Reviews (page 3 of 7)
This was an interesting one. Every song blended in to each other, and usually that's a sign that it's a boring album to me. However I don't think that was the case with this one. It's a long winter and it's taking its toll on me mentally, and I think this long droning album was a way to just dissociate for a while. I never felt like I was trying to ignore the music though, it was just a nice background music for a not-so-great mental state. Felt insanely ahead of its time too - you could have told me it came out last week and I would have believed you. I don't think it would have resonated with me so well if I was feeling okay though. Favourite: Lose My Breath
Something feels a little unfinished here, but not bad by any means, just a little too rough for a 5.
This one really grew on me. I was ready to give it a 2 after the first song but it hooked me by track 3 with some of the punkier stuff. I’m still not totally sold on the sonic schmear that is shoegaze, but I think I get it now. Big broad brush strokes. I wish the vocals were higher in the mix but I know that’s their thing. Looking forward to digging into this more.
Étonnamment écoutable. Voire accrocheur, comme sur (when you wake up) you're still in a dream. Je pensais vraiment affronter un mur de bruit incompréhensible, et c'est en fait assez accessible sur beaucoup de titres, et le résultat global est très cool.
Very grating in places, and Kevin Shields can't sing, and it lacks the punch of Loveless. But it's still MBV and it's still head and shoulders above everything else at the time.
There's something quite mesmerising about this album. It still sounds fresh and quite revolutionary as it must have done at the time. And whilst the accusation could be levelled that it is a little repetitive, there is something fascinating about the sound that has been crafted.
Recognized the band name from my emo days in high school but never listened to them before. I love this pop-rock sound.
HL: “You Never Should”, “Lose My Breath”, “All I Need”, “I Can’t See It” A while ago on Audacity, I played around with audio files and applied this effect called “Paulstretch”, where simple musical phrases would be blown out & stretched beyond recognition. That kinda gave me the same feeling shoegaze/MBV does. As I get into ‘23, time to acknowledge I do enjoy shoegaze quite a bit, though the indistinct, often abrasive effects can stress me out as often as they evoke a dreamlike atmosphere. Isn’t Anything doesn’t have as many layers as Loveless, but there’s moments of that peaceful/stressful feeling in tracks like “All I Need”, as well as more straightforward altrock in “Cupid Come”. January 6, 2023
Rebellious and mellow at the same time. A great cacophonous experience.
i listen to PUBLIC ENEMY INSTEAD!
notes - debut album - i reviewed loveless a little while back - this album is like the younger, rockier version - lots of good ideas and concepts not executed to the same level - i think the strong songs on here are actually stronger than those on loveless - but the low points are lower - i really like kevins lower register vocals, shame they stopped doing them fav - when you wake youre still in a dream - love the chords and energy least fav - soft as snow but warm inside - take this song out and the album is muuuuch stronger 4/5
Evo neki dan (21/11/22) je bila 34. godišnjica ovog albuma. Nekako ih ovdje najbolje razumijem nego inače. Volim noise pop, kad taj zvuk kao neke mašine probija kroz tvoje uho, ne sad baš probija, meni više prija. I onako lijep glas plus instrumental zajedno sa tim šredanjem, ne znam. Zna jako pasati, izaziva tu neku toplinu, ngl.
I'm guessing a lot of people hate this one, and honestly? That's fair. But I'd already heard albums like Vile Child by Milk Teeth and bands like Death Grips. I've heard weird, vaguely unsettling instrumentation and songs where voices get lost in a cacophony of slightly off-key, distorted noise. And I genuinely find it interesting. It feels like a commentary on the messiness of relationships. This sort of music is a tribute to people trying their best, to wandering paths, to moving forward despite uncertainty and confusion and pain. Can I understand the lyrics? Not really. Is that stopping me from enjoying it? Not at all. I'm not much of a lyrics person. I also find the melodies and chords quite soothing. This is really good background music. You can kind of just float along like you're in a dream. Oddly enough, the more I listen, the more I feel like paying too much attention to this music does it a disservice. It's not really meant to be logical or consistent. If I scrabble for handholds, I may come up empty-handed. But if I let the music come to me without expecting anything from it, it works. But when I take the time to focus on it, I have to wonder - how'd they do it? What were they DOING to get such a cavernous, reverberating...cloud of sound? Half the time you can't even tell what instrument it is. That's kind of amazing. Sound editing is an art. Whatever this is, I'm fascinated. It makes me feel like I'm falling into a bottomless pit full of dense, sunset-colored fog. I don't know what's going on here. But it's cool.
Interesting almost lofi-shoegaze-y stuff. Kind of fun to listen to their earliest work, definitely pioneering for 1988 for sure. Not all of them do a ton for me but I respect the album as a whole.
I love mbv but I've only really ever listened to Loveless. This was definitely a more raw version of their sound but I found it to be a little more dynamic and interesting. There was more open space in the songs and the production made the instruments feel like they were alive! As if every track were breathing in and out. Truly incredible work, though not as polished as Loveless you can really see the foundation of the sound they would come to master on later releases.
"Isn't Anything" is a highly impactful debut where mbv (Shields & co.) were in the process of molding lo-fi indie into what would become shoegaze. The result is more straightforward and bare than "Loveless", but it's still am incredibly earnest record with Shields' trademark ethereal melodies. It's a great ride but still a notch below what was yet to come.
this album was a slow burn for me, didn’t like it at the beginning but was rly vibing at the end
Good album
The first song didn't really capture me, but this album was a slow burn and by the end, I was utterly captivated. Love the soundscapes and even though it's not my favorite record from My Bloody Valentine, it's a hell of a strong debut!
I owned this back in the day, but know the brilliant Loveless much more. I was struck by how comparatively conventional it sounds, though doubt that was the case at the time. You can hear some of the lyrics! But it's all good stuff, best song: Several Girls Galore
Throughly enjoyed this record, even with all the hate I've heard for shoegaze. The record has a constant feeling of noise, almost makes the whole thing feel very blurry but the record still has its own distinct noise and sound. Very cool guitarwork and the vocals are just so fun. Although at points the blurry feeling does make it feel as if I'm just dissociating. Overall very cool sound and feeling. Favorite Track: Lose My Breath Least Favorite: Sueisfine
fav songs: soft as snow lose my breathe feed me with your kiss you never should 4.1
I like the shoe-gazey music and this was apparently the first introduction
It was a good representation of the genre.
bangs
I think sometimes Shoegaze music gets a bad rap, sure some of it is intolerant and in cohesive, but there are some great bands and albums from this genre. I hadn't listened to much My Bloody Valentine until recently and though I'm not a fan, their debut full-length, Isn't Anything is a strong record. Underneath the distorted guitars (and noises!), is some nice layered guitar sounds and some melodic songs. I wasn't expecting I'd like this, but my eyes (and ears!) were opened up to some much needed album.
Experimental guitar based indie/rock. "Your Still In A Dream" and "Feed Me With Your Kiss" are high octane rockers with nifty harmonies, "Cupid Come" has a garage/psych feel, "Lose My Breath" is mellow (but spooky) whilst "No More Sorry" utilizes a mélange of backwards guitars. I can understand why this is classified Shoegaze as it does have the key elements (guitar noise, melodic vocals, minor key songs) of that genre. And there's some great song titles.
Loved revisiting this, the retro guitar and vocal sounds and the understated lyrics. Very proto-gothrock shoegaze-y
This is a great debut from MBV, can see them experimenting a lot on this album, a sound that they would go on to master on loveless.
Rock un tanto oscuro, guitarrero, cañero a ratos. Buen sonido, pero le ha faltado algo de chispa
This album really grew on me. I didn't like track 1 at all at first, but track 2 hooked me and the rest of the album clicked too. It always takes me awhile to get into some of these shoegaze bands (Medicine is still a group that I'm kind of bipolar on), but overall I liked this album a lot.
