Loveless: Classic or Not That Classic

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look out, 1971!

― ethan, Sunday, 20 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Yeah - what was this 1971 record that was even greater than Loveless? You should tell Ned about it. Was it Chicory Tip's 'Son Of My Father'?

― Nick, Sunday, 20 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Fuck no. It was _Electric Warrior_ by T. Rex. Now *THAT'S* an album.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 20 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

It is strange that we're doing this one again. But again: yes, classic by millions of miles for me. But re. what one poster said: my vinyl copy of it seems to have lost it completely and become a weird sound-warp. Steady Mike was present when I discovered this, which made it OK.

― the pinefox, Monday, 21 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Had a session with Loveless at high-ish volume this weekend after playing the thing about 3 times in the last 8 years. Whilst I'm still not saying it's a total classic (yet), I have to say that "Only Shallow" "When You Sleep" and especially "Come in Alone" are probably the most beautiful things I've ever heard - to think I had this album under my nose for 10 years and gave up on it! I do think that "To Here Knows When" sounds like a tractor stuck in reverse gear though.

― Dr. C, Monday, 21 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

But that's precisely why it's so good. :-)

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 21 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Please allow me to ask again: whatever happened to my 'Stephin Merritt' thread? I can't find it anywhere.

― the pinefox, Tuesday, 22 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

For some reason it ended up here despite your careful attempts to make clear its intended category. Sorry bout that. It is apparently a SEARCH AND DESTROY thread.

― Josh, Wednesday, 23 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Thanks - which subheading is it under now?

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 23 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I was looking for an old thread called "Navigating through Krautrock", Josh. Any idea where that one has gone? Cheers.

― Dr. C, Wednesday, 23 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

This town needs a librarian.

― Nick, Wednesday, 23 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Dr. C - it's here, in "Only the Best Will Do" for some reason - will move it to "Search and Destroy" next time I do that sort of thing.

― Josh, Wednesday, 23 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Pinefox - it's "Uncategorized" at the moment, will remedy next time I'm doing that sort of thing. I believe it's supposed to be a SEARCH AND DESTROY thread?

― Josh, Wednesday, 23 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

#3 on my 40-records list. great for all the reasons ned discussed in his albums-of-the-90s list. useless if you listen to it as a rock album, i.e. for the singer's personality, for the drive and lock of the rhythm section, etc.

― sundar subramanian, Wednesday, 23 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

one month passes...

To Ned and other shoegazer fanatics: I find the more abstract parts of Loveless to be the most thrilling ( 'To Here Knows When' and 'Loomer' in particular ). I can't claim to have heard much post- Loveless shoegazer, but what I have heard seems to emphasise the more "pretty" elements of shoegazer- the cooing vocals, the shimmering melodies. These songs seems to be descendants of Loveless's more, ahem, "song-based" material ( 'When You Sleep', 'Sometimes' ). The abstraction I crave seems to exists as IDM and other experimental electronic stuff. Is there any shoegazer that might provide what I'm looking for?

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Tuesday, 26 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

mitch, you may be interested in Accelera Deck's Narcotic Beats. its not shoegaze, its some guy from alabama and came out in about 1997. the supposed kevinshields drum'n'bass record, the jungle-loveless, that never appeared? it may have sounded something like this. when i first got it, i was like *ohmygod*, its dated a little now (but then i have played it a lot). the other accelera deck records i've heard are not like this, so i think it was a one off.

― gareth, Tuesday, 26 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm with Mitch on this one: always thought "Blown A Wish" was by some way the weakest track on Loveless.

― Robin Carmody, Tuesday, 26 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

By way of an answer to the original question, I used to be of the impression that this was an out and out dud when I first got my hands on it on a second-hand cassette in the early nineties, and can distinctly remember thinking that the tape must be stretched or something because of the 'awful' noise coming out of the speakers. So I spent hours winding it forwards and backwards and playing it over and over again, in an attempt to 'correct' the backwards noise assault that was infilitrating my head space. Sometime during this 'correction period' I started to like what I was hearing, until I became absolutely obsessed with the album and bought an 'uncorrected' copy on CD. I still love listening to the full album at wall-shaking volume while I get ready for a night out, although parts of it DO sound like a vacuum cleaner on reverse. Which is no bad thing.

