Reviews (page 2 of 7)
La estupenda portada ya indica que estamos ante algo realmente bueno. Ride son una de la bandas esenciales del Shoegaze, esa corriente que mezcla distorsión, sonidos etéreos, pop psicodélico y algo de ruido. No son mi banda favorita (Slowdive sin duda, también Pale Saints) pero sí que están en lo más alto de uno de mis géneros más escuchados. Vinieron a ocupar el hueco que dejaron Stones, Happy Mondays y demás bandas del sonido Madchester. Se acabó la fiesta y llegaron con un variante menos bailabe y algo más introspectiva, que a mi me parece imprescindible. Este debut les puso en cabeza del pelotón, en un lugar distinto al que llegaban My Bloody Valentine por ejemplo. Contiene canciones fabulosas como la estampida inicial de Seagull o la eterna Vapour Trail (con una exquisita version años después a cargo de Trespassers William) aunque yo creo que el tema que mejor les define es Polar Bear (igual título que otro tema del imprescindibe debut de los Charlatans de ese mismo año). Ahí cristaliza lo que serán Oasis y han sido Stone Roses, pero con el toque de ellos mismos. Dreams burn down la han escuchado demasiadas veces Coldplay para hacer In my place... Decay es un tema 100% shoegazing. Las bonus tracks también merecen la pena sobre todo Taste, que es una gozada, y Today otro de sus esenciales éxitos. Una enorme influencia para otras bandas, Beach House por ejemplo. La cosa no acaba aquí, el siguiente y sobresaliente Going Blank Again (con temazos como OX4, mi canción favorita, o Twisterella) que no les sirvió para un éxito masivo. Y el tercero, despreciado incluso por ellos, el magnífico Canival of light, tampoco. Luego llegó el Brit Rock que arrasó con todo, publicaron el decepcionante (ahora no tanto, pero muy lejos del resto de su anterior discografía) Tarantula y se tomaron un descanso de más de 20 años (Bell con cosas interesantes como Hurricane 1 y un temazo como Only the strongest... y uirse a Oasis) hasta que resucitaron con los formidables Weather Diaries (2017) y This Is Not a Safe Place (2019), hace poco publicaron Interplay, que me parece su peor disco desde Tarantula, a pesar de la buena recepción y crítica. En resumen, un disco fundamental al que el tiempo no le hace mella. Si no es este, que sea el segundo, y sino This is not a safe place, pero escuchen alguno o todos. También sus EPs: desde la triada inicial Ride, Play (ambos unidos en Smile) y Fall (publicado casi a la vez que Nowhere) hasta el fabuloso Tomorrow's Shore.
the continued disrespect this record receives from the shoegaze crowd comes from a place of ignorance. not all shoegaze sounded like My Bloody Valentine in the genre's heyday; in fact, Loveless was so highly praised because nothing else sounded like it. the reason Loveless was accused of having killed the genre was because it set such an impossibly high sonic standard that no other group content with their sound could catch up to, and everyone who didn't meet them (read: 98% of all shoegaze bands signed to labels who wanted to make back their money) caught flak from the British Music Press. this is what led to almost every single shoegaze or baggy band switching to Britpop by '95. so in a sense, your average RYMer is simply falling for the same booby trap the NME fell for: the next best thing arrives, and your old toys are left to collect dust in the attic. i am not exempt from such stupidity. anyway, Nowhere! it's one of those records where you can hardly believe it came out so soon after a contemporary, and this is definitely true in this case. maybe you could trace bits of it to the baggy of The Stone Roses, but the fact that it was just a year after proves how far Ride pushed the needle at the time. Screamadelica came out a year after this! so did fuckin' Nevermind! the best part is that even though i think the sequencing of the tracks could be better, i don't think there's a single bad song on the record. the effects and dreaminess is all grounded by this regular indie rhythm section, so you're always suspended six feet above ground. if you meet it on its own terms, Nowhere holds up remarkably well.
4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this! Some of it felt like filler but there were also moments that felt like they spoke to me where the sound was unique and powerful.
This album feels like an echo from a far simpler time. It begs the listener to dig deep and really listen to the space being created within each song. These compositions stretch out and open up like the Nevada desert. Shoe gaze will take you on a hazy psychedelic trip with or without drugs and the result can be life changing.
really cool album. it's noisey in all the right ways and catchy in a way that is really referential to a lot of rock that came before it. super fun listen and i would love to come back to this!
Great!
Not much to say, just a phenomenal album. I wouldn’t call it a 10, but definitely closer to 5 stars than 4
That second half is stunning.
I can’t believe it took me 35 years to listen to this band for the first time. This album is required listening for any 90s kid.
5- Stars (13/15)
It was interesting listening to this post the shoegaze boom that has happened in the last few years. I enjoyed it a lot, and there were bits that were heavier than I would expect from what is essentially a British Indie album. Obviously it was too long, but if you condensed it to 45 mins we could've been on for a 5.
Ah shoegaze. One of the finest sub sub sub genres of guitar music. Much maligned at the time, forgotten for years. Then a whole new generation rediscovered it in the mid 2010's. I personally have never forgotten it. It is intertwined with some of my favourite times of my life. Early 1990's bumming around mates flats and houses in north London, gigging and clubbing more nights than I should have. I love anything with lots of guitar effects, with a tune or not. Luckily Ride's debut has all these elements in spades. I remember reading a review of one of their early gigs in the NME and describing them 'like the House of Love with chainsaws'. What was not to like? Alan Moulder produced this too. Seagull a great opener with it's Beatles bass line, it just thunders along.with it's big crashing ending. kaleidoscope noise and pop done with a headlong rush to the finish. in A Different Place is a beautiful song, I love the chorus pedal leading this song. Polar Bear with it's tremelo ridden phased guitar line chugs along. Dreams Burn Down is majestic with it's feedback driven highs and crashing lows. A highlight of their sets in small pubs in Dunstable, and now in Brixton Academy. Decay ups the tempo again, with a scorching guitar line and thudding drums. The dreamy Paralysed is a pure pop song, with a tough of sadness about it. Everyone loves (or should love) Vapour Trail with that long intro/outro jangling along through it. This is in my top ten albums of all time. To be in there it has got to be able to cope with me discovering a new facet to it with every listen. This still keeps my attention after 35 years.
10/10
The absolute pinnacle of the somewhat commercially silly but artistically tremendous "Shoegaze" movement. This album presses my very most powerful late teens/early 20s earnest yearning nostalgia buttons and brings to mind the faces of many girls I never asked out.
i love shoegaze!!!! this is such a good album. absolutely lush guitar and really interesting songwriting
Super bad ass. Don’t know why shoegaze people don’t mention them much.
One of the classic shoegaze albums, but this one differs a bit from Slowdive or MBV in that it retains more of the basic rock song structure. I know I am biased as if I was being objective I'd probably give this a 4, but I'm giving it a 5 because it's awesome.
This is an album I already knew well, and had even played relatively recently, so it was an instant 5 stars from me. I can see why not everyone would like this music, it's superficially similar to the Stone Roses and the Cure, but there's far more shoegaze elements, and a murky, full sound throughout. From the wall of white noise the guitar and particularly the drums stand out. The main vocals are fitting, giving a pleasing drone-like sound that matches the melancholy songs. Perfect for me when this came out, when I was only slightly older than the band (early 20s). I listened to the album, then the four bonus tracks that Spotify had, ones I'd never listened to before. I was expecting there to be a jar from the tracks I knew so well to the "new" (to me) ones, but it was almost imperceptible. It's a bit of a shame that Ride never really matched their debut album. The fact that they're still doing tours where they perform the entire Nowhere album instead of promoting newer material is telling.
