to just end this please. Not my thing and won't revisit.

3.5 Comeback albums are hard. Comeback albums following a 22-year gap are even harder. Most bands fall flat on their faces in the attempt, as if the creative spark that once fueled the group has vanished altogether and has since been replaced by house payments that certainly aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, the only band I can really think of that came back just as strong after a significant break was Brand New with Science Fiction, and that was only an 8-year gap. So, how does My Bloody Valentine fare in comparison? Let’s be real, Loveless is one of the most coveted albums of all-time by music nerds, this was never going to meet expectations. However, I think this still demonstrates that the spark was not, in fact, gone for MBV, it just may have gotten a little lost in the shuffle that occurred with the sporadic recording of this. In a lot of ways, this is genuinely reminiscent of their previous work, but at the same time, it also can’t seem to decide if it wants to be Loveless 2 or its own thing. Most of the first half of this wouldn’t have felt out of place on Loveless, but the second half goes in a much more electronic, experimental direction. And don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a band evolving their sound and not boxing themselves into what worked before… but that first half is SO much better. It admittedly took some time to grow on me, even as someone who appreciates their earlier work, but I genuinely think the stretch of She Found Now, Only Tomorrow, and Who Sees You is about as good as anything you can find on Loveless. Who Sees You in particular is far and away the highlight of this album for me - the song is such a vibe that I can only imagine what the experience might be while under the influence (perhaps “shroomin’”, as my dad might say). It was at this point during each of my listens that I was convinced this album is at least a 4… and then everything devolves from there. For what it’s worth, I really don’t think anything ever feels out of place, but certain songs - like Wonder 2 in particular - are borderline grating. And the problem with MBV’s music is that if you don’t like a song, you’ll know it immediately, and then you’ll have to sit through it for about five or six minutes. Still, I would say I really like what this album has to offer. Even if each song doesn’t always land, I think you have to admit that the spark wasn’t gone, and the level of competency and consistency on display is incredibly impressive for a group who had just spent the better part of two decades apart from one another. This is still a band I would love to see live one day, and to be honest, I think there’s further room for this album to grow on me - perhaps after a shroom or two.

A very slow burn... considerably slow burn. Tempo draws you in a hypnotic kind of way, but difficult to differentiate start from finish, which might be what MBV intended.

Might like it more than Loveless which happens to be surprisingly MIA from streaming platforms

no thx

do not care

Need to listen

Not quite Loveless, but still a trip

Well, it's music.

If you’re really in to very fuzzy guitars, you’d love this. I was very indifferent

It seemed that every song on this album was an introduction, but it never went anywhere. Hard pass

I'm struggling here. The contrast of the breathy vocals and distorted guitars is interesting sometimes, annoying other times. "Is This And Yes" caught my ear. I certainly don't mind distortion, but this feels like it's trying a little too hard for me to really get in there and appreciate it fully.

Definitely not their best, the vocals are too quiet and the tracks are boring. Still, I didn't dislike it and I could see it being a background album.

I'm surprised this gets so much hate on here. I think it's a pretty accessible shoegaze album, even more so than "Isn't Anything" and maybe even "Loveless". I think this is pretty good. I hope it was worth the twenty-two year long wait for MBV fans back in 2013. Now we just gotta wait another nine years for that next record! Favorite track: New You 3.5/5

As I listen to this album, two things stand out: -1st, they need to turn the singer’s mic up -2nd, they need to turn the distortion down For the record, I think the reason Shoegaze never really took off as a genre is because distortion and ethereal are oil and water. This is also the reason this album kind of sucks. Not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but certainly the worst album I’ve had all week. Nothing here to latch onto

I was expecting more

i waited years for this to come out and then kev kinda just dropped it one night without much notice. it was the indie rock chinese democracy. it's tough for anything to stand up to two decades of anticipation. this was probably the first time i listened to it since its release. it's good and i like it, but loveless is the only mbv album we need on the list, and i say that as someone who prefers isn't anything and the eps to loveless.

It's crazy how my bloody valentine remained this consistent even after not releasing an album in over 20 years. It's like they never left.

they're faves

I could probably get more into this with a different mood.

I expected to like this more. I read the reviews and even the negative ones were describing things I like in music, so I went in with an open mind, but I found the whole thing rather irritating, really.

Not quite up to the level of Loveless, but not too far off either. Overall very engaging shoegaze record by the best to ever do it.

It is cool that this was released 22 years after their prior full-length original album, due to breaking up and reuniting. Yet, I didn't need to hear it before I died.

This one has to grow on you. Super mellow, super distorted instruments. Super repetitive. Super mopey. But as it played, I began to conform to it. It pulled me into it's hypnotic gaze. When it was done, there was silence, and I think I missed the noise.

I’ve always really liked this album, I remember being very excited for it when it came out and pre-ordering the vinyl! Still like it!

sorta always in the same boat with these guys... i know its good but i just dont really give a crap

I have to question why so many of these artists have multiple albums. Certainly of all the music in all the world we had enough influence and impact that each artist could have a top album. Unless their other album were astronomically popular.

mostly pleasant and unremarkable except sometimes the soft-spoken vocals become like nails on a chalkboard. people who care a lot about having Good Taste™ or presenting themselves as such hype the fuck out of this band and it feels like a bit of an emperor's new clothes situation to me. maybe their earlier work is better but i'm not that eager to check it out.

Several years ago I bought a synthesizer. I don't know how to play keyboards, but had it in my mind that I would learn. I was fascinated by all of the buttons and knobs, and spent about an hour just making random noises. Eventually my wife reached her breaking point and told me I either needed to use headphones or she was going to divorce me. If only she would have recorded the noise I was making, it could have been a follow up album to this. First song was static and strumming. Second song is distortion and some kind of unintelligible singing. And it just didn't get better. I'm all for distortion in rock music, but there has to be something more than this. It's like if you took a Smashing Pumpkins album, made the singing shitty, and put the speakers under water. Why does this album exist, and why in the world is it on a list of must listen to music?

bland and also horrible

J'ai bien aimé.

Shout à ma bloody valentine mais leur album d’avant est meilleur

Mixed feelings about this. Maybe Loveless is the only MBV album that should be on this list? Very interesting in many ways and credit for being both highly unusual and somehow a clear extension of their previous work, if a weird vector. But by the end it feels like we're out beyond what the architecture was intended to support. It feels like we're at the end of something that dissipates into the atmosphere. Now that I know how it ends, I am finding their earlier, developmental work more interesting. Like when you finish a super complicated novel or movie, the impulse to go back to the beginning armed with the ability to make more sense of it. I am glad this album ended when it did. That itself is a virtue. Too many musicians don't know when to stop. Miles Davis once complained to John Coltrane that his solos were too long. Coltrane said he was having a hard time figuring out how to end them. Miles said "take the horn out of your mouth." Doesn't feel like it should have taken twenty years to make this album or that nothing else could appear in the decade since. I don't think it satisfies the anticipation their fans had, assuming their fans survived to hear it. Then again, I am not willing to listen to it at the volume required to fully appreciate the nuances of what's going on here. This album should be an installation at a museum, where you wander in to a large plain room and this is cranking at near deafening volume. And kudos to them for actually completing it and releasing it. Nature tends toward entropy, chaos, disintegration. If the universe had its way, this never would have seen the light of day. Good on them for telling the devil to fuck off. Not today, bitch. Not on my watch, motherfucker! In that sense, very inspiring. Wikipedia makes it sound like they are still together. In what capacity? Is it going to take them another twenty years to release an album? They don't play many shows, do they? Really curious what is up with these people. How do they pay the rent? Wikipedia is very unsatisfying for musician bios because it rarely explains how they actually earned a living, which is something I am always curious about. Lord knows it is isn't solely by releasing oddball records like this once every twenty years. God bless these folks for going their own way instead of following the beaten path. I like to imagine that as I type they are in a garage or somebody's basement, rehearsing like as if everything is the same for them as it was in 1983. Getting ready in case they manage to book a show. Godspeed!

Wow--this may be 22 years after their previous album, which was itself nearly a half-decade after their debut album, but the opening tracks sound an awful like they--or really Kevin Shields--just hopped into a time machine to steal back their sounds from the later 80s and early 90s. Admittedly, they started recording large parts of this album in 1996, and then again in 2006, and then again in 2011-2012 but all the same, talk about arrested development.... I *did* appreciate it that the album's sound begins to morph ever so slightly with the blissfully guitar-free "is this and yes" onwards, and "nothing is" and "wonder 2" wrap things up with a mighty thunder of drum machines and sheer sound (even if it's all still very retro). If nothing else, this album is convincing proof that I'm just not a fan of this band. And pretty interesting to note that Shields was 28 when "Loveless" was released, and he turned 50 when this album came out. That's a lot of water under the bridge. And pooh sticks.

The first two tracks sounded like a distant chorus singing while someone played an old, scratched, warped record over and over. Towards the end, there was a track that sound like someone just left something on repeat for a while. I did not like my bloody valentine. I do not like them all the time. Listening did not make me feel so well. Bloody valentine can go to hell.

