Isn't Anything

Bleach and Nevermind have the same relationship for Nirvana that Isn’t Anything and Loveless do for MBV. The rawness of the Seattle grunge sound is the center point of Nirvana’s DIY debut, and that rough sound completely paves the way for the energetic, catchy songwriting that appears on the hugely successful Nevermind. The critical success of the bold Loveless was attributed to MBV’s innovative techniques in the studio, which began during the making of their debut, Isn’t Anything. However, while it’s unarguable how important Isn’t Anything was for MBV’s development, it’s no secret that it is vastly inferior to its successor. Yes it paved the way for Loveless to come, but that paving job was very messy and spotty. It did a good enough job to get MBV to the place where they could record an album as bold as Loveless, but where Bleach’s quality very much led into Nevermind’s, I wouldn’t say the same for Isn’t Anything to Loveless. Loveless improves on every single aspect of Isn’t Anything, right down to the last detail. I believe the most important aspect of MBV’s music is the balance in their mix. One thing that’s abundantly clear off the get go is how the album’s more lo-fi sound does it a huge disservice. The vocals on Loveless are one with the instrumentals; a wall of sound that INCLUDES the vocals, almost to the point where it’s hard to differentiate what are voices and what are instruments. Here, the vocals are awkwardly placed ON TOP of the instrumentals, and it makes for an album that comes across very amateurish and just not that pleasant to listen to. Not to mention, the songwriting just isn’t that good either. I will give the band credit tho, they experimented with some very bold styles and that surely contributed to the album’s extremely spotty quality, as well as the fact that, again, without it, we would have never gotten the MBV albums to follow. As it stands tho, Isn’t Anything is…well…isn’t anything special

Meh.

Really boring

Hmm... Ik haalde dit door elkaar met Bullet for my valentine wat een hardrock/metalband is. Had ik achteraf ook op gehoopt, want dit is echt ontzettend saai... Ik weet niet, de lyrics kan ik niet verstaan, het word muzikaal voor mij nogal snel 1 brei aan gitaren. Word hier gewoon niet echt wild van ofzo, dat ik denk dat dit echt een sterk album is. Ben wel weer toe aan een spannend album! FAVO: When you awake you're still in a dream

bad

Low score for me. 2 stars

This is the second album I got from this band... at least this time, it wasn't all incomprehensible noise. There were a couple of passable tracks, but nothing worth noting. I just don't get why'd someone want to torture their ears with this constant background buzzing noise? It's so unpleasant. 2 stars

Shoegaze is not my fave. The lack of real words and lyrics is frustrating along with the distorted instrument play. Glad the album was pretty short.

It seemed a bit odd. I do enjoy some distortion but not as much as this album.

shoegazing?? if this is a good example of it, then I'm not a fan. couldn't understand lyrics, and sounds are just weird. didn't get it at all-too much distortion & reverb

Why is this on here? Very bland

Ok

I swear I was paying attention. But there's not a single piece of the album I remember. I listened to it half an hour ago, and I couldn't hum any of it, or recite a lyric, or anything. This album went right through me.

3.70 rym non il mio

I'm starting to think I'm not a good reviewer. Seeing how some people had so much to say about this album, and wrote lengthy paragraphs. Maybe it's winter where they are? Not sure what shoegazing is, but feel like Al Bundy probably did a lot of it. Very surprised this was released in 1988. Sounded newer for sure. Not a overly optimistic newer, just an observation. It was interesting from that perspective l, but didn't consider it an everyday listen. 2.4 & not worthy of rounding up to three.

Lots of noise, and I normally like noise.... One of those bands that you are supposed to like, but I'm not feeling the love...

Just dissonant fuzz rock that I wasn't really in the mood for. There were maybe 1 or 2 decent enough songs on here, but the rest was barely listen-able.

Boring, common, poorly mixed, and with weak singing.

My Bloody Valentine, finally. They are band I least “get”. I’m shocked Isn’t Anything is even on here. I get that’s it was innovative, just ask Shields, he’ll tell you. It’s not bad, when they play actual songs it’s pretty decent, but walls of distorted toneless guitars doesn’t do it for me. There is nothing dynamic about most of this album. 5.6/10

Love MBV They don’t deserve 3 albums on the list

Sorry, I couldn't even finish the album. The noise and harmonies can be nice, but it was just not hitting me at all. Their next album is one of my all time favorites.

спать под это не вышло + в бодром состоянии тоже быстро надоело, не моё

First pass: unskilled noise. Then caught myself humming the melody once I’d left the room. Lo-fi, pre-grunge/post-punk are all turn-ons, but they never landed with me the way their contemporaries did. Maybe that’s on me. Other albums preferred (thank you Spotify shuffle) Currently a 2. If I listened 10 times over the next month likely turns into a 4...

3/10. Not my thing at all. Bored me and at times annoyed me. It’s palpable though and I could see it being for others.

Another one which feels so much longer than it is in reality. I didn't hate it.

Kuuntelin tämän kahdesti mutten silti ottanut ihan selvää… showgaze sinänsä miellyttää, mutta se muuttuu mun korvissa vain massaksi. Tämä levy harvinaisen paljon, vaikka välillä kivasti goottiriehuttiinkin. Mutta jos kahdella kuuntelukerrallakaan ei löydy koukkuja jotka herättäisivät…?

Sopii niille, jotka kuvittelevat naiivisti, että kaihoisan fiiliksen herääminen on hyvän taiteen merkki. On tällä LP:llä silti pysäyttävät hetkensä, erityisesti No More Sorry - kuuntele se.

