Loveless by My Bloody Valentine - A Thirty Year Anniversary Reflection
by Laila Brustin ‘25
The cover of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, released on this day in 1991.
On November 4th, 1991, My Bloody Valentine’s second studio album Loveless was released. This quintessential shoe-gaze album made leaps and bounds with its experimental guitar techniques, creative mixing, and complete abstractness. Having taken two years to record and an estimated £250,000 to create, this album has been critically acclaimed since its release. Ira Robbins from Rolling Stone wrote that “Loveless oozes a sonic balm that first embraces and then softly pulverizes the frantic stress of life." Innovative and influential, thirty years later it is still a well-loved album, and one that has personally grown on me.
My Bloody Valentine consists of Kevin Shields (vocals, guitar, sampler) and Colm Ó Cíosóig (drums, sampler), with Bilinda Butcher (vocals, guitar) and Debbie Googe (bass). No part of the album was ever done without experimentation or striving for perfection. In this time consuming work the band found themselves with an entirely new sound.
Loveless developed in ways which pushed boundaries. The distinctive guitar sound was created in a simple but creative way. Rather than using chorus or flanger pedals like other shoe-gaze bands at the time, the group created the “glide guitar” technique. Kevin Shields developed the technique by wavering the guitar’s tremolo bar so the strings bend slightly, managing to take the sound in and out of tune. The band also enhanced their album with large amounts of layering. For example, in the track “When You Sleep,” Shields could not seem to get the perfect vocal take. As a solution, the group used 12 or 13 of the takes all at once. My Bloody Valentine also had to act resourcefully. Their drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig was suffering from physical ailments at the time. He was only able to perform two of the tracks in full. The group sampled basic drum patterns of his in order to form the remaining beats heard in each track.
The most played tracks include the intense opener “Only Shallow”, calmer “When You Sleep”, and intimate “Sometimes”. Other outstanding tracks include “Blown a Wish'', which showcases feminine vocals and melodic instrumentals. “Touched” is haunting and transitions beautifully into “To Here Knows When”. As eloquently said by Wellesley student Evie deVos ‘25, “It makes me feel like there is a little monkey in the back of my brain.” The US tour of Loveless was rated one of the loudest concerts in history by Mojo. The group played continuously at high noise levels, turning adrenaline filled crowds into calm swaying ones.
On a more personal note, Loveless has been growing on me for the past seven months. I had no idea what I was getting myself into during my first listen. I expected something closer to My Chemical Romance or Green Day because of the band name. It was very different from what I had imagined. Instead of a punk or emo sound, I was greeted with a blurriness and intensity. Even when the music was overwhelming or difficult to listen to, I was still taken in. The vocals had a transfixing quality, the guitar is mush, it’s calming. Since my first listen this album has become nothing but magical. What once seemed monotonous has revealed itself to be incredibly detailed and thought out. It may be “vacuum” shoe-gaze music, but the emotion it sparks and comfort it brings is immeasurable.