Surporenant.. immerssif

This is the second My Bloody Valentine album that I have gotten from the "1001 albums" book. I still have not gotten Loveless, which is MBV's most famous and well-regarded album. I listened to mbv when it originally came out and my opinion hasn't changed too much. It's a fine comeback album but considering I just have not gotten into My Bloody Valentine too much, it doesn't necessarily hit hard for me. I find the vocals difficult to hear and shoegaze isn't probably my favorite genre of music as it is. It seems like mbv received all of the accolades it did because everyone was so happy that My Blood Valentine was back more than it was about the quality of the new album. I do not believe this is an album I should listen to before I die. My favorite songs: Only Tomorrow Who Sees You New You In Another Way

I tried, listened twice but just can't get on board.

Wow. I hated every moment of this. I ended up playing something else a couple of times to check my speakers were working. Awful

Didn't like, too much shoegaze for my taste

6/10 - I had higher hopes because of Loveless.

It might not reach the highs of Loveless, or add a lot to the shoegaze genre, but it's a strong album. Light 8/10

Eu gostei bastante da experiência de escutar esse álbum. É um rock alternativo denso, que te puxa para clima soturno do álbum. Instrumentais muito bem executados. TRN Medusa.

I like the soundscape of this band. Nothing catchy or with driving beats but always sort of interesting.

What an indistinct roar. It's not even good enough as background noise. 1/5

Sounds like a jam band that can't decide when to stop. Every song overstays its welcome with overdone effects and droning lyrics.

A little boring, honestly. Mostly just showing off guitar effects.

I tried but that was ass bad

Watery pish

Plater skal ikke være så bra som dette etter en lengre turbulent tørkeperiode. Høres ut som både gammel MBV og et naturlig neste steg videre. Sterk 4'er.

Hypnotisk. Sterk 4

Deilig støyete musikk som fungerer best i bakgrunnen. Kanskje litt streng treer.

Ikke lett å følge opp Loveless, men det er lov å prøve. Dette er både litt fanservice og litt videreutvikling, men egentlig ikke så interessant. Ser at plata har blitt tatt ut av 1001-boka, og det er nok like greit.

(2/5) I gave MBV's first album (and our first encounter with them on the list) a '3' on the strength of their (then) groundbreaking sounds. Cool. This one? Eh. If I took 20 years to record an album that sounded the same as my first, I don't think I'd release it.. in 2013 MBV sounds terribly **dated** and it just drones on and on. I listened to most of it on a treadmill this morning and one track just melted into the next. What a slog. It made those 30 minutes feel so much longer.

We already had Isn't Anything, and given the absolute hate-on that one gave me tow months ago, I really had to steel myself to press play on this one. Out of the gate it just felt like more of the same, though it's either slightly less aggressively bad or my bar is just so low that it couldn't help to be above it. By Who Sees You I still want it to end, and every "song" had overstayed its welcome, but there is at least some manner of meloldy beneath all of the noise this time. Then the fourth track hits, and it sounds like something else entirely. Did you know that you can hold down a keyy on the keyboard and make a note last forever? And that if you hum something over that it sounds kinda sad? These guys knew that, in spades. So they do that to varying degrees over a couple tracks instead. Hell, by New You, it almost feels like they know how to make their instruments work in tandum to produce melody with sophiosticated currents of rhythm and cohesion, and it easily evolves into my favorite track on either of their albums! Then the intro to In Another Way tries to drown it in a bathtub before mellowing out into another track that might be passable without the aforementioned intro. The final tracks don't surpass either of those, but are thoroughly listenable, somehow making the first few tracks of the album feel like something else entirely. All together, I have to say that I found this effort leaps and bounds better than the first one. It's almost like they got the hang of their instruments, and the drummer isn't drowned out behind a squealing wall of fuckery. Giving this one a 2.5/5 that is 5x the rating I gave the other one, but not convincing me to give it the benefit of the doubt and round it up, as I'm still unwilling to give Isn't Anything another try...

157. m b v - My Bloody Valentine (2013) 7.29.26 Variety: 5 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 5 Emotionality: 2 = 4.0 "Something comes and pins me to the sky to come" This is an album I've avoided since it came out. I really like Isn't Anything, which we had not too long ago on the list and - spoilers - and Loveless is one of my all-time favorites. We skipped right over Loveless though in the order and went right to this one. It came out SO long after loveless that I think I just assumed it must be awful, or at the very least disappointing. The first strike against it is that it's following an all-time classic that has been built up and mythologized by critics and fans that anything that followed would have to suffer by comparison. And maybe that's why it took so long. That kind of pressure must be pretty insane, unless you're like the Beatles or the Stones maybe. Supposedly this thing was started in 1996 and not finished until 2013 or so. Not a great journey. Then on top of that, by the time it was released the band might as well be a legacy band the likes of Devo, the Cars, the Stooges, or any number of older acts who decided to try and reclaim some past glory with releases made decades after their last. Some of these have proved decent enough, if not especially thrilling ( the Cars and Devo both turned out a couple of very solid singles that hearkened back to their classic sounds), while most felt like something was lost. The Cure fared a little better, having a huge gap between albums, but having also still stayed relevant with touring, and Depeche Mode maybe being one of the few to figure out how to navigate the 21st Century by having not amazing, but still interesting material come out at a slower, but still regular pace. I'm hoping for the best on this one ( maybe they can show some evolution and be at least at 50% power like a Depeche Mode), but expecting the worse ( a sad, zombie version of the act, recognizable but irrelevant and somewhat embarrassing like the Stooges). Fingers crossed... THE TRACKS "She Found Now" - If you were anxious at all about this album, like I was, I can say this first track will allow you to unclench your buttholes, at least a bit. It's VERY much a continuation of the same sound as Loveless. Maybe a little less bright and spacey. The almost droning, fuzzed out helicopter blade strumming on this carries throughout the track with the whispering, echoey and indecipherable lyrics calmly guiding us into familiar territory. A ringing tremolo guitar line dances around over top, still showing vestiges of that spacey dream pop feel, and occasionally things drop down before rising up even higher again, but for the most part this stays steady and on target, easing us in. Things rise at the end for an epic finale that closes on a single, sustained pitch wobbled note. "Only Tomorrow" - This one fades in like it's already been playing for some time, and feels like a bit of a change up with a more poppy structure visible underneath all the effects. Definitely still in the noisy dream pop arena, but with maybe a bit more of a nod to modern indie pop sensibilities as we get some still distorted and crunchy, but recognizably standard rock playing underneath, with some relatively clean sounding ( possibly looped) drums. As an added touch there seems to be some electronic swooping noises added in. All the playing underneath the distortion sounds like it could have come off of a Yo Al Tengo album from the late 90s. "Who Sees You" - The cleaner drums stay around, and we get a warbled, processed guitar line that seemingly stumbles in and out of tune while the vocals seem even more buried than normal. This one was not as successful for me, feeling less like an attempt at ethereal beauty that I have come to expect, and instead a try at a more abrasive and decidedly unmelodic sound. It almost plays like an older song that got eaten up by the cassette player in real time. Interesting, but didn't entirely land for me, despite a few nice vocal bits. This is more like what I imagine the effect of the stuff I love from these guys has on people who bounce off of the band's whole vibe. Though I did really like the abrupt end. "Is This and Yes" - Ooh, now this is different. Churchy synth organs over a pulsing , watery beat. Very unexpected swing not even half way in. The full on electronic sound, along with the hummed "aahhhhs" and "ooooohs" make this feel much closer to something Stereolab would have put out, but splitting the difference with less of that kind of kitchen sink approach to window dressing, and maintaining a solid drone feel throughout. It's like the band travelled to an alternate universe and recorded a track from their counterparts who had never heard of guitars. have to say I dug this out of left field entry quite a bit. "If I Am" - Dang. Leaning into those vibes again here, but adding in some clean guitar work on top. It's like with each track, teh band is prepping us for the next one. At least in chunks. Again the drum loops and the spacey Stereolabbbish touches are throwing me off, but in a good way. That hypnotic lounge-inspired feel is very strong here. "New You" - Excuse me a moment while I apply a neck brace form the injuries sustained by the opening of this track. Say what now? This sounds like for all the world like a basic as hell bare bones mid 90s indie rocker. Like what if Cocteau Twins had made a run for a spot on mainstream pop radio. Like, it's not that, but it leans as much in that direction as it can. The big tells this is still MBV are the vocals and the repeating tremolo guitar. If the first three tracks were the band easing us into this new reality by offering a bit of familiarity these last three have been them saying "ok - now that we have you on board, we want to try a few things. Please be patient with us." I can't say I necessarily loved this on first listen, as it was SO different than what I expected, but it grew on me. This is both pleasantly surprising, and a bit worrying. Are they going to try and combine these two approaches on the remaining tracks ( that seems the most obvious thing to do). "In Another Way" - Drum and bass elements mixed with distorted, somewhat menacing guitars and ethereal vocals. This is reminding me a LOT of some Sonic Youth stuff, especially "Bull in the Heather" off of Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. Less dream pop, and more confrontational, angry guitar playing here. Not exactly the mix I was expecting coming off that middle section of songs, but I like it nonetheless. "Nothing Is" - An almost industrial surf beat starts us off here, with the grinding crunchy guitar riff repeating over top that almost sounds like a train chugging along. Imagine if you excised a 3 second bit of a Keith Moon drum solo and looped it with some processed noise for flavor and stretched it out over 3:34, then ended with a VERY brief machine blast on a snare. That was crazy. "Wonder 2" - We've now travelled far away from the band's initial sound, and entered into some sort of weird realm where ADHD techno beats co-exist with arty noise collages while traces of the shoegazy dream pop are just barely present underneath it all, only recognizable in the vocals and the swishing guitar that barely makes itself known. The effect is almost like travelling along an expressway at 100 mph with the windows rolled down in an ambulance that is passing by an endless row of concrete barriers that create a pulsing, deafening doppler effect. Then at the very end these noises all blend as the ambulance grows wings and you take off to the sound of a jet engine. What did I just hear? Not any sort of pleasantly enjoyable music to be sure, but interesting as fuck, and not entirely unpleasant either. HIGHLIGHTS - "She Found Now" - "Only Tomorrow" - "Is This and Yes" - "If I Am" - "New You" - "In Another Way" - "Nothing Is" MIDLIGHTS - "Who Sees You" - "Wonder 2" LOWLIGHTS - FINAL THOUGHTS Wow. I have to say this album kind of subverted most of my expectations, and in a very good way. Part of me was hoping for and expecting a safe, nostalgically pleasant rehash. Loveless part II. But instead of that we got what sounded like to my ears, the evolution of a band over 20 plus years compacted into one small package. This makes complete sense in retrospect, considering how prolonged the journey was of assembling this thing, but I would not have expected it to play out so literally. I was more expecting to be making a lot more references to the Jesus and Mary Chain as we had just listened to them, and they seem like a primary influence on MBV. There were a ton of surprises on here, most especially "Nothing Is" which was SO off the wall that I literally had to stop a few seconds in and reorient myself. And yet it still somehow made sense and felt like the same band. I absolutely loved that the band was willing to just go for it and not give us warmed over Loveless outtakes. This is not my favorite by them, not even close, but it's very, very good still, and given some re-listens might scoot up there with Isn't Anything eventually. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - nah FURTHER LISTENING - Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. by Sonic Youth - Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements by Stereolab - Long Season by Fishmans - Feedbacker by Boris