IA can’t help but sound like warm-up for Loveless, which is fine. That’s still one of the all-time seminal albums, and it makes sense that it overshadows everything else they’ve done. This is still a perfectly fine album, but it’s not the one I come back to. B
The album that launched a hundred bands.
I'm definitely going to want to spend more time with this one. There's a wide variety of sounds on here and I have a feeling that some of these songs won't fully reveal themselves until a few listens in. A lot of tracks bury their melodies under heaps of reverb and fuzz, like "No More Sorry," which has a sad, Beatles-esque melody underneath layers of effects and noise. I've heard about My Bloody Valentine for a long time and now I see why. I can hear 1,000 indie artists from the last 20 years in these songs. They've clearly had a huge influence on a lot of bands. Highlights: "Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside)," "Feed Me With Your Kiss," "Nothing Much to Lose" (those machine gun drums are wild!)
More than halfway through this project, and easily my lowest rated genre is "shoegaze". Once I saw that this is a "seminal shoegaze album" I was truly ready to hate it. Imagine my surprise when I not only kind of liked it, but I started to vibe with it hard! I just floated on the fuzz and didn't want it to end.
o ápice ainda estava por vir
Je suis relativement nouveau à My Bloody Valentine. J’aime beaucoup ce premier album. Je connaissais seulement Only Shallow de l’album Loveless. Les textures des guitares sont superbes. Le petit côté dissonant en trame de fond me plaît beaucoup. Je vais définitivement revenir régulièrement à cet album.
Pretty weird, pretty distorted, sort of edgy and dissonant. I liked it though. It hit the right spots. Like the other album by them, nothing that I can listen to for too long, but nice for a while.
Getad
Veeeerrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy strong four…. I love the sound. Distinct from Loveless while still having their trademarked effects-drenched guitars
Äger otvivelaktigt.... lyricsen e stundvis nästan lite för pinsamma dock, det var rätt att senare dölja sången ännu längre ner i mixen.
I liked this far more then the other album I was given by MBV. An ambient symphony of noise and slight depression. Good stuff.
Incredibly cool album. 8/10
Hmm... Pretty good :) Rating: 7/10
Beginning of shoegaze, but will pales in comparison to Loveless. Sill great though
In line and time with what the Pixies were up to by the sound of it. Lots more fuzz and noise though. Feed Me With Your Kiss is sick tune. Nothing Much To Lose also a good one. 50 points for the all lowercase band name.
Did not like the first song (Soft As Snow). But the rest are pretty good
Wow, super alternative for 80s, didn’t know it existed ! Enjoyed a bunch
чувствую себя очень противоречиво. С одной стороны это, конечно, важный альбом для шугейза и экспериментальной гитарной музыки в целом, но с другой — до него уже были и You Living All Over Me динозавра и Psychocandy жисус эн мэри чейна, а кокто твинс уже с пяток, наверное, альбомов выпустили (хотя их к шухейзу я бы с большой натяжкой относил). Безусловным переворот в музыкальном ландшафте будет Loveless, который дропнется тремя годами позже, а Isn't Anything — это всё же скорее разогрев. Здесь уже есть вот этот трейдмарк саунд МБВ (а значит и большинства последовавших шг-групп 90х), но кататстрофически мало именно музыкального наполнения: в плане запоминающихся или хотя бы различимых на слух мелодий, интересных текстур и эфирного вокала. Даже более того — ближе к финалу альбома группа как будто отказывается от своего дрим-рок саунда и на некоторых номерах даёт полноценное рубилово (e.g. Feed Me With Your Kiss, Nothing Much To Lose), что, впрочем, для меня только в плюс играет. По итогу сложно определиться, давать ли этому альбому оценку за то, что он есть, или за то, во что он превратится в будущем. Но, наверное, для себя сойдусь на 7 — неподготовленному слушателю такое вынести будет определённо тяжело. Если честно — не уверен, что ему место в этом списке, это скорее историческая хуйня для нёрдов, которые после Лавлесса полезут изучать историю становления шугейз-саунда.
not as good as loveless, but then not a lot is. good one for a friday too.
Well, let's just say that my bloody valentine was a fuckin' whore who deserved everything she got. Tried to take the kids away from me. Of course she was getting a bloody nose.
Very enjoyable. Thank you.
pretty catchy, and I'd never listened to them before
An old favourite of mine
The album they made after is on of the best ever, you can hear the sound starting to come together here
A very nice surprise from a rock/shoegaze album. Very strong track listing with the more discordant and/or noisy sections being the strongest. 8/10, pretty good
MBV is a band that all the music nerds talk about. I’ve maybe heard an album before, but certainly not this one. I really like this, it feels like well-established shoegaze, like these guys knew exactly what they were going for. I love the fuzzed out, washed out aesthetic here. Plenty of songs that I could feel myself melting into. Favorite tracks: Cupid Come, No More Sorry, All I Need, I Can See It, Lose My Breath. Album art: Like the music, it looks like a hazy, washed out photo of the band. Nothing crazy, but very fitting. 4/5
I really liked this one.
Intriguing and innovative. Occasionally too loud to hear the singer.
really enjoyed some of the songs. the rest was alright
Not as good as Loveless, but still has some very cool sounds and weirdness. Like walking through an icy wood at dusk.
I’ve never enjoyed white noise this much in my life
Solid shoegaze record
Possible the best MBV album. Amazing!
It was fine. Ive only heard Loveless before and that was better. Not sure why both need to be on the list, but not annoying to listen to. 2.5 stars, but giving 3 to boost the rating, cause a 2 feels harsh.
Decent
It was fine but like all their albums they kind of just blend together into one song I lose track of.
Sure, it's good, I actually prefer it to Loveless sometimes. But, this list doesn't need every mbv album.
Didn’t really leave any impact on me. I just don’t think they’re brand of music is for me! Kind of boring and droney
Only one song available on Spotify. Meh.
Heard before; 2.5; I have to be honest on relistening to this album - I enjoy it and can hear how it is an interesting album in some ways. But at the same time, it is a difficult listen and after listening through, I realize that there's not a lot that really jumped out or stuck with me. I think that has something to do with the production - obviously the swirling sounding and buried vocals is part of the style, but it feels like this album is halfway between a more standard sound and a shoegaze style. Favorite Track: Nothing Much to Lose
2.5
This album was extremely interesting with the distortion I had no idea at all what I was getting into. I’ll start off with a 3 but I’d be super open to revisiting it
I know it’s very influential etc. but to listen to it was just OK.
Couldn’t listen on iTunes. Listened to a beat of compilation.
3.25 great study tunes
alright
definitely OD'd on loveless in college but i liked the more stripped back feel in this one, would love to listen in one of them record bars with big speakers and coffee. versus at the weights, mixed in with the guy next to me trying to max out the row machine. nice slow big sounds. really lovely songwriting. fave track all i need
2.9 2x flying to MEX
Гламурная меланхолия Сейчас трудно писать, что либо о музыке, но я постараюсь. Этот альбом был послушан не вдумчиво не с должной усидчивостью, но могу сказать что вокал и подача меня затянули. Чувствуется вдохновения Майклом Джексоном на мой взгляд в некоторых песнях прям чувствуется его настроение. Нельзя не сказать о абсолютно точной экспериментальности и смелости этого альбома учитывая время. Альбом из-за не вдумчиво прослушивания оставил четкое желание переслушать его, а само поверхностное прослушивание было максимально привлекательным. Моя оценка 7/10
Love the tones. And I get that it’s supposed to be muddy, but there’s just not enough to grab onto once you’re thru sifting the mud, no matter how divine the sludge is.
not my fave mbv album
I see where so much of the 90s and 2000s bands got their influence. And they are Irish so that’s an extra. I may have to give it another listen.
