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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Nowhere

Ride

1990

Buy At Rough Trade
Nowhere
Album Summary

Nowhere is the debut album by British shoegaze band Ride, released 15 October 1990. Rolling Stone called the album "a masterpiece", and online magazine Pitchfork called it "one of shoegazing's enduring moments". AllMusic has cited Nowhere as one of the greatest albums of the shoegaze genre. Nowhere was ranked at number 74 on Pitchfork's 2003 list of the top 100 albums of the 1990s, and at number 277 on Spin's 2015 list of "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years". It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The track "Vapour Trail" was named the 145th best song of the 1990s by Pitchfork in 2010, and the 81st best song of the 1990s by NME in 2012.

Wikipedia

Rating

3

Votes

10105
Genres
Indie
Shoegaze

Reviews

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Mon Aug 02 2021
2

If you were to point me to this album and say “here is a pretty decent album” I would nod and say “yes, here is a pretty decent album. It has a semi-epic, sweeping melodic quality, which combats neatly its noise-rock leanings. Pretty decent. Thanks.” If, on the other hand, you were to point to this album and say “there are 1001 albums that you MUST listen to before you die, and this is one of them” I would cock an eyebrow and say “It’s a decent album, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t help feeling I’ve been goosed here. I now HAVE listened to it before I died, you got your wish, but I can’t help feeling you’ve somehow pulled a fast one on me with that.”

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Wed Sep 30 2020
5

A shoegaze classic. Ride is the final head of the three headed shoegaze monster of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Ride, and this is their seminal album. They play a more confrontational, more drum-heavy brand of shoegaze than their noise-pop contemporaries, but it is just as essential.

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Wed Jan 19 2022
3

The Wordle of albums. Just a nice, easy way to pass the time that some people unnecessarily feel the need to make into a big deal.

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Mon Aug 02 2021
2

I don’t greatly dislike this. I just have no interest in ever listening to it again. I can see what it’s reaching for, a sort of Cure/Smiths thing meets psych rock and at times I found myself nodding appreciatively at the guitar breaks. But I’m amazed this had stood the test of time, it’s so uninteresting to me. Sometimes this list feels like things are included just because they were really popular at the time, but does anyone actually still listen to this album??

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Sun Feb 21 2021
4

Nowhere seems to hold consensus as the second-best record of the shoegaze era, and with very good reason. All of the common words, phrases, and adjectives commonly used with the short-lived subgenre fit properly here, and they're all positive, every one of them. Whir, whoosh, haze, swirl, ad nauseum -- this record holds all of these elements at their most exciting and mastered.

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Thu Sep 15 2022
1

I'm so sick of depressed British men

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Fri Apr 30 2021
4

Compact wall of sound with intriguing but beautiful melodies in what is one of more significant shoegaze releases

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Wed Sep 14 2022
2

I went from “kinda like The Cure + Cranberries” to “ehh, that was way too much credit — more like Oasis” to “OK enough is enough, this should have ended a half hour ago.” 2.75/5

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Thu Oct 06 2022
5

A lot of these songs have a melancholy vibe but the production buries them in layers of feedback and noise. The insane amount of feedback and reverb on the guitars in “Dreams Burn Down” is a good example of this. When the music turns up to 11, it feels like hard rock but it’s not a hard rock song, really. I love that contrast and I love the energy of this band. I’m surprised that I’ve never heard of them but delighted to now. They’re a hell of a rock band — the drums on opener “Seagull” are fast and ferocious and never let up. And the rest of the band piles on the noise! It’s a great opening statement and a great track. (I love the drumming on “Polar Bear” too.) 4 stars for the songs and music + a bonus star for this drummer working overtime. He singlehandedly transforms a few of these songs with his playing.