The Chinese Democracy of shoegaze. Apparently this album gestated for nearly 20 years before dropping long after any one expected it to. So the first three tracks on this had me worried I was in for another “wall of muzzy fuzz” noise like The Jesus and Mary Chain album we had last week. That did not turn out to be the case. Somewhere the album shifted into something else. It gave it a better flow. Still, it failed to resolve into an album I want to listen to. I’ll give it a 2/5 since I at least didn’t have to listen to an albums worth of tracks like those first three.

komische musik. und wieso muss m b v mit drei schlechten alben in dieser liste sein?!

Das war etwas stressig für meine Ohren.

I really don’t know what to make of this. Most of it I find forgettable and not interesting. I don’t see why people like it. I would say maybe it will grow on me but I doubt I’ll listen again.

Just so boring at first then finished in a cacophony of noise. The layered textures are really intricate, but it’s still just so damn boring.

Essential

No, it’s not Loveless pt. 2. But it never was going to be, and follow-ups almost 25 years later than the previous album need to be judged alone. m b v is abrasive, challenging, loud, and beautiful. Not for everyone, but it cemented their status as the shoegaze GOATs.

Songs go nowhere for a seemingly long time

Mostly fine album that really tapers off towards the last two or three tracks. It's pretty boring and a far cry from loveless. 6/10

No standouts

Its the music that plays in the last 5 minutes of any cable drama's season finale, where the audience gets slow-motion cuts of what each of the characters is doing as the main protagonist walks (also in slow-motion) out of their house and into the 'mysterious new world.' This is just not for me. Its over-produced with too much distortion and vocals that make me want to stab my eardrums. I gave it a listen, and its the last time I ever will.

almost features in a white noise for focus playlist I like shoegaze / post-rock kind of distortions in general, and I know m b v, never knew this album, and not sure if 3 of their albums deserve to be here. So I'll hold off from a higher rating for the album I like more.

pretty bloody good, nice bit of shoegazy stuff terrible name though

another one that I reckon would be a 5 after a few listens.

I own this album, and have tried it a few dozen times. Still hasn't grown on me. Like Radiohead, I understand this is very good, but I'm not at a level of understanding why, and neither of them grabs my music neurons.

Good shoegsze

Disappointing

I'm assuming Loveless will be coming at some point if the reunion album made it.

It’s no loveless, but still pushing great.

Why the fuck have this band got 3 albums on this list. Apart from the fact that each track and album is almost indistinguishable from the other, it just sounds awful. I couldn't have said it better than this fellow reviewer "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."

I think my main issue with My Bloody Valentine is that it sounds like a wall of discordant noise to me. Talking about this band with my eldest child has really helped me to understand them better (them my child AND them the band - confusing I know) - to my child's ears all these sounds are distinct and the way their brain processes it is so different from mine. While its still not a pleasant listening experience for me, I had a lot more appreciation of this album than the last few by MBV, and more of an appreciation for my kiddo too.

I previously reviewed "Loveless", which I found okay for what I consider "noise-alternative-pop". This one is much the same, listenable but that's about it. Bit samey.

It’s alright, but why are the vocals so low? I’ll stick with Bullet For My Valentine instead. 2.5⭐️

i loved 'in another way' and 'nothing is', where they really ratchet it up....but not sure if it's because i was kinda bored with the first six tracks....then the last song kinda loses me again 2.5 stars...rounding down since i was mainly bored with it

Yes I like it

good shoegaze

It grows on me through the album.

Welp, that was weird. I understand the hate. I understand the love. I'm in-between. It's at least interesting, but yeah, it can be rough to listen to, and there are genuine stinkers here... but also moments of genius. I'll remember this album if I ever make an indie movie about teen love, depression and drugs.

Some okay musical pieces on the album, but it really drags on after a while. This is one that I guess I just don't get. 2/5 Won't listen again

Hey. You wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?

Not bad, but suffers more than perhaps any other band for having one masterpiece of an album that perfected the sound. Why listen to this when loveless is right there.

Not loveless. But nothing is.

I'm not genrephobic and I showed that on all of my reviews but these my bloody valentine reviews really throw me off this is by far the least experimental mbv album for those who that hate them but still there are a lot of people calling this guitar noises and the stupidest review that I've seen on here are those who that critised the vocals in shoegaze vocals are treated as an instrument. listen I don't know what you guys want from a noise pop album if you hate this you clearly hate the whole genre so this is not a 1 star album it is well deserved to be in this list

This would have been really good if I was in the right mood

Ime poznam, muske ne. (Kar mi je fakin neverjetno - poznam band, miljon let, ampak sm zarad imena, foolishly, sklepala, da so nek á la MCR band, kar pa men takrat ni potegnil sploh & zarad tega nism nikol šla karkoli poslušat - TIL, da je v bistvu shoegaze. In starejši band, kot sm mislila. Kako da fak mi je uspelo te podatke nekako zgrešit?!) Anyway, I like it. Vajb je konsistenten. (O, waw. Sramota. Bullet for My Valentine je band, ki obstaja. Pomojem sm cel lajf mislila, da sta tedva band en in isti band & pač, ne dojela, da sta drugi imeni. Ufff.) "In Another Way" mi je najljubši. "Nothing Is" je insane.

In 2013, the return of mbv caused a small stir. No one had really missed them, but the old heads would no doubt enjoy revisiting their former glories and the new generation would get a chance to revel in loveless. A returning great, their new album was treated like all classic artists reformed efforts are: as an interesting subplot to their tour and merch release. I saw them at the Hammersmith Apollo that year and remember telling my parents I'd been having a shoegaze phase and receiving an amused, slightly scoffing response. My habit of dredging up forgotten indie subsects and overblowing their musical significance was well documented. Jump forward to 2026 and shoegaze is a global phenomenon, significantly more popular now than it it's Bristolian heyday: and mbv are still the spearhead. This album has come to mean a lot more than one last hurrah. That new generation of fans took it as their own, cherished it and shared it excessively on first Tumblr and now TikTok. Which I guess makes me one the old heads.

high 4 good this, great sound

I like MBV, this was pretty good

Wow I am done with the list. It was a great experience although I did not like every album. Now let’s talk about this record: it’s a culmination of everything Kevin shields tried to do in the 90s. I like the earlier stuff a bit more but this is absolute class.