Sooth but rocks
In a Different Place is good, very melodic with the thudding drums and bass. Dreams Burn Down has a big opening riff and I'm into it. Almost post rock vibes but the vocals are pure shoegaze. Crushing noisy guitars wash over us. Really strong track. Nice bass and melodies in Paralyzed, but Vapour Trail is the big song: the right mix of jangle and dreamy atmosphere, the lead riff repeating throughout. Grandiose and inspiring stuff. The three bonus tracks after didn't really add anything, and I stopped there, but this was a surprising hit for me. The best songs are _really_ good.
Having never even heard of this band, I absolutely loved it. Will definitely be coming back to this!
One of my favs, so freaking good
It's been a hot minute since I listend to the Ride. I was so caught up in the music that I forgot to pay attention to the song names to mark as my favourites. Which I guess is what would happen if I was gazing at my shoes too. Faves: Polar Bear, Dreams Burn Down.
I've checked out Ride before but they've generally played second fiddle to MBV and Slowdive (No Slowdive on the list? Dimery you berk.) so this is a good opportunity to get to know them better. I dig the injection of psychedelia! I was thinking this was a 4, maybe a 4.5, but decided to treat myself to a third play through to pick out some fave tracks, and started noting down almost all of them as I kept going "Oh yeah, this is a good un" as they started, so actually upgrading this to a 5 makes sense! Fave tracks - "Seagull" is a great opener, with great psych elements. I like the vibes of "In a Different Place" and "Polar Bear", and now I'm gonna stop listing tracks and bump the whole thing to a 5, heh.
Love it!
When I think about shoegaze, it's exactly this that I think of. Washes of guitar, elegiac vocals buried in the mix, a creeping sense of emotion that's quite hard to place. The musicianship on this is also absolutely first rate, and the production quality is top notch, as it has to be for the genre to avoid sounding a bit muddy I reckon. This has immediately gone on my vinyl wish list.
carai. esse tem MUITO tempo MESMO que não escuto nada. vô começa falando que eu não curtia muito esse album inteiro nos meus bons tempos de adolescente shoegazero não. mas PORRA QUE ALBÃO. só pedrada atras de pedrada. é ser arrebatado pela maré da capa, com alguns momentos de tranquilidade sendo levado pra costa, até o mar te puxar de volta com muita barulheira. ce eh maluco. bão demais. inclusive, é um shoegaze com uma bateria mais viva né, isso é mto bom. o baterista soube viver demais nesse album aqui
Ok, now THIS is showgaze, that I like! For me it is the first positive experience with this genre on this list. Unlike the complete ear rape from bands like "My Bloody Valentine" this one is listenable and interesting. I like the production and instrumental-action (especially the drumming!!) very much. Ride >>>> mvb
What a find!! Absolutely loved this. List, you have fully atoned for inflicting 4 albums of shit from the Beastie Boys on me.
Phenomenal work with beautiful, distorted, but ultimately transcendent, songs. The original ended with ‘Vapour Trail’ which was so poignant it hurt. Magnificent album. A Shoegaze classic.
Shoegaze, Ride's debut. Yep, well done boys, good process. The fast, Byrdsy ones are great but the gorgeous ones are the slowest. In a Different Place. Dreams Burn Down is an absolute monster. This is late night music. If we stop after the delicious Vapour Trail (the original end point) there is not a single track less than great, so I'm rating it thusly.
Deservedly one of the big classic albums of shoegaze. I enjoy how Ride's vocals are a bit more clear in the mix than a lot of shoegaze. They do a good job of balancing that wall of sound with more concrete sound.
Back at it babey! Auto 5 stars here.
I'm a sucker for shoegaze, which is funny, because if you were to look at my summary page, it's currently listed in the "worst genres" section for me. Strange how that works out. Now. Ride. Hmm. I'm not as familiar with them. This record is definitely an interesting proof-of-concept. It's not as immediate as My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless", however relying on the more "jangly" aspects, a lot more dream-pop and really showing the post-punk roots of shoegaze. I listened through it again, and it was a comfortable ride (fuck, no pun intended), but definitely not as powerful or changing as the first time I heard the opening riff from "Only Shallow" or, say, "Stars" by Hum. I *did* go back and listen to it again, and it grew on me pretty heavily, going from interesting to, "Oh, I genuinely enjoy this." Call it a 4.5 with room to grow. Favorite tracks: "Dreams Burn Down", "Vapour Trail", "In A Different Place"
After my only experience with the Shoegaze genre being Loveless, this is certainly different from that seminal album, what with there being more influence from Psychedelic artists. I really groove with this one, so I'll give 4.5 rounded up to 5.
Have always loved this record and this listen didn’t change my mind.
I've had Vapour Trails in multiple playlists throughout the years, but hadn't gone for the whole album yet, and - whew. I've listened to it like four times now. The official tracklist ends with Vapour Trails, but I listened through the CD bonus tracks. I love how the title track closes with the cries of seagulls in a full circle moment, as the album opens with Seagull. And, by the way, what a first fucking track. Blew my socks off. The harmonies are Alice In Chains-esque, but make it shoegaze. This is a 5 star album for me. It may not be a 10 out of 5 like some of my other 5s, but I hear something new in the lyrics or the guitar layering or the drums (the drums!) with each listen, and that's worth the rating for me. I'm so glad I got to fully discover this one.
cool
Love Ride. Saw them live and unplugged in Bristol and they were just the nicest guys, they had such rapport among themselves and with the audience. And this album is great. Initially, it sounds a lot like The Stone Roses, but there's something far deeper and more intelligent and meaningful happening here; an existential ecstasy-fuelled escapade. My kind of music.
A real joy, from a band I had heard of, but not fully explored. In the gaps between Madchester and Brit-pop, but also between 70s prog and Radiohead. Sounds a bit like Oasis in points, reminded me to look up Hurricane #1, surprised to see Ride still going in 2024, and still with the original line-up.
Yay!! I love(d) Ride! This album gets better with each listen. Saw them live a few months ago too.
I'm confused. This was right in the center of the music I listened to in 1990 as a DJ in a college radio station. But somehow despite totally knowing the name, I don't recognize any song in the album. I love it and think had I heard it then, I'd have bought the CD or record, or at least got a tape copy if I was strapped for cash. So maybe I'm rediscovering an old lost favorite or hearing something new for the first time. 5 either way.
Very good
This project has really converted me into a massive shoegaze fan. This album really worked for me. Have to check out their other stuff.
Wonderful
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).
Amazing
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.
Ooooo baby love me some of that shoegaze vibes
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.
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."
Beautiful
One of my favourite shoegaze albums. It’s so soothing but at the same time very aggressive.
If this isn't a 5 it's because you didn't play it loud enough.
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.
9/10 super tight shoegaze
OG Shoegaze. This is a mood.
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.
Just great. I've listened to this a bunch of times and it's still a treat to listen to.
A perfect shoegaze album
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.
"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.
Shoegazy banger
Super sexy shoegaze
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
Brilliantly gazing at shoes.
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.
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
Excellent
Guitar
S tier shoegaze
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
Listened a few times a new favourite.
+AAAAA
An epic sounding album. The shrill guitar strums pair well with the long bass notes.
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!
Great debut album - Shoegazing at it's peak.
Another new to me artist, really liked this one, more than 4 but not quite a 5, still giving it a 5
Some great Shoegaze, listen again!
Album fucks.
Love this.
Enjoyed the album. I still have trouble with the 1-5 stars vs a scale of 10 stars. Verbally I consider : 1-terrible 2-bad 3-fine 4-good 5-great. I did think this was a good album. Certainly not a 4 but will continue to be generous with my rounding. 3.5 goes to 4
Ride is easily my least favorite of the shoegaze big three. Still a classic tho.
This was great. Lagged a bit in the middle but the final song is a stunner.
Ride – Nowhere (1990) I explored Ride's shoegaze staple Nowhere and found it to be a great, immersive experience, landing a 4/5. Having a strong affinity for atmospheric soundscapes like Darklands, this album successfully delivered that lush, wall-of-sound guitar production. The dreamy textures and driving rhythms set a fantastic mood throughout, proving to be a highly rewarding listen that handles its genre beautifully.
