Lazer Guided Melodies

I felt like a humanised piece of sperm floating in eternity.

If ever there was a contest to pick the most self-indulgent, "overrated" act in music history, Spiritualized would have a great opportunity to win the cup. And the first three quarters of this debut album prove it time and again. Self-indulgence is not even a passing flaw here, it's the whole "raison d'être" behind the band's existence. Which makes such claims that they produced so-called "essential" albums quite dubious, if you wanna know about my personal opinion. Let's go into specifics: in *Lazer Guided Melodies*, Spiritualized played neo-psychedelia without the bite or sense of fun of a Brian Johnston Massacre. They wrote middle-of-the-road rock songwriting without the live energy of The Stone Roses. They aped "motorik" kraut without the relentless drive of a Neu!. And they designed electronic-oriented rock without the groove of a Primal Scream... In other words, they didn't do much, in spite of all the energy they spent. Do you think I'm harsh here? OK, answer this question first: what has Jason Pierce to offer, really--apart from using his bland, timid voice to mumble shapeless syllables and tasteless, unoriginal melodies *over the same three frigging chords from one track to the next*??? Is the title of that debut LP supposed to be ironic? If that's the case, the joke is unfunny. Those melodies are not "lazer-guided", they are on automatic pilot mode. And consequently, almost none of them are memorable. Sure, most of the time, the music itself sounds extremely "spacey".. But there's no clear intent in it, no clear throughline that could send you to the stars and beyond. The fuel on Pierce's rocket goes "pop" and then stays stuck on the ground. And as he and his band trip out in the sterile, artificial soundscapes they're so keen on creating around themselves, all you can do is watch them from the ground with a dumfounded look on your face. I can't see "outer space" in the backdrop of their drug-addled routine, only a damn Hollywood green screen. By the way, and speaking of "drugs", I don't need to take heroin or LSD to turn this album into a "good" one. The album should make me *feel* like I'm on heroin or LSD *without me having to take the damn drugs*. There lies the *huge* difference... I can sense devil's advocates already preparing their arguments here. Something in the likes of: "You're tone-deaf: listen to all the gorgeous arrangements Pierce wrote and performed!" Well, I'm not denying the man has a keen ear for sonic details, in spite of his laziness and lack of imagination when it comes to pure songwriting. The thing is, Pierces piles up those arrangements on top of one another without ever considering which ones should be emphasized so that his music succeeds in leaving a lasting impression for most audiences. You might retort that it's my fault, that I should pay more attention to the layers and layers of sounds he and his bandmates recorded. But, to me, it's *their* fault. It's their godamn job to select the best elements in a piece of music so as to make them stand out. If everything is buried in the mix--every little guitar inflexion, every synth drone, every tabla and echo and effect and whatnot--should I be blamed for not letting myself go? If no real epiphany, no real climax gives meaning your repeated melodic lines overstuffed by so many details around them, should I blame my own expectations? Or conversely, is the "product" at fault here? You tell me. In the meantime, here's a quick reminder: less is more, very often. And very often, this record forgets that. It's the drugs Pierce is selling that are the problem, not the drug-addict that I am (read: "music-addict"). Everything I've said so far is about the "three first quarters" of the album, remember? Well, here's what I'm thinking about the last quarter: in the middle of "Shine A Light", something clicked at last, and it was a welcome surprise. The climax of this track is excellent, and it's as if the LP came alive at the eleventh hour. Right after this climax, "Angel Sigh" was also a pretty convincing cut. The walls of noisy guitars on those two songs woke me up, I imagine... But they're not the main reasons those two tracks work out and the other ones don't for me... Sure, those two songs display the sort of noisy-yet-melodic shoegazy stuff that a later post-rock act such as Mogwai--criminally left aside in Dimery's list--will later accomplish (and this even if Mogwai performed such "walls of noise" ten times better than Spiritualized). Yet, as welcome as those electric guitar shenanigans are, those two tracks are actually good mostly because Pierce finally decided which arrangements in them should be their *true* backbone (remember what I said earlier abou "arrangements"?). In "Shine A Light", it's the horn section, and in "Angel Sigh" it's the cellos. Both are hypnotic, intense, and great. And they serve the songs right, thus saving this record from a 0/5 grade, as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately, a couple of good tracks towards the end can't *fully* redeem this album for me. The last cut, *200 Bars* even emphasizes what is generally wrong with Spiritualized's music in my book. Yep, this piece is too goddamn long (100 bars too long, by my count), and it seems that its writer/composer knows it. Which why the whole thing is even mentioned in the lyrics... I can appreciate the self-deprecatory, tongue-in-cheek irony here, don't get me wrong. But when the line between earnestness and self-parody is so thin, as it is the case here, it's no surprise that a lot of folks in an audience start raising their eyebrows. Maybe it means that you're not exactly mastering what it is you want your music to say. Maybe it means you're favoring "style" over "substance", and start to lose the thread that could tell you which is which. And maybe--just maybe--it means that you're an excellent musician and creator, but that when it comes to this list, you should leave room for even more stellar creators. 1001 is a finite number after all. Number of albums left to review: 588 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 198 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 92 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 123 (including this one)

