Loveless

It's fine, gets old after a bit though.

Dreamy, ethereal, noisy shoegaze. Fun listen but drags a little bit in spots.

Impossibly perfect album. For the people who can't get past the the noise to hear the songs check out Shonen Knife's cover of "When You Sleep"

This album feels all about the effects to me. It’s cool to hear licks, styles, and technical tricks copied by other great musicians later on, but the album overall feels very ambience focused. It’s not to my taste, but I can appreciate it’s revolutionary nature.

From the moment the first drum strikes launch this album, it feels like the air is thick with sound. A perfection of the shoegaze genre. 5/5

Es en disco rompedor y como tal merece la pena escucharle, pese a que en algunos momentos es realmente cargante.

A very unique sound form the early 90s. I personally like this album but can certainly understand why some might now find it to their liking. I will probably score this much higher than the average listener.

Had no idea this wouldn’t be emo! Good, will listen again

Heard it before. I've never really been into shoegaze but with this album I can at least see why it's popular. It really is quite interesting in terms of the vibe. But that said it's just not for me 2/5

Album #167: My Bloody Valentine – Loveless ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Back in 2013, I saw My Bloody Valentine live at Electric Picnic in Ireland. Well, I don’t feel like I was technically actually at the gig. I was about quarter of a kilometre away at some food stall on the outskirts of the main stage. Basically, the gig was so loud that I couldn’t have a conversation with my friends next to me. I couldn’t hear them. It was that loud. I wasn’t that big into My Bloody Valentine at the time. I had actually heard Loveless a couple of times before and wasn’t really into it. After being in the vicinity of one of their concerts, I kind of wrote them off as shit because I just thought it sounded crap. I couldn’t make anything out. It all sounded so indistinct. Turns out that was completely the wrong way of thinking. If I wanted to enjoy that gig, I should have been right up the front, in the miasma of sound that is My Bloody Valentine. And if you’ve listened to this album in the past and didn’t get it, that’s exactly the approach you need to take. I don’t mean to be a snob or anything, but this one requires some instruction in order to enjoy it. Loveless needs to be listened to at a deafening volume in order to appreciate the kind of sound My Bloody Valentine are trying to get across here. It’s how it was recorded, so it’s how it should be outputted. This album is more of an experience than music you throw on in the background. I actually found it difficult to find the time to listen to it today because I knew I needed to give it my full attention and throw myself over to it. I play a little bit of guitar, but I’m mainly a drummer, so I don’t really know the technical aspects of guitar playing. But I love guitar. I love the sound of guitar. If you think about guitar effects and means of playing. Take distortion for example and how it was innovated by guys like Link Wray, and then taken further and revolutionised by guys like Jimi Hendrix. I feel like this album is the last great innovation of the guitar. It’s the final boss of electric guitar playing. It’s almost the death of the guitar in a way. I haven’t heard an album in the years after 1991 that did anything remotely as interesting with electric guitars as this album does. It’s been hugely influential on bands like Smashing Pumpkins and countless shoegaze and shoegaze-adjacent bands, but nobody has recreated it or really innovated on it. Not even My Bloody Valentine themselves. m b v is a good record, but it’s not nearly as good or groundbreaking as Loveless. It’s taking the electric guitar right to the brink of what it was possible for it to sound like. Nothing has taken it further. It’s not about chords and notes, or even noise. It’s about soundscapes. It’s about emotions being generated through sound to the point where the album doesn’t even really need vocals. It doesn’t need lyrics. When those things are included, they’re almost there just to add colour. The weight of the sound, the soundscapes of the guitars themselves, carry all this emotion and power with them. It’s one of those albums that takes time. It’s not necessarily a catchy album in the traditional sense. It doesn’t grab your attention because there’s a big hit you’ll immediately be singing afterwards. In fact, a lot of the individual songs don’t really stay with you in that sense. It’s a very different kind of experience. But I think it’s the best album of the 90s and one of the best albums ever made. I don’t think there was another album as interesting in that decade, and I struggle to think of a better album, really, since this came out. So yeah, I hold it in very high reverence. There is one song, though. I usually try to listen to Loveless all in one go and don’t tend to pick individual songs from it, but the last song, Soon, is kind of an outlier from the rest of the album in many ways. If any song here could be a proper single, I think it would be Soon. And I think Soon might be the greatest song ever recorded. I know that’s all very hyperbolic, and I’ll be throwing out “greatest this” and “greatest that” as I review albums throughout this list. But those are two things I genuinely believe and have believed for a long time now. I think Loveless is the greatest album of the 90s, and I think Soon might be the greatest song ever recorded by any band. Perfect. One of a kind. Phenomenal Wikipedia page as well, by the way. If you’re unfamiliar with the history of this album and how it came to be, it’s a very interesting story and well worth a read. So yeah, big review for this one. There are a few albums I knew were coming up on the list, and this was one of them. I’ve always been thinking about what I was going to say when it eventually appeared. In a way, I’m glad to have this one out of the way so I can finally take it off my mind.

Absolutely beautiful perfect work

I feel like I should be more into early shoegaze because I enjoy how the genre has developed over the years. I struggle to give this any more than “it’s fine” on my listen today. Maybe I’ll defer my rating for one more spin?

꩜ Only Shallow is SO contemporary sounding, can't believe this album is from 1991. ꩜ I think it's impressive how this can ride the line between being melodic and discordant, without it tipping too far into being annoying "noise." I also wonder how often that criticism was leveraged towards this group and this genre in particular. ꩜ When You Sleep! Reminds me of Broken Social Scene. ꩜ I like Sometimes. I can't hear the lyrics but it sounds like a sad love song.

TBD, listen on the weekend

Think I got this a bit mixed up with another band as its really not what I expected. Sounds like a tape someone had listened to too many times.

This album sounds like listening to a college radio station late on a rainy Friday night, while flipping through a travel book and not really absorbing anything. The album flows quite well and the way the vocals melt into the lead guitar parts is really something special. 3.9/5.0

I have not cared much for shoegaze in the time I've been on this site. However, there's always been something mesmerizing to me about "Only Shallow", the opening track on this album. Am I "getting" shoegaze now? Or is this simply one of the more melodic shoegaze songs out there? I know that the guitar is generally the most prominent instrument in these albums, but here specifically the "glide guitar" technique is employed a lot by Kevin Shields. That's the in and out of tune, distortion-like sound you hear most of the time here. The "vocals" here almost sound ethereal when paired with those aforementioned guitar sounds/effects too. Truly a testament to the recording process and the different sounds that can be achieved from "traditional" instruments. I'll acknowledge that this is probably the best it gets for shoegaze, and can see this particular album's impact on the genre, so I'll rate accordingly.

Loomer, Touched, To Here Knows When, When You Sleep, I Only Said, Come in Alone, Sometimes, Soon

Can’t really rate this. Wasn’t able to find the whole album.

As the album cover tells, this album is not only guitar-based (which band of the twentieth-century isn't?) but actually ABOUT the guitar - an ode to the most revolutionary instrument of modernity. 'Where you going now, don't turn around.' & yeah, Kevin Shields does impossible things, leaving you w/ a fuzzy brain full of beautiful sounds, always asking, 'how do they do that,' tho never really wanting to know. It's also one of the greatest displays of sampling in the nineties annals. But it's likewise (don't take this the wrong way) music that could be delightfully played in a Walmart, & I don't think a single person would turn their head in consternation: think Blonde/Channel Orange. 'Turn my head into sound / I don't know when I lay on the ground.'

07/08/2026 Already seen too much of Valentine on here. I just can't get behind them. Spotify listeners: 801.9k

Only one track from this album is available on Spotify, and it's bloody awful.

No streaming service has it at this time which is annoying but I found this to be well worth the extra effort. Shoegaze to the max

Mostly harmless. Really want to be Sonic Youth when it grows up.

I liked this!

Not really sure what the hype is about this album I liked it fine but I wouldn’t put it in like greatest albums of all time conversations it’s surprising that so many people are deeply connecting with this

The whole album is kind of a trip. Very lo-fi and chill vibes.