I’ve never heard of shoegazing rock but I enjoyed this introduction to it. Some of it sounded like noise but some of it, like Seagull & Vapour Trail rocked. Other songs (Nowhere) kind of droned on. This does not at all sound like the decade in which it was produced. (3.5)
Enjoyed hearing this at last. It was more poppy and similar to the Stone Roses than I'd expected.
Not bad, would’ve liked more melody and the singer is a bit too Ian Brown. I like shoegaze though so I’d listen again
Cool. They sound like a mix of The Cure and Stone Roses. 4 stars
This really sounds like the child of MBV and Slowdive. Got good aspects of both but hasn't got the peaks of either. I think the thing holding this back from a 5 is that his voice isn't very impressive but it's mixed all the way to the front. The guitars are very impressive tho. The songs with energy are notably better than the slower paced songs but both are good. That might be personal preference tho High 4
I think it’s a good un. My listening has just been so disjointed and I need to move on.
Favorite Track: Seagull
The stone roses if their producer had checked out years ago
Enjoyed this one a lot. Great 90's sound, reminded me of Sonic Youth
Awesome background noise rock dream. I liked this.
ah british shoegaze, thank you for killing my ears.
Really enjoyed this one. The guitar throughout this album is great, and the solos really stand out.
This was pretty good. Nowhere starts off very strongly and, while the rest of the album doesn't quite live up to the opening songs, I enjoyed it.
Surprised I hadn’t heard this before. Stone Roses style shoe gaze. Nice
Great sound, songs could be stronger.
This is an album which really knows when to go for it and when to pull things back. Seagull is an immense way to kick things off, a sweeping wall of sound, homing in on and washing out the “rock out” elements of what made The Stone Roses debut so successful the year before. At the same time Ride, with the same pallet of reverby guitars and huge, thudding drums, are more than capable of producing emotional little ballads like In a Different Place. There are a small number of songs, each of epic proportions and never a wasted moment.
It’s the highest of 4s for me, i’ve been on the edge of loving this album a few times and i’m still on that edge. The immensity (thanks Rich) of the first track pops up periodically and crushes every time. On the final track they nail the songwriting element of the tracks. Between these two it’s all a very coherent and strong vibe but the songwriting doesn’t match the quality of the sonics consistently enough for me to push it into the 5s.
This was unexpectedly good. Emotions, dirty guitars, cozy melancholy. I imagine myself in the bar, sipping beer in the corner and looking at people doing their thing.
So so sick
I loved this. Vibey 90s music, great for background work.
Paralyzed made me stop what i was doing and take a moment to reset myself. Album itself was average but paralyzed and a couple other yracks were strong standouts
I kind of went backwards with Ride, first learning of them when Carnival of Light came out. I couldn't understand why it was considered such a disappointment. Nowhere and Going Blank Again make it clear
I've always wanted to check out Ride; I like what I've heard of Andy Bell's solo work and I was also a big fan of Hurricane #1 before he left to go join Oasis or something. I found a lot to like about this album. While it's regarded as a shoegaze classic, at times it sounds very Stone Rosesy, elements of it clearly influenced baggy, britpop and post-britpop; I caught ideas here that felt like they'd inspired The Verve, BRMC, The Charlatans and early Blur just for starters. Also clearly sowing the seeds of what Hurricane #1 would go on to do. I did feel like it ran just a little too long and while I have no problem with long-form melodic noise, it meandered just a little. On multiple listens, I checked in on the tracklisting and was shocked to see I was still only three quarters of the way through. In the right mood, excellent and clearly very influential.
Vocals were extra in my opinion, but overall not too bad!
Un 7/10 bien merite. J'aime le drummer fou des premieres tounes, mais ça smessoufle assez rapidement.
This one's relatively unpopular huh? I guess I can see why people might not be into it. It drones. I like it though. It's not something I pull out a lot, but it's kinda like My Bloody Valentine taken down a notch or two and sometimes you want that. I love the album cover too.
This has gotta be one of the longest running albums in my backlogs, i’ve put this thing off for like a decade, i’m a massive shoegaze fan and am aware it’s one of the big 3 alongside Loveless and Souvlaki and i’m like yeah i’ll listen to it eventually, *10 years later*. I see how its the 3rd pillar cause it isn’t really like the other 2, it’s more psychedelic and noise oriented? Ik loveless is more psychedelic but idk how it word it, point is it stands apart from the other 2. I do like it a lot and my enjoyment never seriously dipped, but it is one of those Double albums that while good throughout, still don’t justify their lengthy runtime. Glad i finally got to this though, it’s about time. Standouts are dreams burn down, unfamiliar and sennen.
great album great band
cool album.
Listened
wow this is great
I like this in small doses. Maybe one or two songs. But an entire album is overwhelming and intense. It felt very long. Nevertheless, I'll return to listen to select songs again. Edit to add: I just went back and watched a video of Ride's, "Unfamiliar", and holy hell these guys are so freaking cute. 15 year old me in the 90s would have definitely been more into this music had I known they were so incredibly good looking. I am a sucker for that side part, undercut, hair-hanging-in-the-face, skater look. We should definitely bring that back. And the longish, shaggy short hair... like so many guys back then in 1990 were growing their hair super long because of metal and grunge, but I was always more fond of the boys who just kept it messy on top. I will bump my rating up from a 3 to a 4 for aesthetic purposes. Edit again: Annnnnd I just watched another video of them circa 2024, and they are still very hot and more age appropriate for me to think so.
Another discovery from this website that I like. All the songs are good and it is now on my playlist.
8.5 / 10
This was an interesting listen, like if the stone roses decided to become a shoegaze band. Admittedly wasn't paying full attention and it started slowly so I'd dismissed it a bit but then a proper feedbacky bit kicked in and I started paying attention. Felt like the songs had more care then the Jesus and Mary chain but I think playing almost a completely different song drenched in distortion is sort of what shoegaze is. Should have listened more intently, sorry ride. From what I took in, better than average, 3.5
I gotta be honest… I went into this with somewhat low expectations. Shoegaze is a genre I’m sort of familiar with, and it’s pretty hit or miss for me. This album is also a good few minutes longer than that godawful Moby album I had to suffer through yesterday. So it’s not hard to see why I was a bit scared for this one. It was actually pretty damn good. Interesting vocal production and some catchy riffs. Nothing groundbreaking or particularly amazing, but still pretty good. Very noisy, but done in a way that still felt kinda calm and dreamy. Can definitely see myself going back to listen to some of these songs in the future. I’ll give this one a 3.7/5, rounded up to 4. Favorite songs: Seagull, Polar Bear, Nowhere, Unfamiliar, Sennen
A bit boring shoegaze but it's not bad
I'm conflicted about this album, because I definitely need to be in a specific mood/space for it. There's so much high end and it's so shiny that if I'm not ready for it and in that mood, I just feel kind of overwhelmed. But when it's what I'm looking for, it's super cool. Glad to have listened to/gotten to know this!
Another album that I was surprised to learn that I had never listened to, nor heard about. It is no DISINTEGRATION by The Cure, but this album does an incredible job of walking that very fine line between creative risk and accessibility. I understand why this album was so foundational to later Shoegazer artists and albums. The secret sauce is the extremely well mixed instrumentals, keeping everything heard but not overwhelming. If I had one criticism, it would be that the vocal mix could have been brought forward just a hair more on most of the songs and the overall album length is a tad overindulgent. After hearing the album, it feels like a good to very good album, with occasional moments of inspiration and greatness. I cannot stand Oasis, Blur, or most of that ilk from the 1990s, but these guys captured something interesting with this one. Front half seems significantly more interesting to me than the back half. After hearing "Vapor Trails", I was surprised because it actually felt like one of the weaker tracks to me. It felt like this was the inflection point of the album; what was probably intended to be the crest of the wave, as it were. Above average lyrics, but the marrying of the lyrics to the instrumentals and song arrangement doesn't quite work for me. Hard to rate this one. Without the creative relevance to later acts, it would be a solid 3 to 3.5, but with the grounds of their creative relevance and the fact that I added 5 tracks to my library today, makes me feel like I should bump it up to a 4. So, 4 stars it is. Faves: "Seagull", "Dreams Burn Down", "Decay", "Here and Now", and "Today"
Favourite Songs: Seagull Dreams Burn Down
I bought this when it came out, on LP. That has meant I was unable to play it for a long time but since streaming I've listened to it again and enjoyed it.
