My Top 10 Albums of the 90s: (10) Loveless - My Bloody Valentine

[This is the first in a series of ten posts. The list'll be revealed as entries are written.]

Loveless is an album like few others: one tied inextricably to a genre by people who have little interest in the rest of said genre, and one whose actual admirers seem to be vastly outnumbered by those content to rave about its “massive influence”  without discussing the music of which it’s comprised. So while it’s easy to talk about Loveless as the apogee of shoegaze, or to get lost in the album’s enormous production costs and the toll it took on its record label (Creation), it’s more instructive to examine it for what it is at its core: a meticulously constructed, imposingly dense, yet deceptively accessible suite of ethereal noise. Loveless was the brainchild of Irish guitarist Kevin Shields, a perfectionist whose obsessive in-studio tendencies were exacerbated by the illness of drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig, who was rendered largely unable to contribute to the recordings. Shields’ love of tightly interweaving arrangements would lead him to layer track upon track of sampled drums and heavily distorted guitar, lending the album an almost tidal ambience that, remarkably, retains its freshness 20 years later. The key to the album’s appeal, though, is Shields’ melodic sense – especially, his gift for creating melodies so gentle that they strengthen the album’s most thunderously piercing moments by contrast (and vice versa). This can particularly be traced to the vocal tracks, handled by Shields and guitarist Bilinda Butcher. In both cases, the highly feminine vocals – softened in studio to the point that they’re more instrumental than communicative – float dreamily through the sea of guitars, to an almost Impressionistic effect. This carefully assembled haze is heightened by the ease with which all of Loveless’ tracks flow into one another, and the cohesion it features despite the presence of at least three strong singles (“Only Shallow,” “To Here Knows When,” and “Soon”). In the end, Loveless proves to be as impressive an album as it is a landmark, and deserves to be experienced on its own rewarding terms.