Spacey and gorgeous. Spiritualized albums exist in their own galaxy, orbiting a lonely planet inhabited by disembodied creatures longing to make physical what exists in the aural realm of these tracks. I may not always be in the mood for the ethereal vibrations the music provides, but when I am... damn.

mostly not music

What a treat of a lovely record. I have always loved Spacemen 3 but for whatever reason I hadn't given Spiritualized a good enough shake. Absolutely blissful repetition, building, and then instead of a climax it is a \"whooosh\" inside my brain. I can't wait to listen to all their other albums too, but I'm gonna give Lazer Guided Melodies plenty of time to grow on me, this thing has gorgeous depth.

Love this sonic masterpiece.

I really enjoyed “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” from Spiritualized. So this time I get to go back to the beginning. 90o0 This album felt more stripped down I guess but still unmistakably Spiritualized. Really enjoyed listening to this - it put me in a real calm, meditative state without feeling boring or repetitive. I think it may have brought my blood pressure down a few notches. Some highlights for me included “If I Were With Her Now” (tells such a dramatic, tight little minimalist story), “I Want You” (bordered on a pop song), “Smiles” (sweet little song), “Take Your Time” (a very slow, taking-their-time build), “Shine A Light” (fits the artist name well!), “Angel Sigh” (a lovely, understated, minimalistic love song), “Sway” (felt almost religious in the choruses - I’d float in space to this one too), then it closes with the amazing “200 Bars” where they actually count out the first 100 bars - as a former junior high French Hornist I felt a special connection to counting out a long series of bars). Fantastic. Lovely. Soothing. Wonderful.

Wow. I have never heard of this band or this album before but I'm 2 minutes in and I think I'm hooked! I thought it was going to be a dance album by the cover... Well, this has just been an amazing experience. I have fallen in love with this album and discovered a genre I didn't even know existed known as "Space Rock". This album has been added to my high rotation.

Loved this album and will absolutely be listening to it again. I love the use of an organ for the ethereal feeling.

I want to give this five stars. My right hand is desperate to click on the mouse to give it five stars. I run through the highpoints of the album continually, yearning to give it five stars. I recall how mesmerized I was by the third quarter, how warm and blissful and singular and vast and searching the record is, and I want with all clarity and desire to give it five stars. And I can't. The issue emerged in the fourth track, Run, where they make a rather blunt allusion to the Velvet Underground's Run Run Run. This distracted more than anything, and threw me from the music. Was I listening to genuine sentiment, or rather a demonstration that the band owned a cool record collection? Is that even a problem? I don't know. I can still hear the beating of a heart within this album, but it's muffled by a leather jacket the album insisted its mum got it in order to impress the girl albums.

Booorrrriinng 😴

A master class in mediocrity. Lacks substance. Or, as Pitchfork.com puts it: "...feels almost weightless, an astral take on the blues that seems to drift by on cosmic winds. It’s one of the most gentle rock records of its time, with spaced-out guitars and rolling bass lines tenderly nudging Jason Pierce’s vocal melodies along like a weathered stone rolling slowly down a hill."

I think I'm spiritualized enough, thanks. Impressive that I disliked this album almost to the same extent I liked the previous "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" I got here some months ago.

They've conned themselves 5 stars. It's a 4* album, with a beautiful floaty feeling, but rules are rules, and inclusion of a jew's harp is mandatory +1*

Sounds like a lot of psychedelics were used in the making of this record ,feels like taking some listening to it. Lovely warm ,floaty, atmospheric goodness . Induces feeling of wanting to be off my chops . Il be back for more

9/10 haha pretty psychedelic sounds

Wow - this was a pleasant surprise. I only knew one of the songs before hand (run run run). Really interesting soundscapes, one of the few albums I've played more than once.