Not my jam. Noisy Mazzy Star. 2.5

So this is their second album (and last for twenty odd years) which saw two EPs released in between this and their debut. Apparently this album took an inordinate number of studios and a then astronomical sum to make, which clearly suggested they had been critically acclaimed and that their guitarist was a bit difficult. His guitar playing is seen as innovative and the band pretty much invented the 'Shoegazing' genre - so Mogwai can be quite thankful for their droning music. This album has about two tunes I could identify and then occasional 'dream pop' keyboard lines, but the rest of it I find difficult to equate with the word 'greatest'........

Would love to hear a better quality version of this, but I could only find it on YouTube

nice and moody heehehe

Only Shallow- THIS is how you start a rock album... Absolutely amazing, no notes on the chord progression, the guitar tone, perfect use of reverb and pedals to make an amazingly pleasant rock sound with a lot going on, yet all of it working perfectly together. Side note but the vocals initially reminded me of how Djo edits his to kinda fade in a greater ethereal sound. Brilliant use of the 3D soundspace. Lommer - Absolutely beautiful soundscape, perfect delay and reverb effects, amazing chord progression, hazy vocals, just brilliant. Touched - Fuck it, why not. Put some beautiful instrumental bullshit in there for 60 seconds cuz who's gonna stop you. Brilliant, and sets up a great abrupt transition to To Here Knows When. To Here Knows When - Thank god for stereo sound, once again taking perfect advantage of sound from every angle. I feel like I'm transcending, but to where yet is unclear. the little flute (or keyboard sound at least) hiding so subtly in the background is a chefs kiss throughout the track. When You Sleep - Another catchy hook, absolutely brilliant with the slight note bending in the end of the main riff which makes it borderline out of tune for just a moment, but gradually goes just enough back up to the main note for it still to sound "correct" but different I Only Said - Good song, but maybe the first point in this album where I'm starting to get a little tired of the constant drone of distortion which has not taken one second off since starting. Come in Alone - A little easier on the ears than the last song, and adds some more beautiful vocals like the earlier tracks Sometimes - Once again, just starting to get some listeners fatigue, very similar to a lot of earlier songs Blown a Wish - I feel like I'm dreaming again What You Want - Feels similar to the earlier songs again, but love the keyboards at the end Soon - Love this as the ending track, the little loop they have of what sounds like a violin? Maybe a keyboard? Possibly a guitar with a really unique pedal? Whatever it is it works great with the rest of the song. Beautiful vocal processing again and a good chord progression. Overall notes - drumming leaves something to be desired, sound gets repetitive as you continue to listen (but they did find a phenomenal dreamy but distinctly rock sound). Was originally gonna be a 5 star from me from the first few songs but the more I listened it just left me wanting a little something more to earn the fifth star.

Listening to this on YouTube wasn’t my favorite but I liked this one. I feel like grunge is the word I’d use to describe it. I was a big fan of most of the songs having relatively fluid transitions, and the general vibe was very comforting. A lot of the songs had a “not so memorable” problem for me that makes this good not great to me. I do think the album started, finished, and middled strong - so I commend mbv for the selection and organization of these tracks. I am also bummed it’s not on Spotify bc When You Sleep and I Only Said would both definitely make regular rotation for me. Favs: HM: Lommer When you sleep I only said Soon

“One of the greatest albums of all time “ is not a sentence that comes to mind when I listen to this one. I can appreciate the fact it helped mould a genre and is a very significant collection of media for many folk, but to me this was just meh. When I think of shoegaze esque sad rockabye music I would think of Deftones, which outshines this particular album in every sense for me. Maybe that isn’t a fair point of reference, idk. I did enjoy “sometimes” which coincidentally is also the only song available on Spotify, so maybe me and Big Music have similar taste. Sometimes had great dynamic shifts and movement throughout the song that I could follow and feel, whereas I couldn’t relate to the music in any of the others. Overall just too much of the same repetitive tones without enough variation or energy changes. Even sadboy Tyler would not have approved of this album. Hopefully the only time I give this rating the rest of the project, but just felt there wasn’t much redeemable stuff here.

Loveless is unparalleled. I am biased going into this review because I have known and loved this music for a while, but man it still hits. The mixture of droning, amped, EQ'd, looped, and amped again noise with little vocal and synth interjections just feels. It makes me feel an emotional intensity and tightens my chest in a way I rarely find in music outside of Mahler. While the lyrics are largely unintelligible, what you can pick out only adds to the melancholic, desperately human sound. I love it. - Favorite Tracks: To Here Knows When, When You Sleep, I Only Said, What You Want

This is the first album we've done that doesn't come from "familiar" territory, and I formed a fair amount of preconceived notions in the first 30 seconds of this album that got completely undressed as I listened further. I apologize MBV, I was not familiar with your game. This was chock full of reverb, distortion, amping, and all manner of innovative production techniques; I'd love to see what Kevin Shields' pedalboard looks like. "Take up the space you're given" is fully realized here; there's not a stone left unturned in the exploration of what kind of shit you can really do on a guitar. Even still, the use of synth is tastefully (and surprisingly) restrained. The whole sound of this album is a total onslaught, and cranks Phil Spector's "wall of sound" production style to an 11. I turned the volume up to the max halfway through Only Shallow, which immediately and vastly improved my listening experience. This is one where you need to really surrender yourself to the music. Maybe my level of sobriety has something to do with it, who the fuck knows. I found myself getting inexplicably emotional during some of these songs, and it was honestly a beautiful thing. You can immediately see the influence of this album on the sound of everything from the crunchy midrange guitar seen everywhere in early 2000's rock (I hear so much Bôa in these songs + a bit of Queens of the Stone Age) to the droning and distortion in late 2010's experimental pop (Elvis Depressedly and Current Joys came to mind). Every song left threads to tug on that you can see woven into so many kinds of music that came after this album. This is two albums in a row that were impeccably paced and ordered, something that I'm gonna start paying more attention to. Even for an album this busy, it was still an easier-than-expected listen, largely in part because of the pacing. The songwriting was frankly unintellegible, but I get the sense that we're meant to hear the singing through a veil; how they sing the words matter more than the lyrics themselves. Viewed from a distance, the vocals were almost ethereal. This is gonna be a polarizing one. I anticipate lots of 1's and 5's 7.5/10 Song Notes: - Only Shallow's first guitar riff immediately made me think of In My Head by Queens of the Stone Age - Loomer feels like you're listening to a song underwater. That crunchy muted guitar sounds so much like Pepsi/Coke Suicide by Elvis Depressedly - To Here Knows When reminds me a bit of Dr. Dog's Where'd All The Time Go - When You Sleep shouts itself from the rooftops, and that whistle feels like poking your head out the sunroof on the highway at night - Come In Alone sounds so so so much like Bôa - Sometimes has such a warm fuzz, like sitting by a fireplace on a gray autumn day. The guitar just envelops you in this orange glow. - Soon has such a distinctly mid 2000's synergy between drum and guitar that I loved Favorites: - Loomer - To Here Knows When - When You Sleep - Sometimes - Soon

This album reminds me of Jesus. You either accept it into your heart or reject it. After my first listen I hated this album with a passion. But on second listen I realized I only truly have an issue with a couple of the tracks and now it has grown on me. I was driving while listening on YT so I can’t give a detailed description of which tracks stood out. At certain points I was floating and the music reached somewhere deep within my being. Other times I felt as though I’d been violated. Maybe this type of music is better while drunk or high. After listening while stone cold sober, I can’t say I like the shoegaze genre after this because I know I won’t be seeking out more albums, but that wasn’t too bad. I have a feeling Augie and Joey are gonna love this shit. Rating: 5/10

I thought this said, "Gloveless" and I have only now just finished weeping at the thought of not owning a pair of really sweet gloves. If you want to send an outfit into the stratosphere, finish it off with a snappy set of gloves, or a "come hither" mitten. To not have that ability rendered me apoplectic and unable to rise to the occasion of writing this much anticipated review. Lo my eyes, may be dewy, and I tremble with the aftershock of my heaving sobs, I will soldier on to tell you how much I did NOT Glove this record. The first riff on this thing is light's out. I am looking at every stitch in my Geox shoes, as the horrible odour whooshes out of the bottom, creating a scene on this bus. I am so glad that Geox were brave enough to engineer a shoe that loudly dispels gas with each step. Making each stride sound like the moon landing and smell like a heavily used boxing gym. GEOX BREATHES! Yeah this album is unbearably boring, repetitive, and overly "twee." Iguess I also hate shoegaze, except when I'm blasting off to fuckin' Neptune on the jets of my foot stink courtesy of my bitchin' Geoxes. Gaze at this, assholes. 1 GENRE: I'm just a wittle boi uWu

I love shoegaze

2.5

3.5

I dig shoegaze, and this is among the best shoegaze out there. 5 stars

4.5/5

I don't think it's the stone cold classic others do, but it's got a cool sound and I can't deny it's impact on the 90's alt-rock scene. It occasionally comes across as more sound than songs, but there are some really cool tracks here including "Only Shallow", "When You Sleep" and "Sometimes". 4 stars.