Some okayish production somewhat saves this, but overall pretty bad from a well-known group.

Interessant om deze plaat te horen net na hun monumentale sophomore album. Shoegaze kwam niet uit het niets, maar evolueerde langzaam vanuit post-punk, jangle pop en andere alternative rock stijlen. Dat is op dit album goed te horen, terwijl deze elementen al onder een dikke laag gaze en glide gitaren zijn verstopt op ''Loveless''. Een fascinerende luisterbeurt, die meer doet met de muziek-taxonomist in me dan de liefhebber. Een missing link in de evolutie van shoegaze, zo voelt deze plaat. Maar echt aangenaam, zoals de volwassen sound op het opvolgende album dat wel bij tijd en wijle was, zijn de meeste nummers niet. Het is die ongemakkelijke tussenvorm, te midden van een vis en een landdier. Zoek de coelacanth maar eens op, fascinerend wezen, maar verdient geen schoonheidsprijs. Waar deze vis op zoek is naar capabele poten om het land mee te koloniseren, is MBV bij dit album nog op zoek naar het juiste geluid, balancerend tussen lawaai en euforie, waar shoegaze zo in floreert. 6,5/10 Highlights: Lose My Breath You Never Should

I'm so torn on this one! I liked it, but I didn't, but I did...

Rating: 3.5/10 What a noisy mess.

Not interesting

After the first song I RAN to the reviews because wow. Ow my ears. I stuck it out, and there are some songs here that sound like actual music. But this album mostly just makes me feel like I have tinnitus.

Shoegaze never a genre I've managed to find something I really like. Same here just a drone of kids not knowing what to do. Still some ok tracks. - Cupid come - (When you wake) You're still a dream - Feed me with your kiss - Sueisfine

Not for me. Too depressive and sad

5 / 10 Poco escuchado, poco interés y mal sonido

This may have been the most forgettable album I've listened to from the list. I genuinely couldn't remember what I had just heard two minutes after it was done playing. And just to be clear, no drugs were harmed during the filming of this review.

psychodeliczny rock, ciezko ocenic

I have never got MBV or why they are so popular. I assume shoegaze just isn’t for me.

2nd half of the album is an improvement on the 1st, but I cant get around the terrible production unfortunately

Isn’t anything good on here

Better than the other My Bloody Valentine album I got. This one had a few songs that were actually listenable. Most of it was still badly recorded noise though. Stand-out: [When You Wake] You’re Still In A Dream

I don’t know. Maybe you had to be there?

Very forgettable 2/5

I appreciate the originality for sure. Just the thought that 3 albums by my bloody valentine needed to be on this list approaches absurdity. That shouldn't necessarily be a factor in how I feel about this particular album, but I'm not sure all 3 add unique and independently influential creativity to the world. I'd have picked "Loveless" (or maybe this - their debut) and ended it. Even though I really don't like the music all that much. An album that's so goddamn frustratingly (intentionally???) poorly mixed as to almost sound mono for songs that meander - I'm not sure there are many albums I've ever liked with crappy sound like this. I 100% had better sounding infantile demos on my mono Panasonic tape recorder around the same time of this "studio recording." As for the writing itself, I usually found a part in each song where I would start to take interest but too often the songs stay in the same wavering mid-tempo slackerdom that while isn't nearly quite as abrasively-awful as e.g. Pavement it more frustrates me than anything. Like - wake the fk up already and play/sing like you give a shit. For influence and originality I give marks - it's definitely a full album experience for the overall sound/attitude rather than anything belonging on a mix tape. There were certainly some bands that grew something bigger and better out of this in the early 90s, so it's good to hear what could be a genesis of sorts, but on its own....I don't enjoy it and it got worse as it went on. Generous 2 here. 5/10 2 stars.

No, thank you.

*sigh* Not thrilled with this. Didn’t need three MBV albums. I’m getting too old for this.

Alright here and there. Some good guitar sounds which you expect with indie music but overall, not that enjoyable 🤔

Another MBV record. Something new please and back off on the treble.

Washed out, over-mixed, reverbed for the sake of using reverb effects. It sort of sounds like Queens of the Stoneage, but just not as good. “Oh,look, we invented a new genre of music”. Good for you, I guess.

Debut album. Pionnier du shoegazing (psychedelic rock music with indistinct vocals and distorded instrument sounds). C'est pas mal plus relax que ce que je pensais, c'est pas venu me chercher plus qu'il faut.

Realmente o que funciona para mim é a fase dos anos 90.

I want to like it but I... don't. It's like I felt like the sum was worse than the parts perhaps and it's just a lot of noise with the odd catchy riff. I literally couldn't choose a favourite track because I didn't like the lyrics of the ones that were more pleasant to listen to. Listens: 1 Rating: 2

Just not for me. Relistening to Loveless a few months ago didn’t make me enjoy it any more and this predecessor is even less impactful

Favorite Tracks: Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside) Lose My Breath

Quiet album but it’s okay

Ég hélt alltaf að My Bloody Valentine væri ungt og ferskt band. Það kom mér á óvart að þau eru það ekki en ætti þá heldur ekki að koma á óvart að ég þekki þau ekki og hef ekkert verið að hlusta á þau. Það er reyndar bara fínt því mér finnst þau bara leiðinleg.

Nope not my thing. I did not enjoy this one bit, it all sounded very much the same. Bland and boring.