Solid effort, for a band that hadn't released an album in 20 years. The attitude towards Shoegaze really changed in the years leading up to it. This is nice enough, but can't really hang with their previous two albums. I can't pretend that I ever understood the lyrics in previous albums, but having them largely omitted from here kind of felt like the album was missing something. It still had a bunch of nice songs, mainly towards the beginning and end of the album, but it can't really hang with other My Bloody Valentine or peak Shoegaze stuff.

Loved “nothing is”

I am not a big fan - sorry Tomek.

Para apreciarlo tendría que escucharlo de nuevo, mucho detalle aunque en lo macro parezca minimalista 3.2

This is a group I've been tangentially aware of but I don't think I have ever listened to before. This album is pretty good, but I think that I am a little less into shoegaze/dream pop at the moment. I think this is a decent example of those styles, and I would certainly listen to it again, especially once I am in the mood for such fuzzy sounds once again. It's a good album, but it is a little muddy and kind of becomes background noise towards the middle. Favorite track(s): "only tomorrow," "wonder 2"

As I listened I became distracted by technical/structural question: are there any other elements the band could have incorporated to make this album more tiresome?

Did The MAB give a presentation on m v b? I remember him being very excited about this. As for the album, it’s basically remaking Loveless twenty years later but worse.

too low energy for me

Forgettable album, almost forgot it was playing just melded into the background.

this was great work noise. not quite my normal vibe, but i can deal with "adult contemporary deftones"

Вроде неплохо. Надо обязательно вернуться к ним

Very dreamy, in that I was dreaming of a more interesting album

Bloody mess! Ugh

Just meh.

MBV is de grote grondlegger van de shoegaze. En met m b v ook de eerste die in de 21ste eeuw weer voor een revival zorgden. Al kwam die eigenlijk pas veel later. En waar de mede-shoegazers van Slowdive met Slowdive een hele toegankelijke plaat maken in 2017 is m b v echt een hele taaie. Ik kan me de recensies op deze plaat goed voorstellen. Het is vooral hele veel noise en de nummers breken nergens mooi open en hebben 0 catchiness. Ik heb de plaat 3x aangezet en steeds was dit een vrij aangemakkelijke aanwezigheid en ging die weer uit (bijv. de valse tonen in who sees you). Ik heb dus echt wel moeite om het mooie in m b v te horen en geef ze een 6 voor de moeite - en vanwege de liefde voor het genre. 6/10 Highlights only tomorrow

4/10

There is a quote that I, of course, cannot find that I believe was attributed to Lou Reed. Whether or not he said it, or anything like it, the sentiment was "people believed the Velvet Underground/Warhol guys to be so cool, but really they just sort of did nothing." This potentially imaginary musing played in my head, as my dopamine addicted brain yearned for something other than what it was hearing. My word, this was nothing. Endlessly vibrating, but not noisy. There were attempts at melody, but I think they were purposely so abstract and limp, that one could conceivably still say they weren't trying. I wanted to like this. This band has a lot of cache in music nerd circles and I was anticipating some interesting riffs with perhaps a buzzy, melancholy drone. That sounded like a great recipe for an album I could feel superior about. Instead, we just got grey noise with horrendous vocals and an overall pallor of death. This was a thoroughly unpleasant 48 minutes. Just an awful experience, and not even in a cathartic way. 0 HIGHLIGHTS: "On closer inspection, these are loafers."

🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 A truck totaled my car while I was listening to this, specifically "if I am," and I still don't remember any of it. No, it has nothing to do with the fact that my head hit the steering wheel very hard. I knew My Bloody Valentine from some Loveless songs and a couple of EP bits—I think I only remember "Slow," "You Made Me Realize," and "Only Shallow" off the top of my head, which are all great and also all kind of abrasive in a way that's tough for me to get into if it isn't hooky. I think specifically My Bloody Valentine's barrier to entry, for me, is the haziness of their ambience, but once I settle into it I end up really liking it. There were a lot of songs on this album that have potential for me to warm up to but as it stands right now there aren't many I love yet. I think I wanted to like this one more than I did, too, which may impact the rating. All in all, still solid, but not my fave. 1: Bad | 2: Okay, No Desire to Revisit | 3: Good, Conditionally (OR Inconsistent Mix of Qualities) | 4: Great (OR Technically amazing but missing the sauce emotionally) | 5: Amazing

This surprised me! First of all, totally based on the name of the band (lol), I thought this would be like MCR--more emo I guess? Max schooled me on "shoegaze," and it turns out I can get behind it. Apparently this wasn't even their most iconic album, and I'd be interested to hear their earlier sound.

would be a cool as a movie soundtrack

I'd never really listened to My Bloody Valentine's music before, but I'd heard a lot about them — like, they were the fathers of shoegaze, their guitars were incredibly loud, and at concerts they played so loud that some listeners felt physically sick. Given this, I was expecting something closer to experimental industrial, like HEALTH, but what I got was quite calm, even relaxing at times. Yes, it sounds like the guys decided to turn on every effect pedal at once, but it doesn't turn into a cacophony. I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman singing, but the voice was quite soothing, even though it was drowned out by the guitars, making the words inaudible. But I don't understand the band's cult status; a lot of people played such music in the 90s, and the album itself feels like it belongs to that era. And the band members don't hide it — even though it was released twenty years after the last album, all the work was already in place back then.

I like Loveless a lot. Female vocalist: excellent Good guitar work Only tomorrow: good song Music creates a good atmosphere. Great album: four stars

Uuulala, so moody

I adore Loveless as a record, so I had high hopes for this, but I just couldn’t get into it, felt very drawn out and at times self-indulgent. Nothing I’d be drawn back to.

I do so dislike it when they have a curtain of crackle between the listener and the music. Its not big and it's not clever, its just plain annoying. Thankfully it only lasted for the first few tracks. Unfortunately it hadn't been concealing anything of value. Musically there was nothing worthy of comment and the vocals were too indistinct for actual words the be discerned, and too muffled to be called a melody. It's a big fat 1 from me.

A bit more accessible to my delicate ears than the other stuff I’ve listened to by this lot. It was ok, but much of it just seemed to be happening around me rather than grabbing my attention.

A difficult one, you could say My Bloody Valentine suffered from difficult third album syndrome, it did take twenty years of faffing to complete after all [their first two mini albums don't count it seems!]. What we have is an interesting hodge podge of material. For the most part, it has an ambient vibe, mostly in the vein of 'Loveless', but dare I say it more tuneful and it just drifts along in its blissed out noisy way. But towards the end there is definitely a drum and bass style influence. But your average raver won't be running on the spot to those tracks [unless said raver has taken 2 tonne of Ket, then anything is possible]. When it came out, I didnt rush to listen to it too regularly after the initial two or three spins, unlike their first two LPs. Since they have reformed and begun to play live again, 'Wonder 2' makes a good toilet break song - and there is the problem for me, better has gone before.

Ok let's hear this. Interesting. Very emo. Ok. I like it. I mean it sounds good but there's not a lot of variation it's just the same sounds. Not really for me but I can appreciate it. Oh wait Nevermind hold on. Wait. Let him cook. Ok I actually do really like this it's so ethereal. Big fan of this vibe. Yeah alright they're cooking something up. I kinda like that you can't really hear what they're saying. Favourite: who sees you/is this and yes Least favourite: she found now/nothing is

Lot of noise trying to be punk/edgy. The band's name lends itself to the emo, cringey stereotypes and the music follows suit

m b v My Bloody Valentine 2013 Genres: Rock Styles: Indie Rock, Shoegaze, Alternative Rock, Dream Pop 1. she found now (★⯨☆☆☆) 2. only tomorrow (★★☆☆☆) 3. who sees you (★⯨☆☆☆) 4. is this and yes (★☆☆☆☆) 5. if i am (★☆☆☆☆) 6. new you (★⯨☆☆☆) 7. in another way (★★⯨☆☆) -Llega a sonar bien un momento, pero sigue siendo la misma banda de mierda... 8. nothing is (★★⯨☆☆) 9. wonder 2 (★★☆☆☆) -TOTAL = ★⯨☆☆☆ (1,72) -Parece una banda con problemas mentales, especialmente depresión, y con un sonido diluido, que pareciera que quiere ser un instrumento más, uno insignificante... definitivamente claman porque alguien los saque de su miseria.

Niet echt voor mij

Music for sad teenagers. 2/5

When I listen to an album this terrible, I think about all the people involved in the making of it and how not one of them thought this was a bad idea.

Just what I needed in my life. Another album that made me believe I was tripping my balls off while listening to it. This could very easily have been the sound track to a Stanley Kubrick movie because I have no idea what any of it was about. When there was vocals, it was breathy, foggy, and purposefully layered behind the instrumentals to make it difficult to grasp any of the words. When it was just the instruments, it was chaotic, aggressive, and so repetitive that you wanted to be institutionalized to get away from it. It’s not a matter of would I listen to this again, I don’t think I have the mental capacity to endure it after the first attempt.

Music to clean the dungeon to…

I really thought I couldn't hate anything more than electronic music, I was wrong. I hate this more.

