Loveless

Sneer · 05-14-2011, 11:05 PM

Downloading Loveless via rar/zip is great, but getting it on vinyl and playing it through decent headphones thrusts the listening experience into new dimensions.

My Bloody Valentine were influential and are important in the context of alternative music history. These are fact. The experimentations and manipulations carried out by Shields in the recording sessions, as well as on EPs such as Glider and Tremolo hadn't been done before, they were highly original. His use of pitch-bending, backwards phasing, loops, reverb and pedal effects inspired a plethora of bands, with many trying to imitate the sounds created on the album. Shields did things like customise the tremolo arm so as he could manipulate his strumming in order to achieve the chord bending that's a ubiquitous characteristic of Loveless. He's also said in interviews that up to 30 pedals have been used during live performances to achieve his sound. He pretty much left Creation bankrupt due to the sheer time-scale required to create Loveless.

Yes, there were some great albums released during the shoegaze movement, and there is much more to the scene than MBV, Slowdive, Chapterhouse and Ride. Likewise, the importance of bands such as The Velvet Underground, J&MC, Cocteau Twins, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr cannot be overlooked in terms of influence (although MBV themselves fit into that category following Isn't Anything?), but Loveless defined the genre, and that is something that has stood the test of time. It's quite telling that nobody to my knowledge has ever quite managed to reproduce that sound, despite the best efforts of pretty much an entire musical scene. Strangely enough, Dalek have come closest in my opinion, and Oktopus uses all manner of samples and production methods to achieve that.

As Gravity has said, the album's influence stretches across all manner of genres, whilst the likes of Robert Smith, Trent Reznor, Brian Eno, Radiohead and GBV have all remarked upon what they perceive as a brilliant album. Those aren't journalists, they're all (arguably) respected musicians in their own right.

All in all, if it's not your bag, fine. Personal opinion is the elixir of life after all. Sometimes people do come off as being contrary for the sake of differentiation though.

05-14-2011, 11:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
Sneer Let it drip Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 5,397	Downloading Loveless via rar/zip is great, but getting it on vinyl and playing it through decent headphones thrusts the listening experience into new dimensions. My Bloody Valentine were influential and are important in the context of alternative music history. These are fact. The experimentations and manipulations carried out by Shields in the recording sessions, as well as on EPs such as Glider and Tremolo hadn't been done before, they were highly original. His use of pitch-bending, backwards phasing, loops, reverb and pedal effects inspired a plethora of bands, with many trying to imitate the sounds created on the album. Shields did things like customise the tremolo arm so as he could manipulate his strumming in order to achieve the chord bending that's a ubiquitous characteristic of Loveless. He's also said in interviews that up to 30 pedals have been used during live performances to achieve his sound. He pretty much left Creation bankrupt due to the sheer time-scale required to create Loveless. Yes, there were some great albums released during the shoegaze movement, and there is much more to the scene than MBV, Slowdive, Chapterhouse and Ride. Likewise, the importance of bands such as The Velvet Underground, J&MC, Cocteau Twins, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr cannot be overlooked in terms of influence (although MBV themselves fit into that category following Isn't Anything?), but Loveless defined the genre, and that is something that has stood the test of time. It's quite telling that nobody to my knowledge has ever quite managed to reproduce that sound, despite the best efforts of pretty much an entire musical scene. Strangely enough, Dalek have come closest in my opinion, and Oktopus uses all manner of samples and production methods to achieve that. As Gravity has said, the album's influence stretches across all manner of genres, whilst the likes of Robert Smith, Trent Reznor, Brian Eno, Radiohead and GBV have all remarked upon what they perceive as a brilliant album. Those aren't journalists, they're all (arguably) respected musicians in their own right. All in all, if it's not your bag, fine. Personal opinion is the elixir of life after all. Sometimes people do come off as being contrary for the sake of differentiation though. __________________ LastFM Sneer's Emporium of Sound Fright Team radio show Last edited by Sneer; 05-14-2011 at 11:27 PM.