Wall of noise wall of noise with vocals hidden way down in the mix. Still not a style I'm interested in much, but I'm glad others like it.

I don't understand why there's like three albums by this band on this list. It's all the same shoe gaze droning to me.

Enjoyable but nothing special to me!

2024-03-10...

meh

None of the songs really stood out to me. I had the “noise” that was in the background of most of the songs. It was very distracting.

Shoe Gaze pioneers left me expecting more.

Meh. Like bad grunge

Parts of this album reminded me of Harry Parch. This is not a good thing.

Im supposed to like this band but I just dont get the appeal

Not as good as their later years but far from un-listenable. Not sure it belongs on this list but to each their own.

There is some off-noise at times that is similar to a child’s musical toy that is running out of batteries. Dissonant in a bad way.

This album reminds me of when you're on country back roads and listening to the only non-conservative talk radio channel that comes in, which is 60% fuzz. There seems to be a decent band here, but I suppose the only reason it's in this list is because the producer decided to be innovative and cover up the band with the sound of forks in the garbage disposal. 2.

Listenable but not my favorite

Meh.

Paar verschrikkelijke nummers, paar degelijke nummers en veel ondergemiddelde nummers. 2/5.

My second MBV album in my first 90. Still can't get on board. Mumbly vocals, willful lack of cohesion and only reason it gets 2 stars is the passable shoegaze at the end.

Sounds like a really badly mixed demotape…

Noise

Not really my favorite genre of music, but I can get into it at times. The opening couple of tracks were a bit rough for me, but it did get better as it went on...though through that back part a lot of the songs sounded the same to me. 2.5, rounding to 2.

This was an interesting listen. One one hand it is completely unpolished and sounds akin to teenagers figuring it out with their first school band. Most of the tracks were 4-chord songs that were fairly uninteresting melodically. BUT There were a few tracks where you could tell they were really pushing to make a different sound, and those tracks were interesting! Not a huge fan of the mumble-lyrics but the whole album is a bit of a mood.

Not for me. Couldn’t understand the lyrics. Bland rock. Didn’t finish.

Not my thing. Noise with some melody hidden in there. Nirvana but way worse.

They took a food processor, forced as many sounds as they could inside it, and then forced us to listen to the result.

nope I don't like this album at all

Not for me, sounded like a high school garage band!

Really didn't grab me, some of the guitar riffs are cool.

The music was overwhelmed by the noise pollution. At least twice I was well into a song before realizing someone somewhere was actually adding vocals.

It was okay

yp vähän trollausta, aika samoilla genreillä ollaan nyt vähän aikaan pysytty. heh hauskaa vitsiä tosiaan mutta voisi muuttua kuitenkin sointu vaikka huomiseksi heh... nyt yleisesti on ollut britti saaren ympärillä heh indie tyyppistä musiikkia noh eri aikakausilta mutta silti heh voisi heh vaikka pläntiltä siirtyä jonnekkin heh anna vaikka se brasilia/ranska/intia jos ei muita pysäkkejä maailmalla keksitä (heheh niitä maita on monta ja kaikilla artisteja heh hyviä niitä ja albumeja heh) feed me with your kiss

"post-punk", kinda droney vocals with raw/distorted guitar/bass/drum backing

La verdad es que no me llaman la atención. Sí al Shoegaze, que tantas cosas buenas nos ha dejado, pero no es este disco.

Очень на любителя

Listened twice, still find that the music of this group doesn’t engage me. To me, it’s very straight forward rock. 2/5.

Isn't anything.

Bit moody, might grow on me.

This was quite bad actually.

*turns music up because I can't hear the lyrics* *turns music down because the guitar is way too loud* *repeats for 38 minutes*

#52. A whole lot of guitar strum and noise. could not really discern one song from the other

not my thing

This is a new genre for me and a new band. The first song was not something I enjoyed at all. Hopefully things get better. The second song was much better. Things improved after the first song but overall this is kind of a mess. Very uninspired music and singing. More noise than music. Very much a meh album. Not awful but something I would have been fine without hearing before I died. 2.5 out of 5 rounding down though.

Kuinkahan kamoissa tätä on tehty? Ilman sieniä jää kovin sekavaksi kokemukseksi.

En erityisesti tykänny

This album was not particularly good. It feels like it was the beginning of indie music. Unnecessarily loud and the lyrics are garbage. I have no desire to listen to it again. I am rounding up to a 2.

Not very interesting. Faded into the background.

It was meh, I probably would not listen again.

IDK man...some of this I dig, some of this is tough to get through. On net, not my thing, I don't think

som meio conceitual, oitentista, não é dos mais palatáveis

Not really my kind of music, even though it came out right when I was deciding exactly what my kind of music was. It just seems like noise and one of those noises is vocals with impossible-to-discern lyrics, which drives me nuts in ANY medium. That all said, I listened to the whole thing and didn't hate it. So there's that.

I listened to Loveless by My Bloody Valentine around a year ago because I heard it was great, and I found it to be pretty awful. You can imagine the sigh I made when I was generated this today, but here we are. Hopefully this will click a little better, but my hopes aren’t high. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Feed Me With Your Kiss Honestly, I expected this to be worse than it was. I’m still not exactly a fan, but there were a fair few bits in this that had me hooked. It still does little a little too much into noise for my taste, but there was certainly some stuff to enjoy here. I just wish it was a bit more listenable. Is that too much to ask of music?

