My Bloody Valentine

Isn't Anything
Ecstasy and Wine
Loveless


Isn’t Anything (Creation Records, Sire Records ’88) Rating: A-
Far more than merely the blueprint for the brilliant “dreampop” that would fully flower on Loveless, Isn’t Anything is actually a much more diverse album overall. At this point the band’s exciting sound owed more than a little to Sonic Youth on some of the faster songs, in part because Kevin Shields sings in a plain but effective Thurston Moore-ish kind of way. However, it’s the LOUD, edgy guitars and Colm O’Ciosoig’s walloping beat that are what’s really important to hard-charging rockers like "Feel Me With Your Kiss" and “You Never Should,” though the melodic chorus of “Sueisfine” also shows a more accessible side to the band. Of course, it was on dreamy tracks (sung in an ethereal manner by Belinda Butcher) such as “Lose My Breath” and “I Can See It (But I Can’t Feel It)” that the band really started to find their own voice, while on “(When You Wake) You’re Still In A Dream” and “Nothing Much To Lose” the band sound both explosive and dreamy. There’s a sad undercurrent to many of these songs even when the vocals are mixed so far back as to be unintelligible, and the band’s chaotic sound generally coalesces into interesting configurations, though you should be forewarned that the band's hazy, distorted guitars are known to induce dizziness. In retrospect, Isn’t Anything paved the way for much of the interesting alternative music that followed in the early ‘90s. Largely forgotten in the wake of its superior successor, the album still sounds fresh and exciting today, though it's clear that the band had yet to fully immerse themselves within the style that best suited them.

Ecstasy and Wine (Lazy Records '89) Rating: B+
The Strawberry Wine EP (3 songs) and the Ecstasy mini-album (7 songs) were originally released in 1987 and compiled together as Ecstasy and Wine in 1989, with a different version of the song "Strawberry Wine" but otherwise keeping their contents intact. This makes for an enjoyable stopgap release between Isn't Anything and Loveless, though it's not as good as either as Butcher had just joined the band and their signature style was still in its infancy. There are glimmers of their future uniqueness, but most of these comparatively straightforward and concise songs showcase a loud bubblegum pop band with jangly and/or distorted guitars and plain spoken (Shields) and/or airy vocals (Butcher, who steals the show whenever she sings even if it isn't as often as Shields). Certainly adjectives like "twee," "sparse" (sometimes, anyway), and "naive" would never be used to describe their most sophisticated later work, and the tinny, trebly production is a minor hindrance, but by and large this is an unerringly pleasant if somewhat samey-sounding collection of songs, the best of which ("Strawberry Wine," "Never Say Goodbye," "She Loves You No Less," "You've Got Nothing," "(Please) Lose Yourself In Me") generally appear towards the beginning and end of the album. I wouldn't call these ten songs essential to the My Bloody Valentine experience, but they are enjoyable and are well worth seeking out, as they prove that the band's impressive accomplishments were not limited to the band's classic full-length albums for Creation Records. And while we're at it, it's long overdue that the band's four Creation-era EPs (You Made Me Realize, Feed Me With Your Kiss, Glider, Tremlo), which contain some prime stuff, were compiled as well, as too many potential listeners start and finish with Loveless, which wouldn't be the case to quite such an extent if the band's other material was easier to get a hold of.

Loveless (Creation Records, Sire Records '91) Rating: A+
Recorded painstakingly for three long years at great cost (it almost bankrupted Creation Records, as detailed in David Cavanagh's excellent if extremely long book My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize), Loveless is the ultimate dreampop album. Contrary to their gruesome moniker, My Bloody Valentine seamlessly construct shimmering, dreamy soundscapes that are both abrasive and beautiful. Using multi-layered, distorted "glide guitars," lush synthesizers, huge drums, and ethereal, whispered vocals that add further textures to the album’s otherworldly ambiance, Loveless offers a loud and hypnotic world of sound collages (which, as previously mentioned only more so here, can at times be seriously disorienting; you've been warned!). Belinda Butcher is clearly the lead vocalist this time out, but her indecipherable words are buried deep within the walls of luminous guitars (supplied primarily by group mastermind Kevin Shields, who also sings) and synthesizers. Sounds appear from all over the place, yet lush soundscapes and intoxicating melodies always manage to emerge. This is one of the finest sounding albums around (no less than 17 engineers are credited in the album's liner notes) whose very minor imperfections are merely several songs overstaying their welcome and the overall repetitiveness of the proceedings. A monumental early ‘90s album that virtually defined the “dreampop” (or "shoegazer") subgenre of guitar experimentalists (followers include Lush, Ride, Swervedriver, Catherine Wheel, Chapterhouse, and Slowdive), Loveless also influenced other major alternative artists such as Sugar (whose "Your Favorite Thing" directly rips off "Blown A Wish"), Yo La Tengo, Nine Inch Nails, and Smashing Pumpkins. No less an authority than sonic auteur Brian Eno said that “Soon” “sets a new standard for pop,” and tracks such as the lurching “Only Shallow,” the breathtakingly beautiful, deeply affecting “When You Sleep” (my favorite), the beautifully building “Sometimes,” and the drop-dead gorgeous yet decidedly rocking "What You Want" are at least as good. Superlatively sequenced, the songs on this album belong together, as "Touched," with its strange elephant cries, works well as a short mood enhancer, and several songs segue perfectly into each other, such as when the muted guitar solo at the end of "To Here Knows When" leads into the surging "When You Sleep." Unfortunately, its been 17 years since this exotic, utterly addictive masterpiece was released, and a long promised follow up has yet to emerge.

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