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THE REVIEW
"About time"; "Finally"; "It took you twenty-two years, damn it" and so on. No, this is not yet another review of the new My Bloody Valentine album, rest assured, it's the first review of the collection of EPs they released between 1988 and 1991 (plus the beauty of seven previously unreleased tracks) which is, without mincing words, fundamental, splendid, complete, and even something more: so, if someone asked me "aside from that good drug of 'Loveless', what would you recommend from the band?", I would unhesitatingly reply to rush to get this (double) album; not "Isn't Anything" or "Mbv".
Here you have everything you need to keep floating and swimming in the void when the dose of "Loveless" runs out, with a greater stylistic variety that, by necessity, the compactness of the group's masterpiece did not show: the album, in fact, follows a path that starts with the harsh and noisy "You Made Me Realise" (with obvious Sonic Youth echoes, especially in the instrumental interlude, yet already with that particular "aesthetic/ecstatic mybloodyvalentinian" attitude) and takes you to the pinnacle represented by the over ten-minute version of the instrumental "Glider" (a slow, long, repetitive, exhausting mantra, yet irresistible, hypnotic, like wandering in nothingness without direction, but feeling good). In between, many, many hidden gems: the liquid and magnetic "Cigarette In Your Bed", the floating "Slow", "I Believe", and "Emptiness Inside", the sunny "Thorn" and "Drive It All Over Me", not forgetting the splendid tracks of "Glider" and "Tremolo" that you can find reviewed here.
In this "Ep's 1988-1991" (among other things, the digipak booklet reintroduces the artwork of the four EPs) the ingredients that have made, or will make you love My Bloody Valentine are all there, making the fundamental evolution of the group palpable, which in 1988 took that direction that immediately led it to a sort of parallel dimension, in which ethereal melody takes shape from a mass of metaphysical noise, sweet, spiritual, paradoxically becoming overly relaxing and leading towards a sort of narcoleptic contemplation where the mind can truly wander free: anywhere, nowhere, here, elsewhere, now. Never.
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Summary by Bot
This review celebrates the My Bloody Valentine EPs 1988-1991 as an essential collection that captures the band’s evolving shoegaze sound. Featuring a wider stylistic variety than their famous album Loveless, the compilation includes landmark tracks like 'You Made Me Realise' and an epic instrumental 'Glider.' The reviewer recommends this collection as the best way to experience the band's influential early work. The album's dreamy, immersive textures allow listeners to drift in a unique sonic atmosphere.Tracklist Lyrics
03 Glider (00:00)
04 Tremolo (00:00)
05 Extra Tracks (00:00)
08 Glider (03:10)
10 Off Your Face (04:16)
16 I Believe (03:00)
17 Emptiness Inside (02:47)
18 I Need No Trust (03:34)
20 Good For You (02:31)
21 How Do You Do It (03:31)
25 Instrumental No. 2 (04:46)
26 Instrumental No. 1 (03:20)
27 Glider (Full Length Version) (10:17)
28 Sugar (04:15)
29 Angel (04:42)
My Bloody Valentine
My Bloody Valentine are an Irish alternative rock band formed in Dublin in 1983, widely credited as pioneers of shoegaze. Led by Kevin Shields and featuring Bilinda Butcher, Colm Ó Cíosóig and Debbie Googe, they are best known for the 1991 album Loveless and for influential EPs and albums across the late 1980s and 2013's MBV.29 Reviews