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Thu May 05 2022
5

A fusion of the jangle pop and harmonious vocals of the Byrds with the fuzzy noisiness of Jesus & The Mary Chain's Psychocandy. Moreso than any other shoegazing artist can I see their influence on the shoegazing and eventual Britpop scenes, Suede being the top example. It's heavy and loud, marked by heavy distortion and drumming. I'm proud to be able to pick out the six-ish channels in the songs. There isn't a single bad track in the original album. Most are great, and some are just incredible. Crank on high volume for max enjoyment. Constantly I had hazy images of lighthouses, seagulls, and sailing the sea, impressionist paintings turned to sound. I have a feeling this album isn't as revered as Slowdive or mbv due to the lack of iconic tracks or emotions. When I first listened to Loveless, I was constantly surprised and experienced feelings of nostalgia or sadness, despite having never heared any of them before. Here, I still felt surprised in a few areas, but it hardly blew my mind, and I mostly knew what to expect going into a track. Meanwhile, the only track I hear talked about is "Vapour Trail." That doesn't stop it from being coherent and full of great tracks I could enjoy alone. While I'm at it, I might as well talk about the two EPs attached. Most versions have the Fall EP attatched, which is just incredible. Each of these 4 tracks (including "Dreams Burn Down") are super memorable and distinctive, leaving more of an impact on me, faster and more passionate. I love their inclusion, although I wish they were integrated, as "Vapour Trail" is the perfect closer. The version on Spotify also has the Today Forever EP. They're enjoyable and not bad, but they're a bit monotonous, especially "Beneath." "Today" is a decent way of closing the album, but I think this EP could be cut out.

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Fri Oct 27 2023
5

I really loved this album when it came out (1990, hard to believe it was that long ago, and was a pre-Nevermind release!), and truth be told, is probably my favourite shoegaze band. I can admit that MBV's Loveless is the true masterpiece of the genre, but Ride has better songs. I still listen to this album on a regular basis. I regret that I didn't go to see them supporting Ratcat at the Hordern Pavillion in 1991 (but seriously, can you imagine paying good money to see RATCAT at the Hordern? They were, in my mind, an archetypal Annandale Hotel band) I love the mix of actual tunes (and vocal harmonies!) with the big walls of noise. They probably did that better than anyone. The guitar squalls are controlled and expansive, building on the lessons learned from Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr, but not taken as far as the extreme of My Bloody Valentine. The singing is adequate, but the use of harmony highlight that the melodies are often quite pretty (especially when contrasted against the guitar noise) and allow the singing to promote the song rather than the singer. The lyrics are often a bit self-conscious or pretentious, which is forgivable given that the band members were only about 19 when they recorded this album. At least they don't fall into the typical traps of juvenilia that afflicts many immature bands (unwarranted egotism, sexism, puerile humour, etc). Most valuable player goes to Loz Colbert, drummer extraordinaire! What a powerhouse he is. I've heard him compared to Keith Moon (reasonably apt), but 'Dreams Burn Down' sounds to me like a take on 'When the Levee Breaks'. That along with 'Seagull', 'Vapour Trail', and 'Polar Bear', are classics of the shoegaze genre, and I still find compelling listening. they became a much more conventional band on subsequent albums ('Leave Them All Behind, aside), which did not play to their strengths as strongly. But this album I love. it really is the tension between noise and beauty that I really dig. They manage to walk the fine line gracefully all the way through this record.

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Fri Sep 29 2023
2

It's like Oasis and The Smiths had a less-talented child who was kinda into LSD. Don't get me wrong, I love the whole psychedelic sound and, when they played that card, I was here for it. The guitar tones were wonderful and this drummer knows how to do work. But, it's an album from 1990 so you know they had to get shoegazey. And shoegaze is such a lame vibe. Quit whining. Make rock and roll. It's not hard. Overall, it's a very "meh" album and I fail to see why it merits inclusion on the list.

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Sun May 09 2021
5

And once again, thanks to this project, I not only discover a new band but also a new subgenre: "shoegaze" (according to the Wikipedia entry, "is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume"). This album is really good, this band is great, and I'm glad I've been introduced to them. Remind me a bit of the Meat Puppets, who I like, as well as a bunch of 90s bands that came after, and were probably influenced by, the Meat Puppets, this group, and similar bands at the time. Really great music here.

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Fri Apr 15 2022
5

A threshold question is do you like shoegaze – I do. For many then this is like grading on a curve. I understand that. However, along with My Bloody Valentine, Ride is the probably the other seminal shoegaze band. Putting aside the discussion as to whether they visionaries, the combination of pop songs and dense, hypnotic noise works for me.

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Wed Jul 27 2022
5

The finest album of the shoegazing era. Yes, it's better than My Bloody Valentine.