Bloody brilliant album. Bloody well love this. Magical. Genius. Fantastical. Has hues of Wizard Of Oz, Care Bears In Wonderland, sex n drugs n the spirit of rock n roll and a fuck off tonne of smoggy shoegazey purple. To Here Knows When and Soon are the highest of magical highs but every track here is a gold-plated classic smothered in crushing riffs n feedback and the sexiest of smoggy purple. Only Shallow and Touched in particular shows the providence of bringing elephants into a recording studio and letting them make rock and art pop riffs.

This was ok, but it's still shoegaze. Liked Songs Added: When You Sleep I Only Said

Decently atmospheric but not my cup of tea overall.

I wish I liked shoegaze more. The atmospheric and ethereal stuff is pretty cool, but most of it just comes off as noise. It’s pretty difficult for me to get through.

Guitare saturée et titres sans majuscules pour passer pour un groupe emo subversif, la flemme

Surprise car j’ai confondu le nom du groupe avec BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE (qui est du métal) J’ai trouvé ça sympa !

Bof

Second MBV album -- again thought it was an emo band but it's 90s alternative. Found this on youtube, not apple music. It's alright, not sure we needed multiple albums of theirs on here.

Depressing, jarring noise. Probably great if you are an angsty teen - I am not.

after suffering through m b v, I was fully expecting to hate this album. much to my surprise, I didn't. some of it is even kind of good! I'll probably never listen to it again, but I can at least see the appeal here. 3/5.

I have never understood why this album is so critically acclaimed. Every bit of it is drowned in distortion to the point to where you can’t really hear the proficiency of any musician. The singer has a drowsy singing style which makes it a tedious listen.

This album is so good i had to reevaluate my rating system and take back the fives i gave so far Truly on another level, absolute dreamy masterpiece

3 - BAD

No se como calificarlo, pareciera un rock tipo hard, pero no se. Es como que es ruido, pero no taan ruido como otros discos, tiene un poco más de "sentido". Igual no me llama. 4/10

Trance music, there was a rough patch, sounding just like noise, but other parts were sublime

Had to dig this one out of my vinyl collection since it’s not on streaming services. I’ve always liked this more than I loved it but hearing it among so many lesser entries in the generator you really appreciate just how strong the hooks are on every song, as well as the distinctive production. Easy 5.

Me surpreendeu

Not bad. But the album didn't impress me enough to make me want to listen to it again. 3/5

Perfect. No notes.

I've decided shoegaze is like the white noise of rock and roll. It has its separate frequencies and sounds but none of them stand out from each other. Sometimes white noise is annoying and needs to shut up. But sometimes, it's all you want on a hot summer afternoon while you weed your garden.

Neat

Since it wasn’t available on Spotify, I took the easy way out and just didn’t listen to it. But I already know it’s a 1 based on their last album we had a few weeks ago.

This is as bad as I expected.

You know when a guitar solo goes on too long and you sort of feel like it’s nearing the end but you’re not there yet … a sense of impending anticipation that this is almost done … THAT was this whole album for me … except it just kept going on and never ended … every song was the same … it sounded like someone was playing a smashing pumpkins song in the background while a shitty band tried hard to drown it out … if this is shoegaze, I’m going barefoot.

There are genres on this list I dislike, but i listen, maybe whine a bit it a little, then give 1 star and move on. This different. This is maddening, I get angry listening to this. The sounds offend my musical pallette and I simply can't understand why it exists. The lowest form of a 1 star possible. Horrendous sounds.

Meh.

Interesting listen. A bit noisy for my taste. the guitar tone was just a bit too dirty to listen to over and over.

The more I listen, the more I get to appreciate how every song is an addition to the consistent experience, a pleasant dreamful of noisy out-of-body rock music that doesn't let up on its style

Remember listening to this for the first time, it was an absolutely transcendental experience.

you keep bugging me for not listening to this one and so i did and its just another sad emo albim that i hear clairo on at timea???

There's some interesting stuff in here, glad to have heard it once.

This reminds me a lot of really early Smashing Pumpkins, but the vocals are much less distinctive, which is probably part of why they never reached the popularity of The Smashing Pumpkins. The other part is that this is very much shoegaze, a genre defined by and named after an apathetic performance attitude. It's noisy and blurry and a difficult listen. Suffice to say I'm glad the other band moved in a more progressive rock direction. Everything is washed out with reverb, which also blunts the detuning inherent with the glide guitar playing style. But this album isn't bad, if you actually try to listen to it. The problem is that you have to try when you're listening to it.

Still just about as perfect as when I first heard it in the 90s. Thanks McGee! Come In Alone has never quite worked for me and is possibly the only mbv song ever released where you can hear the seams showing a bit (and at that, it’s a nitpick: vocal phrasing repeats only shallow). Otherwise, still holds a lot of the same magic and emotion as it did when I first (finally) got it. Can still see my trip through the desert southwest, Vegas, and LA when I put it on 30 years later.

Totalmente atmosférico

Very good but drags a bit. Can't figure out if the guitarist loves tape or a whammy bar a lot

Cocteau Twins but different (amazing review I know hush)

Need to listen...again. But I think this is going to be 5 stars after a quick listen.

Easiest 5 I’ve ever had to give. I’ve been waiting for Loveless to show up ever since I started this project, just to give it a five. Took 662 albums to get there!

01) Only Shallow - 7,0 02) Loomer - 6,5 03) Touched - 7,0 04) To Here Knows When - 7,5 05) When You Sleep - 7,0 06) I Only Said - 6,5 07) Come in Alone - 6,5 08) Sometimes - 6,5 09) Blown a Wish - 7,0 10) What You Want - 6,5 11) Soon - 6,5 TOTAL: 6,77 (68/100) Current ranking: 597/956

I like some noisy distortion on occasion(Sleigh Bells comes to mind) but i couldn’t listen to all of this. Now it’s on my YouTube algorithm

4.5/5

An immersive journey through hazy soundscapes. It's got this slow burn that grows on you. The vocals are buried under layers of distortion like they're playing hide and seek with your eardrums. It's a unique experience. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - when you sleep - sometimes * Only 2 songs are available through Spotify at the time of this review.

Me gustó pero todas iguales muy de fondo creo

Not on Spotify.

Saturated euphoria. I've known this album from quite a while, discovered it about 6 years ago or so, and listened to it sporadically, and yet, I was surprised by how much joy it brought listening to it again today. This record is fantastic and contagiously happy. The beautiful and catchy melodies are very seductive. Combined with the dizziness and disorientation created by the immense wall of sound, I enter in this state of pure joy and being high, and I can't leave because the repetitive motives keep dragging me in. The joy it offers basically comes in two forms: energetic or relaxed. The songs "only shallow", "when you sleep", "i only said", "come in alone", "what you want" and "soon" would fall in the first category, as they have a energetic nature, with hard hitting riffs and very present drumming, while "loomer", "touched", "to here knows when", "sometimes" and "blown a wish" are more relaxing, lacking drums and focusing on the ethereal sound of the project. I have to mention that these are not exclusive categories, as some songs share elements from both. In conclusion, phenomenal album. No wonder why it is considered the pinnacle of shoegaze by many.

nah, too repetitive

Largely horrible cacophony of instrumentals

grungey yet pop'y goodness

This is seriously just distorted noise. I suppose I can give it some credit for being different but… wow. DNF (2)

I had never heard of the shoegaze genre before listening to My Bloody Valentine. My immediate thought upon playing Loveless (once I managed to find it on YouTube) was, "Billy Corgan was definitely influenced by these guys." Smashing Pumpkins does it better, in my opinion, but Loveless is still a solid album in its own right.

Like NIN but like... strange?