Just from the cover of this album I could tell it's shoegaze
Trippy and decent
I will not include the bonus tracks on the expanded edition for this review. I have listened to Ride before, and recognize that they are one of the pioneering acts in shoegaze, despite the band's rejection of the genre label. In fact, their debut record, Nowhere, saw early success before the genre was even defined and later ridiculed by the British press. Having sat down to listen to Nowhere, I can see the genuine merit this group had near the beginning. I think what sets Ride apart from the other major shoegaze groups of the time is how traceable their sound is back to 60s psychedelic rock bands and 80s jangle pop. Right from the get-go on tracks like "Seagull" and "Kaleidoscope", there is this defiantly bright density of textures, demonstrated across Mark Gardener and Andy Bell's harmonious vocals and wailing guitars, Steve Queralt's thick bass, and Loz Colbert's manic drumplay. The band also takes its time to build a foundation for different compositions, including the opening guitar licks of "In a Different Place" and "Decay", the hypnotic tremolo of "Polar Bear", and the stomping beat with the whooshing haze of "Dreams Burn Down". Pairing well with this dreamy soundscape are some genuinely impressionistic lyrics that find Gardener and Bell solemnly reflecting on their predicaments, mainly observational in the vivid imagery, such as with the seagull symbolizing unrestrained freedom, the kaleidoscope as a colorful swirl of memories that rushes to the mind, the touching of a cloud on "Polar Bear" as a drug overdose, and the vapour trail in the sky as the dissolution of a relationship. It only ever leans towards melancholic in examining the failed relationship on "Dreams Burn Down", as the frustration nearly chokes Gardener as if it were smoke caught in his lungs. That said, I do feel that of the eight tracks on their debut, "Decay" and "Paralysed" stuck out as the least developed from my perspective. They weren't bad, certainly not with the amazing guitar work of the latter, but they could have had more time to flesh out and convey the underlying emotional turmoil that needed to be expressed. At the very least, it felt like those songs could have used a third verse. Still, I was genuinely pleased with Nowhere as a solid debut from such an eclectic group.
I liked Nowhere quite a bit more than i was expecting to. This album is a shoegaze album and i typically have very middling opinions on that genre as it can be noisy but give it time and it can be quite nice to listen to. This album is one of the albums that does the genre right though. It never got too noisy as the production kept everything from getting too loud but also had those nice, addictive melodies that made the album a joy to listen to. I think this is one of those shoegaze albums that didn't need to be quite long for me to like it as i was at least considering a high 3 stars for this but as i kept listening i bumped it up to a 4. Really good album that I'm glad i listened to. Best Song: Decay Worst Song: Polar Bear
Comfort food. Maybe somewhere between the smiths and slowdive
😭🎉
I'm not sure I've ever listened to this artist before, but this is definitely the first time I'm listening to this album. This is some pretty solid shoegaze. And where My Bloody Valentine tends toward a wall of sound which can blur the lines between all the instruments and vocals, this feels a little more like a standard rock band. (I do enjoy My Bloody Valentine, and the previous statement shouldn't be considered a criticism of either band. Merely drawing a distinction between the two.) This is interesting and enjoyable, and I'm happy this site made me listen to it. I think I'll add this to my list of albums to listen to again.
Another of the “I always enjoy this band when I listen to them, but I never really listen to them” group. But damn; this is really good. Long enough for two albums, and I could live without Paolo Lies, but really overall very good.
When I say I like shoegaze, I really mean I like Slowdive I do really like shoegaze based on this
Not normally the music I tend to but liked it a lot
A fantastic album. It is shoegaze when best. Its about creating soundscapes for drifting away in a trance. And Ride succeed in doing exactly that.
Shoegaze is a mysterious genre to me. I really don't get why some people love it so much. And for a genre that's presumably based around guitar tone, a lot of guitars on shoegaze albums sound like absolute shit. This is better than most, though, because it has some sonic diversity and the vocals border on interesting, which is rare for shoegaze. I'm really caught between a 3 and a 4 on this one, but I'm gonna listen to my rock n' roll soul and give it a . . .
I loved this album back in the 90s and listened to it a lot. I haven't listened in a long time, though, and going back today was a hoot. I think it's aged well, but honestly, it doesn't seem as "dreamy" to me now as it did back then. I don't know why, but maybe my listening has changed enough that this is noisier in comparison? Anyway, whatever. Great album I'm going to move back into rotation, but probably falls in the 4.3-4.5 range, so giving it a 4.
While it has the haziness associated with Shoegaze, this album isn't particularly sleepy. Also, it contains Vapour Trail which is an all time great song in my view. The four songs at the end were new to me. They were all decent and I liked Today especially. With that said, I appreciate the economy of the original album.
High 3, rounded up. I like the crashing noise of it; some of the vocals aren't my favorite. And could use a little more variation among the songs.
4/5 - If everything here was as good as Vapour Trail, then this would be The Stone Roses' 1st album. :D Still, this is a solid record, and I'll listen to it anytime.
The Brits had great alternative on an assembly line at this point. If you have Souvlaki or The Stone Roses on your shelf, this needs to be there, too.
shoegazing
This was actually pretty cool. I liked the ambience of the album. 4 stars.
Kinda nice little alternative album. Want to relisten.
More of a fan of Going Blank Again, but this rates highly.
These shoegazers take us on an ethereal Ride to Nowhere. And it’s a good trip. Solid threefer with Decay, Paralyzed, and Vapor Trail, but all the songs are listenable, although they get pretty similar by the end of the album. Enjoyed the experience. (3.65*s) Do they just stand around and stare at their shoes while they perform?
Ok, Ride, I see you. Dig this one. Some really fantastic moments throughout, well moved and composed. I'll be back.
Metal Box meets R.E.M.
This album is such an interesting collection of sounds. The vocals are the weakest element but are reminiscent of the early 80s bands where vocals were mixed like another instrument and sometimes hard to understand (think early Michael Stipe). This is mixed with a higher production value of the 90s to great effect. This album builds and builds and grows on you. A nice non grunge break for the early 90s.
3.5 lean 4 genre (shoegaze) defining (52:12 (CD), 11 tracks, debut, 1990), British shoegaze Ride had previously released three EPs, a self-titled EP, Play, and Fall; they were between 18 and 20 and it was overwhelming them, Mark “It all added to that dark, alienated feeling that I think permeated through Nowhere.” Ride sort of picked up where the Stone Roses’ left off + the Cure’s Disintegration Ride was Bassist Andy Bell (Oasis), Mark Gardener (Guitarist, singer), Laurence Colbert (Jesus and the Mary Chain) drummer, and bassist Steve Queralt The CD version contains three extra songs and two of the best so, in my mind, it's the only version. Album cover: uncrested wave. The original cassette and CD releases featured no band name or album title on the cover, but sometimes came with an identifying sticker on the outside of the CD or cassette case. In February 2011, Rhino Handmade released a special 20th anniversary edition of Nowhere, featuring the remastered original album with seven bonus tracks from the band's previous EPs, plus a bonus disc featuring a previously unreleased live performance at The Roxy in Los Angeles recorded on 10 April 1991. Ride's first full-length album after three acclaimed EPs, Select critic Andrew Perry deemed Nowhere a "phenomenal" debut . Nowhere has been acclaimed as one of the greatest albums of the shoegaze genre. Track listing 1. "Seagull" 6:10 2. "Kaleidoscope" 3:00 3. "In a Different Place" 5:30 4. "Polar Bear" 4:45 5. "Dreams Burn Down" 6:04 6. "Decay" (Mark Gardener) 3:35 7. "Paralysed" 5:34 8. "Vapour Trail" 4:18 CD bonus tracks 9. "Taste" 3:17 10. "Here and Now" 4:26 11. "Nowhere" 5:23 Reissue bonus tracks 12. "Unfamiliar" 5:03 13. "Sennen" 4:23 14. "Beneath" 4:06 15. "Today" l 6:26
Without doubt a pioneer of shoegaze and some great tracks on here especially Vapour Trail. However shoegaze always comes back to the same problem… it all sounds a little samey
This sounds like a British version of grunge.