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Sun Dec 11 2022
5

A band I love more than I should, as I lived in Oxford in the early nineties and even knew a friend of one of the band. Got a guest pass to their gig at Oxford Apollo on the second album tour. Full disclosure over, they have aged brilliantly and this album is full of brilliant tunes, Vapour Trails above all, lush harmonies and clever guitar textures. I listened to it from start to finish in a traffic jam on the M6 and was never less than admiring.

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Mon Dec 19 2022
5

Love love love this. It feels like getting dunked in a cold and violent sea and getting dragged down by the current.

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Sun Feb 05 2023
5

3 minutes into “Seagull” and I just said out loud, “that’s what I’m fuckin’ talking about”. There’s literally no one else around, but that song needed to be acknowledged. The insane drumming, the reversed guitars, the harmonies and hypnotic Taxman bass…Holy fuck, it’s great. This record is getting high marks based solely off that song. …and I’ve heard this record before. I mean, I’m listening with a fresh set of ears today, because it’s been quite a while (more than a decade, in fact), but I can’t believe I’ve let that song slip from my psyche the way it has. Nowhere has always kind of played second fiddle to Loveless in the race for best shoegaze record, but I think it might be better. Without a doubt, the songs here are better written and the sound is a little more fun and adventurous. Listening to Loveless, to me, feels like a lecture or a treatise: cold and clinical, focused on a singular emotional state and style. It’s monolithic. Nowhere has a sprawl to its sound, it doesn’t stay in one place for too long, but each song is unmistakably drawn for the same well. It’s cohesive, yet varied. Kevin Shields and company may take the prize for inventiveness with Loveless’ wall of guitar noise, but Andy Bell and Mark Gardener’s guitar interplay on Nowhere is more engaging and just as dense and hypnotic when it needs to be. I should just stop making comparisons at this point. Nowhere is the better record and I’m tired of pretending like it isn’t.

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Sun Aug 13 2023
5

This album is a shoegaze masterpiece. Ride’s debut album dials back some of the noise elements from the genre and focus instead on melody and infuses it with neo-psychedelia. The noise elements are still present of course, but Ride’s unique formula help them stand out within genre. It’s also worth noting how young the band was when they recorded this album; all members were 18 and 19.

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Fri Nov 17 2023
5

Only 4 songs in as of right now and already have a lot to say about this album. Starting with the gritty yet upbeat soundscape that revolves around this UK hard surf rock sound that I simply cannot get enough of. These songs make me feel like I'm riding down a hill on a board of some sort, whether it be a snowboard, skateboard or even just the curl of a wave. This album is fun to listen to and with the watery, floating lyrics in the background of the warm, yet quick repetitions of drums and heavy guitar and bass presence, this album makes me feel like I'm no where close to home but on a vacation. In these 4 songs I've listened to so far, it does feel like a wave is being rode with the ups and downs, in terms of the happier songs like seagull and kaleidoscope representing the ups or the top of the wave if you will, and then feel a hint of melancholic shoegaze once the track "In a Different Place" sets in, or as the listener works their way down the wave, almost underwater where the down is. Its hard to compare the songs thus far, due to every song seemingly to fill the holes in this theme of a wave swell and the crash of it, making each of the songs cumulatively come together in a beautiful way. I'm now 7 songs in, and the music progressively seems to become gradually more "shoegazey" leaving a sense of despair as a background theme. I'm now on the song "Here and Now", and it is starting to pick up again with a more upbeat tone, and while it could be a stretch to say so, I feel like the album at this point could be trying to paint a picture of being lost at sea and accepting the lack of control of such a thing, and accepting the lack of control just as it would be an analogy to life with going with the tide and rolling with the punches I will suppose. With this analogy being present, the progression of the album and being strayed further into sea, the songs while keeping slightly upbeat at parts definitely hold an instrumental sense of pain, frustration and edgy tone to it. Some more evidence to offer for this viewpoint of straying further and further out, would be with the top half of this album containing song titles of things that might be present while near a land mass, with track one titled "Seagull" and track three titled "Polar Bear", whereas the rest of the song titles point towards a more helpless demeanor and lack of familiarity with surroundings.