Who knew distortion could be so soothing! Finally, full-fledged shoegaze album. Although, the soothing quality could just as easily be attributed to the soft, lullaby-like vocals and the Major scale-centric harmony. (Honestly, you could put a breathy, lo-fi female vocalist over almost anything and make it sound good; I felt the same way about Saint Etienne. I often envy how effortless female vocalists make pitch-accurate singing seem. The male vocalist on this album is quite soothing as well, though.) This album was way better than I remembered. Pretty much every song had something interesting to offer on top of the already quite appealing vibe. It's so solid throughout, I might have to give it a 5

Wondering if this might be another one where you guys might ask why I didn't play it (more) for you. This is one that the critics LOVED (& still do, I guess). It's sort of a landmark/legendary album, and famous, too, for the lead guy, Kevin Shields, struggling to create a follow-up (in the end, it took over 20 years). Listening to it now is interesting; one of my first thoughts was: does this feel dated? (Sort of thinking that, in a way, maybe it does.) It's clearly a great album, and while I initially debated whether it would be a 4 or a 5, I think it has to be a 5, but I do also have a sense that maybe it is just a *little* dated, or that, possibly, I don't love it quite as much as some others do. But then again, it is pretty amazing. And -- perhaps in particular because of all the work that went into it, apparently? -- it's one-of-a-kind, even though it did exert a good amount of influence, and inspire future acts: imitated, but never equaled, or recreated. Not my highest 5, but a 5, for me.

I feel that I should like this more than I do. But if I'm being honest, I don't like the mixing. I know it's a very important stylistic choice, and sometimes it produced an emotional response for me, but mostly I didn't enjoy how washed out and muddy it is. They're using the same boring drum patterns that every other rock song uses, that every drummer learns first. It's a large part of why I'm bored of rock genres in general. The main positive was, occasionally, I would settle into the blanket of sound and start to feel something. I like that they're trying to cultivate an aesthetic. I like the cover art. I'm going to blame dad for not exposing us to it sooner, because maybe I would like it more, now ;P

Had to turn to a full album rip on YT, so I'll forgo any comments on the mixing. This would go crazy in the winter. Saving it for a future December walk. It's melodic, cold, and opaque in a manner that doesn't annoy me; it reminds me of the Cocteau Twins, actually. Both have a dreamlike quality to their music. Definitely a before and after point for this type of rock music (read: shoegaze). I can hear their influence on artists from Slowdive to Alvvays. I'll be revisiting.

Somehow manages to balance harsh, disorienting and dissonant noise with something approaching beauty and warmth.

Its okay but sounds a bit mushy. Not really my thing but I would put it on in the background whilst I reminisce about the past or something. I like the cover.

This album is like looking at a decaying photograph of better days from the perspective of someone going through an apocalypse Liked it a LOT - didn’t like the jump scares at the start of songs (super loud beginnings to songs after super quiet endings to the previous song) but that could just be that I was listening late at night - ANYWAY I shall be listening to this more for sure !

For now, this is the greatest shoegaze album of all time to me. Was on constant repeat during my first year of college

Man, so many people praise this thing like it's the greatest album ever made, including a lot of artists I love. I just don't get it. There's occasionally a good riff here or there but it mostly just sounds like someone humming over white noise.

Beautifully produced, a great guitar noise. I do find it drags a bit, though, without the hook of an actual song structure.

I enjoyed this

I’m coming around in this one, it requires the space provided in a good system to really be heard.

actually noise slop. horrible genre, horrible mixing, horrible instrumentation.

I guess?

I first listened to My Bloody Valentine because of this project. I was given the album called "m b v" - and despite high expectations I really did not like that one. I ended up liking zero songs on that album. It just felt like boring nothingness. But, ever the optimist, I hoping this one grabs me more. Thoughts after listening 3 times... Uh oh - Spotify only has 2 songs available - the other 9 are greyed out. It's also not available on Tidal. I just found it on YouTube so I guess I'll listen there. First song "Only Shallow" actually has a Smashing Pumpkins kind of feel. Ok - this one was great. I listened to all of the songs on YouTube and kept thinking "this is a cool song" on each one. It definitely has a cool vibe and overall mood that I really like. I wish they put this on streaming platforms. Maybe I can rip the MP3s from somewhere?? So, I went from a zero songs liked for "m b v" to all songs liked for "loveless"! So this band is definitely going to show up on my Controversial list on this website - haha. Liked songs on YouTube: 11/11 Rating: 5/5

An all-time classic, super-influential record. It can feel overwhelming on first listen but once you tune in it’s really beautiful.

grace floats above noise don't know if I am dancing or drowning in sounds

This is the second album I've had by this band on here, and the second time I've wondered why. Is there a reason anyone needs to hear shoegaze before they die? One of my favorite genres is progressive rock, so I’m no stranger to odd guitar tunings, weird time signatures and vocals that some people despise. But in prog it makes for a unique, organized experience and here I feel like it’s a discordant mess with mumbling and moaning over it. 2⭐️

I think this one caught me in just the right state of mind because I could see this being an album I really hated but actually didn't find it too bad. Felt a bit dated I supposed but a lot of cool interesting grooves.

The lore behind this album makes it even greater than it already is. Knowing that Kevin Shields' obsessive perfectionism and 19 different studios nearly bankrupted Creation Records just adds to the mythos of what he achieved here. On the surface, sure, it sounds like endless reverb, but it's got endless layers to it (hehe, overdubs joke). The first time it hits your ears, it’s an abrasive, chaotic wall of distorted, seasick guitars that threatens to completely overwhelm you. Yet, if you let it wash over you, ideally played at a tooth rattling volume, that deafening noise transforms into the warmest, most comforting, dreamy cocoon. The real magic of Loveless is the tension between that sonic onslaught and the beautiful pop structures buried beneath it. With the hazy, ethereal vocals pushed way back into the mix like just another instrument, tracks like "When You Sleep" and "Only Shallow" reveal themselves to be surprisingly catchy once you acclimate to the fuzz. It’s an album that demands patience and might leave some feeling totally numb or alienated, but once it finally clicks, it's a transcendent experience. It doesn't just define the shoegaze genre, it completely rewrote the rules of what a guitar could do.

I really like the feel of this album and it's pretty wild for 1991, but it kind of drips of melancholy too hard and the lyrics are too hidden.

Couldn't even listen to the whole first song

Touched utterly pointless, otherwise a beauty

Noise that didn't sound as good as the previous noise from them

Heel vet en dromerig

I Only Said may have the catchiest single melody of I’ve ever heard in my life

Not worth a record deal imho...yet they magically happened to sign one. Amazing world. 😆

Normally I really like shoegaze, but I can't find my way with My Bloody Valentine no matter how I try. Just like with their other albums we've had on this list, there is something good in there, but unfortunately it's trapped behind all distortion that overtakes absolutely everything. I don't have an issue with vocals being used a background pad or effect in songs, like it is here. It's clearly not intended for the actual lyrics to stand out. But sadly, even that is too low volume and shut out by the guitar. Still, 'when you sleep' is decent, and so is 'what you want'. And if you want some 90s sounding rock, this is definitely for you. But be wary of your hearing. Weak 3.

I was expecting some emo music like My Chemical Romance with a name like “my bloody valentine”. It was however more shoegaze which really is not my style. I found it noisy, boring and also annoying at the same time. There were very few good riffs and I mostly just wanted it to end. I understand if some people like it but I really didn’t. One strong star.

Jangly, raw, but seemingly and oddly submerged as well

all that it could be I suppose!