It's helpful for me to remember the year in which this album was released. Listening to it now, it sounds so much like tons of other music in the past 30 or so years, but when I place it in the context of the late 80s, I get how this must have stood out. It gets a little overly distorted for my ears -- the harmonies get mushed together with that much overdrive or distortion -- but I get that's part of the style they were going for.

2/5. Yup shoegaze, I mean yeah it's got some fun choices for wall of noise but I guess it's not for me? Definitely a game changer in the field of music, I just don't know if that's the direction I want to go right now. Maybe I'll appreciate it later, but I'll respect it from over here for now. Not terrible, so not a 1, does have some choice instrumentation that goes hard.

A third my bloody valentine album. Just what we didn’t need. Well this one isn’t as bad as the most recent one but not as good as their best album. That puts this at still not that good. This is music you listen to when you don’t want to focus on the music and maybe do something else. 4.1/10

Not really my bag

Let's mix some stoner/spacey vocals with some decent rock instrumentals. No? Let's just try some really annoying slower songs with a coalition of clashing sounds. This whole album sounds like the work experience guy did the mixing. This shit isn't just irritating, it's aggravating.

Boring

So it's Loveless, but not as good. Why's it on the list then?

Very drone-y, thought this was “Bullet for my Valentine”, so was disappointed lol

Droning vaguely whiny album with quiet off-key lyrics. Other bands like HUM do it way better.

I was initially confused why this album has a low rating and Loveless has a good rating, but now having listened to both, I kinda get it. They're a bit different, and this one seems less accessible. I don't really get it, but maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. The parts that lean a bit towards rock weren't my favourite, especially that first song, but it was all kinda boring. I guess my favourite song was Several Girls Galore?

I might hypothetically like some shoegaze, but this album is so repetitive and vague. What I like best is the album cover, washed out with intense light. I think it represents the sound well.

Significantly better than the self titled album

Couldn't get along with this at all, I'm afraid. Vocals just too weak and almost in the background, whilst the foreground instrumental wasn't doing enough on its own to sustain it in the most part - it does get more interesting when it gets heavier, but not enough to sustain an album. 2/5.

Ваще не выкупила

Can’t say I vibed with this at all. Not a 1-star but came very close at times.

critics darlings, did the decent thing as a loyal NME reader. Still just sounds like shite noise

I was not into MBV at all when younger though I’ve dipped into their more well known offerings. This hints but ultimately the singing is poor, the sound has not developed and so the songs are exposed.

I get it, but still... I don't get it.

1/12, 8%

I'd like to preface this by stating that I am a HUGE fan of Loveless. It's one of my favourite albums and I consider it to be perfect. However, I've tried to get into Isn't Anything several times over the years and I just can't. Too abrasive, too meandering, too noisy. I understand why it's on the list, and it's interesting to see it as a precursor to Loveless. But I just find it difficult to listen to. Listening to Loveless is like listening to a dream; listening to Isn't Anything is like listening to a nightmare.

Just boring

Not as good as their other more popular album

Ehhh

One of those limp-wristed "every track sounds the same" projects that nevertheless gets held up as a genre standard for some reason. I don't get it. Best track: ?

I expected to mildly dislike this album based off of my experience with loveless and I was entirely right in that expectation. I usually like harsh music in this style (can’t think of an example rn, maybe early Radiohead or sonic youth) but something about shoegaze just doesn’t do it for me.

Meh. This has it’s moments but as soon as it gets going, it gets lame.

I do enjoy shoegaze and also MBV but this is not their best album by a long shot, just feels like some songs are clunky and out of sync. And okay album but Loveless better be on here.

Aptly named, it isn’t really much of anything except utterly and completely boring.

Not really good… the melody is incoherent at best. And I don’t think it gets much better. Was a slog to get through Saved tracks: You Never Should, I Can See It (But I Can’t Feel It)

There may be good music under all the noise.

shoegazing indeed... not for me.

Nothing too notable for me

awful

ive tried to listen to this for almost a week now, i think ive heard the first song 18 times and the last song once because i keep losing focus every time its veryu ninteresting but its not bad, if 1st song was better then it would be a 3

3 2

yeah I dont get it either

Surprised a second album from this lot was on the list, this album was better than MBV but still found it boring

you can hear bits of loveless but it wasn't there yet, both production and Writing wise.

Big dislike.

Meh. This BLOODY album was too raw, out of key and dissonant for me. It felt like they were trying to be spooky and I'm all for that, but it came off as contrived and fake. Meh. It was a double meh for me.

Noise. Mercifully short (like this review) although it didn't necessarily feel it with how many "songs" there were. Not a fan.

Not for me

Not really for me. Didn't like the opener at all but there were a few songs that musically I liked but the drowning out the the vocals didn't work for me. I did like 'No More Sorry' though. Standout song I thought

Garage band album with no real melody. This is why I hate a majority of punk. Bands choose to be creative with there sound but forget the goal is to make music. So you used this cool new sounds to make a song, awesome. Just because I can be the first to shit into a microphone doesn’t mean it’s a good song.

Hard to listen to

The only reason it's not 1 star is because it's not jazz

Oh no thanks.

That first song is great. The rest seems promising. 2.5

Nope

Loveless at 60% intensity. As a debut this is interesting but their second album does the same thing better.

Sounds a bit better than the other mbv album I listened to but still find it a bit boring

The overal melancholy is appealing but it's just to noisy

First song was awful, droning and discordant. A theme that carries through the album.

Better than I thought it would be, but it seems pretty generic to me.

Nothing special. Not my cup of tea at all. The style and the sound doesn't do anything for me. It's not bad but I just think that this doesn't belong on the list of 1001 albums.