I had never heard of Ride before, but this album was very good. It will be a repeat listen for me.
"Nowhere" is drum and reverb heavy shoegaze, which fluctuates at times between heavy and soft rock. This creates a unique atmospheric sound, which is often pierced by the contrast between the clear melodies and the often chaotic sounding backing instrumentals. It gets extra points for great cover art.
Весь этот процесс прослушивания рандомных альбомов на самом деле многому учит. Порой включаешь что-то и с первых нот понимаешь, что точно не твое. Но все же продолжаешь дальше. И вот тут самое главное не замыкаться в голове, и все же дать возможность выхватить что-то, пускай новое, пускай не привычное. И вот, уже следующая песня тебе нравится вдруг гораздо больше. Не потому что ты себя заставил найти в ней что-то положительное, а потому что ты проявил терпеливость, не перелистнул до середины, и в итоге не пропустил маленький алмазик. От альбома ловлю в некоторых моментах вайбы шугейза, что очень располагает. Вокал тоже очень легкий, "туманный" - я такое люблю) Ну я совсем дурочка, посмотрела, что жанр группы вообще-то шугейз апха. Причем являются ключевой фигурой и пионерами!
Pretty great, love the sound these guys get. Starting at a 4, but probably close to 4.5 for me and higher with more listens?
I would contribute Nowhere as one of three albums that seriously got me into Shoegaze about 5 years ago. It leans more towards the jangle/psychedelic The Stone Roses-esque sound, but has plenty of noisiness to contend with the other powerhouses of the genre. The importance of this album to my appreciation of Shoegaze as a whole no doubt makes me biased towards Nowhere, but why this album isn't in the same conversation as Loveless and Souvlaki is beyond me. The album harnesses the Pop aspect of Shoegaze so well, and with the genre being in its early days at the turn of the decade this album sounds astonishingly matured and complete. Seagull, Dreams Burn Down, and Vapour Trail are so uniquely Ride and among the most solid Shoegaze material I've found yet. The deep cuts aren't anything to sneeze at either, the album overall is consistent and keeps a cohesive vibe throughout. Nowhere carves out Ride's corner of the Shoegaze world and finds the perfect avenue to combine the genre with different psychedelic Pop-Rock movements established in the 80s.
4/5. I have always loved Ride’s second album “Going Blank Again”, but for some reason never bothered to go back and listen to the debut. So this was a good chance to do just that and it was very worthwhile. Great slice of shoegaze mixed with a bit of brit-pop flair. The streaming version of this album also contains quite a few bonus tracks which are also all pretty solid. I still do prefer the follow-up, because how can you beat songs like “leave them all behind” but this was very good stuff.
It ain’t my bloody valentine but it does rock
hope you're ready for more shoegaze. and for once it doesn't sound like someone sobbing in the bathroom. this album is probably one of the best shoegaze albums i've listened to i think. this album sounds like you're not awake, but you're not sleeping either. that weird middle-ground limbo state where you're almost pushing through visual sludge trying to process what's going on.
'My words are dead / Falling like feathers to the floor.' A more shoegazey Stone Roses, which means they've groove even tho they etherealize, Ride is an intensity I wasn't quite prepared for. In particular, Loz Colbert bangs and booms on the drums - I mean really going for it, on the sweeter tracks too, ballads like 'In a Different Place,' 'Polar Bear.' I guess what I appreciate most about this record is the knowledge that psychedelia wasn't over and done w/ during the 90s: that The Byrds's vision still had some pulse. Ride are gospelers like Spiritualized, not actual Christian pushers but impactors of religious sentiment. Right, I'll take their medicine, just not all the time. The ride's sometimes to nowhere, and I'd like to have my bearings back.
vibes
Loved it, big fan of shoegaze and whilst others would go on to top this it was really cool to get around to listening to one of the first albums in the genre
Vi que alguien lo describió como una mezcla entre The Cure, The Cranberries y Oasis y no me quedó otra que entrar como un caballo. Esa persona tenía razón pero me parece que el sonido se acerca más a The Cure, lo que es algo muy bueno en mi humilde opinión. Me gustó, me guardé varios temas, voy a seguir indagando en la banda.
solid album, no standout songs and I didn't listen to it with the most focus but I did enjoy. Definitely very similar to other music I would usually listen to
Favorite Songs - Seagull, In a Different Place, Polar Bear, Dreams Burn Down, Vapour Trail, Taste, Here and Now, Nowhere, Unfamiliar, Sennen, Beneath, Today
Nowhere came out when I was three, so it’s not like I was riding the first wave of shoe-gaze. But, it’s clear to see that the genre had a lasting impact. All of my friends had at least one My Bloody Valentine record in their vinyl collection by college. All the electric guitarists that I knew had a complicated pedal board, and most of them spent their free time concocting the weirdest, most personally distinctive sounds they could. For a time, every live show I saw had an element of shoe-gaze thrown in. I’d never listened to Ride before, but it’s no wonder I felt immediately at home here. This feels like an album that a friend might’ve released last week, not thirty years ago. I’m all for it.
Je connais vaguement (hahaha) cet album depuis des années et il m'intéresse beaucoup. Du coup, l'écouter était très agréable. Je connais rien à la shoegaze, mais celui-ci est apparemment un des albums les plus importants du genre. Effectivement, y'a une atmosphère souvent un peu onirique (surtout sur Vapour Trail), ce qui me parle toujours un peu. Je le réécouterai à coup sûr.
Dreamy, psychedelic, noisy, and distorted, Nowhere’s classic Shoegaze debut album is one that I’m glad I listened to. It’s been on my radar for a while, as its cover and status intrigued me a little. And despite having a few weaker tracks to be found, the wonderfully distorted guitar cuts, some rather potent lyricism, and nice melodic vocals help give this album the classic status I’d say it deserves. This one is neat and I’m glad that I was able to check it out.
Would be a 5 if it had a bit more of the artistry of spiritulized or less moody/whiney vocals. But still the guitar driven multi layered wall of sound…miss you in modern rock!
Debut album by band called Ride. Ride delivered this album in 1990, a time when hair metal gave way to grunge. Who knew another new genre, "shoegaze" birthed itself too. This album strikes me as easy to listen to and ethereal. Unusual guitar sounds surrounding a moving beat and bassline with an earnest, though quiet voice buried in the sound. A genre I like. Considered a debut after three EPs seems silly to this reviewer. They knew what they were doing by this point and the song show it. Musically enjoyable. The album cover features an ocean wave in the early stages of rising out of the sea. Apropos of the tunes on this album and its overall sound, lending a completeness to the artistry Ride was shooting for. The music throughout feels intentional and heartfelt, maybe even an evolution of the sound Robert Smith got going in The Cure's heyday. The big tune that turn on the kids are Vapour Trail (spelling accepted as us tolerating the King's English). Looking at this specific tune shows the band's musical competence and their ability to blend rock instruments with some strings. Too bad the lyrics bordered on kindergarten-esk. Throughout the album, its lyrics present the weakness of this album. Writing words like, "And all my time is yours as much is mine" on Vapour Trail strikes me as just stupid, a juvenile attempt at poetry. This goes on throughout the album creating my appreciation for the genre's desire to hide the vocals behind its instruments. Nowhere fits nicely when you need to get some work done. Throw this on the headphones and let the music float you through that spreadsheet. The vocals backed into the instruments proves the key element for listening as a way to give the distracted part of your mind something to do. This is thinking music. This doesn't work for work outs, and probably would be distracting at a dinner party as the musicianship is compelling.