Not my words — I'll quote a review from the internet, couldn't say it better myself: 'About 6 or 7 years ago, when I first learned about this album and tried listening to it on my phone with cheap earbuds, I figured I just didn't have the right gear to appreciate this opus. Later, when I came back to this album with decent headphones and a player, I still thought I was simply unworthy of grasping all the nuances and facets of this work. And only after I got truly good headphones and an amplifier, and put on the 24/96 version of the album, did I finally realize what overrated crap it is

Not what I expected

Un 5 sur 5 pour une révolution absolue car dans l'histoire du Rock, il y a eu un avant et il y a eu un après Loveless. Ce disque est un monstre, un monstre sauvage, indomptable, qui refuse toujours de se laisser apprivoiser. 35 ans après sa sortie en 1991, il n'a pas pris une seule foutue ride, pas l'ombre d'un cheveu blanc. Il sonne toujours comme le futur, un futur apocalyptique, noyé dans un brouillard de distorsion et de larsen, mais un futur magnifique. C'est le chef-d'œuvre quasi mythique de l'indie rock, l'album qui a redéfini ce qu'on pouvait faire avec une guitare, un ampli et beaucoup trop d'obsessions. On a souvent collé l'étiquette "shoe-gazing" sur le dos de My Bloody Valentine. Vous savez, cette mode éphémère du début des années 90 en Grande-Bretagne avec ces groupes qui passaient leurs concerts à fixer leurs pédales d'effets en boudant. Mais de toute cette petite scène éphémère, My Bloody Valentine est l'un des très rares groupes dont on se souvienne aujourd'hui avec une véritable dévotion. Pourquoi ? Parce qu'ils n'ont pas juste suivi la vague, ils ont créé un putain de tsunami. Et ce tsunami porte un nom : Loveless. La légende autour de la création de Loveless est presque aussi fascinante que la musique elle-même. C'est l'histoire d'une obsession maladive, d'un perfectionnisme qui frise la démence clinique et il aura fallu trois ans au groupe pour accoucher de cet album. Trois années de bidouillages, de doutes, de prises effacées et de crises de nerfs. Le coût rapporté de l'enregistrement s'élèverait à la somme faramineuse de 250 000 livres sterling. Une putain de fortune pour un label indépendant de l'époque. Shields, avec son sens de l'ironie habituel, a bien essayé de minimiser la casse plus tard en affirmant que l'album n'avait coûté "que" 140 000 livres, osant même déclarer que la production était moins sophistiquée que celle d'un disque des White Stripes. Laissez-moi rire, ce mec se fout de notre gueule. Pour arriver à ce mur de son indescriptible, ils ont essoré pas moins de dix-huit ingénieurs du son. Dix-huit ! Et certains ont probablement fini par entendre des larsens dans leur sommeil. Et les conséquences de ce jusqu'au-boutisme ont été cataclysmiques. Le label Creation Records s'est retrouvé au bord de la faillite financière à cause de cet album. Le patron du label Alan McGee, en a littéralement fait une dépression nerveuse, broyé par l'expérience. Le plus ironique dans cette tragédie grecque de l'industrie musicale, c'est qu'une fois ce chef-d'œuvre absolu terminé, My Bloody Valentine s'est retrouvé à la rue, sans aucun label. Le groupe était vidé, exsangue. Kevin Shields a d'ailleurs résumé la situation avec une lucidité glaçante : "Nous avons commencé du mauvais pied et nous n'avons jamais repris le bon". Mais honnêtement, quand on voit le résultat, on se dit que ça valait bien un ou deux ulcères et quelques carrières brisées. Musicalement, cet album est une cathédrale sonore, un mille-feuille de guitares passées à l'envers, de trémolos abusifs et d'effets superposés jusqu'à la nausée. Une fusion invraisemblable entre une violence sonore inouïe et une douceur pop presque cotonneuse. Les guitares de Shields rugissent, glissent, se distordent grâce à une utilisation abusive et géniale du vibrato, créant une texture liquide, presque visqueuse. Et par-dessus ce maelström industriel, les voix androgynes et fantomatiques flottent comme des spectres. On ne comprend pas la moitié des paroles, et on s'en tape royalement. C'est la mélodie viscérale qui compte. C'est une musique qui invite à l'abandon total. Même la section rythmique, assurée en partie par le coproducteur Colm O'Ciosoig, réussit le tour de force d'ancrer ces délires stratosphériques dans un groove sourd et hypnotique. C'est un disque qui exige qu'on l'écoute fort, très fort, jusqu'à ce que les murs tremblent et que les tympans saignent un peu. Il n'y a pas de compromis avec Loveless. C'est un bloc, une entité indivisible d'une durée de 48 minutes et 35 secondes. C'est la bande-son d'un amour dysfonctionnel, bruyant et magnifique, un amour sans mots clairs, juste des sensations pures. On s'y perd avec un plaisir masochiste, on y revient encore et encore en essayant de percer son mystère, mais on n'y arrive jamais vraiment. Le mystère reste entier, et c'est très bien comme ça. C'est pour ça qu'il mérite ce 5 sur 5. Parce qu'il a tué la concurrence, parce qu'il a poussé son propre label à la ruine pour la beauté du geste, parce qu'il a rendu fou Alan McGee, parce qu'il a épuisé 18 ingénieurs du son, parce qu'il a clôturé l'ère du shoe-gazing en l'élevant à un niveau inatteignable. Loveless c'est une anomalie, un miracle, une révolution, un monstre sacré. Un album à écouter non pas avant de mourir mais pour se sentir vivant.

OK maybe I'm coming around on shoegaze because I thought this was a pretty unique and entertaining listen, and miles better than the other MBV album.

Мои друзья меня ненавидят, но это пиздец как скучно

Too god damn much navel gazing shit on this record

This is an interesting music genre. Why does every song sound like it's melting? I'm not sure this is a band I can put on and just groove to. The album is a vibe, and I can really get into music that breaks conventional standards, but this is one of those that I could only enjoy in a couple of scenarios, like a long, late-night drive. This is the first album I've encountered that wasn't on the streaming service I subscribe to. I wasn't exactly sure how I'd handle it when this scenario came up, but I was able to easily find all the tracks on YouTube.

An endless drone. It bored me and I DNF. Some of the droning was pleasant.

This was different, but it really didn't move me in any particular way.

Muito barulho e pouca música. Vocal muito baixo.

An homage to overdrive. A love letter to distortion sealed with a kiss. A master class in noise. Velvety textures. Haunting melodies. A singular musical experience. Let the warmth of the songs encompass you. Fall into the well of sound.

Didn’t know what to make of this one. I guess it’s not for me. All the songs sounded fairly the same, and had the same indiscernible vocals buried in the mix somewhere. I was relieved when this was over.

WOOOOOOOOOO

it was fine. kind of forgettable.

This album should be experienced loud as hell. Like almost too loud.

mashup of grunch w fx

Buen sonido, sentido de melodia. Me sorprendió y me gustó mucho

Classic shoegaze.

quintessential 90's punky rock. I like that I can simultaneously see where there inspiration came from, sonic youth or VU, and also hear shades of the smashing pumpkins. It;s better than some of the other garbo on here

An okay album, I liked When You Sleep the most.

This was surprisingly a great listen. I was really thinking I was about to hear some deep cut emo album but they took me by surprise.

Wasn't really feeling this for a bit after the first track. Once we got to 'when you sleep' however, it was nothing but straight heaters. Absolutely loved it by the end.

Kings of shoegaze When you sleep

Sounds like this is recorded at the bottom of a pool.

As any music nerd will tell you, this one's the crowning achievement of shoegaze and probably more interesting from a technical standpoint than Isn't Anything, and I do appreciate the hazy, amorphous atmosphere of it. And yet, I can't help but miss the hodgepodge of goth and noise rock and indie pop and whatever that they were throwing in on their earlier work! The extreme consistency of Loveless soundwise is both its biggest asset and its greatest drawback; I'm up for Kevin's grand artistic vision mostly, but eventually I do want to hear *more* from them! Honestly, this is just synecdoche for the same thing happening to shoegaze in general? Like, there were all sorts of bands taking varied approaches to the genre before Loveless, and now after Loveless, all the bands seem to just wish they could Pierre Menard, Author of the Loveless.

It was mostly just noise and a real struggle to listen to. You couldn’t hear the lyrics. Not sure that is intentional? It was a struggle

Triste que es un albun triste justo se me hubiera enrredado la vida para no seguir con esto on the daily, pero recuerdo que es un album que me hizo sentir emo in a pre-2000 way. Which is iconic.

I remember in a music documentary someone describes this album like a mermaid falling into a black hole which is pretty accurate

Listened again to be sure I'd be giving this a 5, and as I suspected, it's a 5. The song "Sometimes" alone is enough, but this is an album I've been coming back to for a really long time.

I love it when the generator serves up albums that were important to me in my youth. This still sounds great when you immerse yourself into all its layers

Lots of distortion, not enough bass. Still pretty good.

When it started I was like oh I'm going to have to give this some attention but I largely just couldn't hold onto any of it. More forgettable than I thought it would be. Maybe it was the day

Like I said last time they came up, This is inoffensive. It's a nice listen but nothing popped me. Last time I went 3, this time I'll go 2 for a nice average.

hazy, lush, beautiful, noisy, fuzz, psychedelic, kaleidoscopic, tripping balls, incredible.