Ei tämäkään yltänyt Lovelessin tasolle. Aikanaan ollut varmasti erittäin mullistava soundi. 3/5.
When I first really got into the music press MBV were the band, the press fawned over them but I seemed to avoid them. Probably 10 years later I heard this and I didn’t really get it. Sounded like someone playing guitar with an electric toothbrush. Tbf now I’m listening to it again it still does but I actually now think it’s a good idea. Vocals half hidden under the noise and when you do hear lyrics they feel strange and discomforting. I don’t feel I’ve had my life changed but it’s an interesting album
First listen I didn't enjoy. Second listen on headphones I did. Make of that what you will. A more complex sound that needs attention.
Boh ok ci sta
It was ok
It was alright in places, grew on me a bit after a few listens.
Not too much distortion. My favourite was (When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream.
Bit disappointing, as I loved their other album on here. A couple of stand-outs but there were lots of tracks that failed to ignite for me. I do still enjoy the vibe and overall sound.
This album was not available officially on youtube music, but I was able to listen to a not great upload of it also through youtube music. Anyway, I was into this. I would like to hear it with a lot more polish, but I dont think you get Nirvanas sound or weezer without this album.
Love Loveless, this one is a lesser version of that.
shimmering, out of focus, mysteriously layered, woozy, uncertain a step along the road to their later, more expansive noise
I like MBV but the production quality on this makes it almost unlistenable. Maybe it's just the version I found since this seems rare on streaming platforms, but even powering through the production doesn't help. The songs just don't feel right.
Musically I should like shoegaze and what I've heard, I largely do. ButI've always had an issue with the vocals being weak and getting lost in the music and this largely suffered the same fate! I know that's sort of the point but it's just not for me. I 0refered the female vocals as they cut through a little more but there wasn't enough hear overall to hold my interest.
Schwere Kost. Shoestring.
A curate’s egg. The kind of music I usually like but all over the shop somehow. 3.5
Boy, thought I would like this more. Perhaps it suffered from my needing to listen to the bootleg on YouTube? I consider myself a fan of loveless. But this was… mushy. Still giving them a 3 for influence. Boolean: no, not really. I don’t think I needed to hear it before I die.
05/05/2026 Nothing really stands out for me here. An average album, an average listen. Spotify listeners: 816.6k
It's a lot. I like it, but it's not an easy listen. The opener is very discordant, and it's not like it lets up from there.
I'm so glad they figured out how to make this catch on the next one because this one isn't it
Ok - a bit teenage angsty
Not bad, it made for good background music.
c mid mais à des moments ya trop de bruits
I want grabbed by anything on this. I guess it's an important and influential album, but I've enjoyed their later stuff more.
Better than Coldplay
hä nomel eis vo ihne?? bi bi song 3 und sie chönd definitiv en mood überebringe. aber s isch scho au afoch viel reverb. hm ich verlür mich gad au chli und dasch glaub bitz d idee. ich glaub die vier sind uuuuuhuere cool. aber bin etz nöd soo fest dricho und s isch easy churz was ich aber schätze
HEAVY ahfang? was machter mite snare (when you wake isch jz de erst song woni okay find, vorher isches sehr ahstrengend gsi bis jz okkkk ich gsehs langsam immerno fucking ahstrengend abeeer scho auchli cool feed me with your kiss hani jz echt na cool gfunde hahaha neii seget sie suicide sueisfine? joo isch reecht ahstrengend gsi aber d atmosphäre isch (im ahsatz) daa gsi? reins enjoyment es 2, für was sie gmacht hend gits es 3!
Probably wont listen again but its fine. 3.2
only one song on spotify :( 3
First time listening to this one after loving their other two records. This one feels like a debut, but the sound is very much there already. The guitar work is so unique. The vocals mysterious and dark. This album, next to their next relice is more fast, and bass and drums heavy. Songs like No More Sorry, I Can See It and Nothing Much to Love are some of their best. I think it might lack some consistency at some point, the sound could be a bit more focused It will all be fixed on their next album, that I know for sure... I think a very solid 3 is correct here.
I was excited to get a My Bloody Valentine record after hearing great things about them. I found this record to be okay. There were a couple of standout tracks, but the rest just sounded like noise. Favourite Track(s): Cupid Come, Feed Me With Your Kiss Least Favourite Track(s): Lose My Breath, All I Need, Sueisfine, Several Girls Galore
I was pretty surprised to discover I don't know any songs by them. They're a band I've known of and always assumed I'd heard stuff by them, but apparently not! So I enjoyed listening through this one and was surprised to discover they're very alt rock, as opposed to punk which is what I've assumed they were. I'm eager to listen to more, and excited to see they have other albums on the list!
The weakest of the three MBV albums in my opinion. Favorite track: I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)
5/10
Idk it’s not a thing special but it is good I can definitely see how this influenced rock going into the 21st century. For an album that was released in 1988. This sounds very late 90s early 2000s.
This album is a bit all over the place. When it's more punky/grunge I enjoy it but it does frequently get all avant-garde and shoe-gazey and puts me off. 6/10
didnt dislike this! its not super my thing but i will happily throw this on for a listen and its not overly long by any means
I remember back in ‘63. Ken Chutney had just split up with his childhood sweetheart after Len Houmous slept with her. It was half way through Chuck Berry’s support set when you could hear him screaming ‘My Bloody Valentine, Len’ It was a really tough time. 2.9 11/12 Nothing Much To Lose
i symphatize with the noise and the feeling although it's not an easy listen i'd frequently enjoy
This is the equivalent of looking at early Picassos or Pollocks - the drive towards something entirely new (in this case *Loveless*) is definitely there, but sometimes the results are either too formless or too formal ("Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)" somehow manages to be both). And yet, as badly as some of the experiments fail, there are still plenty of diamonds to be mined here. This is a different experience from *Loveless* - pricklier and rawer, wearing more of its antecedents on its sleeve (Jesus and Mary Chain, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth predominantly). Whether that's a pro or con is left as an exercise for the patron - after all, some people really dig the Blue Period.
This album didn't really stick out to me in any particular way.
This is the third MBV album I've had and, while they feel like a band I should like quite a bit, I find it hard to get into their music much.
Eh, it was fine but not really my thing.
I was expecting to enjoy it a lot more since I like shoegaze, but it's just kinda rough around the edges
Listening to Isn't Anything is like walking onto a raw, beautiful, but sometimes brutal construction site for shoegaze. I dig the one-take vibe, it's grittier and more spectral rock than their polished, later stuff. Tracks like "Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)" and "Feed Me With Your Kiss" are super powerful, but sometimes it feels like a blurry mess of a soundscape where the vocals get lost in the guitar noise. It's definitely important and innovative, but it can veer into noise for noise's sake that's a bit much. I really like the album and think the glide guitar is cool, but it doesn't quite hit the heights of Loveless. Loveless feels like a solid wall of sound, while this one's more of a disorientating masterpiece that's still finding its feet. It's a great record that I'll come back to when I'm in the mood, but it's missing that extra magnum opus spark.
My first time hearing My Bloody Valentine. Some tracks vocals are too low. I enjoyed most of the instumentation however sometimes the guitar fuzz is over done.
I have heard a lot about this band and how crushingly loud they are, so I really was expecting something a little heavier? I think the production was cool, I like shoegaze and this definitely kicks that off. But as for the question "best albums of all time?" - I really don't think so. I think it is pioneering and influential, but not necessarily fantastic on its own. Just my 2 cents.
