Review:

on 2011-08-10 CharlesMartel Said:

I can honestly say I don't know. Maybe it is me after all but I wish I could understand the appeal of this. I have listened to this dozens of times. I have read the reviews on many websites and heard the praise from the opinions of many others, and I still can't figure it out. I am down to two choices, however. Either I am stupid, or there are a lot of people who like this because other people like this and everyone is, somewhat sheep-like, heading in the same direction.

Let me begin with a premise. If I like a piece of music, I like it. If I don't, I don't. Now that sounds deceptively simple, but it isn't. You see, there is a lot of music which you should like, and a lot of music which you shouldn't like. To like what you shouldn't, and dislike what you should is really unacceptable. A few years ago I noticed, when U2's "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" came out, there was a massive rush on to try and slag off the album largely, it seemed, out of a personal dislike for Bono. Now I found Bono as much of a prat as the next person, but I really don't want to waste my time jumping on a bandwagon of haters because hating is the in thing. As it turned out, I didn't like "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" - but that was because I didn't like it.

What is my point? Well, it is simple. There are, out there in the music loving community (and always have been), a possibly large number of people who, for whatever reason, have decided that they are the arbiters of musical taste. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not going to disagree with them for the sake of it. Listen, I have written my own diatribes against the inoffensively offensive music of boy bands, girl bands, trailer trash, posers, pop-pretty-prats put up by fat cat record moguls to exploit the gullibility of pre-pubescent girls. However, when it comes to what I like and what I don't like, and I take you back to my original premise, then that decision is mine and mine alone.

So, I can admit to owning singles by Abba, Barry Manilow and Dusty Springfield. I can admit this because I like them. I can also admit to not caring too much for albums such as "Destroyer" by Kiss, "London Calling" by the Clash, "Tales from Topographic Oceans" by Yes and even "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Truth is that I don't really like them (some I positively hate). I know that these are all highly rated albums in the opinion of many critics and fans alike, but I don't care for them. Does that make me a freak? Does that make me a pariah? Is my opinion to be shunned and abhorred because of it? Guess what, I don't care that much for Talk Talk's "Spirit of Eden" either!!

So, just what has all this got to do with "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine, which is after all why I am here? Well, when you listen to what people say about it you will come to the conclusion that this is a brilliant album. Yet to my mind, it is not. The shoegazers were, at times, a little too intense for their own good - that's why they got the name. Their music and their stance bordered (borders?) on pretension. "Loveless" is just such an album. Don't get me wrong, the album has its moments. There are parts of it I even like. But as a whole, it is not that good. It is not in my top 100 albums. I find it difficult to listen to. I find it obscure and almost intentionally opaque. I find it descends at times into an exercise in alienating the listener.

Yet it gets these fantastic plaudits from everyone. So back to my question. Am I stupid or what? Maybe, but not this time. A few people like this. Great. No problem with that. But those people, perhaps, have influenced the others because their opinions are seen as being more credible, more in tune with the 'real thing'. The result, a lot of other people rush to like this album because the in-crowd like it. Suddenly, "Loveless" is the best album of the year and people rave about it. But be honest with yourself. Is it really that good?

I have come to the conclusion that the Emperor has no clothes.
Rating: 4/10

on 2008-06-04 SolitaryMan Said:

This is certainly a classic. I had a time when I listened to it constantly, and it got old for me after awhile but it's always stuck.
Not Rated