Overrated. Sounds awful in purpose? It’s a joke.

Ethereal and dreamy with a bit of grit. 4/5.

Always been more into the Slowdive side of shoegaze, but this is still pretty good albeit harder to get into. Noisy, but that elevates the ethereal vocals even more.

A portal into a parallel universe of inside-out music.

Quintessential Shoegaze. Beautiful, ethereal...a full body sensory experience. I can only listen to shoegaze in small doses but this is the best of the best.

In a different mood I'd like this more. Or maybe in smaller doses

Holy shit this was awful. I guess I'm an old man now cause I had never heard of Shoegaze until this album and boy do I not enjoy it. You can keep gazing at your shoes, I'll look elsewhere for some good music.

Unique and timeless. One of the best albums of all time. Over the years, My Bloody Valentine has inspired countless (shoegaze) bands, but none of them sound quite like Loveless.

3.5/5

While I had heard of this album prior to listening, I don't think I ever actually listened to it before. This is a pretty unique album. It is noise rock meets dream pop. The sounds are very interesting and while the lyrics are very hard to understand, that doesn't bother me much. The distortion is done tastefully and some things are very catchy. I would listen again for sure.

It starts off great, but I found it to become a bit same-y after a while.

If you don't know the background of this album, the band (and specifically Kevin Shields (who is the vocalist and guitarist of the band) was so difficult during the recording process and spent so much money on the album, that it pretty much put their label - Creation Records - out of business. The label dropped them and the band didn't release another new album until 2013. I love this album though. It's right in my wheelhouse and is considered one of the greatest shoegaze albums ever. I've heard that the band's concerts were some of the loudest ever, and I can picture this music just being played loud. Love it!

Began this thinking it was Bullet for my Valentine. So glad it wasn’t. Love this feel. Chill Mother’s Day, Abby played hide and seek with the girls and we gave flowers to our moms. Eloise and her sprinkler, Amelia and her donkey

Superb album. Listened to on vinyl. You can really get lost in the layers.

One of my top 10 albums.

Only Shallow 2.7 Loomer 2.4 Touched 2.4 To Here Knows When 2 When You Sleep 2.8 I Only Said 2.3 Come in Alone 2.6 Sometimes 2.4 Blown a Wish 2.3 What You Want 2.3 Soon 2.4 Score: 2.418181818

few words. vocals.

Mixed feelings on this one. Sometimes it’s cool, and sometimes it’s just a trippy mess.

Not available on Spotify

I fucking cannot stand this album and I wholeheartedly rebuke anyone who claims it is one of the best albums of all time/of the 90s/of the genre/of anything. I'll admit to it being different and breaking some ground. But that on its own will never be enough to appeal to me. It'll make be interested to hear it, sure. But having heard this several times over the years...there is just nothing here than any amateur with a guitar and some friends couldn't make too. Some loon in the reviews claims this revolutionised guitar. I could just as plausibly claim the same for Crazy Frog's Greatest Hits.

4.49 sterne. echt interessant, auch einige banger wie zb sometimes

I don’t say this often, but what awful music! No more than one star for this album...

Not bad, but a bit drone-y at times.

YouTube play. Odd. Will not Dig. Cannot Flush. Nope. Next!

4.9 basically the perfect shoegaze album fave songs: sometimes, soon, only shallow

Weird how I had this on my Spotify library even though it’s not available on it. 7/10 would listen again.

By treating texture as equal to melody, My Bloody Valentine created a sonic playbook that remains a primary reference point for alternative, indie, and even metal artists today.

Alas, I feel I am not really shoegazer material.

OK so hands up who got confused between My Bloody Valentine and Bullet For My Valentine. Ahem. 🙋🏻‍♀️. NOT what I was expecting from band with this name (in a good way) but also exactly the sort of impactless indie fuzz that serves as movie background music and nothing more. Inoffensive other than how boring it was.

Well dang the first song was a lot to take in i just came from listening dire straits, so it was a very big contrast lol love the vibes of when you sleep!!!

Sad this isn’t on Spotify

Unintelligible Dreamy Smashing Pumpkins. At least with Corrigan's nasally voice I can understand what he is saying. Sonically, I like it. Lyrically, I could barely hear what he is saying. Odd that it's not on Spotify but other albums are. 2.5

La verdad no me gustó el estilo de la banda

1991 Recorded at nineteen different studios.

5/5 but not on streaming need another listen

The best shoegaze album. I remember the first time listening to sometimes in the movie Lost in Translation when I was 15 y.o. And then in my teenage years this band had a pretty big influence on me ( especially during some depression phases, lol ). Also, one of my prof at the uni wore a T-Shirt with the cover of this album - I appreciated his nice taste:)

creo que el shoegaze fue tratado muy mal en su epoca, escuchando a my bloody valentine me doy cuenta de dos cosas primero es que este album suena moderno no a envejecido ni un poco y la segunda es que la influencia de este disco es increíblemente grande de la ola shoegaze al hyperpop incluso el britpop llego a experimentar con la distorsión que nos trajo el cuarteto irlandés

2/5

Noisy

This wasn't bad, but a lot of these songs just went on and on a d went nowhere. I definitely can't say this was my favorite. It felt like there wasn't much here to set this apart. Very "noise" like with mumbling for vocals Liked Songs: "Only Shallow" , "When You Sleep" , "I Only Said" , "What You Want" , "Soon"

First half of the album is too busy and noisy for me. Picks up Come In Alone, which along with Sometimes is probably the highlights of the album for me. The rest of the back-half isn't as strong but is better than the first half.

Yesterday for my nephews 7th birthday my family had a party at a park playing corn hole, frisbee, and cooking out. Right before we left I found a 4 leaf clover. My brother asked if I wanted to go to the casino. I said why not? I’ve never been before. I immediately started winning money off the towering LED slot displays. I won 3 machines in a row! I had until midnight until the clovers luck ran out (an arbitrary rule I made up before going). Just keep pressing that button. Well, I ended up losing a couple hundred in winnings and left with a $6 dollar profit. When I went home to rest I laid down in bed to rest. When I close my eyes to sleep, I see slot logos seared into the back of my eyelids. Keep on pressing that button. When I woke up I had an immediate longing for anything nature. That’s when this album was recommended to me through this challenge. I flip it on and quickly realized this music represented my current state perfectly. Longing. Yearning. It made it so easy to fall into the immersive soundscapes created in this distorted, synthy, shoegaze masterpiece. Sometimes an album just finds you at the right time. 10/10

THE shoegaze album. Love it and its influence. 4.7/5

A little too airy and insubstantial for me. It wasn't awful but I just don't really like My Bloody Valentine's music. It was alright as a background album while I was doing some work though, not distracting but not a standout either.

Вайб ночью слушать

Gives of this creepy, nostalgic, distorted vibe, that makes you feel like beeing trapped in some digital realm. I like when an album creates such a destinct atmosphere and consistently builds on it from song to song.

My jury is still out on this genre. To tell the truth I thought of it as low key soft grunge or alt-rock or the like. I forgot when I looked it up, about shoe gaze. Right... Shoe gaze... Okay. Sure. Still though, even with a name to the genre... i am just not sure. It is ... Okay. It is never bad and not too hard to listen to, it is not wall of noise or too fusion/ experimental to deal with... even with the hard to hear lyrics and low tempo of it all... I don't hate on it to be sure, just not sure really where or when i would be like "Hey, put on some My Bloody Valentine!" It is definitely "kind of specific" while being generally okay to casually listen to.

3.4 3x for the time it was released it's amazing

Obviously a classic, but i don’t love all of it

Yes, but no. Influential, but I just didn't enjoy it.

I tried. I tried many times. I tried on headphones, I tried on speaker. I tried during the day, I tried at night, I tried in the summer, I tried in the winter. No amount of listens changes the fact that this album is a slog that only occasionally manages to convey its walls of noise into actually enjoyable songs. Granted, when it does it leads to some amazing moments of beauty, but finding them is like looking for a needle in the hay.

I prefer listening to music.

Nej till detta. Gitarroljud i 50 minuter med sång som knappt hörs. Det är min upplevelse. Jag har lyssnat på bandet vid något tillfälle tidigare men gillade inte då heller. Coolt band förstås och det hade varit kul att gilla dem men, men...