Not as bad as I had expected, some quite tuneful track,and not as many utterly tuneless one as I thought. Vocals were a bit hit and miss, but on the whole more hits than misses, but still too many misses. Really not my line, but better than I thought, just in case you were wondering I'm waffling because im trying to decide if its a 2 or 3. Oh sod it! Im feeling generous.
I persevered with this one a lot, because one of my mates loves this band. The first two tracks really tested me as they just didn’t have anything comfortable about them. Then ‘Cupid Come’ gave me something to work with and ‘(When You Wake)’ was really good. The second half of the album was much easier to listen to than that opening, so I thought it was all worth another play. Whilst I still struggle with it at times, there’s some really brilliant and different moments throughout. Other stand out tracks are ‘Sueisfine’, and ‘You Never Should’.
I do like this moody album, where you can’t hear the lyrics over the instruments, I have a few songs from MBV on playlists, it’s kinda cool
NINETEEN EIGHTY EIGHT??? This sounds like it was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic for the depressed and overstimulated ears of saddest zoomers on the internet. This is almost anachronistic. Maybe some Gen-Z kids took so much ADHD medication that they were able to somehow end up in the late 80's via some sort of consciousness transmigration. Stranger things have happened. Well, that's not actually true in this case, but stay with me, my brain is failing. Lets put this in perspective. 1988 was 38 years ago, which is worrying for many reasons, but looking at the top songs for that year is mind-boggling. Faith by George Michael? Sweet Child O' Mine? NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP??? My Bloody Valentine pull off the coolest kid at the party thing big time. This had to have hit the public like a wet hammer. Wet hammers are heavier. Everybody knows that. "Isn't Anything" is confusing, heavy, and ultimately born WAY before its time. This was an educational experience in innovation and in what the depressed yet horny youth of the 1980's were up to. Godspeed you little freaks. 3 HIGHLIGHTS: On closer inspection, these are loafers
Spotify just has a single track so I had to hunt around for the album. I like their later work better. This record is uneven and the musicianship isn't as strong as Loveless, for example.
Couldn't listen to it
Album #49, My Bloody Valentine, Isn’t Anything ⭐⭐⭐ Bit of a spoiler, but Loveless is, for me, the best album of the 90s. I’ll probably be very hyperbolic when that comes up. I love My Bloody Valentine, and as an Irish man I kind of claim them as one of our own, even if they’re more of a transatlantic band. They have to be one of the weirdest bands of their era. This album feels more like a proof of concept in places than anything else. It’s heavy on the dissonance, and a lot of the tracks are very experimental, but it sounds a bit cheap at times, like the production is letting the band down. I can kind of see why Kevin Shields was so obsessive about Loveless and the sound he was trying to achieve, even to the point of bankrupting the label, because here it feels like the production is holding them back. But it’s not just the production, the songs aren’t as strong either. It’s lacking the beauty that Loveless has. This feels like a debut from a band that would go on to do much greater things. That said, it’s not bad at all. It’s definitely worth a listen. I prefer the more straightforward tracks to the more experimental ones. Again, it’s very heavy on dissonance and doesn’t quite have the same payoff. The vocals are those lovely, dreamy MBV vocals, but I don’t think their voices are particularly strong on their own, and that wall of sound they perfected later suits them much better. So yeah, I’ve ended up talking about Loveless a lot here, but this is still a good album. There are some great songs on it, and it’s clearly the sound of a band on the way to something bigger.
I've been a fan of MBV for decades at this point, mostly through Loveless. Only went back to this album until their reunion. I like the album more for talking a peak into the lab where they're doing early experiments more than the finish work they presented. Strange enough, the singles and EPs they released around this I liked better than the album as a whole. Still, absolutely love Soft as Snow and Feed Me with your Kiss.
Ok this was better than I expected. I thought this was one of those aughts pillow-punching eyeliner emo bands for millennials whose parents didn’t understand them. I stand corrected. This definitely has the bones of stuff I quite like & I don’t doubt a deeper dive would likely bring me around even more. Do I really have the bandwidth for that tho? No I don’t think I do. I will correct the record to note this band is actually good and pioneers of a particular indie sound whose later iterations are pretty great. As is I find this a bit too drone-y. Too much constant sawing and too little variation. I’m giving 2 & 1/2. I’ll allow the round up for stature & influence
This band truly have a unique sound, you can't argue with that. As with Loveless, I initially found it quite hard to digest, but it definitely got better with further listens. Didn't like it quite as much as Loveless though. Favourite tracks: Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside), No More Sorry, You Never Should.
It's kinda funny, sounds like Loveless half the time, and very 80's half the time
Fuzzes and fizzes between sweet and menacing - would be great to hear this sound taken to the extreme, which I understand they do pretty well in the end! Favourite tracks: No More Sorry, Nothing Much To Lose
More love letters to noise and distortion. If you're craving something raw and unfiltered, dive in, the guitars are thick as peanut butter, and the vocals are buried like treasure. It's not an easy listen, but it's got heart, and you've gotta respect their influence on later alt-rockers. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - N/A
Tešil som sa na tento album, ale trochu som sklamaný. Poznám len ich novšie albumy, ktoré sú skvelé.
soms vibeys soms bleh
Didn't come up on Apple Music...
Not particularly notable.
80s alternative, shoegaze. Debut, Kind of weird wall of sound. Cool album with some great rock tracks.
I wish I loved the rest of mbv's stuff half as much as I love sometimes. (If that were the case they would comfortable be among my favorite artists.) But this is decent too.
This is an extremely challenging album to rate because there is lots of odd composition and delays and screwing with envelope that makes it feel like two songs are playing at once… but it’s clearly deliberate. There’s parts that are pretty an other parts where I feel like I’m being attacked. This is really a 1-star and a 5-star in the same album.
Nice shoegaze. Doesn't do me much though. Just nice, I'm not is awe.
Couldn't listen
• Soft as Snow has a good chord progression, and I really like the drums throughout the song • (When You Wake) You’re Still in a Dream has a lot of energy. The shoegazey sound is definitely still there in its production, but it’s a lot more amped up • No More Sorry is so low key in comparison • Feed Me With Your Kids’ main riff feels a lot like L7 • Nothing Much to Lose is another much more structured song than the majority of the album • Closing out the album is I Can See It (But I Can’t Feel It), and it’s another very loose track. I don’t think I hated this album, but I didn’t like it. There were two or three songs that stuck out to me as being decent, but the majority of the album wasn’t anything of note. I can definitely see why the album was so integral to the development of certain genres, and it does sound like a newer album than it actually is. Favourite song: Feed Me With Your Kiss
Fine?
I'm actually a little conflicted because while this was kind of a boring album, it was also kinda chill? Like I wouldn't tell someone to turn this off if they had it playing but I also don't love it enough to actively seek out this kind of music. Kind of like lo-fi in a way? Or like post-rock? This album was good at creating a vibe. A "angsty teenager locked in their room" kind of vibe. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it, and that's where I'm at with that.
All things considered, this is a really solid debut from a band pioneering a whole new genre. Shoegaze still had a ways to go, with it really taking off in the early 90s, but some of the most important albums in the genres formative years are still really interesting listens. I think that this album does lack a bit of focus, it's a cool collection of ideas that don't fit together as well as you would want them to. It still has all the things that you would want on a shoegaze album, the fuzzy guitar textures, dreamy and Incomprehensible vocals, but what they managed to achieve on Loveless that this album just doesn't quite have is putting it all together in a way that really makes it feel like a complete album.
The pieces of what will make ‘Loveless’ in a few years are here, but they’re not there yet.
