#440: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)

Zack: Fun fact: I don’t like shoegaze and straight up hate My Bloody Valentine. I have no idea why. The music just does not jive with my constitution. That was super true for the band’s 2013 reunion album mbv and it was super duper true of Loveless. I could not wait for this album to be over. I hated the screeching. I hated the mumbling. I hated everything about it. It just is not for me. That said, My Bloody Valentine are critical darlings and I wouldn’t say the album is bland, per se, like so many other critical darling bands from Ireland tend to sound (cough…U2…cough). So it is totally possible that others could listen to this album and have a religious experience or something. I don’t know who those people are, but I’m guessing they exist. Otherwise, My Bloody Valentine are just one incredible practical joke.

Favorite Tracks: Sometimes; When You Sleep, Loomer

Emily: I don't quite get shoegaze music. It's mumbly and noisy and distorted and muddled. Frankly, much of it sounds the same as everything else in the genre. There's nothing bright, striking, or unique about it. It's like gazing at your shoes but your shoes are covered in various shades of mud. Loveless exemplified these features of the genre, and probably for that reason I totally didn't get it. I thought it was repetitive and muddy and boring. Also, it took three years and several hundred thousand dollars to make, but I'm not exactly sure where that time and money went except to distortion equipment. I could see the influence Loveless and My Bloody Valentine has on some later grunge/post-grunge/alternative artists, like the Smashing Pumpkins, but to me that's all this was good for.

Favorite Tracks: Soon; Only Shallow; Come In Alone

#351: The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps (1993)

Zack: The Boo Radleys have one thing going for them for sure: the greatest band name in the history of forever. No one is topping that. Beyond that, they also now bare the distinction of being my favorite shoegaze band, a distinction they earned mostly by just not being My Bloody Valentine (we’ll get to them in due time, but seriously I do not like My Bloody Valentine or 90% of the shoegaze music I’ve come across). Giant Steps was, in my opinion, a pretty good album, but I didn’t think it went much beyond that. Almost every song rests upon a foundation of light, jingling acoustic guitar. Sometimes, this foundation is pierced by a powerful electric guitar. That’s when The Boo Radleys hit their stride. Whenever that guitar is absent, Giant Steps become too complacent. It becomes too shoegaze. It’s a fine line, but that was the main difference between me vocally loathing this album and me appreciating it. That, and that killer name.

Favorite Tracks: Leaves and Sand; Upon 9^th and Fairchild; Barney (…And Me)

Emily: I actually listened to this album about a week ago. I've been walking to my summer job in DC every day, so I have 20 minutes or so each way to get some music in. Well, except when it's raining, or I'm carrying coffee, or if I don't have a pocket, or if I walk with my roommate... Okay, there's a lot of times when I haven't been listening to music on my walks, and that explains why it took me about 3 days to actually finish listening to Giant Steps. It's a long album, for one, and various walk interruptions just got in the way. And it wasn't like I was clamoring to keep listening to it. I kinda just didn't get the appeal of this album. It felt like it was supposed to be a concept album, but the concept just didn't come through. The best moments were those that borrowed more from rock and pop, and steered away from the kinda boring shoegaze sound. Here's hoping, though, that my next few walking soundtracks are a bit more interesting than the multiple days I spent with the Boo Radleys.

Favorite Tracks: If You Want It, Take It; Lazarus; Butterfly McQueen