For the Loveless of Valentine, it's just a walk!
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(Hey, if Anna can say "Oh my Kapranos", I can say this. It's MY soft-swear, and I like it!)About 10PM tonight, I decided I was tired of sitting in front of the PC's, so I grabbed the dog leash, and took the dog on a walk. Of course, the Gigabeat came with us as well. As I powered it up, I realized that The Smiths' Louder Than Bombs was finishing, and my heart leapt as I realized that My Bloody Valentine's Loveless would be next. Oh boy, some quality time with my favorite album.
To back up a touch, let me tell you about how I came to love this album.Back in 1990, right after returning from my mission, I purchased a used copy of the Sire compilation Just Say Da. After digesting the standard Depeche Mode remix and assorted odds and ends, I got my first listen to "Soon". At first, it was too much, too out-there for me, but upon repeated listens, it grew on me in a big way. It became my favorite track on the compilation, and I would frequently skip forward to hear it.That remained my only taste of My Bloody Valentine, until word reached my ears that their full-length album would be released. Unfortunately, the record stores in Tucson seemed unable to keep the album on stock. It wasn't until February 1992, on a trip to the Tower Records in Tempe, that I was able, at last, to acquire Loveless.Once again, like "Soon", my first listens to Loveless were rough; it was too weird, too out-there. I tended to cling to songs like "Soon", "When You Sleep", and "What You Want", tracks that at least felt like rock songs, in that they had a discernible structure. Again, though, the album grew on me. I became so attached that I started listening to it, at high volume, every morning before going to school. Melissa HATED that.So, for fifteen years now, I've been attached to Loveless like few other albums. Favorites come and favorites go, but Loveless has always been there, ready to go at a moment's notice.If you've seen the movie 24 Hour Party People, there's a scene where Tony Wilson and Joy Division are driving through an industrial area in Manchester, and they're listening to "She's Lost Control". The realization hits them that the sound of that song fits the environment perfectly, and it's a wonderful musical epiphany. For reasons that I cannot explain, I have that kind of reaction while walking at night to Loveless. I had it again tonight; as soon as the tick-tick-tick-tick-BOOM of "Only Shallow" hits, I'm transported away. It no longer matters that there is no discernible structure to "To Here Knows When", that I can only pick out the occasional word sung by Kevin Shields or Bilinda Butcher, or that the drums are a bit anemic, a result of Colm O'Coisig being sick during the recording of Loveless.So, may I humbly recommend that, if you own Loveless and aren't yet sold on it, take it for a walk, and listen to it in order. It might just grow on you, too.
To back up a touch, let me tell you about how I came to love this album.Back in 1990, right after returning from my mission, I purchased a used copy of the Sire compilation Just Say Da. After digesting the standard Depeche Mode remix and assorted odds and ends, I got my first listen to "Soon". At first, it was too much, too out-there for me, but upon repeated listens, it grew on me in a big way. It became my favorite track on the compilation, and I would frequently skip forward to hear it.That remained my only taste of My Bloody Valentine, until word reached my ears that their full-length album would be released. Unfortunately, the record stores in Tucson seemed unable to keep the album on stock. It wasn't until February 1992, on a trip to the Tower Records in Tempe, that I was able, at last, to acquire Loveless.Once again, like "Soon", my first listens to Loveless were rough; it was too weird, too out-there. I tended to cling to songs like "Soon", "When You Sleep", and "What You Want", tracks that at least felt like rock songs, in that they had a discernible structure. Again, though, the album grew on me. I became so attached that I started listening to it, at high volume, every morning before going to school. Melissa HATED that.So, for fifteen years now, I've been attached to Loveless like few other albums. Favorites come and favorites go, but Loveless has always been there, ready to go at a moment's notice.If you've seen the movie 24 Hour Party People, there's a scene where Tony Wilson and Joy Division are driving through an industrial area in Manchester, and they're listening to "She's Lost Control". The realization hits them that the sound of that song fits the environment perfectly, and it's a wonderful musical epiphany. For reasons that I cannot explain, I have that kind of reaction while walking at night to Loveless. I had it again tonight; as soon as the tick-tick-tick-tick-BOOM of "Only Shallow" hits, I'm transported away. It no longer matters that there is no discernible structure to "To Here Knows When", that I can only pick out the occasional word sung by Kevin Shields or Bilinda Butcher, or that the drums are a bit anemic, a result of Colm O'Coisig being sick during the recording of Loveless.So, may I humbly recommend that, if you own Loveless and aren't yet sold on it, take it for a walk, and listen to it in order. It might just grow on you, too.
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