Tää oli todellakin noise-poppia. Ei jäänyt muuta mieleen kuin ärsyttävät kitarajuoksutukset, tai mitä se nyt onkaan. En tykännyt liian alas miksatusta laulustakaan.

maybe you fucks would like this if you listened to it with headphones

Dnf

Most of this album sounded like either a) a radio station that was really going out of tune (mostly static) or possibly some kind of music that was way over-amped? or b) a skipping record. Did not enjoy.

if you want to know why the youts of today aren't having sex as much as past generations, just listen to this album. 1/5

Immaculate, forward thinking production, just not the same strength of songs as Loveless. When it goes right it is amazing.

Not bad

Very cool at beginning, then kind of samesy

What a strange album. At times sounding like rising shepherds tone, others sounding like pure groovy pop distillate, this album challenges and envelops. The noise and intentionality is unlike many of its contemporaries, and the mood set is one of a kind.

Not bullet fir my Valentine which is a good thing. Nit as good as loveless.

I dont get it

I hadn’t heard of this band before, and it’s not really my sort of thing. One star...

I kind of like this, fog and mist in your mind

Wow, that was a ride. Noise, sonic drunkenness, claustrophobia. That was a an assault. And not totally unpleasent.

I always get these guys mixed up with Bullet For My Valentine. Anyway, this is some fuzzy dream rock stuff, it's fine but every track sounds the same (he says confidently, nearing the end of the second track). The tracks just kind of meander around and repeat themselves, they seem short on ideas. Turns out I had already listened to Isn't Anything from My Bloody Valentine before, which I called "Just the biggest load of nothing I can remember hearing. Fuzzy recordings of what sounds like a garage band, inaudible lyrics, no tunes or sometimes even rhythms to speak of. There's nothing to get a grip on, it's like trying to grab fog. At times maybe it's noise rock, but it mostly sounds like literally nothing is happening, but loudly - typical shoegaze." This is more of the same, even to the extent that the final couple of tracks were the most interesting, with actual beats. Did we need to include both albums?

Dreary, dull and largely tuneless. Wouldn’t listen again.

Too atmospheric for my taste, very boring and annoying.

All the droniest parts of The Deftones with none of the excitement. Even when the tempo picks up it's repetitive enough that it kills the energy. Not my jam.

I don't think shoegaze is bad but I do think my bloody valentine is bad three albums for this band on the list man

mbv will always remind me of mike and our friendship, i love you man

Worse beach house

It’s obviously no Loveless and it probably shouldn’t be here, but I’m a sucker for that MBV formula.

felt like a dream

1 stern

Marginally better than the My Bloody Valentine album I had to listen to two days ago, but only marginally

its rly cool how the band more or less left behind the language of "guitar" music on this record. maybe we'd have seen a more gradual transition if kevin shields could spend a Normal amount of time making albums, but there is a trajectory from their noisy rock days to the sonic abstraction of loveless to the structural abstraction of m b v. the musical parts on here that could theoretically be called "riffs" aren't quite like anything else ive ever heard...not quite a guitar riff, not quite a dance beat, not quite a noise wall. the tracks that most resemble loveless feel more unmoored than even loveless' most emphemeral moments, and the palate of Sounds To Build Songs around is the widest the band ever had the chance to work with...i thought about stereolab a weirdly high amount. its hard for this to top loveless because of my comparative lack of dense personal history with it, but i feel like i might be in the mood for it more often these days, and it represents my current interests better. a dark horse for me to keep an eye on.

I woke up this morning. Pulled on a random tshirt. A blue one with the initials mbv written on it. Then the aggregator randomiser generator thing chose an album chose an album with a blue cover and the letters mbv on the cover. The forces of synchronicity have turned me into a full kit wanker. I’m not sure why this is on the list. But the fact that it is gives me the chance to dig it out possibly for the first time since its release year. The thing is. You know how it goes I get a craving to hear My Bloody Valentine I go to the Shoegaze section of my collection, find the bit where the m’s are about to turn into the n’s and I pull out Isn’t Anything or Loveless or The Glider ep or Tremelo but not this. Listening again it’s a perfectly enjoyable listen but if you want a triumphant 2010’s Shoegaze return you’re better listening to Slowdive. If this was mbv’s tenth album of the millennium then I think we’d be saying they’ve still got it but we waited so long it feels like more of a letdown. The embarrassing thing is I’ve worn the t shirt all day, found the album on my shelf, listened to it, read the wiki, wrote my review and it’s only at bedtime that I realise that I’m wearing the t-shirt of the selected album. That’s Shoegaze for ya!

Unexpectedly fantastic. Easier on the ears than their classic too.

Is this the same song for 55 minutes, or just 9 songs that sound the same? You decide. 2/5

A t m o s p h e r i c as fuck.

It's not bad by any means but it is certainly the worst My Bloody Valentine record. Kind of feels like a Loveless afterthought.

Album #184 my bloody valentine: m b v My Bloody Valentine were one of the first bands that became adored by the early internet music scene, and it’s not hard to see why since Loveless was a trailblazing album, revolutionizing guitars, noise, and shoegaze- essentially everything an indie music fan loves; oh yeah and did I mention dreamy female vocals? So when m b v came around, I can already imagine the collecting pants soiling that ensued. Though I personally wasn’t around for much of the hype surrounding the band, so my estimations of them are rather tempered. I do think Loveless is a great album, and certainly one of the best of the 90s, but some places like Rateyourmusic having it in the top ten of all time, above any Beatles album, just seems strange to me. So I can certainly find discussion around the band nauseating, and I’m sure it was twice as insufferable when m b v dropped after a 20-year wait, with people either calling it the best or worst thing to ever happen. In truth, of course, the answer lies in the middle; this is a good shoegaze album. Perhaps not worthy of living up to the hype, and there certainly aren’t any “When You Sleep” or “Sometimes” here, but ultimately it is absolutely serviceable in following up the band's magnum opus. If you’re into shoegaze, or any ethereal and dreamy music, you will find a lot to like about this album. Best Songs: only tomorrow, she found now, who sees you Worst Song: nothing is Score out of 10: 7

When this suddenly appeared, it was a genuine joy to have new MBV music to listen to. I remember feeling I could conveniently split the the album into 3 sections of 3 songs each. It was a ham fisted attempt at getting my head around it for the earliest listens. Here’s how that went: the first 3 songs felt like an extension of loveless, 3 quality tracks that weren’t breaking the mold. These were followed by 3 more that seemed more like mbv 2013 style, new vibes for the band though this time not as revolutionary as they once were. These last 3 I had pegged as the most experimental and original of the album. (For better or worse). I can look back at that assessment and think of it as reductive, however I’m generally not inclined to disown the concept, as I think it stands up. Of those sections I think I would choose the middle 3 songs as my personal preference but tbh it would be a tight call. The first 3 songs are reassuringly familiar and if it weren’t for track 8, a “stuck record” looped drum piece that I just can’t get with (and skip almost every time), I would also be as comfortable calling the closers my favourites. If I’m honest though, I don’t play this half as much as their other albums; the listens I’ve given this today have been a wonderful reminder of that time when MBV made a return, but the album just doesn’t make it off my shelves too often and I’m not terribly surprised its place in the 1001 was short-lived. I do still like it a lot though and I would really appreciate another album to follow it!

I really am not a fan of this genre.

I don’t think I could hate an album more than this. This sounds like the noise a neighbors lawnmower makes next to your bedroom window at 6 AM on a Saturday. Muffled white noise guitar with whiny whisper vocals. No treble or bass. It also, somehow continues to get worse throughout. Really just awful. And in a very annoying, irritating way. 1/5.

Practically bankrupt your label? Start a chinchilla farm? Make fans wait years to hear the follow up to your genre defining album? It starts slow, but picks up near the end. More like shoegaze meets ambient and DNB. In Another Way and Wonder 2 are the standouts.

OK, so I have completely mistaken My Bloody Valentine and because of this mistake, I have been avoiding listening to them for years. I thought that they were a 2000's metal band like "Bring Me The Horizon". And although I have a place for that type of roaring vocal, metal band. Its not my favourite. Much to my surprise "m b v" is an experimental rock album. Full of noise, distortion and a dream like quality that makes some songs have an ethereal feel. And other tracks feel a little psychedelic. It is quite intense in places like the repetitive "nothing is" but I get what they are doing here. I am impressed and this has reaffirmed to me why I have decided to take this musical journey. (3.900)

Thats a no for me dawg

m b v by my bloody valentine was actually pretty good. I went into it expecting it to kinda drag on but I liked it. I’m a bit undecided on whether it’s a 4 or 5 start album but I certainly enjoyed it. Top songs: she found now, only tomorrow, is this and yes, if i am, in another way, nothing is

Loveless is a masterpiece and after waiting 21 years for the follow up not disappointed at all. Not the first time listening to this album and might be bias but it holds a special place in my heart. Not as moody, noisy or textured but has a chill spring/summertime vibe going on

Kevin's perfectionism has deprived us of who knows how much good work, or, be thankful that he released anything at all.