I can't say I loved this album on first listen, but something in it really resonated with me. Maybe it’s the mellow lyrics, maybe it’s the wall of sound that mixes interesting distortion, post-punk vibes, prolonged feedback, and all sorts of textures happening behind the chord progressions. MBV were pioneers of the shoegaze sound, and you can hear why. I can see myself revisiting it because as soon as I finished it, I replayed a few songs that had caught my attention. It’s definitely moody in a good way. I absolutely despised the vocal delivery on the first track, but things became more manageable after that. The two songs that made it worthwhile are "Lose My Breath" and "I Can See It (But I Can’t Feel It)".
“Every time I look at you Pins me to the ground Mirror me your memories, please And let me help you down” I am not a big fan of Shoegaze music but it is fair to say that my bloody valentine effectively invented and perfected it. This is not as fully developed as “Loveless” which is often touted as their masterpiece but I actually found myself enjoying “Isn’t Anything” more as a result. It feels fundamentally less shoegazey and the vocals aren’t as washed out. Huge parts of it are still not my thing and I do find the mixing in places flat out irritating but it is not irredeemable. Some tracks have an almost Pixies type feel about them which I really enjoy and they do achieve some interesting guitar sounds. It is just not enough for me to see my bloody valentine as the indie darling genii that everyone else seems to.
Lots of ethereal, glossy shoegaze. Feels like drifting across astral realms. Balanced nicely with songs like Feed Me With Your Kiss and Nothing Much to Lose which are quite grungy. I think this album has a good balance of heavy drone with spacey effects that make it pretty accessible and a good introduction to the band and the scene.
A real mixed bag. The occasional flash of greatness but definitely not their best work.
I'm quite familiar with My Bloody Valentine, but I've never heard this album of theirs. I'm most familiar with their "Loveless" album which I quite enjoy. This is interesting to listen to from the standpoint of "oh, this is what they sounded like before they got to the Loveless-style wall-of-sound thing they had going." I don't enjoy this anywhere near as much as Loveless though. It's not terrible, but much more "meh."
kinda good but also not memorable for me Will I listen to again: 31%
Some good songs on here, but a lot of them are very noisy.
Shoegaze Algunas piezas me recordaron un poco a Sufjan Stevens, puede que lo hayan influenciado en algún punto Buen punk de los 90s
This was up my street, but I found it a bit hit and miss. Some songs I thought were great but others didn't really land. Feels like potential that's just not quite refined yet. 3.5
Shoegaze music, replete with vacuum cleaner guitars, dream-like vocals and overindulgent studio work, was one of the many unique sub-genres that grew in prominence at the turn of the 1990s, and no band is more synonymous with those 'vroomp vroomp' guitar tones than My Bloody Valentine. 'Isn't Anything', the band's debut studio album, is not quite as multilayered and dense as their follow-up, the iconic 'Loveless', but the sound sits quite nicely in between that of Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain. It's pretty hard to connect with the vocals in any real way because, as is commonplace in the shoegaze genre, they're quite hushed and get lost in the wall of guitar sound, but that guitar sound is certainly impressive, if a little bit over the top. I do enjoy some tunes on this record, like 'Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)', 'Feed Me With Your Kiss' and 'Sueisfine', but 'Isn't Anything' is essentially the work of a band still figuring out their sound. Co-lead vocalist and guitarist Bilinda Butcher hadn't really settled into the band as of yet, and her presence isn't as strongly felt on this album as it is on 'Loveless'. The rest of the band sounds tight, but the barer production seems to leave them a bit more vulnerable, something they'd rectify (at an unbelievable studio cost) on 'Loveless'. So while 'Isn't Anything' is a nice-enough sounding record, it kinda pales in comparison to what they'd eventually accomplish with 'Loveless'. Still, it's a very important record in the shoegaze genre, so it warrants its status. Best songs: Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside), Feed Me With Your Kiss, Sueisfine
It aint' Loveless, but it helps explain how they got to Loveless.
Hard to find, this album has been pulled from most streaming services and is the only early MBV album I don't own
I love Loveless, but this earlier album feels a little too immature
This is a good band, but yet another album on this list and I don't see much differences to the others. It's solid, nothing more, nothing less.
I would give them an award for the most appropriate band name for the sound they make. And also an award for sticking to their music principles. However, the slightly out of tune vocals / heavy indie guitar ratio is a little off for me here (Ride and J&MC do it better) plus the production isn't the greatest.
Great straight ahead rock. A little loud and a little whiny, but so am I. While I do remember this album and band - and they set the stage for grunge, really, I don't think to put them on... but I will! solid 3
Some good stuff but vocals a bit whiny. Worth a listen in the right mood.
the production was kind of bad but it was still a pretty cool album
Not shoegazey enough tbh
Decent album preview of what was to come
Really good, on some songs I'm not a fan of the mixing, not enough voice and drums and the guitar being dirty can sound not terrible. Otherwise, I really liked it was really enjoyable 3.25/5
Taking a star right off the top cause they don't have it on Apple Music and Spotify. It's 2026, get your shit together. I'm sure there's a reason but it's probably not a good one. There's really cool instrumental moments here but I'm just not into it and I'm on the third or fourth song. There's some great riffs, great beats. I'd like this much better if they didn't sing. Quite frankly, the vocals and whatever lyrics I could make sense of just killed it for me.
Maybe shoegazing isn’t my genre
Think I would have enjoyed this album a lot more if it wasn't for the mixing. I assume it was an intentional choice to have the vocals so much more quiet than the instruments, but it didn't really work for me
Loved the music but catching the lyrics was so hard haha I was so overwhelmed idk why. It would’ve been great if it was rainy outside and I listened it not with EarPods
Not an album for people who have tinnitus. The droney, wall of sound mix just buzzed in my ears and was often indistinguishable from the usual sounds that I constantly hear. I'm kidding (kind of). There are some really good melodies hidden underneath that buzz and drone and this is a pretty good shoe gaze album. But the production and mix just buries them for the most part.
This album was a tale of two halves for me, first half made very little impression but I found the second to have a more interesting, Dino Jr kinda sound. Still, I've now heard all of MBV's albums and they just dont do it for me. I get how influential they are but I find myself barely remembering any specific songs or anything, they're just fine in my book and I'd never put them on spontaneously.
Very interesting sound, as it has more hooks than I thought, while also being a precursor to the alternative sound out of the 90s.
Solid album, but a little rough around the edges. You can really hear MBV laying the foundation for future albums like Loveless, which I consider to be an easy 5/5.
Very dissonant. A little unnerving.
Couldn't find a good copy of it so I'll have to come back to it
album titles that are true
Bien
It was okay. Rather gloomy, good orchestrations but not a band that has ever really excited me.
I get why it’s not for everyone, but the guitar sound is ahead of its time
Not bad
A good album, I liked Sueisfine and Several Girls Galore the most.
It has some nice trippy music on it.
Couldn’t find full album
This wasn't available on Spotify and I didn't feel like spending money on it so I just listened to all of the 30 second previews on their website. Sounds like a project that I'd semi enjoy. Gonna give it a 3/5 and let fate decide if I'll ever listen to it fully.
hmm.. I kind of like this band. They have a weird sound. It's pretty creative sound alchemy. This album could maybe go up to a 4 after I've had time to sink my ears into it with several listens.
Do we really need THREE mbv albums in this project? I hope this is the last one. It had some rockin' moments, but overall this band just does nothing for me. Their music feels so muffled and messy and meandering. Good on them for pioneering a new music genre, but it's not a genre I particularly enjoy. This is more of a 2.5, but I'll round up because of their influence I guess.
It may not be for everyone, but I remember being excited that there was actually some new/strange/interesting shit to listen to as the 80s came to a close. We had all had enough of AC/DC, Whitesnake, and the Scorpions.
I did quite enjoy this though it strangely sounds quite dated.
