Modern Classics: #2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

What else can you say about Loveless that hasn’t been said before, that we will have to see, you can find out about all the myth making behind it else where, I think I will concentrate on the music. My Bloody Valentines classic album is getting a re-mastered, re-release soon and I’m not sure why to be honest. As it took them so long to make it perfect in the first place, why go back and do more to it. I haven’t heard the re-issue so I will stick to the good old copy that I have been playing for quite some time.

For me Loveless is the peak of the fuzzy shoegaze genre I’m yet to see it topped. The songs may all sound pretty damn similar but that doesn’t matter this album is perfect. The album sleeve artwork sums up the sound in visual form, with its pink washed out fuzzy picture of a guitar. Loveless is a soup of melancholy distorted layers of guitar and loops of sound. Deep at its heart are brilliant pop songs, which shine through to make this album stand out way above the rest. There is such depth and range in the sound here, My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields worked so hard to get the perfect sound on Loveless. I love the way the high-pitched tremolo guitar sounds cut through the fuzzy soup of dense noise. The lyrics are deep in the mix so they can be barely heard. The male and female vocals are so brilliantly together, and add to the emotion of the loveless theme. Each song is all at once some how vague and distant yet filled with emotion and sound.

The album as a whole is a beauty to behold I’m so in love with Loveless, but a few tunes really stand out for me. Loomer, Sometimes and Soon are perfect songs in every way. Loomer is an early track on the album and sets the mood brilliantly with drones and wonderful breathy singing, it has a woozy feel to it like its your under water. Sometimes is a tender grungy number with a melody so great at its heart that I find it so irresistible it almost moves me to tears. Soon is the albums closer and it is almost a dance floor banger. You can hear the indie-dance styling from the era all put through My Bloody Valentines sonic mashing machine. It’s a sunny one to finish the album off with.

The legacy of Loveless is far reaching and the re-issue will hopefully touch yet more people with its beauty. In even more exciting news My Bloody Valentine have reformed are touring and will hopefully release a third album this year. I have my fingers crossed so hard for this to happen, and if it does it could be the only album this year to top Atlas Sound and No Age. Long live Loveless the sonic masterpiece and sure-fire modern classic.