Relaxing listen.
The soundtrack of my brain when it’s preoccupied or restless
Where pristine 80s jangly alternative meets 90s grungy alternative. It’s both of its time and ahead of its time. Worthy of a repeat listen.
Really quite liked this even if I have no idea what a shoegaze is.
Favourite Songs: Seagull Dreams Burn Down
Det ligger mye nostalgi i dette. Spesielt når jeg hører Vapour Trail, er det som å ta en tidsmaskin snart ti år tilbake. Til tross for nostalgi, har det heller aldri fremstått som et 10/10 album. Det er en god skive med rundt tre knallsterke spor, men det mangler litt special sauce. Jeg skulle ønske at det sparka litt hardere og gikk enda dypere emosjonelt. Det er et album som er veldig nesten, bare et lite hakk unna å bli nevnt i samme åndedrag som Heaven or Las Vegas, Loveless, og Souvlaki.
4.5
I usually like it but no so much yesterday
7.5/10 The songs individually aren't the greatest, but it's really consistent with no duds and I really liked the overall experience. The vocals are very flat. The melodies are amazing though. Highlights: Decay Dreams Burn Down Paralysed Seagull Vapour Trail Polar Bear Kaleidoscope
Better than Coldplay
ми з шугейзом дуже дружимо. не сказав би шо шось особливого конкретно в цьому альбомі правда
Joo täähän oli aika hyvää fiilistelyä. Varmaan oon joskus vähän kuunnellutkin. Levy on kyl suht pitkä mutta tais spotify-versiossa olla taas extrojen extratkin mukana. Mut paljon tommosta shuukeissi-vibaa plus kiviruusu-fiilistelyä. ELI koska täällä nyt on paljon tota paskaakin ja osuu omaan perskannikkaan niin eikai se auta kun nelkku kaivaa kaapista.
A pretty good album, but a lot of the songs are kind of samey. I guess this is technically shoegaze, but to me it just sound like noisy brit pop (but what really is the difference). Mid 4.
One of the better shoe gaze albums I have listened to. I still prefer Catherine Wheel but this is better than my bloody valentine
This is great, first track Seagull starts with distorted guitar, then the Post-Punk-ish drum pattern kicks in, I was instantly hooked. The rest of the album doesn't quite reach the same height, but the dreamy sound makes a great example for the shoegaze genre. Favourite tracks: Seagull, Decay
Didn't expect this one to be pretty good. Not that familiar with this genre of music and I loved the sound. Will explore more and listen to this one again as this is a pinnacle of British shoegaze. Update: Vapour Trail is such a great song, probably the best shoegaze song.
Muy bien. Como debe ser un buen álbum de shoegaze: prende y deprime al mismo tiempo. Y como añadido, ¡un shoegaze en el que se entienden las letras de las canciones! Qué concepto.
This was a fun one to listen to at night. This is my first time listening to their brand of shoegaze and it won me over after a little. I don’t know if there were any standout tracks but I found the level throughout to be quite high. I connected with the album cover immediately as well, quite beautiful while adding to the texture of the album. Rating: 4.3
Very chill and pleasant
I absolutely love the wave album cover
Pretty enjoyable. Felt like maybe it ran a little long (probably because Spotify only has the expanded edition of the album), but otherwise pretty good
Really spectacular musicianship. I'm usually not a fan of shoegaze, but what Ride created on Nowhere is nothing short of great. Nice melodic guitars reinforced by some really amazing drumwork, courtesy of Loz Colbert. I'm fairly certain that because of him, I've started to pay more attention to individual instruments when listening to albums. To me, it's a perfect mix of mainstream pop and the hazy shoegaze. The lyrics are your standard moody teenage angst, but at the end of the day, who's here for the lyrics? Just sit back and let the reverb wash over you, man.
Ride is overall a decent band. While they are not the most impressive, the hype surrounding them far exceeds their music. They are definitely important figures in the early shoegaze scene, and this album played a significant role in those early days. However, I think they were slightly better than average and just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
This is some peak 'good vibes but forgettable' 90s music. Solid effort but unfortunately it wasn't quite inventive enough. It sounds an awful lot like the other more indie music of the time, making it fade into obscurity.
I enjoy it, I had 'Vapour Trails' on a shoegaze playlist but other than that there aren't tracks that stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. It's pretty consistent throughout and fairly suitable for background listening.
if its shoegaze, its an instant 4 for me. love that shit
Vamos hoy martes con una banda que desconozco por completo y de un género que a medida que pasa el tiempo me gusta más. Probablemente crecer es aislarse y ponerse más irascible y el shoegaze (también el no-wave, el post-punk y el new wave), acompaña a esos estados más introspectivos y antisociales. El disco marida muy bien con los momentos de autorreflexión y las ganas de escaparse. Muchas gracias por la novedad y hasta mañana.
It's pretty good, but isn't one of the 1001 albums that will stand out.
I really enjoyed this one! I'm not sure I have too much to add about this album that hasn't already been said; vocals and guitar are great. I give it a "Would listen to again"/10
You might think, given my love of noisy, often dissonant music, that shoegaze would be in my wheelhouse, but to my confusion - and the confusion of friends - the likes of MBV and such have never really connected with me. Going into this, knowing Ride only by reputation, and even then, barely, I was apprehensive that I was just going to be awash in layers and layers of guitars. You can imagine my surprise, and delight, when this turned out to be closer to like... psychedelic post-punk than anything else. There's some genuine pop chops underlying the shimmering guitars, and the rhythm section is tremendously talented, giving each song a unique and dynamic engine. Definitely going to be relistening to this one.
Admittedly had never heard of this band but I loved this.
Liked it and I'd give it another go
4.5/5 fantastic!
I have never heard of Ride before now. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It somehow makes me feel nostalgia despite not actually having listened to it at any point in the past.
I didnt know this existed but I loved it. Quintessential shoegaze
pretty jammy progressive rock
Unexpectedly really liked this. The vocals were a pleasant surprise, and the whole album just kind of carried me through. What a vibe.
82% Best: Seagull; Kaleidoscope; Decay Must-Hear? You could make the argument
Britpop owes its sound to these shoegaze projects, refining it with more palatable vocals. I couldn't help but think about Hi-Vis while listening to this. Good vintage sad.
Sets a clear groove/vibe: stays in it
Feels very alive; it breathes, it moves. A pretty great balance between weight and melody. Spins: 2 Playlist Additions: - Seagull - Dreams Burn Down - Vapour Trail - Sennen
Not unlike the shoegaze I’ve listened to already, I really enjoyed this! Such a great discovery, one album I’ll definitely have to revisit!
Shoegazy stone roses
Love me some shoegaze. I like the group vocals on the opener, they are so unambitious but charming. Vapor Trail - great shoegaze song name. Fave Tracks: Seagull, Dreams Burn Down, Vapor Trail 4.2/5
I really enjoy the aethereal feel to this album and am glad to listen to it and maybe even a better person too.
I haven't really listened to shoegaze all too much, but upon listening to this, I was pleasantly surprised! It has some great guitar work, and on some songs the vocals are also pretty good. I could definitely see myself getting blasted on some quality ganja to this, or just to escape the outside world for a while. Would definitely listen again, and might have to check out more of their work.