Onsamenhangende muur van geluid. Niet alles met de versterkers op standje 11 is meteen ook goed

Shoegaze, dream-rock, distortion

Mmeh

Struggled to get this rating

Not too much to write home about on this one, can’t say anything stood out but I didn’t hate listening

I wanted to like it, but it dragged on and on and I was quite happy when it was over.

Meh. Guess I just don't like shoegaze.

It's not the MBV album I was expecting to come up, and I'm not sure what I think of it. It sounds like a band still figuring out their sound - the heavy-but-dreamy thing only works sporadically here. Some of the tracks are sonically interesting but actually quite hard to listen to/enjoy. 2.5

I didn't really care for this. Don't really see what the appeal is. Guess I'm glad I heard it and there may be one or two okay songs but will most certainly not return to this project.

I just don't get MBV...so sue me. I do prefer this to the utterly tuneless Loveless. At least there is some semblance of melody somewhere and you can sometimes something other than the bizarre guitar effects. 2.5 stars

Grumpy Old Man review alert! Goodness. I understand they’re meant to be an influential band, but why would I want to listen to this album? One star up from the minimum for occasional moments of interesting sounds or melodies.

Shoegazing? Perfect description. I found the first few tracks dead boring. However when the band got really noisy, particularly on Feed Me With Your Kisses, it took me back to early Jesus & Mary Chain. Sometimes there’s a point to pure noise. These guys were obviously good at it. Will probably never listen to it again.

Everything sounds the same if youre into that

A whole lot of fuzzy noise. Sometimes sounds like you're peering into the gate of hell. Hard to distinguish between tracks. I can appreciate what they're doing but have to be in the right mood for it.

Never knew I could not like a noise album. Felt sort of off in a way listening to this

Meh

Woe is me, gloom and heartbreak.

My favourite bits sounded like a noisier Stereolab, the rest just sounded noisy

Best Song: Lose My Breath. The vocals are really dreamy here, in a way that works for me. Worst Song: Feed My With Your Kiss. The mixing is really frustrating to listen to, with the vocals dialed way too quiet. It feels like you have to strain to hear them, but even then aren't well rewarded for the strain. Overall: Second album of theirs that I've had on this list and my reaction is about the same as the first. Very "one note", wherein after you've heard a song or two you've heard them all. A constant drone with little dynamic change.

Eh

Not particularly memorable.

A few tracks were ok, but this album was a slog to get through. Boring, discordant, and barely musical at some points.

Nog eentje die ik vergeten was te luisteren. En om nou te zeggen dat ik er mijn leven mee verrijkt heb om dat alsnog te doen? Neuh.

Voce e suoni un po' stridenti. Canzoni banali

I thought I would like this album a bit more than I did, it's good music, was just expecting a bit more

Isn't anything is the second album recommended to me from My Bloody Valentine on this list. My Bloody Valentine reminds me a little of Sonic Youth. The music is adjacent to what I might listen to, but I don't want to listen to this music. Isn't Anything waivered in and out of "okay"-ness, almost reaching something that I could like with "All I Need", but the second half of the album was a slog to get through.

Lacked something to make ot distinctive.... Plain mashed potatoes of this genre

Gritty, grungy album. I appreciate the incorporation of noise and effects to create a signature sound, however I struggled to understand the vocals through the entire album due to the production of this noise. Lyrics are also a bit too creepy/overtly sexual for my liking. I understand why this album received the acclaim, but the band's sound does not resonate with me. Fave tracks: I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)

I'm having a hard time with this one. I think I get what they're going for with the dissonance, experimental production and lazy vocals. Sometimes it comes together and works for them, but other times it just sounds really bad. Even when it does come together though, it kind of sounds like your generic 90s/00s alt-rock, but maybe that's a testament to it's influence, idk. I'm kind of surprised it was as acclaimed as it is, but maybe it was just early enough that there was nothing else to compare it to. Either way imo their follow up, Loveless, is much better. Likes: Cupid Come, sueisfine

Meh. Guess I just don't like shoegaze.

The back half contains the noisy melodies that make me love shoegaze, but the songs themselves, while varied, come across as particularly short and half-baked.

Not my scene. Too much ambient noise

This album is as interesting example of lo-fi production and a milestone of the shoegaze genre. It doesn't click for me at all, but i like Bilinda Butcher's vocals in "Lose My Breath".

It "isn't anything" more than noise. While that might be a bit harsh, I definitely felt that way at times working my way through this relatively short listen. I think this band is just a *bit* too weird and abstract for me to fully appreciate, and that's okay. I can see why people would like this and can even hear moments that might have inspired future rock groups (Radiohead is a band I can definitely see pulling from this material on some of their earlier work). It reminded me a lot of how I felt listening to the Sonic Youth album I received earlier on this list: I can definitely see them progressing beyond this album (especially since, in this case, it is their first), but I really don't have a desire to check out their other work after giving this one a go. It just felt pretty messy overall; although, it is hard to deny that the energy and diversity is present throughout. I don't blame anyone for enjoying this, but I didn't get much of it. 2/5.

Wasn't too interested in the sound or what the artists tried to do with this. A lot of the songs sound the same and are very drony, with a purposeful emphasis on things being out of tune (think Nine Inch Nails).

Not my favorite

Niet echt mijn ding, zou het niet nog eens luisteren

Times. Not good. Not bad.