This was ok. I was familiar with There She Goes, which is catchy. Three stars for the album?

Really cool. Reminds me a lot of Jesus and Mary Chain and Cocteau Twins. Wish it was on Spotify because I swear the YouTube audio is sub par. This was my intro to MBV and I’m glad to have encountered.

Još jedan od onih kultnih albuma koje se nisam mogla natjerati da dotaknem prije ove liste, i vrijedilo je čekati jer mi se sviđa ali ne previše. Lijepa buka, manje lijepi glasovi, nekako mislim da bih bila veći fan da nema vokala ali eto.

Flawless. Supreme.

A good album that created a genre where other people wanted to emulate their sound. You can hear their influence throughout music. You would think that an album that took 3 years and 29 studios would be a mess and it kind of sounds like a mess. But if you listen you realize that there is beauty there. Another interesting thing is looping. And use of samplers. You can hear it. Shields seemed interested in how hip hop and electronic music was created. That influence affected the outcome of Loveless. Yes it almost bankrupted a record label. It’s also a masterpiece. It also broke up the band. Such an interesting album.

This is the musical equivalent of The Emperor's New Clothes. You have people who claim it's a work of art and a masterpiece...seriously? This is the exact sound a warped vinyl album makes, it's really not that innovative.

Given what I knew about this record I expected it to be louder and more aggressive - their live shows have a reputation of being the loudest things ever. This was relatively sedate. Pleasant enough though

I think I listened to the whole album on YouTube - not totally sure. But I loved it.

Wasn’t sure on first listen. Totally didn’t realise who mbv were or what era. Enjoyed this more towards end and will listen again

What cool sounds. I was not expecting this awesome thick post rock type thing. It's quite an intense experience, especially at the early 90s lp length. When I'm ready for that kind of heavy atmospheric experience, this will be an awesome relisten

Can I give this 10 stars? One of my favorite records of all time. I saw them on this tour with Dinosaur Jr. and I couldn’t hear for days. Loudest show I’ve ever seen

In the US, I could only use Youtube to listen, so it was not a pleasant experience. The music itself was moody but abrasive. I need to find some other way to listen and spend more time with it

Honestly how the fuck do they make guitar sound like that. The blueprint for shoegaze music yet no one has really come close.

really experimental, however not my cup of tea

bummed this isn't on spotify, listening to it for the first time on youtube and loving it youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILCs0sP-F6Y

Oh My God Holy Shit How.

Not bad

"Artish, creative. Liked it."- I wrote about the other MBV album here. I can repeat it. Very good album.

Heard of this band but not sure I've ever listened to them. I like the music but the vocals leave something to be desired. This album is just boring. I can see why it was important at the time but it really just drones on and on. It feels like this album just never ends, very boring an repetitive.

p655. 1991. 2 stars. Noisy and distorted Brit alt-rock that gets tedious very quickly. Nope.

A lot of noise, though I didn't hate it entirely?

Sin más

This one is not fully on streaming. But I remember from earlier in my life that it wasn't that special to me. Shoegaze adds to other genres but by itself it doesn't excite me much. My bloody valentine isn't the exception I want them to be. I'm sorry.

Close to perfection

I’ve heard a couple of the songs on this album. The sound is gigantic. The phrase “wall of sound” doesn’t do it justice, it’s an apartment block of sound. only shallow: 7.5/10 Really groovy. Catchy guitar. loomer: 6/10 touched: 5/10 to here knows when: 6/10 Wow. That sound is incredible. I’ve never heard something like that before. when you sleep: 8/10 Absolute pisser of a song. Fantastic. i only said: 6/10 come in alone: 6/10 sometimes: 9/10 Biblical blown a wish: 5/10 what you want: 6/10 soon: 7/10

it’s a good listen. kevin shields live rig is insane. had to pull out the cd because it wasn’t currently streaming.

This is my favorite album of all time. So much emotion and the wall of sound that faces you when you play these songs is so beautiful.

It only let me listen to one song

I’m sorry. I hate this band too much. Anything that could be good about the music is buried under layers of noise.

Don't typically enjoy this style of music, but this was better than I expected. I think the tone held just enough to not just be noise. 3/5 Might listen again

Really cool lyrics! My ears hurt so bad halfway through and near the end lol

This should blow your mind at 20 years old, but eventually you gotta grow up.

No. There is no universe in which I find this appealing or interesting. In this game two strikes and you’re out.

A single! Not even an EP?! I didn’t even finish listening and will not rate.

This is an absolute classic, and it’s absolutely tragic it’s not on streaming anymore. This really is the pinnacle of shoegaze, it’s what most 90s bands after were trying to sound like. It’s rare to see influence on this scale, and to see so much consensus on it being the best. Crazy stuff, praying for a US tour soon. Favorites: Only Shallow, When You Sleep, Sometimes

feel conflicted about this. really enjoyed some of the songs with a couple having been in my playlists for some time already, but the rest of the album seemed to fall a bit flat for me.

Always a good, darkly dreamy listen (perfect vibe for those days I'm stuck staring at an excel spreadsheet at work and would rather be anywhere else).

That was a ray of sunshine. Is there a difference in the songs...sludge, incomprehensible lyrics, same sounding, not a difference in tone. Yeah, I'm amazed that people like this, whatever it is. I've tried to like these folks, but it just doesn't resonate with me on any level. Okay, it's better than ABBA. I'll give them that. And it's probably cool to say you love MBV, but I'm gonna be honest: wtf are they singing? Perhaps it doesn't matter...? 2 "better than ABBA" stars. (Okay, they might be good in concert since who really listens to the words live....)

If I was told that the band didn't communicate at all while making this album I would be surprised.

a classic - not on streaming anymore apparently but relistened on youtube

Some really fun guitar work / tones on here.

Bland and unremarkable.

An album that definitely grows on you. Still not fully convinced by it, it's sad that you can't always hear the lyrics, interesting music, to be revisited. 1. when you sleep 2. sometimes 3. soon

This is the definition of shoegaze, to where no other shoegaze album really qualifies after you listen to this. It's weird when one of the best albums of a decade comes out at the very beginning of the decade but here you go. Irritating this is not on streaming services right now. I had to dig out my old CD and it's unplayable its so beat to shit, which is usually a very good sign. I have no idea how they made these sounds but it's clearly meant for high volume. The wavy guitar reminds me of that feeling when you try to walk off a concussion, but in a good way, if that's possible.

Ugh. I was hoping this would be better/more entertaining than their debut album, but no luck there. And much like "Isn't Anything", I had no luck at all understanding *anything* they're singing; I guess they decided they liked their ethereal-Cocteau-Twins-meets-Dinosaur-Jr sound so much that they just kept on keeping on, except this time spending enormous amounts of someone else's money doing it. It's almost as if they were trying to make you wonder if your ears are plugged up or too full of wax or something, or maybe that your headphones or speakers are failing, but presumably their fans like this. And ironic to read that at some point during the agonizing years that they took to record the album (and in the process effectively bankrupted the label), Bilinda Butcher and Kevin Shields ended up with tinnitus, which Shields apparently refused to believe might have been caused by the extreme volume of their live shows. In fact, Shields sounds like a total ass and nearly impossible to deal with; no surprise that they went through 19 studios and many many engineers during the recording process. I found this album surprisingly hard to sit through, and I'm hard-pressed to say that any of the tracks really sounded all that different from each other, or from their debut album ("Soon" is the only track that seems somewhat song-oriented, but even that's stretching things a bit). I shudder to imagine how painful "m b v" will be, although maybe the fact that their third album was more than two decades later might redeem it some. I doubt that amount of time mellowed somebody like Kevin Shields, though, so I'm not holding my breath.

this one was a snoozefest made snoozier by the fuzzy sound engineering

yeah I see why it's called shoegaze.

Probably my favourite of the three. I've even enjoyed some songs e.g Come in alone

Have tried so many times over the years to fall in love with Loveless, but have never managed. Has so many elements that I like, without the songs to back it up. Give me Souvlaki over this any day.

no sorry

4.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/my-bloody-valentine/loveless/ Obvious shoegaze classic, inspiration for a ton of bands, and contains some of the genre’s best songs. Also, however, sometimes a little bit boring (as most shoegaze albums can get).