It's always neat to see what the songs and albums of a genre prior to the album that everyone loves are like. Grunge before Nevermind, metal before Black Sabbath, Prog rock before King Crimson, you get the idea. So, of course, seeing an album labeled as shoegaze released a year before Loveless intrigued me. However, not every instance of these sorts of things have aged the best. I mean, let's face it. The earliest hip-hop songs and albums are kind of cheesy. Fortunately, this does not apply to Ride's 1990 album Nowhere. This thing is pretty good! It's not better than Loveless, but it's still a great listen nonetheless. This definitely has a number of the elements that will go on to define shoegaze. The haziness of the guitars is the most obvious indicator here. The general vibe and sound do have shoegaze elements, though I'm also noticing more of a post-punk influence than I did on later albums of the genre. In addition to that, this album differentiates itself from My Bloody Valentine by actually having coherent lyrics. They're not bad. The songs here are cool, with the opener,"Seagull," and closer, "Vapour Trail," being highlights. The vocals are solid. The influence is notable. I'm pretty happy that I listened to this. Nowhere is a very good album. 4/5.
Never heard of this group or album. Nice background music for the office.
A good shoegaze album that I enjoyed. Listened to it twice yesterday!
At first I was on the fence with this band. It was OK for surf rock/ alt. But I REALLY like the genre and fangirl out on several other bands. I thought maybe it was that they are British and just don't quite vibe the same... Yet after a while I started listening a bit harder to some of the songs, and began to warm up to their unique sound. I think they have a bit more of a "wall" of sound than the "cleaner" surf rock I am used to, but being used to does not mean I can't learn and adapt. By the end of the album I knew that the drummer alone is worth a whole star. Amaze! The rest of the band... Yeah, after all I DO dig the genre so...
So good but so long
Þetta er smooth og fínt. góð vinnutónlist.
Pre shoegaze og svo shoegaze. Algóritminn meikar sens.
85/100.
I went on a journey with this album (literally, cos I listened to it in the train). It required several reappraisals. At first I thought it like The Stone Roses, but if they had dispensed with the snappy melodic clarity, and tried to bury everything in the mix. 'Seagull' is trying its best to be the Beatles with that Revolver bassline and eastern scales, but falls short, and has an overriding whiff of Shed Seven. It is a dirge, and that's the general modus operandi. Sporadically there is a marriage of sorts between the shoegaze rock and vox, to create a couple of tracks of near-epic proportions, 'Paralysed' the exemplar - a dream-pop tour de force. There are Smiths influences - a dusting of Morrissey melodies here and there. The Cure's approach on albums like Seventeen Seconds is also evident. A slow, percolative album, which, despite is failings, has more than a little charm.
I had never heard of this band so I looked up Wikipedia. Supposed to be a genre called "shoegaze." Again still at a loss. Understandable that I approached listening with something trepidation. I need not have worried, it was in fact a pretty good album with some memorable tracks added to my likes. Vapour trail Dreams Burn Down Taste
Hadn’t heard Ride before. My first time through was meh. Second listen I started to pick up touches and moments that I had missed and paid attention a bit closer. By the third listen I was feeing it. I still think the lead singer can often sound like he might be the front of a high school battle of the bands entry. But the band, and the overall vibe of the album won me over. Looking forward to exploring more.
Had never heard Ride before and I liked this very much. Not as melodic as The Las or Stone Roses but an excellent shoe gaze album. Listened on a plane so probably missed some sonic details but it was propulsive and a really enjoyable listen if a little bit repetitive.
This project has taught me that I'm actually into shoegaze, this is definitely my kind of thing. Transportive is the word that comes to mind, it demands your attention from the beginning, almost felt like I was fading into the noise. I love the spacey sound of the drums and the basic quiet-loud-quiet pattern that works so well here. Pretty damn near a 5 for me, probably would be on a few more listens. Starts strong on Seagull and ends stronger with Vapour Trail
‘Words are clumsy, Language doesn’t fit’ - love this ‘All the love I ever knew Kaleidoscopes round to you’ On track five. Sex and longing, is the vibe I’m getting. Quick fleeting romances. I like it. Big switch at track 6. More energy, but darker. ‘Now, this feeling’s so alive // but as you or anything, we die’ ‘I wander through my days Pulled a million ways Help me feel the forces I can’t touch’ Oh — by the end it transforms. Yearning. Sunlight filtered by trees in graveyards. Alone in a crowd as they’re not there.
Very nice album. Listened a few times and the songs got better. A bit ‘of it’s time’ but some very strong songs and musicianship.
decent
Veldig behagelig
idk why but I really liked this one
Beautiful sounds
This is a pretty lovely early entry into the shoegaze sphere, I appreciate it and the things that came later, it sounds dreamy from start to finish, and it is welcomed here
This album boasts one of the best opening tracks you will ever hear. There is reason these guys were so influential.
Great discovery, in the spirit of The Cure’s 80s albums, with a great sound and sense of rhythm. Favorites: - Seagull (hooked me from the first second) - Kaleidoscope (the most melodic one, nice vocals) - Dreams burn down (sounds very hypnotic thanks to the slower tempo)
Je ne suis certainement pas un grand fan de shoegaze, mais cet album me surprend pour l'instant ! C'est assurément à réécouté. Je suis vraiment impressioné.
Somewhere between jangle pop and Indy legend's Slint. Really interesting album. Drags a bit in spots and a plurality of tracks are somewhat forgettable. Still, I enjoyed the feel of the album a lot on a cool rainy day in August. Nice.
New-to-me once again. At least I think. Let's go! Track 1 starts off with loud guitars. I'm in! What a tune. Great bass line, squealing guitars, rapid-fire drums. Love it. Omg, the end. It speeds up manically. That will be tough to follow. Track 2 follows with a more controlled sound. The drumming is fantastic. Track 3 has a nice jammy finish to it. I like this album so far. Track 4 has cool guitar parts. I dig this one, best song since track 1. Track 5 for reason gives me a British feel the other songs hadn't really so far. The guitar is pure noise fuzz, fantastic. And it gets better as the song goes on! Track 6 Straight-forward song until it jams out in the middle. Then, it abruptly stops and there is some pretty guitar with some sound effects over-layed. Interesting. Track 7 is the most streamed track as per Spotify. Its okay for sure but not as good as other imo. A bit bland camparitively Track 8 and 9 are both solid tunes with great drumming. It really stood out to me. Just realized the album actually ended at Track 7. so I will end as well. That was thoroughly enjoyable. I will listen to this again. 4.1/5
As one half of pioneering Uk shoegaze band I have to bring up just how copycat this album is. Go listen to Houmous & Chutney’s ‘Nowhere?’ and come back to me. 3.8
I would have loved to see this band live back when this came out. Something about this style of music just seems so enveloping in person. The album is good but it just doesn’t have the same feel. 3.5 stars but rating it a 4 as that live show would have been awesome
My only experience with shoegaze is my bloody valentine and this random vocaloid album so it was awesome hearing more cleanish shoegaze. Call me a fan of the genre
Pretty good
I had never heard of this band. Good album. It only doesn't get 5 stars because it has one or two weak songs.
Artist description says shoe gaze. I think this is some of the most consumables shoe gaze I've listened do. I would say it doesn't have that rough polish of someone like sonic youth though
Highlight Song/s: Dreams Burn Down, Decay and Vapour Trail This album has such a surreal sound. I love the vibe that the album cover gives off. It's fun listening to Shoegaze and closing your eyes and imagining yourself in some other place (like near an ocean in this instance.) You can totally lose yourself in the wall of noise that's in most of the songs.
Does Andy Bell know how iconic he is?
This was a solid album, this is the type of music that I love so I’m biased here. It wasn’t anything super remarkable but I don’t think that takes away from the quality of it for me. I just wish it was like 20 minutes shorter because it started to drag a bit towards the end.
One of the good gazers
Nice alt-rock album. I get a lot of flavors from other rock groups in this album and listened to it multiple times. Some guitar licks that I've heard in Cage the Elephant, some that remind me of Smashing Pumpkins. I'd give this 3.5 stars, but will round up.
This album genuinely feels like youre on a beach, nice, serine feeling throughout the album. The last song also feels like a conclusion to the album which its chefs kiss in my eyes.
4 out of 5. Shoegaze with a more raw sound is better than I thought and it making me appreciate this genre more.
