My Bloody Valentine
Isn't Anything

THE REVIEW

Before the release of the eternal masterpiece “Loveless”, My Bloody Valentine released an unusually eclectic record, “Isn’t Anything”. The impression is that the band wanted to unify all their influences into one work that would present them separately. “Isn’t Anything” does not yet have the uniqueness of its successor, as it keeps the elements as separate from each other as possible.
It is thus a highly varied and wide-ranging work. The band certainly does not play immediate songs, and moreover, assimilating so many deep-rooted musical impulses is not easy. This album needs to be listened to with patience, attention, and without expecting anything on the first listen. It may fascinate you immediately, but it may also leave you indifferent or annoy you. Nevertheless, its greatness is undeniable.
In the palette of colors, we immediately find the acid green of psychedelia. “Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside)” indeed plays on disorienting rhythms, with denaturalized singing forming something intricate and gasping. “All I Need” further expands the sounds, like lava flows penetrating our mind and clearing it of everything, leaving only the magical beauty of the singing. The hypnosis is so intense it becomes painful, unbearable, too visceral. “Several Girls Galore” recalls the psychedelia of the first track, with a brilliant use of rhythm, contrasting the singing.
However, it quickly shifts to softer, almost blurred tones with “Lose My Breath”, a ballad immersed in an impenetrable fog. A fairy-like voice accompanies our perceptions, almost making us feel wrapped in a snowy mantle. Cold and poignant. The sensation of cold returns with “No More Sorry”, but this time it feels like standing under a waterfall, watching passively as the birds glide gracefully.
All of My Bloody Valentine's music is a perpetual clash between noise and beauty, between animalistic violence and divine sensitivity.
“Cupid Come” shows how Shoegaze could easily become a successful mass genre without losing value. We are indeed faced with a piece of melodic punk of the highest quality, supported by the typical rusted sound of guitars. The contrast is striking.
“(When You Wake) You're Still in a Dream” does even better, accelerating the pace, raising the adrenaline with a perfect guitar riff. Here, it paints with the bright red of punk, with strokes that are abrupt yet graceful, in a sort of further ramification of the punk idea, culminating in a whirlwind of sweetness and visceral anger. “You Never Should” is a furious and splendid ride through icy lands, still marked by an almost hardcore speed.
“Feed Me With Your Kiss” follows the path of the aforementioned tracks, with a greater contrast of music and singing, here unbalanced and psychotic. We begin to see the colors mix.
“Sueisfine” makes us lose our bearings, combining speed, hypnosis, violence, and a sweet melody.
The group’s preferred colors are now well outlined, yet the finishing touch is still missing. Nonetheless, the result remains excellent.
The album’s absolute masterpiece is perhaps “Nothing Much to Lose”, with its insistent, continually ascending rhythm, splendid melody, and those sudden hysterical shifts that explode without warning, only to vanish immediately. Angelic voices and noise fumes accompany the track, which combines formal refinement with simplicity in execution.
Where we began, we end. “I Can See it (but I Can't Feel It)” is a drunken ballad, deliberately burdened by a wall of distorted guitars.

In conclusion, “Isn’t Anything” carries with it all the seeds that will bear fruit in 1991, yet it maintains its distinctive profile. Deafening noises, melodic sweetness, punk, and psychedelia are the fundamental bases of this unsurpassable crucible of sounds, an entwining panting of piercing distortions and vocal brilliance. A psychedelic and virulent vision of our world.