I found a copy of this in the $3 bin at Used Kids one day. The CD had some scratches on it and the insert was water damaged and not really salvageable. Did it play in my CD player? Yes? Okay. That's all I cared about. Just a kickass album. Probably 3 to 4 stars. But I love it too much. 5 stars.

I might have heard a song or two a few times by them but generally wasn't that familiar. But ya, I really liked it, the dissonant sounds mixed with the nice singing.

How is there such a huge difference in quality between their two albums... like the last one sounded like possessed vampires and this one sounds like every single good teenage memory rolled into one?? I didn't think I'd get the hype but I do now

6 / 10 - Muss mit gutem Sound, mit Intention und laut gehört werden, ansonsten wird es zu "background noise" - Klangfeld wichtiger als Harmonie/Melodie - Ich schätze ich muss es noch etwas öfter hören um es wirklich schätzen zu können ... Favs: - Only Shallow - I Only Said

Shoegaze is all about the hypnotic vibes. The songs just go a minute too long. However, I did like this album more than m b v (3.5).

High School me wasn’t and wouldn’t have been ready for this record. Guitars so over-processed that they barely sound like themselves; production that was over-engineered, and over budget to the point of bankrupting the label. The legend of this record has grown, and my appreciation has grown even more. It’s a hazy dream played so loudly that you can’t sleep.

#bernwoche ich verstehe die Produktionsentscheidung das eh schon flächige noch flächiger zu machen in dem alles ohne lautstärken- und frequenzausschläge einheitlich vor sich hin wubbert und leidet überhaupt nicht. Denn eigentlich mag ich ja diese Art von Gesang und Abwechslung von flächigen Gitarren und simplen Melodien. Aber auch bei den Melodien oft einfach nervige Sounds.

Das ist für mich ein ultimatives Wohlfühlalbum, eine warme Decke aus Wall of Sound. Perfektes Kopfhörer auf und Tagträumen Album. Chill Out Beats made of noise.

Es wird mir total klar, warum das Genre "Shoegazing" heißt. Was besseres als zu dieser Musik auf meine eigenen Schuhe zu starren fällt mir auch nicht ein. 6 Minuten Tracks, die nur 3 Minuten tragen. Zwischendurch starke Arrangements und Melodien, aber es ist mir zu repetitiv. Ist mir zu repetitiv. Zu repetitiv. Zu repetitiv. Zu repetitiv. Zu repetitiv. Zu repetitiv. Repetitiv....pitiv...pitiv...tiv.....

Meh.

Tja

7/10 Lots of hooks, but no songs. Highlights: Soon When You Sleep

Snap wel dat mensen dit geweldig kunnen vinden, maar shoegaze blijft toch niet mijn genre

i remember really loving this in 2020. it’s still fantastic.

interesting noises fav song: When You Sleep

Not bad! I like their heavier, gritty kind of sound and may revisit this

This was surprisingly interesting. Not something I loved, but there were some interesting sounds and nothing that annoyed me. I'd say this was somewhere between 3-4 stars, but I can't quite round up to 4. 3 stars.

Contender for the most overrated album of all time? This album gets so so much praise, one of the best albums ever blah blah blah... I'd been putting off listening to this based on the times I'd heard 'Only Shallow' on the radio or whatever, as it just sounded crap. Which as I was probably hearing it through crappy speakers, I thought I'd give it a fair chance by playing it on my proper speakers. I was hoping for a Frank Reynolds 'Oh my god... I get it' moment but it didn't arrive. Kevin Shields apparently reinvented the guitar, why should I care unless it sounds good? It's like those people who have world records like most hurdles jumped over on a pogo stick in 3 minutes while wearing a diving suit. Good for you, I guess? I thought maybe I just dislike shoegaze, dream pop/rock as a genre, but I don't think that's the case. I like Cocteau Twins, they do this sort of thing far better. Just how it's produced takes most of the blame I think. This sort of dreamy pop should sound ethereal, open, relaxing, like you're floating on air. Loveless sounds hemmed in, the constant droning causes tension in the head. It's the sort of dream you have where the alarm clock is blaring in the bedroom and your brain has mutated it into your dream in some unpleasant fashion instead of waking you up. Now I've said how much I dislike this album, I'm gonna contradict myself a bit and say it wasn't as bad as I feared! It wasn't complete torture to listen to, but certainly not one of the greatest albums ever.

Hadn't listened to this in quite a while but it's a stone cold classic, well deserving of its place on this list. Still don't know the song names or the words but the sound, texture and noise from this album are just beautiful. 5 out of 5 stars.

Sounds like the 90s, and not in a good way.

I've listened to this one a few times over the years. Dig shoegaze, dig ethereal vocals, dig the whole vibe. Definitely a masterpiece of the genre. Doing some research into how Kevin Shields got his tone and Gemini tells me that if I run my pedalboard Reverb>Big Muff>Univibe>Delay it can create distorted massive dreamy textures. Looks like my neighbors are gonna be listening to shoegaze too.

man everything here is so muddied. Distorted guitar and almost like a weird film of interference over everything. Not the absolute worst but if they cleaned up the sound a little more I think it couldve been a lot better.

Distorted guitars and that’s about it. Left very little impression on me

Fuzzy music over barely audible vocals. I get this is considered one of the best of the shoegaze genre but being the best of the worst doesn't mean it's good.

3.5, good vibes (not positive vibes but like pleasant to me)

in my mind, this was a horror movie

At times, there were sounds so bad I wanted to quit listening (around minutes 7-9 on the full album). But overall, the sounds were mostly good. Lowkey felt like a battle of the bands between good and bad sounds at times, which is cool. Also it reminds me of the public library.

Wow. The songs are sad but beautiful. I feel like I'm dreaming Favourites: when you sleep & sometimes

Guys, it's okay to tone the reverb down.

Yes, that's a for-real 5. Apparently this album is one of the site's owner's favorites, so I can maybe imagine his disappointment that this is not in the top 10, not even in the top 100 rated albums on the list. I don't really listen to this album anymore. Not that I need to—as a young guitarist in college, I was obsessed with this album, and collaborating with other hungry, young peers, we were always looking for more tone, more power, and more ways to make a statement in our sound. Kevin Shields managed to do these three things and more. His manic quest in search of tone and in engineering this album to sound the way it does is the stuff of legend, though it almost bankrupted Creation Records at the time. First things first, everything is sampled on this album: guitars, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards, noise, and God knows what else. Would have preferred a louder drum sound, but with Colm Ó Cíosóig absent, Shields had to make do. Apparently, Belinda Butcher would get woken up to do the vocal takes. The lyrics are still a mystery to this day. It takes a lot to make such an idiosyncratic sound. How many pedals? Which way were the amps facing? What key is that in, anyway? While songs like "Only Shallow" have caught up with modern psychedelic rock, I'm still waiting for the next musical movement that resembles otherworldly songs like "To Here Knows When" and "Soon". It's a unique album that's completely timeless, and I've heard nothing like it. Whenever I need some inspiration on tone and power, I always tune in. Alien music from another dimension.

I guess I like the idea of MBV better than the reality

One song was too discordant for me, but the rest of the album was solid. My highlights: Only Shallow, When You Sleep and Sometimes. I think I'd like this best as a headphone listen.

Still so unique in sound - i can’t really describe it. So just give it a listen

Liking it so far but need to hear on a speaker system, to big for headphones?

There is a great deal of experimentation on Loveless. They pioneered a new use of synths, overdrive pedals and washed out forms production to create a blanket of all encompassing sound. You can hear touches of Cocteau Twins at points, but they’ve taken elements of that sound and dialled it up the greatest possible extreme. At this time, My Bloody Valentine displayed an exceptionally rare quality - an ability to innovate and create their sound from scratch, similar to what Kraftwerk did in the 70s. I Only Said is a clear example of how My Bloody Valentine’s approach to production differs from a typical rock band. The mix of every instrument is smudged together to create this completely new sound. Only the lead synth line cuts through apart from the rest of the instrumentation. The sound, image and feel that My Bloody Valentine have crafted on this record is a clear influence on countless records, including a teenage fave of mine - The Horrors’ Primary Colours, which is still one of my favourite records. (The track names on that album even look the same!) When I was younger it was the more melodic first half which grabbed me the most, but I now find the subtler moments on the second half LP equally grab me. This is an album I’m sure I’ll return to throughout my life.

A solid 5 for me today, this record completely pulls me into its world and I love it