I think I understand a little better why they call this style, “shoegaze.” Because I feel like I need to go stare at my feet for a while and figure out what I just listened to.

What a plummet, starting off well enough, but quickly moving to background music, with a long ending in the annoying range. Influences of the most experimental music from the Beatle and Beach Boys did nothing to make this worth listening to again.

3.2 3x

3/10

Interesting

I don’t get who and why decided to make My Bloody Valentine an exemplary shoegaze and not someone more deserving. Seriously, there’s freaking 3 MBV albums on this list, and only one Ride album, and 0 Slowdive. WTF? And if Loveless at least has its quirks, though not many, this album is total crap.

Anything recorded by MBV is going to be compared to "Loveless," given the heft that record has in the genre. "m b v" is more accessible, weirder (somehow), and just as satisfying. There is a diversity of sound here that I wasn't expecting. After defining their sound so narrowly, this album stretches out a bit and is all the better for it. Another album new to me that will start going on the rotation. FOUR STARS

I think I said something pretty similar the last time I got an album by MBV... I think I like the idea of this band more than I actually like their music. I expect it to be cool and raw and trippy. But it's mostly just boring.

There are many other albums better than this one

Shoegaze is Lo-fi for perfomative people

No Loveless, but still that wonderful warm, sad, fuzzy blanket of an album

I don’t know why music critics seem convinced they know better than the rest of us and keep shoveling multiple noise rock albums onto these lists, knowing we’re likely to tolerate them at best and hate them at worst. This album is a prime example of why critics don’t always know best. My Bloody Valentine’s m b v is a collection of crunchy guitars layered with just enough distortion to obscure everything else, unsettling ethereal vocals that are difficult to decipher, and percussion that feels like an afterthought buried somewhere in the background. Add in a tempo so damn slow it’s as if the entire record was filtered through maple syrup, and you’ve got the complete package. Realizing I still have one more album from this group to get through before I’m done may be the understatement of the year.

Another uninteresting entry from these guys proves that they shouldn't really be in this list in the first place, let alone 3 times

As someone who used to sort of like My Blood Valentine, or Loveless at the very least, I do not like this album. It's just more of what they already made in the past, but less interesting.

I'm mixed on this one. Generally I really liked the music, but buying stood out for me. I think this would've been my jam if I was in the right headspace for it.

3.5/5

Not really impressed left me a bit cold. Has lost charm over the years just sheed of shoegazing.

shoegaze gets too much hate on this site yall gotta train your ears

What's the actual point? Of a so long collection of songs that are merely instrumental with very airy vocals. And they are also soporific. Honestly, I can't find anything to like in here. For this to be called music is like a joke for me. To make very dreamy, monotonous songs doesn't imply you are interesting at all. And this album is not, either.

Unnecessary noise in parts, but not the worst thing this has generated for me so far

It noise and a lot of distortion. I get that is what the genre is, but I don't want to listen to it. The noise approached something resembling a song in some of the tracks, so it doesn't get the lowest score.

My Bloody Valentine, it’s not just a weird slasher film about coal mining, folks. We’re about to enter the world of shoegaze and noise pop, a couple of genres that frighten me. What’s interesting about this album is that recording began in 1997, and then the band broke up. The band then reunited in 2011, finished the album, and released it in 2013. This is the band's third album and their first album since 1991. That’s wild. Not that the band broke up, then reunited and recorded an album. No, the wild part is that the album is regarded as one of, if not the, best they ever recorded. How many great albums were released after a 20-year breakup? Hell, how many great albums were released 20 years into a career? I assume not many. So, let’s see if m b v rises to the level of must-listen. There are nine tracks, and the album is 46 minutes long. We’re off to a good start. Track 1 is She Found Now. Hmmm, the music starts as noise, but it is pleasant-sounding, I guess. That must be noise pop. It’s just a wall of guitar distortion with one kind of plucking in the background. There are very soft vocals. Kevin Shields is the vocalist and guitar player. The vocals are almost so soft you can't even really make them out. It sounds like the song is getting louder as it goes on. The guitars are starting to be more musical. It’s almost like Shields is whispering the song. It reminds me of what Tool does sometimes with the vocals of Maynard James Keenan, especially in the song 46 & 2. You can just barely hear him singing in parts of the song. I can’t say I don’t like this. It’s not totally unenjoyable, but I can’t imagine a whole album of this. The song ends with one big wave of distortion. Track 2 is Only Tomorrow, and it starts more like a song. It reminds me of a band, a 90s band, but I can’t make my brain think of the band's name. It’s going to drive me crazy. I do like this song. It’s definitely more musical, but it’s still a lot of guitar distortion. The vocals are a little louder, but not much. Again, the song isn’t unpleasant. It’s just weird. Ooooh, the guitars are really getting loud and fuzzy. I wish I were more musically inclined. Then I could tell you exactly what I’m hearing. But I’ll say the song has a brighter sound, and it’s definitely a fun sound. I really like this song. It’s a bit melancholy, but I’ve never really heard anything like it, so it makes me happy. I can see how someone would think it’s noise, but it’s how the noise is arranged. I can see just putting this on and just zoning out. I loved this song. It’s unlike anything I’ve heard in a long time. So, shoegaze is a subgenre of indie rock that features, according to our good friend Wikipedia, “ethereal soundscapes, obscured vocals and extensive use of guitar effects and distortion.” The genre is rooted in Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound and the production of the Velvet Underground. Yes, the Cocteau Twins are shoegaze. I listened to their album Heaven or Las Vegas. I liked it, but I remember them being more pop than noise. I think they were even a subgenre of shoegaze and noise pop. They were dream pop and an even more ethereal kind of music. Track 3 is Who Sees You, and it starts with more distortion and sounds out of tune….Wait a minute! I just realized at this moment that I earlier listened to MBV’s first album, Isn’t Anything. What reminded me? Track 3 has that weird “glide guitar” sound that Shields invented. The note played starts in tune, then he uses the whammy bar, or tremolo, to take the note out of tune before bringing it back in tune at the end. Shields' thinking was that the brain isn’t quick enough to pay attention to the out of tunesness before it’s back in tune. Or something like that. I focus just on the out-of-tuneness mostly. Turns out I hated MBV’s debut album, and I think it was because most of it was out of tune. I’m going back to track three, which is wildly out of tune in places. The guitar sounds kind of like how a chainsaw's “tune” changes when it's sawing something. However, I think maybe Shields has perfected it, because I actually find it pretty cool in this song. It sounds beautiful, really. The vocals again are buried deep in the mix, and it’s all about the distortion. Interesting. I’m in awe. Maybe it’s my headspace right now, but I’m digging just listening. Not thinking, just letting the distortion wash over me. Track 4 is Is This and Yes. Now this is different. The song starts with synths and what sounds like robots. I’m sure there have been synths and keyboards used throughout the first three songs, but they are out and in the open on this track. Now this is dream pop. Added to the keyboards is now a chorus of female singers just singing whole notes. Hmmm, that’s all it was. Just a nice break from distortion. Track 5 is If I am and it starts with a good drumbeat, and then it sounds like track 4’s music, but with distortion added. The same female chorus is now singing vocals. This song has guitars, which track 4 didn’t. One thing about this album compared to MBV’s debut is that the music seems to be more musical. I can hear songs in these songs, whereas in some of the songs from Is This Anything? I couldn’t hear songs. It was just noise. Track 6 is New You, and wow! This really does sound like a real song. This sounds like a pop song from 1998, but a new wave song from 1985. The vocals again are sung by women, I assume they are Debbie Googe and Blinda Butcher, as they are in the band. The song really isn’t much, but there are little things that happen that add up to being really cool. I know that doesn’t sound like anything, but this album is hard to describe. I have no idea why I’m liking it as much as I do. Is it as simple as saying I like the chords the band’s playing? The keyboards in the background of the song remind me of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark. The guitars remind me of the Smiths’ song How Soon Is Now. With all that being said, New You is a really poppy song, and I bet it could have been a hit in 1985 or 1998. Track 7 is In Another Way. It starts rather chaotically with drums and guitar distortion before morphing into something resembling a song. The women are on lead vocals again. The vocals give the song its popness. Oh, there’s a point about midway through the song where all the instruments combined sound kind of like bagpipes. I love the sound of the guitar in that part of the song. The verses of the song make you appreciate and love the part of the song where the bagpipe-sounding music comes in. I love this song, or at least half of it. Track 8 is Nothing Is. The song begins with hard-charging drums and the guitar screaming out the same riff over and over. I’d think the record is skipping if I were listening to a record. Who comes up with songs like this? I don’t know if Shields is a genius or a madman. The intensity is growing. It’s almost to the point where I can’t take much more. Is that the point of this song? I want to skip ahead and see if, or where, the tension breaks. I don’t think it will. What a weird song. Track 9 is Wonder 2. The ending of Nothing Is kind of leads into the final track on the album. I hear vocals, I think. It sounds like a jet is taking off in the background of the song. I keep waiting for a sonic boom or something. Now the guitars sound like a freight train's horn. This song just keeps getting louder and louder. The drums keep getting faster and faster. This is not the song I would have used as the closer to what was a pretty good album. Okay, that was MBV’s m b v. I must admit, I enjoyed this album way more than their debut. Shields, who wrote all the songs, really seemed to mature as a songwriter, without giving up any of his experimentation. I’d imagine that was the most accessible of their music, but as there were no singles released, I assume none of this album was heard on the radio or MTV at the time. Can I recommend it as a must-listen? No. I think most of you would hate it. But if you’re kind of bored with the state of music now and are looking for something weird? This might be for you. It isn’t so weird it will repulse you, but it’s not so poppy it will repulse you.