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Wed Jan 27 2021
4

Expected absolutely nothing but it was quite an enjoyable album, liked the unorthodox edge it had with melodic melodies and singing

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Thu Apr 01 2021
4

A great album which shimmers and shines with murky melodies. Like the album sleeve, the beauty can be found on the ocean surface or lurking underneath. The tones and production is first rate. Not sure why Vapour Trail isn't played at every indie disco.

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Thu Apr 01 2021
4

Pretty mint album, you can definitely hear echoes of The Stone Roses which I was not expecting. 'In a different place' deserves to be amongst the pantheon of indie classics. Not sure if that's the case as I have certainly never heard of this band.

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Mon May 29 2023
3

Ok, so this is more average than Mr A. Average, of average age and average height with average shoe size. He’s got brown hair and brown eyes. He’s so average if he walked alongside you you’d barely blink at just how average and unremarkable he is. He lives in a semi detached house with a back garden patch and his bins. He drives a Dacia Duster and listens to The Eagles (favourite song is Hotel California obviously). He wears jeans and a polo top on the weekends and enjoys watching Britains Got Talent on a Saturday with five cans of pale ale. In conclusion, it’s average.

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Fri Nov 17 2023
3

"her fingers will learn / the lightbulbs burn" Cool album full of walls of psychedelic sounds, and with an underlying sense of urgency about the music. although I can enjoy a bit of something like this, the songs really tend to melt into each other, and it's difficult to comment on them individually. I was listening to this while scrambling to finish some homework before 11:59, and I felt the urgent tone helped that process. T1- "Seagull" has a really sick bassline, and will be the playlist track. Although I enjoy some of the genres this album encompasses, I really need something to be able to catch my attention and to get my head start to bop, it falls short in those places but does offer some great noises. 3/5

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Mon Aug 02 2021
2

Specialising in a shimmering kind of relentless noise which doesn't break for choruses, verses, solos, anything. Lax tunings, lots of cymbals, recorded to create the effect of being heard through two woolly hats and a balaclava. Most recent modern example of the style (though not the production values) is Seek Shelter by Iceage, except the atmosphere here is more light sea spray than impending cloud of volcanic ash. Biggest problem are those vocals, though. Conspicuous by their absence (or as good as).

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Fri May 21 2021
1

Awful jangly indie with zero substance to it. It's the equivalent of a limp handshake from a slightly moist hand. Nasty.

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Wed Apr 21 2021
5

Some great Shoegaze, listen again!

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Mon Jan 25 2021
5

Another new to me artist, really liked this one, more than 4 but not quite a 5, still giving it a 5

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Fri May 28 2021
5

Great debut album - Shoegazing at it's peak.

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Fri Jun 04 2021
5

I really enjoyed this album, I had never heard it before. Great musical sound and good vocals and harmonies. I never knew this was such a classic!

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Wed Jul 28 2021
5

An epic sounding album. The shrill guitar strums pair well with the long bass notes.

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Mon Aug 30 2021
5

Listened a few times a new favourite.

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Fri Nov 05 2021
5

Me gusta. Quizá no lo suficiente, pero sí tiene grandes canciones. "In A Different Place", "Vapour Trail", "Here and Now" y "Nowhere" son ejemplos. 9/10

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Thu Jun 23 2022
5

bought it when it came out based on hype alone and love it to this day. really really awesome debut, shame they never matched it. Great live band too

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Fri Dec 16 2022
5

Big YES. I definitely like myself some good post-rock or shoegaze. Really enjoyed having this one on while working and bopping along to the rhythms in my office chair.

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Fri Mar 31 2023
5

Brilliantly gazing at shoes.

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Wed Apr 26 2023
5

I really love this album. I've definitely listened to it in the past and am not sure why it never went into my regular rotation. I've always liked shoegaze and think they do a great job of balancing the heavy effects with good songwriting, it doesn't just wash out the whole sound. Side note: Some of my favorite album artwork. Standout Tracks: Seagull, In a Different Place, Polar Bear, Dreams Burn Down, Vapour Trail