че-то похожая ситуация с предыдущим альбомом. сперва бомбанул даже немножко, ибо вообще-то к жанру спейс-рока отношусь более чем положительно, и надеялся на годноту со стенами звука и няшной лиричкой. и как-то разочарован был, когда какая-то околоуныль началась. ну типа блять, альбомы Hum, Failure, да даже ранних Muse в подборке не представлены, а это говно есть. вообще все сильнее с выбора авторов начинаю гореть. но потом попустился немного, сложил 2 и 2, и все-таки прикинул, что это скорее я спейс-роком считал пост-хардкор и прочий тяжеляк со спейс элементами. а чистый комик-роцк, вероятно, такой и есть - немного ленивый, торжественный и атмосферный. но все же сказать, что полностью зашло не могу. отчасти из-за иногда проглядывающей скуки, отчасти из-за кринжовейших текстов. прогнал все ж не без удовольствия, думаю под настроение будет вообще на кончиках пальцев, но пока сильным фанатом себя не чувствую (хотя, как оказалось, у меня даже в аудио какая-то их песня с другого альбому была). склоняюсь к той же семёрке, может опосля вся эта тема во мне вырастет. 7/10

Hazy, dreamy record with beautiful melodies. So ahead of its time!

Oh my god, it just took me away to somewhere else...where I was murdering over and over.

This album showcases all of what I love about Spiritualized and Spacemen 3 - the droney, hazy, extended musings, usually built around one major chord. Very pleasant both as background and also as a focused listen on headphones. I think I prefer this album to "Ladies and Gentlemen..." which sounds a little more dated at times.

Loved this - reminded me a lot of Slowdive (one of my new favourite bands, new to me not a new band). Chilled and kind of psychedelic. Will listen again

Nothing short of amazing, quite possibly my introduction to a genre that I'm yet to get into (Dream Pop), but I'm eager to.

Mostly harmless, but very forgettable. I didn't dislike it but it very quickly turned into background music. it could have easily been shorter.

Dont listen if not well rested

Stravagante ma ci sta.

Me and who

BOMBAZZA

Che trip vecio

9/10

i don't think this is an album that is going to be for everyone, and i don't know how "essential" it is to listen to, but i really enjoyed it, especially for background music while i worked.

Loved it. A rare 5 for me.

Not sure what specifically about this albim, but I loved this! Something about the ethereal waves of sound, weird lyrics, experimenting with time signatures to make you feel like something isn’t quite normal.. unashamed 5 stars from me, this is the entire purpose of the 1001 project for me - explore different artists and genres, you never know what new favorite you’ll find!

Cool, atmospheric.

I ascended to this album.

Surprised by how much I liked this!

I loved this album

always considered the cooler spiritualized album - plenty lovely complex nothings to wash around

spacey

One of the greatest records ever made

This album is a slow burning masterpiece. Every song builds and swells into something beautiful. There are elements of Britpop, ambient music, and electronic elements. The music itself is incredibly textured and has some of the best emotional releases.

So good and relaxing. Memories

This was the soundtrack to my summer in about 2001. 22 years later (!) and it takes me straight back to being high in some field somewhere. I know Spiritualized found success in love songs, but it's the longer sonic voyages that really stand out here. Just absolutely unlike anything that was around at the time (shoegaze? stoner rock? ambient?) and unlike anything since. Sway slow. Stay low.

Spiritualized is such a vibe, but it's the vibe I want on this lazy Friday afternoon. Just love this album.

This album had me tearing up. So incredibly beautiful. This album is definitely going on my backpacking playlist.

The evolution from Spacemen3 through this and then onwards was a thing of beauty and a very happy thing for me

The industry monster was pushing Let It Come Down heavily in 2001 and it seemed like for a couple months or so that was the only music that existed. I remember the album packaging included a 3d embossment of a pigtailed girl with her eyes closed. Until now, I had no idea this album preceded it by about 10 years and now I understand. This album is amazing, nearly impeccable. Shine a Light IS impeccable. The balance of the album is just amazing. It's drone-y and easy to get lost in the reverb and feedback. What a great find.

I liked it, it was mellow!

Yeah this one’s a gem

Fühlt sich an als würde man wirklich im Weltall schweben. Sehr stark. Light 9/10

This was really relaxing and honestly just really nice. I feel like I restate the same things a lot but it was just a calm album.

Full of 70s era psychedelia without any of the elements of dissonance common for that time. It drives on and on but never ceases to be beautiful and uplifting. One criticism would be that there are quite a few parts that sound verrryy Stone Roses. Not necessarily a bad thing but I did have to check who came first (SR by a few years). They're a bloody consistent bunch too, have been steadily releasing for a solid 30 years now.