1.5/5 Not nice or interesting to listen to

Instantly don't like this, first track is abrasive 😂😭. 4th track is a bit more palatable, more punky, could imagine it on an Earthed dvd. 7th track is palatable too. At times some tracks seem a bit like The Smashing Pumpkins, but I can't help but feel this doesn't quite deserve a 3 though, so, 2/5

I think I went through a range of emotions listening to this album. At first I said shoegaze just doesn't work for me. Distorted guitars and heavy pedal use combined with almost inaudible vocals. Case in point Butcher's vocals - not bad but often drowned out by the noise. I know that is the sound they're going for, but I don't see the appeal. That was emotion one. Yet, even before the first track Soft as Snow was over I had to admit the guitar sound Shields creates (like a distorted siren) is pretty impressive. Still, it's also annoying as F. After two songs I thought good for them for pioneering a genre (e.g., I like Catherine Wheel and Silversun Pickups that came later), but it's a struggle to listen to. The album got better as I listened to more tracks. I think the distortion wasn't so intense and/or they better blended other elements (both vocals and other instruments) with the effects pedals. Cupid Come and You're Still in a Dream were more on par with Sonic Youth (still noise rock but less annoying). Tracks 5-7 regressed (my blood started to boil) but then tracks 8-12 redeemed. I still think it's a 2 for me, but I got close to a 3 on second listen.

I can appreciate the contribution that this band has made to modern music in how they've influenced multiple artists including some of my favorites but even after several listens this album really doesn't do anything for me.

This is the second MBV album I've heard and both times I had the same thought - I feel like I *should* like this, but I just don't. I tried to listen closer to this one to figure out why. There's a lot going on in these songs and some of the effects and riffs are cool, but the word that keeps coming to mind as I listen is BORING. Another word is LIFELESS. I think a large part of it is the singing - both singers are pretty dull - but there's also no energy to the music despite all the noise. Not to mention the presence of occasional feedback and noise which lately leads me to an automatic 1-point reduction. The last track added the obnoxiousness of being intentionally out of tune. I'd sum up this album as Whiny Suburban Kid Anthems. I'll give it a 2 rather than 1 solely because of the occasional interesting effects (like on the first track).

Just ok. Some good melodies.

Not particularly a fan. It wasn't offensive, but it didn't do anything for me

didn't fully click with me!

Promising start, enjoyable in moments, but overall pretty turgid stuff with an incredibly grating vocal style

Found this a harsh tough listen and it’s far less interesting or cool than it thinks it is . They must sacked their bass player too

2/5

Isn't Anything isn't…good. In the late 80s I was into hard rock, metal, modern and rap. Indie music like MBV didn't register on my radar.

I don’t think I’ve heard this band before. This album started a bit depressing and emo but some of the last tracks were more upbeat. I feel like ash, who I listened to in my youth, was influenced by my bloody valentine. A 90s Irish band influenced by an 80s Irish band sounds right.

No

My bloody Valentine reminds of a past trip to Thailand. I had bigger hands than that girl! I remember dying of pneumonia which was easier to bare than most of this album. Not the worst I’ve listened too though

I guess I just don’t like noise. Maybe because I have kids?

only listened to the first few tracks

Not my thing

Music sounded like they were still a struggling band musical instruments were a little off… Really did not like it

What can I say; a calmer smashing pumpkins. Maybe they should call themselves carving pumpkins. I thought this was bullet for my valentine and I kind of wish it was. Pretty decent but I’d lump it in with yesterday’s album in the mediocre bin. And what’s up with the Album cover? I’m sure they took multiple photos that didn’t have lens flare but if you look closely you can see that little bloody valentine peeking out.

Cool sounds but it came at the compromise of their songwriting. Not my cup of guinness.

Meh.

Did not like

nada

Not my music

upbeat rock mixed with psychedelic cues - kind of tiring as its sometimes not melodic

Skroz bezveze

OG Shoegaze, I like what came out of this, but this is not for me

Probably won't listen to this album ever again.

After hearing so much about My Bloody Valentine I was kinda excited to finally sit down and listen to them. Loveless is better than this right? Right?!?

I had never listened to My Bloody Valentine before this project. And so far I have listened to the albums called "m b v" and "Loveless". I liked zero songs on "m b v" (1 star rating) and I liked ALL the songs on "Loveless" (5 star rating) - so needless to say my experience with this band has been very erratic. Wonder where this one will fit on that scale? Unfortunately this was only on YouTube and I tried listening there but it was a pain in the ass because as soon as you switch to another app on the phone it stops playing. I did manage to hear every song at least once and frankly nothing was really grabbing me. Perhaps if I got a chance to listen more it would have grown on me. I gave it a chance - oh well - their loss if they make it so hard to listen to their stuff. Liked songs: 0/12 Rating: 1/5

Third time for My Bloody Valentine. I was okay with the previous two albums, but this debut, not so much. I liked the ingredients, but not the finished product. This is not a must listen album.

Нет на спотике(

The production is so bad. Nothing special about either the instrumentals nor the singing. The only thing of note is that you can barely hear the vocals because of the terrible mixing. And why doesn't this band have anything on YT music?

This is weirdly boring and bad for the most acclaimed shoegaze band. Cocteau Twins are so much better than this. I could listen Heaven or Las Vegas all day.

Wow, shitty 2006 indie/noise rock crossover in 1988? Fire this into the sun.

yeah man sorry this was immediately grating to me from the rip. One of the rare times where I didn't give a majority of the album a chance.

