Loveless (Re-mastered By Kevin Shields) (2CD)

The template for this kind of angular noise-rock had already been set with the Marry Chain's classic Psychocady in 1985 (and, to a lesser extent, the first Sonic Youth album), with MBV quick to respond and advance on that sound with their own career-year-zero, Isn't Anything (1988)... With that album, guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Kevin Shields emerged as the band's nucleus, steering MBV away from the twee, indie-pop sound that their early EP's seemed to be suggesting, with the band, on the whole, setting the precedent for ambient white noise and swathes of industrial feedback. So, whereas the first album seemed to be rooted very much in the experimental category, Loveless would instead take the concept of feedback and severe noise and anchor it with a sense of structure, harmony, and, an intense & beautiful approach to atmosphere. The notion that Shields was trying to express was the combination of the aforementioned musical styles, largely inspired by guitarists like Hendrix and (early) Jimmy Paige, with the free-form approach to sound-textures that were becoming more apparent through the rise of acid-house.

As a result of this, Loveless has a seesawing sound that is both loved up (like acid house) and threatening (like post-punk)... giving the listener an idea of what it must be like to take ecstasy whilst simultaneously dropping acid (...not to mention, falling down Alice's rabbit hole, into wonderland!). This whole concept is most apparent in the opening track, Only Shallow, which suggests a multitude of aural possibilities, as well as featuring as one of the greatest album introductions of all time. Here, Shields lays down a swirling, pulsating guitar melody, which dances ethereally from one speaker to the other, as Belinda Butcher's haunted vocals fuse with the background instrumentation. The sound that is created here is best described as alien-white-noise... a sound that continues right through the record, giving it a sense of cohesion that few albums can equate.

The vocals are sterling throughout, alternating between the feminine coos of Butcher and the hushed-mumbles of Shields, sometimes between tracks, sometime within the same track, whilst bringing to mind people like Malcolm Mooney, Mark Hollis and Thom Yorke (around the time of Kid A/mnesiac), as well as creating a dreamlike grace that is, at times, reminiscent of the very best of the Cocteau Twins (albums like Victorialand, Treasure and so on). Track two, Loomer, advances on this sound, again fusing the vocals of Butcher & Shields against harsh distortions & distant drums (one complaint: why are Colm O'Ciosoig's drums buried so far in the mix?), before track three, an instrumental piece composed by O'Ciosoig, takes the album into forbidden realms of the surreal... complete with strange loops, treatments and samples; which creates a piece of music that sounds like someone being trampled by a herd of stampeding elephants. From here the album lulls out, and Shields begins to take more control over the sound, giving us tons of that dense guitar work and some heavenly vocals (...though I don't have a clue what he's singing about).

As a result of this, When You Sleep, I Only Said, Sometimes and the closing number, Soon, remain amongst my favourite songs of the decade, with Shields and the rest of the band (including some great treated bass from Debbie Googe) creating a series of blissed-out songs that are meant to wash over the listener, whilst simultaneously offering a disturbed and disconcerting experience. This is rock music as it should be done: dense without being pretentious; experimental, though played to perfection... whilst the atmosphere that the band create is just unbelievable. It was the discovery of this band, and tracks like the ones noted above, that really turned me off bands like the Smashing Pumpkins, with My Bloody Valentine proving just how obsolete Billy Corgan's six-form navel-gazing was, by the time that particular band achieved what they believed to be perfection.

Shields had proved that acid-house and guitar rock could easily be combined to create a strange and dislocating texture to lift the music beyond the realms of the top-40, and was even capable of conveying emotion without relying on the usual song-writing cliches. As his contributions to last year's Lost in Translation soundtrack ably demonstrated, Shields can still create those buzzing, dreamlike sound-scapes from the comfort of his secluded country-retreat, far better than the likes of Mogwai, Mum, Sigur Ros, and GSYBE! Could this be a sign of new MBV material appearing sometime in the near future? Let's hope so.


When you wake you're still in a dream   February 5, 2006
Axeman (Belfast)
22 out of 26 found this review helpful

This is quite simply one of the greatest albums I have ever heard. Nothing else sounds remotely like it, even other MBV material. I bought it back in 1991 when it first came out and it has rarely been far from my turntable/CD player/iPod over the last 15 years.

Imagine it's early morning and your alarm clock has gone off. Then you realise it's Saturday and you don't have to go to work. You turn the alarm off and roll over, not quite awake, not quite asleep. The feeling you have at this point is what "Loveless" sounds like.

Buy it.

Now.


one of the greatest albums ever   November 11, 1999
d.lodge@hw.ac.uk (Edinburgh, Scotland)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

Quite simply one of the greatest albums ever. Once you get the past the stage of wondering whether your disc might be warped, you will realise that this is a true work of art. I have never heard another album that comes close to matching the sound and feel of this album. From the opening chaos of "Only Shallow" to the closing epic "Soon" this album is amazing. More tuneful and flowing than Sonic Youth, this album fully achieves what bands like Ride tried to create in the early 90's. If you like experimental guitar music then you have to hear this album.


Kevin Shields = Genius   October 21, 2000
July37th (London)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This album is probably one of the least commercial albums of all time. It is also one of the best. 'To Here Knows When' is a sample of the manic psychadelic noise that Shields has created on this record - not a song but a beautifully constructed series of emotions and feelings represented in the churning glide guitar and edgy synth. This song was released as a single, and could rightfully be called the weirdest song ever to chart. How did Dr 'Fox' play this one one a Sunday afternoon..............?


Wonderful.   February 3, 2001
Sick Mouthy (Exeter, Devon)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

The cover has a picture of a purpley-pinky-bluey guitar, all fuzzy and warped and psychedelic. This is the only album I have ever heard that sounds EXACTLY how the cover looks. And it is brilliant. Turn it up and it's an astonishing visceral thrill, turn it down and it's a soothing, redemptive balm of sound. Gorgeous.