― Add, Tuesday, 26 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

When "Loveless" came out in 1991, I guess, it was a really ground- breaking album. I used to listen mainly to US bands like the Pixies, the Breeders, Dinosaur Jr and the Lemonheads. MBV brought the attention back to England. Ride, Lush, Catherine Wheel and the Pale Saints were working on similar ground. Even Wedding Present's brilliant classic "Seamonsters" somehow fits in here. I used to listen to "Loveless" in the winter 1991/92 and I especially remember how brilliantly it sounded when driving in the fog which was quite frequent at that time in Luxembourg. I went to see them in Brussels and there I was a little disappointed. It did not work live like on record. Of course the famous end of the show in one fifteen minute guitar noise chord was shite but somehow it turned out that this music was probably too elaborate (MBV are known for their perfection which is also a reason for their slowness in releasing stuff) for live concerts. Recently I bought the CD (before I only had a tape) and I was quite disappointed. It did not age well. There is a lot of filler, only 3 or 4 tracks stand out. Many tracks became utterly unlistenable to me. And it is true the sound quality of the CD is really bad, this probably is intended. Yesterday I listened to four mp3 tracks (on their website) by Your Precious You from San Jose or San Francisco. They sound like a mixture of Smashing Pumpkins and MBV (with maybe some Idaho influence). And they sound better than those two groups (and I think Smashing Pumpkins debut "Gish" is still one of the most underrated records). Especially "Wake" is amazing. I had the impression the voice started quite low on this song and became more and more high- pitch towards the end. They use a lot of droning and when listening on the headphones I really got addicted. Does anybody know where to buy albums of Your Precious You? I read they released two records: "Painkiller EP" and "Test Pattern". Amazon and Ebay did not have anything when I checked.

― alex in mainhattan, Tuesday, 26 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two weeks pass...

Loveless sounds like the cover looks, and that's ace. Classic.

― Nick Southall, Sunday, 15 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

three years pass...

It's actually kind of good, isn't it?

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 30 August 2004 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

the rhythm tracks are kind of banal for an album that's so otherwise sonically adventurous

― amateur!!st, Monday, 30 August 2004 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmmm.

I'm listening to it on CD and on headphones for the first time. (I've had a cassette for a while, but I never listen to it, and I've always considered it overrated.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 30 August 2004 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Just because something's overrated doesn't mean it's not great.

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 30 August 2004 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

amateur!!st otm, but that's one of the things that gives it its character. It's probably got the most linear dynamics of any album evah

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 30 August 2004 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

i have no problem with people loving this album, but there are certain qualities of it that seem to have become the basis for something of a whole aesthetic, even an ideology, for some people. in a lot of mentions on ILM it ceases to become an album and becomes, like, a totem.

― amateur!!st, Monday, 30 August 2004 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I keep forgetting that I was in a band in college that covered "Only Shallow" once.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 30 August 2004 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i really like this record btw, but there are at least 15 other records released in the 1990s that communicate more to me

― amateur!!st, Monday, 30 August 2004 19:50 (twenty-one years ago)

a whole aesthetic, even an ideology, for some people

Are you saying you don't have albums like that for yourself? ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Ned, he doesn't even know what this thread is about.

I was just listening to this actually!

― ())(())()()()(()(LASER)()()()LA(Z)E(R)()()()((L)()()(A)(S(E)R()()()) (ex machina, Monday, 30 August 2004 20:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Yay

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Are you saying you don't have albums like that for yourself? ;-)

no, i can't think of one album or even one genre that serves as a kind of organizing principle for my tastes.

― amateur!!st, Monday, 30 August 2004 20:11 (twenty-one years ago)

i was listening to this last night. i like that weird instrumental track. also listening on headphones reveals that the lyrics to many of the songs actually contain their titles!! who knew??

― amateur!!st, Monday, 30 August 2004 20:12 (twenty-one years ago)

no, i can't think of one album or even one genre that serves as a kind of organizing principle for my tastes.

Good! Then you might be surprised to find you are not alone.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Does anyone think that UNWOUND sounds like Loveless in some points on the last album, texturewise?!? Am I on crack?