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Thu Jun 01 2023
5

"Nowhere" is the debut album by British shoegaze band Ride. Shoegaze, neo-pyschedelia and noise pop all sound like good genres for this. Vocalists and guitarists Mark Gardener and Andy Bell met in school and formed the band. Other members include bassist Steve Queralt and drummer Loz Colbert. More to come on Colbert. The album was recorded live in studio and often late at night which the band found difficult and gave the album a sense of isolation. The album had a lot of critical acclaim and is cited as "one of shoegazing enduring moments." Guitar feedback and distortion and banging on a cymbal or something open "Seagull." The song then just takes off; right away you notice Colbert's drumming which is all over the place and reminiscent of Keth Moon (no accident there as Colbert was a big fan). The distortion and feedback remain and we're washed in a haze. The hope is lost on a relationship as he sees her far below. Melodic guitar gives "Kaleidoscope" a more pop feel. The drumming is still quick. The feeling of when a relationship is gone and looking back. "Polar Bear" has more distorted, wah-wah guitar and stays in a drone pattern. We're in shoegaze land now. The relationship won't work cause they're polar opposites. Tinny drums begin "Dreams Burn Down." The guitar builds the melody. The song goes hard and they got the slow-fast-slow dynamic going. The album ends with the first single and one of my favorite songs of the 90's in "Vapour Trail." A melodic guitar. About halfway through the song, it goes fully instrumental adding a cello and violin. I would argue that Colbert makes his drums the lead instrument. The song ends with just the strings. Fantastic. The is a really good album, so many positives. Very atmospheric with the distorted and droning guitars. Melodies hidden with the guitar haze. At times, absolutely beautiful sounding. The music fits the lyrics which are mostly about bad or ending relationships. One of my favorite 90's albums.

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Thu Jun 08 2023
5

Great shoegaze record. I’m actually surprised there are shoegaze records on this list. I just felt like it wasn’t mainstream enough. Yeah great album though. Feels like a great mix of jangle pop and shoegaze.

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Thu Aug 31 2023
5

Just great. I've listened to this a bunch of times and it's still a treat to listen to.

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Thu Aug 31 2023
5

I really love this album and at times my favorite "shoegaze" album. It retains a more pop rock sound than say My Bloody Valentine's Loveless which really explores the noise.

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Thu Sep 28 2023
5

OG Shoegaze. This is a mood.

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Fri Nov 03 2023
5

Other than Vapour Trail I hadn't listened to this before and it is just gorgeous. I generally stick to listening to an album's original track listing and skip any bonus tracks for this project but this time I just kept on going, I didn't want it to end.

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Mon Nov 20 2023
5

If this isn't a 5 it's because you didn't play it loud enough.

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Fri Dec 08 2023
5

One of my favourite shoegaze albums. It’s so soothing but at the same time very aggressive.

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Mon Jan 29 2024
5

A really amazing album, all through. I discovered shoegaze recently and have quite enjoyed it, and Nowhere was no exception. From the opening notes of "Seagull" to the hazy vocals of "Today," it was a wonderful journey. It's hard to pick a favorite track, but on this listen it's probably "Decay."

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Mon Feb 05 2024
5

This was great. Sounded like a more shoegaze style Stone Roses. What more could be better. An overall nice sounding album with a couple of good stand out tracks. Imma have to listen to more Ride now.

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Thu Feb 08 2024
5

Ooooo baby love me some of that shoegaze vibes

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Fri Feb 09 2024
5

This is one I already know well and love. Not really into any of their other albums or other shoegaze albums generally, just this album specifically. It feels to me like a very specific sound from that genre, from that time, from the UK. Also, it's a funny one for bonus tracks. I got it on CD and so the proper end to me feels like it should be the song "Nowhere" whereas the bonus tracks after that feel extraneous. I don't think we should have to listen to them! They sort of dilute the album too much.

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Sun Mar 03 2024
5

Top 5 Shoegaze album. Might even be number 2 after MBV's Loveless but Ferment, Going Blank Again, Isn't Anything, Just for a Day, Souvlaki, Whirlpool, Everything's Alright Forever, Giant Steps, The Comforts of Madness, In Ribbons, Raise, Spooky etc. are also all great albums too (I much prefer the Shoegaze period in the first half of the 90s before Britpop took over in the second half).

