Nowhere
Ride
1990
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".
WikipediaIf 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.”
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??
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.
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.
Compact wall of sound with intriguing but beautiful melodies in what is one of more significant shoegaze releases
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.
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.
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.
Expected absolutely nothing but it was quite an enjoyable album, liked the unorthodox edge it had with melodic melodies and singing
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.
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.
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).
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
Another new to me artist, really liked this one, more than 4 but not quite a 5, still giving it a 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.
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!
An epic sounding album. The shrill guitar strums pair well with the long bass notes.
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
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.
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.
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
The finest album of the shoegazing era. Yes, it's better than My Bloody Valentine.
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.
Love love love this. It feels like getting dunked in a cold and violent sea and getting dragged down by the current.
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”.
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.
worth a revisit to find some new favorites. solid neo progressive rock
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.
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!
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:
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.
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
Another shining example of the difference between British and US alternative rock from the 90s. The Brits winning out nearly every time.
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 🌟
A pleasant psychedelic experience. Images of kaleidoscopes and teenagers that need a wash comes to mind. Limited sing along options.
fav tracks - in a different place, dreams burn down, paralysed, vapour trail, sennen, unfamiliar, nowhere, today. loved the cacophonous ending, beaautiful.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
Feels like 80’s kid listened to a lot of Big Star. Psychedelic garage rock. Youthful. Lovely.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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
An old favourite, but I am not sure I ever listened to it end to end - vinyl was a pain Still good - might prefer later stuff
Słaba czwórka, ciężko mi uzasadnić ten wybór. Nie ma żadnego wyróżniającevgo się utworu, ale słuchało się znacząco przyjemniej niż wielu albumów dotychczas ocenionych na 3. Jest bardzo spójny brzmieniowo, wokal mi się całkiem podoba. Może nieco na wyrost oceniam, ale co tam.
A pleasant post-punk album. Heavy, melodic, slow-flowing rock with ethereal vocal. Highlight: Paralysed
I'm surprised that I've never heard of this album, or the band for that matter. I hear a lot of different influences in this music. First, there is definitely some '60s psychedelic rock, followed by a hint of Pink Floyd. There is also an element of the "wall of sound" production style and even a bit of Oasis. Underneath all of this is some pretty good Rock & Roll. I will probably listen to this again and maybe try one of their other records as well
This album was incredible. My bloody valentine is one of my favorite bands but I’m actually not that familiar with shoegaze beyond them, and this definitely didn’t disappoint. The trippy and vibey instrumentation took me to another world and for a moment anything felt possible
As a shoegaze fan, I found myself subconsciously avoiding this LP for some reason. Found it refreshing to dive in and find a rich, substantial album that escapes feeling dated while delivering on a wide sonic palette. The early Britpop foundations of shoegaze as a genre shine here, imbuing a strong melodic body without carrying over the awful remnants of the 80s. Not every track finds its own voice, but those that do stun with the heavy guitar lines that would become fundamental in later gazer works.
Genre: Shoegaze 4/5 Shoegaze, a genre defined by its part-noise rock/part-dream pop alignments, is not a genre I often venture towards. As much as I enjoy rock music, the more loud, distorted, reverb-heavy records of the 80s-90s are very hit-or-miss for me, and it took this album coming up in my random daily album for me to finally fully take the dive. I've tried Loveless before, My Bloody Valentine's famous LP, and Shoegaze's crown jewel (as well as one of the best albums ever made, according to critics and listeners), and I found it droning and incessant, and not in a good way. While I'll patiently await Loveless's turn on my docket, Ride's Nowhere was quite the pleasant surprise for me! The album overall had a similar noise factor, but was also paired with a more noise pop-oriented approach, not giving into the truly aggressive sonic side of the genre, and it pays off big time. With more focus on structure and journey rather than density and loudness, Ride concocted something both accessible and challenging. The intro, Seagull, with gentle touches of jangle pop and space rock, is a prefect start to the record, and the album proceeds cautiously yet ambitously, with the first half of the album wrapping up with the dreamy and heavy Dreams Burn Down. To round out the album's second half (before the CD bonus tracks start that is), Vapour Trail is a real triumph. The track builds itself up beautifully, almost hitting the same sort of emotional high one would anticpate on a Cocteau Twins record. A really great listen, and one that I will enjoy revisiting at a later date. Real solid record.
It's "medium loud" shoegaze. Great sixties-inspired vox, muscular bass, jangly guitar. There's a little bit of The Smiths in here and possibly some Stone Roses. Very pretty arrangements and some really catchy moments in as well. The sounds on the record are great but the cover of this album put it over the top. Incredible!
For a debut album, this is great! The vibes are a bit edgy but super smooth! Great riffs and lovely aerial vocals. I would listen to it again for sure. 3.75/4
Très intéressant, définitivement à revisiter. Pas surpris que ce soit un album important dans le paysage showgaze.
Dette er jo sinnsykt bra, hvordan kan jeg aldri ha hørt eller hørt om Ride? bra balanse av støy, basslinjer, progresjon og vakre melodiske temaer.
Nice album cover. It's very simple but the band name and album title really fit in there perfectly. This surprised me as it came ~out ~of ~nowhere. Never heard of the band or album or any of these songs. It's a nice sound. Came out in 1990 but still has that hangover from the 1980s soft vocals like The Cure. Overall I really liked it.
I wasn't aware of this album but it was pretty good, a very 90s sound but that's no bad thing.
When I listened to a bunch of indie rock in the late 2000s (and was coincidentally friends with not one but two professional music critics), the term "shoegazy" always came up and I knew exactly what they were talking about: distorted wall of guitar sound, sparkling, plinky guitar, and watery vocals. I'm ashamed to admit, I had no idea that shoegaze was an actual short-lived micro genre of the 90s. But apparently I love it, and by the third song in, I realized I loved this album as well. So why 4 stars and not 5? Well, one of my requirements for a 5-star (nearly perfect) album is that there is diversity. So while this is apparently a top-3 shoegaze album, every song follows the same formula. It's fantastic, but by the time I hit "Decay", I was ready for something new. Still, literally every single song resonated with me, and I can see myself including this album as a regular part of my rotation. 4.5/5
My love of shoegaze is well known. This isn't my favorite of that genre (my favorite is My Bloody Valentine of course) but I do love the shushing, whooshing, whirling vibes. I'd much rather listen to this than probably 75% of this list. Therefore it gets a 4/5 from me. Solid, interesting, and enjoyable, but not my all time favorite.
Every song is good. No song is great. There are better shoe gaze records from this era. But this is a fun listen.
Really enjoyed it. Was expecting more of a cavernous void of sound given it's status, but an enjoyable trip nonetheless
A bit long winded and the lyrics are corny.... but the vibe and the feel are what make this album!!
Started cool but ended up sounding a bit repetitive. Definitely some gems though, cool unusual sound.
Raro. Se supone que es shoegaze y es de sus exponentes interesantes pero no todo me suena así. De hecho, me suena bastante inconsistente, con rolas que definitivamente sí cuadran con el género: sin coros, muy planas, muy atascadas de efectos y una sensación oscura. Pero también hay otras rolas que me suenan a algo distinto desde antecedente a los Smashing Pumpkins o incluso a Muse, o en otras ocasiones a una banda de prepa que está aprendiendo a destacar en sus instrumentos y la batería y el bajo hacen casi casi ejercicios de ritmo básicos.
I liked this pretty well but like most of the so-called shoegaze genre it had a problem of slipping I to the background and no particular time or lyric ended up really standing out for me.