― ())(())()()()(()(LASER)()()()LA(Z)E(R)()()()((L)()()(A)(S(E)R()()()) (ex machina, Monday, 30 August 2004 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

unwound bettered it

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

A harsher edge in general, Unwound, but I think there's a definite thrill of sound-qua-sound that they had which has parallels. It's been a while since I've heard Leaves Turn, might have to give it another listen. Bettered? Great band, but I will not go that far -- especially on the basis of live performances.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't understand why people have such trouble deciphering the lyrics to Loveless!!! I mean yeah not all of it's intelligible but certain phrases certainly jump out, yes?

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 30 August 2004 20:15 (twenty-one years ago)

well there's that one song that's almost poppy and where the lyrics are foregrounded in a way they aren't on the other tracks. what is the name of that one?

― amateur!!st, Monday, 30 August 2004 20:16 (twenty-one years ago)

"Sometimes," I'm guessing.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:16 (twenty-one years ago)

My guess is "Blown a Wish".

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:17 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry to be vague, i just don't have the record w/me right now

― amateur!!st, Monday, 30 August 2004 20:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmm...did it have one guitar part and a high synth line plus vocals?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:19 (twenty-one years ago)

uh i think it has the line "...could not love me now..."

― amateur!!st, Monday, 30 August 2004 20:21 (twenty-one years ago)

today will be the day i transfer this to ipod and listen to it on headphones for the first time in years

― artiste (artiste), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Yep, that's "Sometimes"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

i can remember stealing this CD during my third year of university. after hearing a track on our local campus station, i decided i needed a copy but the CD was only seemed available as an overpriced import. i was working at a record store at the time, and while we were doing inventory (comparing what we should have to what we actually had), i noticed the store had no record of its one copy of the album. so i took it.
fuckers never paid me enough anyway.

― Bruce S. Urquhart (BanjoMania), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember listening once to Loveless and loving it. When I finally bought it a few years later I didn't like it as much becaus it reminded my to The Smashing Pumpkins (who I hate).

― daavid (daavid), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

And well it should remind you (Mr. Corgan has been most open about admitting where he got a lot of the sound from).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually even the vocals sound the same. I actually thought it was B. Corgan singing in one of the songs.

― daavid (daavid), Monday, 30 August 2004 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 174 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I'm on an MBV kick thanks to this thread.

"Off Your Face" is amaaazing

― jmm, Tuesday, 8 November 2016 04:11 (nine years ago)

The only thing bad I can say about *Loveless* is I know of no other album that's harmed as much by mp3 compression. This one really, really requires FLAC to breathe.

― Distribution of all possible outcomes (Sanpaku), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 12:32 (nine years ago)

Just this nagging feeling that the album wasn't quite as revolutionary as it was made out to be

This is still one of my favorite albums, but i remember at the time thinking that Glider was the totally revolutionary release. I don't just recall where i was when I first heard "Soon" on the EP, but I can recall the entire experience. Loveless was perfect, and it would have been more revolutionary had it appeared first.

If there's any what-if about the album, it's how the album would have sounded had Colm performed more "live" drums on the songs as opposed to his parts being sequenced. Some of the songs might have benefitted from more emotional drumming.

― Spencer Chow, Tuesday, 8 November 2016 19:08 (nine years ago)

yeah he was the secret weapon each time i've seen them

― global tetrahedron, Tuesday, 8 November 2016 19:10 (nine years ago)

"Off Your Face" is

yep, brilliant song

― Ireland's Industry (that is what we are) (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Wednesday, 9 November 2016 23:41 (nine years ago)

one year passes...

https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/my-bloody-valentines-kevin-shields-dissects-his-new-loveless-vinyl-remaster-talks-new-album/
Talking to the 54-year-old about Loveless is fascinating because it’s clear that the record is, for him, very much a living thing that exists in the present.
...
Are you working on a new My Bloody Valentine album now?

We started recording it a year ago
...
So you’d like to have it out next year?

Oh, we one hundred percent will.

― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 9 November 2017 15:50 (eight years ago)

m b v is the best thing they've ever done. I want to believe the next one will top it.

― pomenitul, Thursday, 9 November 2017 15:54 (eight years ago)

When it comes to technical stuff Kevin has this way of saying things that sound like they might be bs but are actually entirely the case.

Obviously this principal does not necessarily apply to release schedules.