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Thu Jun 17 2021
4

Este disco me sorprendió. Nunca había escuchado ni de “Ride” ni del género Shoegazing, pero es claramente un precursor o influencia de lo que eventualmente sería el britpop. Algunas canciones de hecho me recuerdan a Oasis por el uso del “Brickwalling”, como por ejemplo la primera del disco: Seagull. Creo que este disco se hubiera visto beneficiado si hubieran quitado algunas canciones, pero aún así es bastante bueno. Lo que más me impresionó es que fuera grabado “en vivo” en estudio, haciendo gala del dominio de los pedales y los efectos. Mis canciones favoritas fueron “Here and Now”, “Dreams Burn Down” y “Sennen”.

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Fri Jan 22 2021
4

A pleasant surprise! Really cool surf rock album.

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Mon Mar 29 2021
4

Like MBV and The Stone Roses had a baby. Really great, though.

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Thu Mar 04 2021
4

Had not heard this before, though reminds me a lot of Ned's Atomic Dustbin and God Fodder. I can better understand what shoegaze is after listening to this. Very enjoyable.

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Wed Feb 10 2021
4

worth a revisit to find some new favorites. solid neo progressive rock

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Mon May 03 2021
4

Very shoe-gazey. Loud instruments, low vocals. In context, this album probably influenced a lot of later music. In present day it's just mediocre.

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Wed Jan 27 2021
4

What a pleasant surprise and so worth listening to. First introduction to shoegazing dream pop, and Ride did a fantastic job! I am sold on the band and their sound, many great tunes, perfect length, and Vapour Trail is amazing!

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Fri Apr 23 2021
4

Does this generator know I’ve been listening to this album

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Thu Feb 25 2021
4

Great shoegaze. Polar Bear is amazing.

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Thu Feb 25 2021
4

Shoehazing par excellence. 8/10

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Thu Feb 11 2021
4

Goede shoegaze, doet me vaak denken aan Stone Roses, I like it! Nieuwe artiest leren kennen die ik leuk vind! 3,75/5, dus 4 sterren Favoriete nummer:

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Wed May 05 2021
4

Enjoyed this from a band that was new to me

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Fri Apr 23 2021
4

Great album and when you consider it’s a debut, even better. Not everyone’s cup of tea sure, but shoegaze was effectively soundscapes via guitar effects and it is done near perfectly here, particularly Vapour Trail & Unfamiliar. There is also a pop element to this album which they improved on ‘Going Blank Again’ but sonically Nowhere is a treat.

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Thu Apr 22 2021
4

Never have I been so amazed at listening to a song for the first time before I've heard "Seagull". I still can't believe that track exists. "Vapour Trails" is such a very fun and joyful song. High 4.5/5

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Sat Jun 26 2021
4

Another shining example of the difference between British and US alternative rock from the 90s. The Brits winning out nearly every time.

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Mon Jun 28 2021
4

- vibes. - while discordant, quite listenable - well ordered album

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Tue Jul 06 2021
4

Album starts off with a bang with Seagull exploding from the speakers. Right away I can tell that this album will suit my tastes perfectly. Favorite songs; Seagull, Kaleidoscope, polar Bear, vapor Trail 4 🌟

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Mon Jun 28 2021
4

A pleasant psychedelic experience. Images of kaleidoscopes and teenagers that need a wash comes to mind. Limited sing along options.

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Thu Jun 24 2021
4

fav tracks - in a different place, dreams burn down, paralysed, vapour trail, sennen, unfamiliar, nowhere, today. loved the cacophonous ending, beaautiful.

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Thu Aug 05 2021
4

This is stunning, straddling shoegaze and something else. Don't get me wrong, I've got a weakness for shoegazing and that's what draws me in, but the noise-pop/rock elements are well-executed. Decay seems like the most driving and least conventional track of the front eight, but fits the tracklist well. Dreams Burn Down carried the most emotional weight for me. The back or bonus seven songs were less even but still welcome listening.