Pretty good stuff. Makes for an awesome atmosphere. Like proto M83. No Loveless, though. For some reason, I spent the whole run time staring at my feet.

I did not enjoy this nearly as much as i did Loveless. Don't think it has the same magic. High 3

Noise. I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me the guitar part in this was made to purposefully induce headaches in a lab testing environment.

This is definitely vibing music. I enjoyed almost all of it. One of the last tracks got pretty repetitive though.

I’ve decided that I will make my reviews in quatrains. Here goes: The numbing drone of indie guitars A fitting soundtrack to review your scars Singer quietly croons And understands your wounds.

muchos sonidos pero pocas ideas esperaba que este me encantase, pero no ha sido el caso, una pena te amo sazed

should get 3.5 stars, very droning and VU-like, will take you places...

Usually when an album is noisy I have an easier time making up my mind, but this one has a backbone or melody throughout each song, so I find it tricky to rate. I've not had much contact with the band thus far, I feel like they have something to say and I might be willing to listen, but this particular record isn't great.

What do you do if you release an album that is so lauded and beloved that is defines an entire, ever more sprawling genre of music and, even moreso, redefines the sonic landscape of an entire generation of music? If you're My Bloody Valentine, you don't rush. You bide your time and return two decades later with a work that is equally as gorgeous, lush and dense. One that, while it may lack the certain innefable perfection of it's predecessor, is still a richly satisfying, thrilling and cathartic listen. What makes this such a triumph though, is just when you think you are in for Loveless 2, the band have the sense and guts to zag, offering new frontiers to their seemingly horizon-less soundscapes.

The peak of western civilisation

Great rock on the edge of chaos. That blend of calm and noise I love. 4/5

It was not my taste whatsoever to be honest... It was all just noise to me, with each track just blending into the next. It was one of those albums where you kind of just want it to end, in my opinion. I found no interest in any of the tracks, and after listening to the first one, I hoped that it was just a one-off and that the other songs would sound different and have a bit more to them, but they didn't. The vocals were lost in a reverby, distorted mess in most of it, so there was nothing really that stood out to pay attention to or give any interest towards. There were no tracks that stood out to me in this album, unfortunately.

There are many things that should make me love so much this album yet it didn't clicked. It's solid, I like it but no I don't love it (and to be honest it's always like that with MBV).

I was previously familiar with Loveless as it had come up previously in this exercise. This album is very much the same sort of sound as that album. It's noise rock with distortion and hard to hear lyrics. This was fine for what it is and while I may listen again, I doubt I would seek it out, especially over Loveless.

Shoegazy! Définitivement à garder pour ma playlist de farniente d'été. Appréciation en demi teinte, car si l'album entier est effectivement ce que j'aime et d'une cohérence continue, aucune des chansons ne m'a particulièrement marquée (peut-être une petite mention spéciale pour "in another way")

Nah not for me, nothing I want to hear on here!

Loveless is one of my favourite all time albums. I never really clicked with m b v the same way, but to be fair, I never really gave it much of a chance. I would listen to it once every now and then, kind of lose interest about halfway through, endure to the end, then forget about it again. This time I set out to do things differently. I planned three full play-throughs before forming an opinion and I promised to not put Loveless on every time I was reminded how much better an album it is. I guess this is three different albums in one, each consisting of three tracks from the nine in total. Album one is the tracks that didn't make the grade for Loveless. They're similar, but very dreamy/ chilled and not as ground breaking. Album two feels more like a step back to MBV's first studio album, "Isn't Anything". Everything is more simplistic, there's less guitar, then it suddenly switches. Album three is a bit more experimental and dance-orientated. I feel that this is around a 3.5 star album, but I'll mark it up to 4 stars as there are flashes of brilliance here and there and I know I will try it again in the future, even if I still don't love it anywhere near as much as Loveless.

I didn't listen to this in 2013 but it is sooo very tumblr era.

Quite dull and uninspiring tbh

First time listen. I really liked this! Not too many standout songs to me this time, but I liked the experience of listening all the way through.

Rubbish

Loveless was a pretty solid album and then they called it quits for whatever reason. There was a lot of excitement about their reunion album when it came out. But for the most part 'm b v' fails to deliver on that promise. I may give it another listen later and see if it grows on me though. For now I'm calling it 2.5/5 rounded to 3.

eerie

Geluid

Good wfh album. Wore on a bit too long

I love My Bloody Valentine, but I was surprised this album made the list. Loveless is obviously a classic, and this album isn't close to it.

Eyeroll. Now I have to go and thumbs-down all these songs so my streaming service doesn't play any of this shit again

I have no clue about shoegaze really but I guess these guys are some of the progenitors? I know why its called shoe gaze cause they are looking down at the pedals while they play. But its never been a genre that I had any interest in. Its just a part of that whole dreamy section of sound that just does not mesh well with me. And I have to say mbv falls right in that but at the same time gave me about the best shot at this music ive ever had. That final 3rd of this record is so close to being something id be into. They pick up the pace a little and that does wonders for me. But its still bogged down with this whisper singing and the relatively boring musical backing. Sure the effects are cool but the notes they are throwing the kitchen sink at aren't that engaging. All in all this is the best shoegaze project ive ever heard but it doesnt really move the needle as much as it needs to to win me over. Maybe another earlier album would do it but im not really dying to find out either. Still a decent shot I guess. Better than anyone else ive heard at least

I'm not super familiar with them, but did hear one other album on here before this. I like it, shoegaze noise pop works for me.

Noisy shoegaze that finds some very cool sonic-rhythms. Hard to critically listen to with some going in one ear and out the other. The heavy distortion and layered vocals can scratch the itch at times.

This was a strange album. It's like a souped-up version of the ambient sound music they play at yoga sessions. So inoffensive enough to listen to, but then there would be the occasional more 'wake up and listen' intervention, which was often unwelcome rather than stimulating. Not very good.

I found this to be a pretty tedious listen. It felt like there was an unnecessary excess of effects; perhaps there to mask the fact that the actual songwriting just wasn’t very compelling. The vocal delivery was also rather dull throughout. There were moments where the atmosphere worked well, but for the most part, it came across as a messy exploration of distortion, effects, and melancholy that dragged on far too long. Overall, a few redeeming moments, but not enough to make me say this was good, or even mediocre.

I didn't get this at all.

Uh

Pretty alright.

It takes a lot for me to give an album a 1, but this accomplished that in less than 3 songs.

This was good. I've only ever heard of this band, never actually listened to them before. Me likey.

I’ve listened to My Bloody Valentine before and it’s definitely one of those things you have to be in the mood for. I was in the mood for this today.

I promise the wall of sound won’t hurt you if you let it engulf you.

Whiney and noisy, shoegaze but lacks substance. Very very meh

2.5

Niet mijn ding

I was not expecting shoegaze. Was expecting more emo. Not really a fans and kinda disappointed tbh. I guess you could have sex to some of these songs. This is very similar to cigarettes after sex in the sense that every song sounds the same. The last two songs are grating. I want this to end

Making their fans wait 22 years after dropping one of the most important and innovative records of all time certainly set My Bloody Valentine up for failure. I don't think any band can match those expectations. You can break this record into three segments. The first three songs feel like outtakes from Loveless. They're decent - they just don't feel like their breaking new ground, which is disappointing for a band who are so pioneering. The second third features songs that are more laid back, but they do tend to drag a little. The final third is the most noisy and experimental part of the record, and it is the most interesting. You can lost in symphony of noise, with guitars featuring so many effects that they no longer sound like guitars. The experimentation is what I want out of MBV and not just rehashing their old sound. 'nothing is' is the one track that doesn't work as it is too avant-garde for its own good featuring a repetitous beat pounding the listener over the head. This is a mixed bag, but there's enough great ideas here to make it worth your time.

Mostly-noisy ethereal shoegaze.

Don’t understand why these types of albums are on this list. It is background music at best.

It was lacking and a bit boring towards the end

Decent, but just fine. Didn't feel like they were doing anything new or super exciting like they did on Loveless. Better than Isn't Anything but nothing super extraordinary. The second half I found more interesting than the first. They are a weird band for me.

boring ambient music. lyrics are more of a non-descript hum. heavy, heavy on the distortion. 2.5 stars

Det finnes nok en dag kor det her kunne passa humøret mitt. Men det va ikke i dag, så i dag va det endeløst og enerveranes.