I saw Ride touring with the Charlatans a few years ago and I think my ears are still ringing from it! Shoegaze definitely is something you either love or hate. I love the hard and raw vibe, but it can be a bit much after a while. Ride definitely brought the goods here. Some great tracks for a short lived genre.
I had fun with this one!
bout time i listened to this. tomorrow ofc. great album. its not completely shoegaze its more of an alt rock with shoegaze guitar type deal or even just noise pop really. either way its very good. would've been one of my favorite albums if I listened to it 3 years ago.
This is pretty great. I haven’t found shoegaze to my liking much in this project, but this was a delightful exception! There’s so much emotion in the music, and it rocks hard (especially love the end of Seagull). A fabulous new discovery!
Enjoyed a first listen to these guys.
Ratings: 5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background Somehow this one had escaped me all this time. Really enjoyed it and every listen was better than the last. Not quite a 5, but a solid 4 / 4.5.
shoegaze
This was pretty vibey, I don't always enjoy shoegaze but the up-tempo poppier tracks were fun and none of it felt too draggy.
Nice album! Really picked up on the MBV.
Pretty decent shoegaze influenced rock music; vocals are a bit thin when they should be soaring, but most of the time more than suffice. I've only listened to it once, so my opinion won't get more specific. Nothing in it grabbed me and demanded that I listen to it again, but it's more than serviceable and sounds like the kind of music that will be someone's favorite somewhere.
Sorprende Familiar Sonante Gustoiso Techo Saudade Embriagador Castries Ventana
nice, paired up well with my feeling like shit for no reason at night session
Excellent!
Early indie
Epic and swirling, at once melodic and driving, focused and sprawlingly windswept, this is shoegazing's high-water mark, surely. Editors are right about these songs being "coruscating epics." The great wash of fuzzy sound, the layering of Bonhamian bashing of drums (which are mad aggressive and unleashed at several paces and tempos) the barbed guitars under the blanket of distortion – despite the multi-dimensionality, it all reads at a stately pace and quite austere. The early run of songs – "Kaleidoscope," and "Polar Bear" and "Dreams Burn Down" are terrific and "IN a Different Place" is even better. "Vapour Trail" is a strong candidate for shoegazing's #1 all-time hit, just otherworldly in its catchiness – 33 ⅓ series has it as a shoegazing essential track and it's impossible to argue. The cello closeout is great – one's favorite moment in all the shoegazing canon. The sweet melodious melancholy and hard edges and intensity all washed over lovingly. One thinks of Gerhard Richter canvasses (as with MBV) – expansive and monolithic when viewed / heard from afar, but quite beautifully modulated and subtly shifting in another. Note the held note on "place" on the vocals for "In a Different Place," about four minutes in – this is just a guitar record or a producer's effort either. Within the relentless, urgent coruscations there are many well judged pop flourishes – the bit of jangle on "Kaleidoscope," the bouncy-hooky opening of "Decay," the acoustic guitar on "Paralysed," the first bit of the Stone Roses-esque "Taste," the harmonica (one thinks) on "Here and Now" – that add sweetness to the sonic assault. The lyrics are a plus, too – see "Dreams Burn Down," "Different Place," and "Vapour Trail, which suggest an emotional intensity that might stop them from lifting their gaze from their shoetops. These are the factors that makes it great and keeps it as relevant and powerful listeningThat it predates Loveless seems salient. Don't sleep on the EPs or later work, either, which showed the promise that made the "debut" Nowhere such a highly anticipated event
It's shoegaze. Great in certain situations, but ultimately hard to remember
Overall: 7/10 I would first like to point out that Slowdive's Souvlaki should have been included in this list... This is classic shoegaze. Super distorted guitar, monotone vocals, v i b e s, it's all here. What makes this one stand out from it's peers is that there seems to be an emphasis on really great drumming, and that element is certainly a highlight here. This isn't the type of music I can listen to for an incredibly long time but small doses when you're in the right mood can really make this music feel special. Check this one out if you wanna v i b e. Fav Song: Polar Bear Least Fav Song: Decay
This was pretty damn good, I really liked “Dreams Burn Down”
I dig it.
This album really set the bar for this genre. And really, it doesn’t start showing hints of “pop” until the last couple songs of the album
tentado a poner 5 estrellas pero realmente lo guapo de este grupo son temas entre este disco, el siguiente y los eps anteriores.
I love shoegaze and listen to a lot of it, but I will say I tend to like where it, and its twin sister dreampop, went more than where it started. This album’s good, but I’d rather listen to Hum, or Blankenberge, or Ovlov, or Stove.
Not terrible at all, droney and different.
Pretty good moody music. It would resonate well with a sad mood. Not the headspace I'm looking for but they pull it off well. Enjoyed the guitar tone and enough energy/heaviness to keep listening.
Excellent shoegaze album
I fell progressively more in love with and then a bit out of love with this album. It grew on me and I was loving it until the last track which I didn't like as much. Something about ending on that note brought it down to a 4 to me. Still though I overall really liked it. It's dreamy and oceanic.
Pretty cool album. Can hear where some of the future brit pop sound was coming in.
I’ve somewhat surprisingly never listened to Ride before, so was intrigued as to what this would be like. As it turns out; it’s good! It was a lot noisier than I expected, and the frantic drumming helped distract from the fact it’s essentially the same Byrds song repeated over and over again. The version I was listening to was reasonably short, which meant I was able to keep more or less engaged throughout the whole thing.
Je pense parfois à Radiohead, parfois à The Cure, à Oasis ou à Arcade Fire. Pour 1990, me semble à l’avant-garde, et j’imagine qu’ils ont influencé beaucoup de monde
very pretty album, makes you feel like the album cover. better shoegaze out there (hell, better shoegaze for this band), but still
Listening to this album made me imagine running on a beach in California.
1st time listening this but I like it a lot.
Graciously cool album....
Trevlig lättlyssnad pop med ett lager av vemod.
Ah, this one. An album that a lot people whose opinions about music I respect and who share a fair bit of my taste seem to love, but I guess this might be a case of You Had To Be There. In 1990. Which is ccol. So likewise, I respect this and it shares a lot of musical traits with stuff *I* love, but I haven't quite warmed up to Nowhere. The vocals? The pop? Something. "Dreams Burn Down" and "Vapour Trails" are keepers for now, though. 10/10 cover art.
Shoegaze forever! Editors get this absolutely right – tangled washes, gooey walls of sound (or walls of gooey sound), swirly/ethereal emotional sweep, etc. etc. A hyperfocused classic of a brief, bright microgenre, and one much better than its near contemporary grunge.
Big, dreamy, atmospheric, melancholy, prettyyy
Pleasantly surprised. This had way more momentum and grit than I assumed It’d have. I was honestly vibing the whole time.
More Dream Pop than Shoegaze in my opinion, but a super solid listen. I’m not typically a huge Shoegaze fan, but the drumming on Rise gives the album a real rocker feel, much more so than something like Loveless, which makes me feel like I’m living in a fog. This was an hidden gem for me. Also note, this took my multiple listens to truly appreciate. It’s the second listen that truly blew me away. 3.7/5
Shoegaze at its best! Love that first offering from Ride!
I'd never heard of this one at all but was immediately struck by the incredible album cover! What an awesome shot. Vocals in Seagul struck me as a cross between AltJ and stone roses. The full shoegazy instrumentation is well-anchored by clean driving energetic drums. Really enjoyed this great album.
Good chill rock album, not my favorite shoegaze, but would listen some more.
Nowhere is one of those albums that do not necessarily feel aside from just being immersed in it. The music is layered, the vocals are there, but there is nothing really special about it. The listener simply listens and if that is what is right with the world, then it is. The surprising thing about this album is that it is from 1990, and at least in America, this type of music did not really hit US airwaves until grunge changed the landscape of American rock and introduced Alternative, where a band like Ride could succeed. All that to say is this album is worth listening before death, but also worth listening to before 1991.