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Sat Aug 21 2021
4

Dawno nie bylo shoegazowania, wiec mila odmiana po ostatnich dosc popowych pickach, debiutancki album bandy z oxfordu, bandy ktora slysze pierwszy raz, ale tak to jest jak sie jest ignorantem muzycznym, orginalne wydanie vinylowe liczylo 38 minut na 8 trakach, ale spotifaj serwuje wersje rozszerzona, 15 trakow i godzina 12 minut materialu, co jest dobrym bonusowym kontentem, a poziom plyty jest rowny od poczatku do konca, jesli chodzi o wydanie orginalne, dodatkowe traki sa troche bardziej surowe, brakuje im tego dreamowego feelingu shoegazingu, wokali plynacych na gitarkowych rifach, ale na tej plycie najbardziej urzekla mnie praca basisty, a gitarka schodzi na drugi plan, czy nawet trzeci, bo niektore fragmenty drumowe takze zasluguja na hajlajta, tak jak na polar bearze, ale jesli chodzi o traki ktore sie znajda na plejce, to zamykajacy orginal vapour trail, wplecienie smyczkowania do shoegazowania to bylo wlasnie to co sprzedalo ten trak jak dla mnie, no i otwierajacy seagull, epizod czleka zmarnowanego

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Thu Sep 02 2021
4

I was expecting nothing and was pleasantly surprised. This album is a nice listen while I am working on a rainy day, but I probably will not come back to it again

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Mon Sep 13 2021
4

It's curious how this is counted as a shoegaze album when, with the exception of a song like "Dreams Burn Down", it's mostly just neo-psychedelic britpop with distorted guitars. Great album, great songs and a great rhythm section

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Thu Sep 16 2021
4

I like this a lot. Like a bridge between 80s new wave/dream pop and 90s alt rock and shoegaze with 60s pop rock harmonies.

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Thu Oct 07 2021
4

So… guess I like shoegaze?? I don’t care for the anemic vox (this is becoming a theme…). I hate how it seems like he’d rather be doing anything else. Especially when every other aspect of this is actually brilliant. Driving rhythm section. Good use of dynamics and harmonic tension. Creative macro and micro songwriting. Put Thom Yorke or PJ Harvey or Phoebe Bridgers in charge of vocals and you’ve got an all-timer.

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Thu Oct 07 2021
4

Feels like 80’s kid listened to a lot of Big Star. Psychedelic garage rock. Youthful. Lovely.

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Fri Nov 19 2021
4

I really liked this album Rating: 8/10

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Mon Dec 06 2021
4

Stunning debut! I was 18 when this came out and Ride's brand of Shoegaze was music I could lost in. This album and the first eps dominated my walkman for many months that year. I had a long sleeve t-shirt with the cover on it that I got from their Australian tour and it wore it with pride. For me this is a perfect blend of a sonic onslaught and Byrdsesque jangle pop. Stand out tracks are Polar Bear and Vapour trail. Four stars because as much as I love this, it still doesn't capture how good they were live or the perfection of their first eps.

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Thu Dec 30 2021
4

need to relisten but defo my kind of thing

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Fri Jan 14 2022
4

Pretty good! I like more prominent vocals but generally a fan of this music style. Psychedelic rock, maybe? Reminds me a little of Tool, Pink Floyd in some parts, Steven Wilson for sure.

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Fri Jan 21 2022
4

Every song is amazing, even the bonus material on the reissue.

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Wed Feb 02 2022
4

"Ride" the wave of sound! It's awesome. Actually enjoyed this sort of shoegaze more than Loveless. It's got a very british edge to it, which I could take or leave, but the soundscape in combination with the band's style of songwriting is a wonderful listen. I just wish some of it stuck with me more, but repeat listens can help with this.

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Wed Feb 09 2022
4

Somewhere between the mountainous figures that are grunge, punk, and electronica, a delicate subgenre lies: shoegaze. And what exactly is it, gazing at a shoe until you hallucinate? Something like that. Do valleys have summits? It's weird to call "Nowhere" the summit of this curious valley, but it is. Wooshy guitars, dreamy vocals, trance-y drums... it's a perfect background music, but it can be more than that. This album is the best representation of the genre. A ride across nowhere, but a ride nonetheless. PS. Just listen to the original first 8 tracks. The bonus tracks dragged the album A LOT, and those tracks are the reasons why I disliked this album at the first listen.

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Thu Feb 10 2022
4

I was introduced to shoegaze as a subgenre in the last year, and I really enjoy it. This album is one of my favorite examples. It's more lyrical than Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, which is my other favorite showgaze album (extremely obvious picks, I know). The lyrics blend into the music well. The instrumentals and production are excellent. This is also one of the few albums that I feel like listening to the songs added with the reissues benefited the album. A really solid album all the way through 4/5

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