Not for me

Ik gaf Mijn Bloederige Valentijn (die ik in m'n hoofd nog steeds af en toe verwar met Kogel Voor Mijn Valentijn) reeds een 4 en een 5, dus het verrassingseffect is er vanaf. Ik weet ongeveer wat ik ga krijgen en vandaag heb ik er wel zin in. Ik pak de koptelefoon er weer bij en de hersenen worden weer meteen gemasseerd. Ik kan nog steeds niet heel goed uitleggen waarom, maar ik vind dit een lekker geluid, terwijl het zo dicht aan zit tegen wat ik onluisterbare herrie zou kunnen noemen. Het Big Muff gitaarpedaaltje moet weer werken voor z'n centen. Er worden wat diepzinnige zinnen gehijgzongen, verstaan doe ik het uiteraard niet. Elk nummer lijkt op elkaar maar het komt allemaal weer lekker binnen in de hersenpan. Ik vond de twee andere albums een tandje leuker, meer melancholie. Dit album lijkt een beetje een herhaling van zetten te zijn. Kijkend naar de releasedatums is dat plausibel aangezien dit het derde album is, uitgebracht jaren en jaren na de twee andere albums. Ik geef deze 3 sterren en dan heb ik vanaf vandaag officieel een duidelijke persoonlijke top 3 wanneer het gaat over Bullet For My Bloody Valentine.

Not our vibe

It’s got a heartbeat it builds it releases. The wall of sound is well employed the vocals wistfully faint. Love this

4.6

Number: 119 Date: 05/02/2026 Artist: My Bloody Valentine Album: mbv Year: 2013 Genre: Shoegaze Familiarity: Well-versed Rating: 2 Before: ======= I love My Bloody Valentine. in fact, "Loveless", released 22 years earlier is one of my all time favorite albums and is a contender for my top 10 essential albums, definately in my top 50. That being said, I was a bit disappointed the first time I listened to "mbv". I only skimmed through it to be honest, so this will be my first full listen. During: ======= So I had company over and listened to the whole album whilst talking with them and did not hear much that grabbed my attention but will skim though it again and rate each song. After : ======= I wended up giving all the songs a 3, though there were a couple that were close to 4 and a couple close to 2. Seeing how's this album isn't that much different than "Loveless", I'm going to have to give it a low mark for suitability. 3 my personal rating 1 suitability for this list 2 impact ----------------------------------------------- 2 composite rating

Its a tough one to rate because its been ages since I've listened to Loveless. There's a bit to like in this one I think. It hews closer to a slowdive or Cocteau Twins, I think, compared to the noisier Loveless (at least from my memory), but both those bands are much better than what I'm hearing on m b v. What's really bringing this album down for me is the length of the songs combined with the repetition. The ideas are good, but there's not a lot of movement or development of those ideas to my ears. So yeah. Decent album, but not great. Honestly don't know why its even on the list. Really feels like a "legacy artist releases a new album, so it gets put on" inclusion, similar to a Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Fiona Apple - yes, Fiona catching strays here, but I'll explain in my review of FTBC when I get it).

Not very exciting. Not very creative. But ok.

Sounds a bit like Trent Reznor drowning in quick sand. I like bands that use the wall of sound, but this one didn't fully work for me. All blends together, until you get to around nothing is, in which it all becomes the auditory equivalent of slamming your head in a car door.

Guitars and drums are good, but you can barely hear the vocals and a lot of it is just humming. Cool musical jam. Distorted guitars give a bit of a different sound than I've heard before.

I didnt even know this album existed. More accessible than other stuff i’ve listened to but i found it less interesting. Not a bad album though

Lacks the highs of Loveless but it has some good tracks and is probably a bit more accessible for non MBV fans. 3.0

This was a little disappointing. Not because it's bad but because I don't think it's anywhere near as good as Loveless. There are moments and some songs where it gets into a nice groove and melody but there are also sections which repeat the same uninteresting part for too long.

Could be 5 stars if it didn't feel like they got stuck in the same style of experimentation on the last 3 songs

Modern classic by the masters of their craft.

Not what I was expecting. Chill background vibes.

The vibe is second credits song, or a more punky version of what the organist plays while everyone makes their way to the pews

Best Song: only tomorrow I think that this project has made me appreciate shoegazing more and more. My Bloody Valentine I have enjoyed every time I've listened to them and this is no exception. Only tomorrow is a fantastic song to boot! 4/5.

Nope. Just no.

I like this band. This album was good but not their best.

Some lovely melodic and rhythmic moments tarnished only slightly by the tendency of shoegaze to simply dial up the gain and reverb and hit all the notes at once

Much better than the first one. I forgot the album name. Not loveless. I haven’t listened to loveless yet but I can tell you I believe this is their peak. I actually think this album tight me what the band is actually about, just some sick guitars and beats. The first song really threw me into it, the rest was meh but there were a couple that really had me rocking.

1. found - 2 2. tomorrouu - 2 3. uuho - 2 4. Yes - 2 5. Am - 1 6. New - 2 7. Another - 2 8. nothing - 1 9. Wonder - 1

pas mal mais je pense pas que ce soit leur meilleur album

Loved this — shoegaze is my bread and butter Playlist add: "who sees you"

In 1999, Star Wars Episode 1 was released onto a public that were ravenous for any new Star Wars product. The consensus at the time was that the movie was...let's say "flawed" but that it was definitely worth the wait to have a new Star Wars movie. And hey, the kinks would obviously be worked out in the subsequent movies, right? Cut to a few years later when everyone basically feels duped by the new Star Wars and with a clearer head can see The Phantom Menace for the boondoggle that it always was. So why are we still letting people get away with calling this anything other than a waste of time?

These guys are the face of shoegaze music. A sub-genre that’s starting to have a resurgence with young listeners and a genre of music I personally adore. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but the experimentation that comes from this kind of music is so cool to listen to. My Bloody Valentine put out one of the best records I’ve ever listened to (loveless) and I constantly go back and listen to. This is the first time I’ve done a deeper listen of m b v though and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. No it doesn’t reach the heights as their magnum opus but some of the sounds they play around with are out of this world. Listening to this album I felt like I was in a trance at some points but other times my face was being melted off by the thrashing guitars. The wall of sound with unique guitar effects hit the listener constantly throughout this record. These guys are so experimental and weird. They’re easily on my bucket list of bands I need to see live.

Boring. I found this album boring and like watching paint dry.

Not my jam, but also was pretty distracted while listening to it.

I’ve tried to get into MBV before. I guess there is a reason I never could. Trying way too hard to be cool. I said it. 1.8

I don’t know. Some interesting moments. Certainly a vibe. But on the whole, boring. 4/10 Acceptable

This is kinda my first time listening to them, I somehow always got them mixed up with My Chemical Romance and didn't realise they were an older shoegaze group. My type of music but wished I liked this a little more, I just feel like there's better groups in the same niche now. Would've preferred getting their first 2 albums prior to this comeback release but oh well.

For me it was just pretty boring, the combination of sounds was initially interesting but tired quickly

Я с л ы ш а л н е к и е з в у к и

Мало того, что заснул, так ещё и проснулся, а уши в крови

Вообще не фанат шугейза, но альбом на удивление понравился, особенно вторая половина. Причем понравилось даже больше, чем loveless. Приятная мелодичная музыка, а не просто вайбовый шум, который делают почти все шугейзеры

Сначала Ариана Гранде, Леди Гага, Slowdive, Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins, Ride, а потом уже My Bloody Valentine. Сущий кошмар для любого инди крейзи лейбла. Мило, что люди тратили свои деньги. Поэтому и дописали чудом этот альбом. Когда он вышел, мне понравился. И сейчас вроде норм, но чуть меньше.

Для меня почти все крутое и любимое из альт девяностых (аля мбв, слоудайв, портисхед и т.д.) в нулевых и десятых звучит как вылизанная и душная пародия на самих себя.

Жжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжж

не фанат шугейза, но вот чисто музыка местами даже интересно звучит, и все равно скорее 3ка, оставлю баффер для loveless

Surprisingly excellent. In my head, when I see My Bloody Valentine, for some reason I always think of Type-O Negative, probably because of Bloody Kisses (and the fact that I have never really listened to either band). Suffice it to say that this album is extremely different than I expected. I was taken aback at first, but I started liking it more and more as the album continued. Using my own personal rating system, would I play this album of my own free will? You know, if I were in the right mood? I just might.

Brrrrrrrrrpp

Ik ben nog eens gaan luisteren naar loveless wat me nooit echt heeft gepakt en ik vind dit leuker dan loveless

Drone-y en gefragmenteerd. Zoals een wijs reviewer zei: 'geweldig als je loveless niet kent, valt net tegen als je loveless wel kent'.