Very much not my jam

I just don’t like My Bloody Valentine

Horrible Horrible I could have died without listening to this. Best part was when it was over. Favorite Track- All I Need Least Favorite Track - Lose My Breath ⭐️

#383/1001. Shoegaze and noise turn to Brit pop. Perhaps shouldn't be on this list anymore.

RATING: 3.5/10 HIGHLIGHT: Feed Me with Your Kiss LOWLIGHT: Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside)

NOt available in Apple Music

Unfortunately as soon as I said yesterday’s album didn’t sound like white noise I got this one that does. Just now finding out that Shoegaze is basically the white noise genre to me so yea not a fan

I have given VERY few ratings this low, but this particular album checks the two main boxes most likely to draw my ire. First, its musical stylings seem deliberately created to be unpleasant to listen to: noise created for the sake of noise. And second, the 1001 albums I must hear before I die list includes multiple albums by this group (THREE!) that are not really different enough to show some kind of new direction or artist development that provides me with any new insight or pleasure I didn't already get from listening to one of their albums (especially since the list includes ZERO albums by artists like Warren Zevon that are quite musically different from this sound). So we get it. Either the list maker or one of his good buddies was a big My Bloody Valentine fan. Good for him! But why does that mean we have to suffer through THREE of their albums as part of our own musical "education"?

These guys have 2 albums in the Top 1001? Same as AC/DC, ZZ Top, The Clash, Run DMC, The Cars, Rush, The Police, Madonna & Taylor Swift. That's one more than Tom Petty, Sinatra, Billy Joel, Aretha, Ozzy, BB King, Devo, Kiss, Duran Duran, and Micheal freakin' Jackson!? That's two more than Chuck Berry (changed/created Rock & Roll), Foreigner, Hank Williams (changed/created Country), Nat King Cole, Etta James, Journey, or Bill Withers? That's only one less than absolute legends like Prince, Black Sabbath, The Cure, Johnny Cash, Hendrix, Yes, Bob Marley, etc. So you're saying MBV is worthy of a second album, let alone a first, on the T1001? Come on, man!?! I strongly disagree. It's from 1988? My heyday of music consumption and I've never heard it. I now understand why. It's so popular it's not even on Spotify. This isn't good, the sound production is garageband quality. "Lose My Breath" wasn't even a song, just mumbling and guitars, utterly boring. The rest all blended together, all I could think of were those bands who opened for the opener before the real show begins in 90 minutes. Pure crap, 1 star. Chuck Berry must be fuckin' pissed off!

Noisy for the sake of it and way off key. It's like nails on a chalkboard.

Just nope…. 0/10

Ok don't judge the album by the first track. Don't get me wrong the album sucks but that first track is absolute garbage. I think they are one of the bands that thinks they are way too clever and want to reinvent music. So their friends tell them they are good and they think they are good and eventually some recording label believes the hype and we have this. It is an experiment but it feels lifeless. Like even they don't believe their own bullshit.

Guys I actively disliked this one. Not like oh i was neutral to it but I understand how people could like it, not “mmm i dislike it but that’s just down to my music sensibilities i can understand why people enjoy it” I genuinely don’t understand how people can enjoy this. I have never heard both a singer and a guitar, at the same time, sound like a dying cat. I’m genuinely perplexed at how you make a tuned instrument sound like that. Burn the guitar. Honest to god it’s got the soul of a coal mining Victorian child in it. There’s actually not even one redeeming song it’s just the same incessant whining for 37 minutes. I couldn’t even get over the sound of either of their voices to hear what they were saying and the backing was so genuinely terrible that I PREFERRED TO STUDY FOR MY EXAM THAN LISTEN TO THIS CUZ IT WAS LESS PAINFUL. Genuinely they play this at Guantanamo bay as a less humane way of torturing people than waterboarding. This is only getting a 1 because I can’t give it a 0. Now this is my first impression of Mbv but honestly if this is what it all sounds like I have to wonder how their fan base has any braincells left.

2026.05.13

3rd album by them ranging from '88 to 2013 and ain't going to change anything, this just ain't my thing. Ain't a shoegazer. While I can enjoy sonic youths more angular confrontational take MBV more dreamlike hypnotic discourse take leaves me cold. Better than the other 2 but to my ears that's faint praise. More standard music presented, but that almost makes it worse. I really struggle to have the will to justify my opinions after the effort to listen, everything is meant I know but everything meant I don't want to hear. Designed to challenge normal listening expectations, yawn. Yeah it has it's place here but Guess I just neurologically experience it as pure shite. Long 37 minutes 1Star

i'd maybe like it more if i were to listen to it in 9th grade

Not pleasant. Dirgy punk rock.

Its all noise, i was anticipating when the song was going to stop. Horrible.

Nope!

Wish I could review this but im pretty sure spotify took this album down or smt bc it only has one song. Heard good things abt this band too what a shame.

Soft like my soul

so boring

Shoegazing isn]'t anything.

This is the second MBV album in a matter of weeks and like the last one this starts with an annoying drone of a vocal and doesn’t improve at any point. It’s all too downbeat, sounding as if it is being played at the wrong speed. It doesn’t matter who is on lead vocals as the only thing that this seems to change is the pitch. No More Sorry is possibly the worst song on the album and it’s title perfectly sums up my considered view on MBV. Although Feed Me With Your Kiss, runs ot close sounding like hearing a shit pub band rehearsing from outside the building. This is not good shoegazer music.