Alternative, 2021, Only 7 songs The first 2 songs are purely instrumental but have very different vibes. Third song is very stringy violins that sounds panicked, also no lyrics This album does feel very sensual
Alright. Felt kind of monotonous to me.
It was alright
I appreciate it. It's phenomenally creative. They craft beautiful soundscapes and have a knack for melody. For some reason it doesn't quite suck me in. While I like the parts the drummer comes up with, his timing is off (which is THE cardinal fucking sin for a drummer) and the overdrive from those cheap 80s solid state amps is terrible - cold, tinny, and just abrasive. But I'll keep listening. This is definitely an album that I could end up liking quite a lot more after 10 listens.
Pre grunge - eind jaren tachtig - pixies-isch Goeie bass Toen had het mijn ding geweest nu ben ik er wat uitgegroeid
i'm steadily learning that i am not a huge fan of shoegaze, but sometimes it is imbued with just enough punk, emo, hard rock etc elements that i can at least have an enjoyable listen.
Good but not as good as the second one. This is more generic.
First song distonal but others were okay
3.0 RYM
Big Love für My Bloody Valentina aber mit dem Album bini leider gar ned warm worde. Biz zu crunshy, zu indie und zu wenig shoegazig wie loveless und m b v. 3 biz enttüschti träne
Sweet Aber isch es mega wieder hörbar. Glaubs zum schaffe chan mir das immer hindedrah lose. Aber zum aktiv dra si biz zu rockig und zu wenig guut. E klare fall vum ne 3.5. ez ischd d frag rundet de lil’g uf oder ab? Au kei mega banger wo ich abgspeicheret hm. Gibe mal 3 sternonlinos
From the days when Creation Records was a powerhouse in the Indie world. This album...yeah, it's OK., but there are better Creation output from that era.
Fav: (When You Wake) You’re Still In A Dream Least Fav: Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside) Think I’m developing tinnitus from this
Couldn’t find the whole album anywhere, but what I could find was decent but not great.
Certainly not as fully formed as Loveless. It’s solid shoegaze, but is missing the spark that makes Loveless iconic.
not in my shoegaze era though the san francisco weather right now certainly is
Hadn't listened to this in a long time. In my memory it was a lot better.
I liked the mood of the album very much and that’s all that really stood out to me from it tbh. I do think it’s good music but it didn’t grab ahold of me like I like my music to do.
Hey, My Bloody Valentine. One of the few artists on this list that I own an album of. Loveless is pretty good, though I can't think of the last time I listened to it - shoegaze drives me up the wall when I listen to large swaths of it. My Bloody Valentine are also one of the few artists to have every album from their main discography on the list (m b v was removed from future editions of the book, though it still counts). Loveless is the only album of theirs that I've listened to, so I'm curious to give this preceding work a listen. Yep, this definitely sounds like an earlier collection of songs from their discography. The groundwork is there, though this album lacks the atmospheric and immersive sound which made Loveless a great album (with few exceptions). The vocals also leave a bit to be desired, especially from the male singer. That being said, the album is pretty alright overall. It's definitely unique, that much can be said. "Lose My Breath" is pretty good. I like the disorientating sound. The pensive vocals are pretty cool, too. "No More Sorry" is pretty alright. I like the anxious atmosphere and garbled guitars. "All I Need" has a pretty great soundscape. The harsh, overwhelming guitars sound pretty beautiful. "I Can See It" is a good closer. I like the solemn sound. Book time. Doesn't feature any guitars - just the residue isolated through studio tampering. Pretty interesting. A landmark album within shoegaze. Wikipedia reveals that this album was very well received by critics and performed pretty well on the charts. Yeah, this is a solid pick. I cosign the inclusion.
While this is pretty good, it's just wasn't in the mood for it. Just sounded a bit like a wall of noise. Good, just not good today
pretty solid, gives me similar vibe to cigarettes after sex but more rock and more intense. 3.5
The sound is there, but the songs just aren't yet.
Middle of the road. Didn't hate but didn't love
I prefer their other two albums, but this one has its moments, too.
Listens: 1 Standout Tracks: No idea Not available on YouTube Music, and so I had to resort to some random uploader on YouTube. There are a bunch of different uploaders who have added the album, so for the second listen, I'm going to try someone else. The point being, I'm not sure if what I'm listening to actually sounds this distorted on purpose or if that's just the quality (or lack thereof) of the upload to YouTube. It's certainly not flac quality. I ended up listening to the album from these two links (not sure if posting a link is allowed, here I go...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfnVoY6RHMc -- Probable terrible quality, but 14k views and was the first hit when searching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIpsinKIfLY - Much higher quality audio (and a supposed remaster), but far fewer views. Anyways. I liked some of the distorted qualities of this album. I'm always on the lookout for avant-garde stuff, because even if it sucks, it's still pushing some boundary. I appreciate that in music. There's such a diversity in the music that you can get weird and still have it be good (sometimes). Overall though, I thought this band was average at best. The interesting distortions in the audio don't really make up for quality of the music and singing. The whole album felt very "emo" even though the concept of "emo" didn't really peak until the mid to late 2000s. I could have sworn that the emo kids listened to My Bloody Valentine in high school, but perhaps I am thinking of My Chemical Romance or something else...
What truly makes this album interesting is seeing all the ideas that would be developed and perfected in 'Loveless', the following project to this one. Like in that one, there are the mellow tracks like 'Lose My Breath', 'No more Sorry' or 'All I Need' and the hard hitting ones with those heavy riffs like '(When You Wake) You're Still in a Dream' and 'Feed Me with Your Kiss'. The main differences between these two is, for obvious reasons, the production, and it is not just that this album has a worse production when compared with 'Loveless', is that, in general, the production is very weak, specially for the voices. They feel very very flat, and even though some of the vocal melodies are pleasent and nice, a lot of times the singing comes across as out of tune or lacking in energy. This alone was detrimental enough to give this album 3 stars, regardless of how much I liked the dream aesthetic this album present with the wall of noise made by the instruments.
Liked it. Has a certain rough noisiness to it that makes it stand out from other airy shoegaze bands.
Decent.
Some good songs mixed with ok songs but I still enjoyed it!
I never particularly clicked with MBV. It’s a cool listen, even if disjointed. I’m not sure I’ll return to it but it was inoffensive.
This is OK.
I don’t know how I feel about this album. By one respect, it’s a solid indie album that sets the foundations for later bands to come like BMRC, Wilco and Humanist. In the other respect, I don’t know if it offered anything their other album on this list or the Pixies didn’t offer as well. Key songs were (When You Wake) You’re Still Dreaming, and Sueisfine. Overall, it’s an album that feels garage and unpolished, and exactly the antithesis of the overproduced 1980s pop at the time.
Random thoughts: * I hate it when the music isn't on Spotify. But props to them if they have taken it off because of an integrity play. If it is off because of some record execs, then it's bullshit. * I listened to this one on YouTube. * I seem to have liked this one better than the other MBV album that was on 1001. But I don't know if I could tell much difference or even why I thought that. * This sounded like a template for 90s grunge in my opinion. Maybe not quite as rock heavy but had that kinda downer vibe going on. * I couldn't tell you any songs. * I'd definitely listen again but am unlikely to explore without the easy access via Spotify.
C’était vraiment intéressant, de la bonne musique. J’aurais aimé aimer ça plus, mais bon. Cet album est l’ancêtre de bien de la musique que j’aime maintenant. À suivre !
I can't seem to get into this band. It's enjoyable but it slipstream through my fingers.