― Noel Emits, Thursday, 9 November 2017 15:56 (eight years ago)

Though you could have made this new vinyl version a 2xLP set, putting less information on each side and improving the overall quality, you decided to do a single disc. Why?
I wanted it to actually be played the way it was originally conceived, which is basically an A and B side: Loveless is like a mirror image of itself on each side. It works as a continuous thing. That’s where I got a little nuts, but it was one of the things that I got right (initially). The obvious thing to do in this day and age would be to cut it onto two vinyls. That’s something I will do someday, just for the pure sound quality. But from the perspective of listening to it, I didn’t want that to be the only version that people had access to, because it just breaks it up. There are compromises.

very cool

― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 9 November 2017 16:17 (eight years ago)

three years pass...

https://d1rgjmn2wmqeif.cloudfront.net/r/l/254190-1.png

― Mark G, Thursday, 4 November 2021 09:09 (four years ago)

The official Shirt.

£144

― Mark G, Thursday, 4 November 2021 09:11 (four years ago)

Made without love

― Evan, Thursday, 4 November 2021 10:04 (four years ago)

I'd buy that

― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Thursday, 4 November 2021 10:14 (four years ago)

Got a notification that my records had "shipped" but it was only the label being created and it's not at the post office yet, been like a week

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 4 November 2021 12:19 (four years ago)

Same here!! I keep checking tracking and USPS is still waiting for it (label created and that's it).

― Evan, Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:23 (four years ago)

Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item
October 25, 2021 at 8:29 pm
YPSILANTI, MI 48198

― Evan, Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:24 (four years ago)

2 weeks

― Evan, Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:25 (four years ago)

aw bummer, i got my deluxe loveless last week

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:49 (four years ago)

xpost - well i guess it's somewhat comforting that it's not just me but seriously they've had my money for a long time now it's annoying

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 4 November 2021 15:37 (four years ago)

30 years of Loveless. i still can't help but wonder how big MBV could have gotten if someone (such as myself) had delivered them a "radio ready" mix and master

are you ready to take your career to the next level and want your mixes to stand up today's pop hits? contact me today pic.twitter.com/aAmMQonJq1
— collin (@spiketvviewer) November 4, 2021

― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 5 November 2021 20:34 (four years ago)

"margaritaville millennial"

sure thing, jerkass.

― the beginning of the end of discourse. (Austin), Friday, 5 November 2021 21:11 (four years ago)

Uncertain as to whether that's very well pitched niche satire or... well, lols either way.

― Noel Emits, Friday, 5 November 2021 21:16 (four years ago)

loveless (magaritaville remaster)

― the beginning of the end of discourse. (Austin), Friday, 5 November 2021 21:29 (four years ago)

kevin shields:

"collin never had any hand in mastering the album. i remember him making margaritas at some point, and he had these weird ideas about making the album radio friendly, whatever that was supposed to mean, so we completely ignored him, other than the margaritas, which were also not very good".

― scanner darkly, Friday, 5 November 2021 23:12 (four years ago)

Going to guess some kevin shields bass would knock that stupid stuff off the top of his eoeakers

― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Saturday, 6 November 2021 01:06 (four years ago)

Speakers, argh

― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Saturday, 6 November 2021 01:06 (four years ago)

Margueritas not included.... Oh wait! (on the right)

― Mark G, Saturday, 6 November 2021 10:27 (four years ago)

four years pass...

Goosebumps right here

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXme6icCpg0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

― rameau in the main room (dog latin), Tuesday, 28 April 2026 11:54 (one month ago)

(it's a piano cover of Come In Alone)

― rameau in the main room (dog latin), Tuesday, 28 April 2026 11:54 (one month ago)

that's wonderful, all the reverb manages to give the piano the right sort of shoegaze feeling too somehow

― ufo, Tuesday, 28 April 2026 12:21 (one month ago)

i want this fella to cover the whole of loveless now

― rameau in the main room (dog latin), Tuesday, 28 April 2026 12:24 (one month ago)

Needs a clarinet added for "touched" though.

― Mark G, Wednesday, 29 April 2026 13:10 (one month ago)

I believe he covered "When You Sleep" on piano, too, so maybe the full album is forthcoming.

― avenues, Wednesday, 29 April 2026 14:49 (one month ago)

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