Aw, too soon! Only just had ladies and gentlemen, hoped they'd space them out a bit. Ha. Pun not intended. Anyway, love this most low key Spiritualized album. Sometimes even more than aforementioned masterpiece. Certainly Shine A Light is one of the best songs they ever did. Everything builds so gently and beautifully, gliding into a blissed out haze. Elsewhere, both If I Were With Her Now and Take Your Time's one-paced, effortlessly rolling groove take some beating. Angel Sigh blows your socks off, Sway is simply gorgeous. This album starts and finishes so strongly. I'm not as fond of I Want You and the reworking of the Velvet's Run, Run, Run, but they're both still fun. Plus you get to have a little sleep and a float in the breeze in the middle of the album.

One of those rare albums that just works morning, noon or night, weekend, Monday, drunk, sober. Just suits all 500 versions of me.

Didn't know I needed this.

Really beautiful. Going to listen to them a few more times now. Think I've found something I really like.

cool

Very cool

My most seen live band until I moved to Australia. Saw them a bunch of times touring when they only had this album and it could be my favourite, (although big shout out to The Complete Works Vol. 1). Back when it was Spiritualized as an actual functioning band, not just the guy from Spaceman 3 with a random cast of players on each album. There's a coherence about it with its simplicity when compared to some of the later albums. Saw them at Glastonbury playing these songs in 1992 and 1993 so this album is forever the sound of sunset at Glastonbury on a perfect summer's day.

loved this when it came out, still have the version with 4 conjoined song suites. The influences seem pretty obvious now and the middle sags a bit, but still an absolute wonder.

So apparently I gave four stars to "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space," would it be blasphemous to give this five?

Spiritualized are what me dreams sounds like. I was lucky enough to see them live a few weeks ago and it was amazing So of course I give this 5 stars

Zoals verwacht heel veel fuzz. Maar een aangename verrassing. Ei zo na postrock, en dat kan ik zeker smaken

Brilliant album.

Nostalgia bomb

Odličan. Ovog sam najmanje sluša ali je super

I liked this a lot x

You know I've Been Here Before etc. is a great begin of a great Spiritualized record, which together with the Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space album, are two of the best albums released in the 90s. I assume the latter album (being their best known album?) is on the list too (together with at least one Spacemen 3 album) but Lazer Guided Melodies is even better. To compare: some time ago Pitchfork published a nice list of 20 "Dream Pop" albums (Think Galaxie 500, Cocteau Twins, Beach House, Julee Cruise etc). LGM is on place 11 in this list. But even though I would perhaps not qualify LGM as "dream pop" (too much motorik) it should have been much higher in that list...

Brilliant

beautiful, made me cry

I liked this a lot! The album name suits the sound. Overall it just calms your mind very well, I didn't really listen to the lyrics but they seemed to match the music!

Amazing. Life changing 5 out of 5 10 out of 10 . One of my favorite albums now

Glorious, one of the best discoveries so far. Beautiful stuff

unexpected, but really good sounds to me!

Their best album and a classic

Listen to this more! Really enjoyed!

Unsure what to expect but loved it right off the bat. Adding this to my list of go-to albums.

Feels nothing really like anything else from this time - it’s really experimental with effects and stuff. Feels somewhat slowdive ish in some areas, but mostly for good. However some effects are a bit too intrusive at times. Favourite songs: step into the breeze, and the last 3 Overall around 7/10

Ambient, shoegaze-y, space rock with heavy synths. Both a fairly dry way of describing the band and a shopping list of why I like this - yep, I'll be coming back to this one!

Not quite as good as "Ladies and gentleman we are floating in space" but I like Spiritualized's presence on this list. Interesting and enjoyable.

4 stars

This is a cool, vibey album that doesn’t deserve the hate it gets. It’s Jason Pierce doing his spacey druggy thing. Nothing mind-blowing, just good chill space rock. Favorite tracks: I Want You, Shine a Light

The ideal combination of Britpop, shoegaze, and space rock, that sounds like no one else. This early record is a bit inchoate for me, as I prefer them more fully rounded into form, but all of the makings are already there.

If I wanted to live in a monastery I would want to listen to this. 4 stars or B-.

Great Album, pretty psychedelic. lots of good ambient sounds, very enjoyable

I've listened to "Ladies and Gentlemen..." in the past and it never fully clicked with me. I liked this a lot, though so maybe I was particularly in the mood for this today. I look forward to revisiting L&G.

always hypnotic with a certain gorgeous quality. and every once in a while the parts coalesce and wake you from that hypnotic state, (If I Were with Her Now"). Then just as quickly as they snap you to attention, they put you back under their hypnotic spell. The second spell is a little longer and I did find myself wandering, but by the time to they get to the last 2 or 3 songs there it is again that sense of "Wow", when these guys find their groove its amazing. 4 stars

Take Your Time with this one. Sway to the Angel Sigh. Then, Step into the Breeze and float away.