It was only about 2 weeks ago the Generator gave me m b v by My Bloody Valentine and I gave it 1 star. So I'm not hugely optimistic going into this. [38 Minutes Later...] I didn't completely hate Feed Me With Your Kiss, but a single song does not a 2 star album make. 1/5

Meh!

Not really my type

I had to exert the tiniest bit of effort to find this album beyond Spotify, and even the very easy YouTube search was too much. This album did not deserve the effort I put in. I’m sure for fans of the genre it’s great, but I’m not, and it’s terrible.

Pretty objectively terrible stuff. Off-time drumming, off-key vocals, poorly mixed. Could have been good if they put in some effort, but it just sounds like a band of 16-year-olds that don’t know what they’re doing.

Finally the last album of this nightmare pop-trilogy! How this awful band has gotten its whole discography on this list remains a mystery to me...

couldnt get through first song

Very noisy

The Good: We are told it isn’t anything!!! The Bad: Having to listen to nothing... The Ugly: Nothing… as it isn’t anything… I do believe this is the last time I have to actively sit down and listen to a MBV album and that makes me happy. Could have been spared this shit though. So thanks for nothing, Mr D 1*

wow a shoegazing genre - what a great way to emo-ify stargazing. So sad you can't even look up? This was truly just noise to me. Also something to be said that I couldn't even find the full album on youtube music (my preferred music channel for these albums) which is not normally an issue. Did I need to listen to this before I die?

While I understand they wanted that kind of mixing, not hearing the singing because of the guitar and drums really irritated me the whole album. I know other bands do it as well and its supposed to be that way but to me its just to much. I don't really know what else to comment since that made me dislike it so much even when I went back over some songs what I just have to go with it being not for me.

Too heavy metal like

What the fuck was happening in 1988 for this to be considered good music?! Instrumentally it’s not bad, but vocally it’s unforgivable.

Discordant

no me gusto, me molestaron las guitarras, me molestaba el ruido.

Hard to get through.

Just so bloody bad

What a load of crap

Yes this was definitely My Bloody Valentine

What the fuck. This is My Bloody Valentine? So painfully bad 80s in the first song so far. Horrendous. Off pitch, off beat, cheap drum tones. Ass. Second song was slightly better. Very clearly meant to be very tense and clashing, this is more palatable. I have a feeling this might be the best song on the album. Ugh. Fuck this I straight up am annoyed and pissed off they decided to make this bullshit. This is trash. This sounds like music made by a group of beginner level tone deaf musicians which is fine, make art but the musicality sucks and I don’t like listening to it. I couldn’t get through it. I listened to the first 30 s or songs 4-7 and I fucking quit. I guess being 88 release, this may have been one of the first real dissonant horribly foul album that probably sparked the whole 90s punk movement. This album really Isn’t Anything.

It is such a shame that MBV decided to practically strip their discography from online streaming platforms, but hey I still wanted to hear this so I found my own way. I always remember not liking this project all that much as it always came off as sounding just ever so slightly out of pitch, which is not a very common complaint I have but here it bothered me a significant amount. The first half of this project feels like some of the most unorganized Noise Pop I have heard in some time and that is really saying something. Then out of nowhere on the second half of this album MBV finally locks it together and serves up some borderline Proto-Shoegaze tracks that actually feel much more fluid and vibey. It almost feels like the band found their sound midway through and I swear these were the exact feelings I had the first time I hear this project. I try my damndest to enjoy this project but it is really wishy washy with myself and I still don't feel any strong feelings towards it. I respect what MBV is trying to do here but once they find their sound they truly start sailing with their overall music quality. Isn't Anything isn't anything worth your time if you aren't already head over heels for this band....

I just really hate these guys. Its like nails on a chalkboard

Not my jam

Ihan kamalaa. Tuntui että levy ei lopu ikinä.

Wow this is pretty bad, the instrumentals were just noise, not music and the vocals were so quiet they just get completely lost. There are parts you do hear just seem very blah anyway, all the songs sound the same, and the album became a tough listen to be honest. Overall, it had quite a dreary and slightly distorted sound which I was not a fan of, at the most this would make alright background music. Standout songs – literally none, the only half decent song was ‘Cupid come’, seriously why is this album on this list. I will give the 'Artists' credit with the album title though, this album really Isn't anything

Not so much.

Me sobreestimuló

I can’t find the full alblum 🤷

I could not listen the whole album Dramaaaat

Absolute baws

It was eargrating.

Horrible listen Trying to hard to be shit, not as good as actual shit bands like the Shaggs I can understand why people liked it in the 80s and 90s, but those people are idiots and losers who have no self expression and just wanted to fit in

I must be a fat fucking chud because this music fucking blew. I wish I liked it, wanted to, in fact. But the fucking obnoxious ass sad boy vocals really just irked me and did not sound good. Like, what the fuck?

Life's too short to be having to sit through this. Gets 1 star for having an accurate title.

i don't know if it is the whole genre of shoegaze or this particular album but i genuinely despised it. it was so tiring and i considered giving up a few times. i can't exemplify a single song which was at least "okay" and didn't make me feel like my ears are bleeding. i understand the importance of weird, unidentified noises in shoegaze style however it was simply too much. well, at least i can say one thing, it was for sure innovative in a way but i don't think i'm ever gonna revisit any of those songs.

Boringly crap dull nonsense.

Noise with barely heard lyrics. Pass.

# Album Name: Isnt Anything # Artist: MBV # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Nah, this lot aint for me. Everything is out of tune and doesnt sound right to me. # Top Tunes: None # Would I listen to it again? No