=The Beatles
Time to hear where it all started! Not quite as hazy or distortion-happy as MBV's two later records, but for its time it's pretty darn out there. I'm a little surprised this was liked as much as it was on release, given that the shoegaze genre was all but nonexistent back in 1988. Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside) hits you immediately with an endless, overpowering wash of slightly off-tune guitar noise. It's just as overwhelming as I hoped for the debut song on their debut LP. It transitions into the unusually mellow (for MBV) Lose My Breath. No More Sorry is another standout, not necessarily for being a strong composition but more so for being utterly strange, yet at the same time completely on-brand. It sounds like there are a series of overlapping organs, and maybe some Indian classical instruments way back in the mix. There are no obvious percussive instruments (or indeed any rhythm), apart from a quiet, slightly hypnotising rumbling in the right ear. (That's what this whole project is: hypnotising.) It's an intriguing track, for sure. The following song, All I Need, is conceptually very similar – the main difference being having guitars instead of organs – so it's a bit of a weird choice to have the two back-to-back from an album-building perspective. Feed Me With Your Kiss isn't my favourite. It's too rocky, almost punky, for a band like MBV. Several Girls Galore and You Never Should are also pretty unremarkable as MBV tracks, and are barely passable as post-new wave (which I have to assume the band was going for). Not a fan, but at least the album ends fairly strongly. It's a solid effort but definitely weaker than the other two records by the Bloodsters. 3/5 Key tracks: Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside), Cupid Come, All I Need
The first track was so horrible I almost did a Did Not Listen but I gutted it out and the rest was fine. Seriously, that first song made me feel physically ill.
I wish it was on streaming and in better audio quality
mbv? more like nbd.
Great
Started out a bit weak for me but picked up steam.
Just ok. Not enough grunt in the giddyup. Double the tempo, and I’m all in.
Isn’t Anything – My Bloody Valentine (1988) | Shoegaze / Noise Pop | Avg: 5.91 | Favorite Song: “(When You Wake) You’re Still In a Dream” Isn’t Anything feels like a record caught between two worlds. It’s noisy, reverb-drenched, and often intentionally disorienting, but not quite as transportive or enveloping as what they’d later accomplish on Loveless. There are moments here that genuinely intrigued me—tracks where the textures lock in and the emotion starts to peek through—but just as often, the songs drift into that muddy middle ground where the fuzz overpowers everything else. “(When You Wake) You’re Still In a Dream” was the clear standout for me. It’s the one moment where the haze lifts just enough to let the melody shine through. There’s a perfect balance of noise and structure there that I wish the rest of the album hit more often. The lyrics are a bit more tame and written a bit better on this track compared to the rest. I can appreciate what this album was going for, especially considering where it sits in the broader shoegaze timeline. The experimentation is already present, and the groundwork is being laid, but the full vision isn’t quite there yet. The inconsistency in my scores reflects that push and pull. Some cuts hit with hypnotic clarity, while others feel like sketches wrapped in a wall of sound. It’s a fascinating listen historically, but not one that fully clicked for me on its own.
Such shoegaze. I didn’t realize how shoegazey music could be in the late 80s, but this sounds like late 90s, or even early 00s, shoegaze. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, but it feels relevant.
431/1001 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
A very experimental record, it's very early noise pop. It feels innovative, while also a bit rough and disorganized at times. It feels like the soundtrack to a very weird dream. On the good side, I feel like they definitely were able to capture a clear and unique vibe and sound here. The bad side is that the performances feel all over the place at times, barely synchronized with each other. I think that this album's redeeming quality are the overall tone and feeling it evoques, much more so than the instrumental performances. They're very much aided by the production, adding effects and feedback that make for much richer textures. The tracks sort of blend together a lot, but I think that the best is "Lose My Breath", with that catchy vocal melody. "Cupid Come" was also good.
It's cool for the time period in which it released, it's also very interesting and very well stylized. But it's still not for me. Cool, unique, and then just a little too emo for me.
I know this is heresy but I wish the vocals were mixed higher.
The washiness of the vocals does not inspire, but I enjoy the heavy textures.
Mbv is a strange band but you can’t help but like the songs.
I think there is only one appropriate review for this album. Thanks, I hate it. For all the right reasons. For some reason it's obscure enough that sooner if the songs can only be found as reuploads on Youtube. The mix is so uncanny that I'm not sure what I spent 40 minutes listening to. One thing is for sure, I'm not listening to it again.
I would love to give this another chance. I really liked some of the songs and as the album went on it got better. They definitely experimented with this album and I respect it and enjoyed a lot of it. My biggest gripe is the vocals that are barely discernible. Maybe if this album was on YouTube Music or Spotify, it would sound better. There were things that I liked and things that I didn't like. Again, I would love to come back later and hopefully up my rating
Much less focused than Loveless, harder to vibe with. Probably sounds better without youtube compression 🫠
A weird gender of music iam hopeful to keep exploring. With a nice ambience to listen to with headphones at your home with no other noice. 6.5/10
6/10 This is a bit of an ‘almost’ album for me. While some of the tracks have got real drive and that massive collapsing wall of sound that My Bloody Valentine are known for, there are also areas where that is a bit lacking. I also think that extends to the mix, where the focus of the sound is a bit jumbled through the album, where sometimes the noisiness of things overwhelms, and some where it is a little too in the background, but there’s not a satisfying flow as to how that happens across the record. It’s just a little bit uneven. The band’s sound became far more established and refined on Loveless that this just doesn’t quite scratch the itch in the same way. This is obviously an important record that inspired a lot of music that would follow, in both good and bad ways. Funnily enough, I feel like there are a lot of 90s bands that listened to this and then picked the least interesting bits as inspiration. With all that being said, when it gets things right, this album is massive and magnificent. It can be quite oppressive and tiring to listen to, but at its peak it’s a noisy, dirty spectacle of a record and a stepping stone to better things down the road. Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside) - It’s an interesting start to an album, for sure. It’s quite dissonant. It’s also quite one-dimensional, particularly the flatness of the snare drum, but the wall of sound is quite satisfying in some respects. Could do with more variety, but at least it sounds different, which is something. Lose My Breath - This is another interesting one, it’s kind of like a fairly run of the mill song idea that’s peering out of the mist and edged with chord choices that make it feel quite dissonant again and edged with anxiety and threat. Cupid Come - This is a more traditional song and feels like the kind of thing that saturated mainstream pop rock for the next decade, but there’s enough grit to it to elevate it above that, especially the haze of fuzz and noise at the end. (When You Wake) You’re Still In A Dream - This is a more like it. Really good pace. Again, it’s got a very 90s sound, particularly the backing vocals, but there’s so much grime and drive to it that it really kicks. It doesn’t do anything particularly interesting in terms of variation or dynamic change, but it’s a really decent song. No More Sorry - The shimmering, rumbling noise of this is cool, and the way it drops out is a great effect. But there’s not a great deal to it. It feels like a slightly underdeveloped idea. All I Need - Again, this feels like there’s a song under there trying to get out, but the stylistic wash of it all just swamps it. It’s all a bit too trebley for me unfortunately, even though I appreciate the sonic adventure of it all. There’s just not enough tonal variation for my tastes. Feed Me With Your Kiss - Back to something more driving. When it kicks, it really kicks. They certainly don’t go for the obvious mixing choices and the subtleness of the vocal, combined with its position in the mix is an interesting tone against the heavy, driving thrust of the rest of the song. I can imagine this is beastly live. Sueisfine - This combines some of the best elements from the album so far. There’s a bit more going on compositionally, the heavy noise and calm vocals work really well here. It’s frantic and noisy, heavy and driving. Great stuff. Several Girls Galore - This is back to more of a noisy wash, with elements of dissonance, but it has its moments where everything gets brought together really nicely. It’s got good drive to it and some of those distorted tones just cut through in such a nasty way. The vocal does feel a bit disconnected from the rest of the track in the mix though, which is a shame. You Never Should - Another more traditional song, but so noisy and gritty. They’re determined to be as noisy and in your face as possible, without ever being vocally aggressive. This is one of the more satisfying songs on the album, where everything is pulling in the same direction, without compromising on the massive driving wash of sound that they’re always striving towards. Nothing Much To Lose - Again, this feels more coherent, without any compromise to the overall sound. There’s a bit more structure, but the vast wash of noise and distortion still dominates and creates an epic soundscape for the song to live in and peak through from. Great stuff. I Can See It (But I Can’t Feel It) - This is a bit more pedestrian. There’s still a wash of noise, but it’s less overwhelming than on other tracks and I can’t really work out if that’s good or not. It feels a bit more straightforward and generally a bit less interesting as a result. Overall, not really the most interesting track on the album, but has some nice elements.