The 3rd and 4th Spiritualized albums ("Ladies and Gentlemen..." and "Let it Come Down") are two of my all time favorites, but I never got into his other albums much, and I'm not sure I ever listened to this first album by him. I really enjoyed it, though it is not nearly as good or at the same level he achieved with his 3rd and 4th albums. For my personal taste, I am going to bump it to 4 stars, though I'd probably give it 3.5, and I could see people giving it a straight 3, if it isn't so much their type of music.

Excellent album. While not a favorite, definitely worth a deep dive every once in awhile.

I found this album strangely captivating. I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea, and space rock or shoe gaze isn't always mine, but something about their softer version of it was cool. I really dug the first two songs You Know It's True and If I Were With Her Now, especially their openings. I also enjoyed I Want You and Run. Then I kind of got lost in the middle of the album - felt a bit repetitive, even ho-hum, for a bit there - but they snapped me back at Angel Sigh. A little heavy on the fuzz but the up-tempo parts were cool and the whole song had a Smashing Pumpkins feel (yes, the Pumpkins grew out of shoe gaze). And then Sway had a different sound altogether (high fret guitar up front, fuzz in the background). This album was an easy 3 and on multiple listens I really got into it, pushing it past 3.5.

I got worried when I looked into this band and saw it was most of the members of Spacemen 3 who I really disliked. Looks like the problem in Spacemen 3 wasn't Jason Pierce (the main guy here in Spiritualized). I'd still like to see the songs develop more, instead of often just one theme ebbing and flowing, and would like a little more energy behind the vocals, but otherwise I enjoyed this album. The first couple of tracks got me worried I was going to dislike the shoegaze lack of energy, but If I Were With Her Now started pretty cool. I was very surprised by I Want You - almost sounded like U2. Run picked things up even more. Then they get pretty ambient starting with Step Into the Breeze, but it was enjoyable. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

Simon Reynolds had categorized Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies as 21st Century gospel and I am inclined to agree with him. Jason Pierce's space psych rock entity places itself amongst the spiritually inclined groups that ran up that hill; the difference being Spiritualized's penchant for genuine emotion seeping through and becoming the backbone of their sound, as experienced here. If more melodies can be as lazer guided as this, then we'd be better off as a species. Favorites: You Know It's True, I Want You, Run, Step Into the Breeze, Symphony Space, Take Your Time, Shine a Light, Sway, 200 Bars.

7/10 - there were some pretty interesting tracks. A lot of repetitive stuff and only some of it worked for me.

Cool spacey rock record. Having heard this after listening to "Ladies and gentlemen..." gives me a great view of where Spiritualized started and where it went.

cool album, spacey and atmospheric vibes. kinda reminded me of radiohead and even U2 at points. nice to have a unique genre (space rock) represented on this list! the individual songs here seemed less important than the album as a whole, but i found it enjoyable. also i didn't test any of the cool CD shenanigans that Wikipedia mentioned but am always a big fan of artists that do cool things with what would otherwise be limitations of physical media. favorites: you know it's true, if i were with her now, i want you, run, shine a light

Man I love the sound of Spiritualized. Shoegazy space rock all the way, and crazy that the debut is from 1992! Though not quite as coherent as Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, and perhaps dragging out some songs a bit too much, Lazer Guided Melodies is a super strong fully-fledged out debut album.

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. Based on the album art I was expecting some long electronic slog (no offense) but it wasn't that at all! I think next time I'd like to listen to this in one sitting to make sure I actually like it.

Spacey and gorgeous. Spiritualized albums exist in their own galaxy, orbiting a lonely planet inhabited by disembodied creatures longing to make physical what exists in the aural realm of these tracks.

Back in 1992, I remember running home with this CD, eager to play what I assumed would be some sort of continuation of the Spacemen 3 legacy. I was bitterly disappointed, to the point where I only played the album through a couple of times before putting it into a pile to never be played again. When I saw this come up today, I remembered those bad memories of being let down, so was a little salty about having to listen to this again. For the first few tracks it was as I remembered, like someone had turned up the dial to 11 on the parts of Spacemen 3 I didn't like, while suppressing the parts I did like. I've always been an "OD Catastrophe" enjoyer and a "Walking With Jesus" despiser. However, by the end, I was finding this far more enjoyable than I had expected. I would still have preferred something with more of a psych/ garage sound, and less floaty/ dreamy/ gospel sound. I still think Sonic Boom is necessary to counterpoint Jason's sound. But I did enjoy it, particularly the second half.