starrynight

I wouldn't say universal as that just ignores those who don't like it. And alot of people don't play vinyl anymore I suppose and it was released in the cd age so some might say it was meant to be listened to on cd as well at least.

Sneer

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.

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BastardofYoung

Should do the rest of the MBV catalouge, seems like many people don't even know they did anything outside of "Loveless".

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duga

There is a My Bloody Valentine thread, it's just people usually end up talking exclusively about Loveless. That's why this one has its own, I suppose.

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Badlittlekitten

Isn't Anything > Loveless

Yes, I went there.

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duga

It sounds like 2 different bands, honestly. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people felt that way...especially people that might like something a little more raw and heavy.

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PoorOldPo

These guys were an Irish band weren't they? Or am I mistaken?

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Sneer

Half Irish, half English.

I love both albums, for the very reason that they offer something entirely different from one another. They're both influential. You Made Me Realise is also one of my favourite EPs EVER.

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Zer0

It's debatable really, they formed in Dublin in 1984 and their original line-up was all Irish, so there you could argue they are an Irish band. They moved to Holland shortly after before settling in London and changing the line-up, recruiting two English members Bilinda Butcher and Debbie Googe, and becoming associated with the jangle-pop scene and later the shoegazing scene in London. To me they feel more like an English band though, their website domain is even 'co.uk', but it's probably 50:50 really.

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