This was a really cool record. I like the wall of noise and the refusal to give into their pop sensibilities (which are always lurking). I'd call this a noise-pop The Go-Betweens album if MBV weren't so doggedly themselves. Hugely influential, but the best was yet to come. Choice tracks: Cupid Come, Sueisfine, and Feed Me With Your Kiss.
I like MBV but I found this one a bit underwhelming. Songs all sound very similar and the fuzz can get a bit overwhelming. There aren't really any standouts like there are on Loveless. You Never Should was my favourite. 3
Dýpra á snilldina. hljóblöndun einkennileg eins og oft áður en vantar eitthvað. allt í lagi ekki gott.
Pretty cool for 1988, but didn't leave much of an impression--even twice through. Probably a 2.5 for me, but bumping
Doesn’t seem to have the magic of mbv’s other albums
Quite familiar with Loveless, hadn't heard this though. Loveless is fantastic - this has all the ingredients but not as well put together. Opening track is probably the weakest link, and perhaps a poor choice as an opener.
7/30/25. Really dig the shoegaze sound and all the layering. I do think a lot of the songs blend together, but it's a unique sound. Might require a few more listens for me to see if I really grasp it.
Let me start by saying I think Loveless is a masterpiece. I think this is also a remarkable piece of music but during and after I realized I didn’t really enjoy. Loveless took me several listens to appreciate so I will probably go back and revisit this one.
Very much a roulette record - every song is either really solid or uninteligible garble. The distortion and sound balancing is very off in the first half, but the second half has some very strong hidden gems. Would've been a much stronger EP. Top tracks: Feed Me With Your Kiss, Sueisfine, Nothing Much To Lose
Could only listen to one song on Spotify. Was eh but can definitely tell it was influential for grunge and alt rock.
Enjoyed immensely.
Maybe I could have given it a better chance. What I heard was OK.
I couldn't find a full version of this record to listen to, so N/A
despite their importance to shoegaze (pronounced like Fugazi) as a genre, the only MBV i've heard is Loveless. that album sets the shoegaze bar wayy too high i think. but this is a different album. a scrappier one. less like the warm enveloping avalanche of Loveless and more like a rough and tumble slacker indie album from its time. it gives The Microphones and sludge metal at points. not super electrifying but i enjoyed my time well enough deserves to be one of the 1001? i lean yes but i don't have super strong feelings
Couldn't find this on Spotify, but listened to their other popular songs. Some are better than others. Some are unlistenable noise, but most were edgy alternative rock, a bit on the harder side.
Some decent songs, nothing spectacular
Not on Spotify.
very dusty/airy mixing on here. a respectable debut
Loveless is much better but this still sets the stage for shoegaze. Decent album, really unique and interesting production for the time but I won’t rush back to listen again
cudan listen na prvu malo su mi pomjesani osjecaji ali svida mi se neka doza eksperimentacije koju osjetim
See ratings - good and pretty hard rock 6.0 1-2 crap 2-3 crap but I get why it’s on the list 3-4 close to music 4-5 good enough to get through without getting mad 5-6 hey it’s palatable 6-7 that was fun 7-8 well deserved to be listened to 8-9 classic, amazing 9-10 all bangers, perfection
All right, I'm liking the emo feel here. Still a background-listening one, but a nice variation.
It's on YouTube
Sidste album med dem var en del mere memorable
The first song was absolutely horrible! The album progresses into the noise and the sound I love.. That side of the album is written by Shields.
Nice punk album with jangly The Church feelings and such. I liked it.
Unable to really listen due to copyright
Interesting one, you can feel the pieces really clicking and coming together for some uncharted territory. Loveless is a singular record imo, and this does not reach those heights but still very cool sounds, unique compositions of grain and noise.
Many tell me to listen to this band. Just okay for me
3.0 - Ok
Found through this project that I am not really a big fan of Shoegaze. This album is okay. The moody, ethereal-sounding stuff doesn't really do it for me, but the post-punkish songs midway through the album are decent. Feed Me With Your Kiss is probably my favorite on the album, which I think in isolation would give you the wrong idea about MBV's overall sound. Much of the back-end of the album sounds like a less sonically experimental and more production-polished Sonic Youth record. Clearly contemporaries in sound if not heading in the same direction. Overall, it is a decent album that I'm probably not going to go out of my way to hear again. Having recently listened to m b v for the project, I can safely say I like this album more. I'm assuming Loveless will be coming at some point as well, since it seems to be the most well-regarded of their albums.
liked songs: several Very dark, dissonant, shoegazey. I liked it for the most part. 3.5
Dug it. Probably would've rated higher after a few listens, I feel like MBV deserves it to get into their albums more.
I don't know whether this is early emo, crossover punk or what. I can see why it would end up on this list as it's fairly experimental. Definitely seems to have made a lot of influence on 2000s rock bands. "You're still in a dream" seems to anticipate the Foo Fighters. All that being said, it isn't something super easy to listen to. Kind of grating at some points. Like the first track, where the weird noise seems off beat. "No More Sorry" and the next track after are like tripped out noise, Velvet Undergroundish. "Several Girls Galore" is a cool-sounding track. "You Never Should" is decent as well, also reminiscent of Foo Fighters--Dave Groll must have been a fan. So I guess this is shoegaze music? Just learned about the existence of this trend. I don't really feel like I missed much there. That being said, it's a decent album. Better than some of the indie rock it seems to have inspired in the 2000s. It has a lot of energy at some points, and I guess that's something. 3/5
I bought this one soon after buying Loveless on a whim (circa 2000) and was really quite underwhelmed. I'm glad it laid the groundworks or whatever for the follow-up, which instantly grabbed me and became a favourite, but while I find the noise and production strangely soothing, I don't ever find myself reaching for this one with much enthusiasm.
Not available on Apple Music
Could grow on me but it's not loveless. I might be leaning negative because I found out that ALL 3 MBV ALBUMS are on this list and I think that's ridiculous.
Nowhere near the brilliance of Loveless
Some great stuff and some stuff that was really grating.
Really wish I liked this more, considering that I view both Loveless and the more contemporaneous You Make Me Realise EP as masterpieces. But it feels shapeless in a way that those two releases don't. I can still appreciate the fuzz, and it's certainly better when turned up loud. A good record that is more important than it is great.
There are no actual songs here, and I'm a big fan of songs, but there's a vocal here and a guitar there that appealed to me (the mix was really odd throughout--I have no idea what I was supposed to be hearing). I replaced my Bluetooth speaker while listening to it (one tiny channel wasn't working, which I discovered on Sgt Pepper day, because When I'm 64 had no vocal track) and frankly I liked it better on the busted speaker. Giving it a 3 because I'm told they get better.
I like this a lot more than I thought I would. It felt a bit dirge-like at the start but it almost took on a hypnotic element.
5/10 I feel I should like this more than I do. It's so flippin noisy though. And discordant.i can appreciate it.
It was pretty good, nothing spectacular but I understand the influence it had on the shoegaze genre. I'm between 3 and 4 on this one but giving it a 3.