Loveless is the second studio album by English-Irish rock band My Bloody Valentine.
It was released on 4 November 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Sire Records.
The album was recorded between February 1989 and September 1991, with vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields leading sessions and experimenting with guitar vibrato techniques, tuning systems, samplers, and meticulous production methods.
The band cycled through nineteen different studios and several engineers during the album’s prolonged recording, with its production cost rumoured to have reached £250,000.
Preceded by the EP’s Glider (1990) and Tremolo (1991), Loveless peaked at number 24 on the UK Albums Chart, and was widely praised by critics for its sonic innovations and Shields’ “virtual reinvention of the guitar”.
However, after its release, Creation owner Alan McGee dropped the band from the label, as he found Shields too difficult to work with, a factor alleged to have contributed to the label’s eventual bankruptcy.
My Bloody Valentine struggled to record a follow-up to the album and broke up in 1997, making Loveless their last full-length release until m b v in 2013.
Since its release, Loveless has been widely cited by critics as one of the greatest albums of the 1990’s, a landmark work of the shoegazing sub-genre, and as a significant influence on various subsequent artists.
In 2012, it was reissued as a two-CD set, including remastered tracks and a previously unreleased half-inch analogue tape version, and peaked on several international charts.
In 2013, Loveless was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry.
Rolling Stone placed the album at 219 in its 2002 list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, while Pitchfork listed it as the greatest album of the 1990’s.
My Bloody Valentine are a rock band formed in Dublin in 1983.
Since 1987, its lineup has consisted of founding members Kevin Shields (vocals, guitar, sampler) and Colm Ó Cíosóig (drums, sampler), with Bilinda Butcher (vocals, guitar) and Debbie Googe (bass).
Their music is best known for its merging of dissonant guitar textures, and unorthodox production techniques.
They helped to pioneer the alternative rock sub-genre known as shoe-gazing during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Following several unsuccessful early releases and membership changes, My Bloody Valentine signed to Creation Records in 1988.
The band released several successful EP’s and the albums Isn’t Anything (1988) and Loveless (1991) on the label; the latter is often described as their magnum opus and one of the best albums of the 1990’s.
However, they were dropped by Creation after its release due to the album’s extensive production costs.
In 1992, the band signed to Island Records and recorded several albums worth of unreleased material, remaining largely inactive.
Googe and Ó Cíosóig left the band in 1995, and were followed by Butcher in 1997.
Unable to complete a follow-up to Loveless, Shields isolated himself and, in his own words, “went crazy”.
In 2007, he announced that he had reunited with his band-mates, and My Bloody Valentine subsequently embarked on a world tour.
Their long-delayed third studio album, m b v, was released in 2013.
Tracklist
A1 Only Shallow 4:17
A2 Loomer 2:38
A3 Touched 0:56
A4 To Here Knows When 5:31
A5 When You Sleep 4:12
B1 I Only Said 5:34
B2 Come In Alone 3:58
B3 Sometimes 5:19
B4 Blown A Wish 3:36
C1 What You Want 5:33
C2 Soon 6:58
C3 Sugar
D1 Swallow
D2 Honey Power
D3 Moon Song
D4 Instrumental No. 2
Current (members):
Kevin Shields – vocals, guitars, sampler (1983–1997, 2007–present)
Colm Ó Cíosóig – drums, sampler (1983–1995, 2007–present)
Bilinda Butcher – vocals, guitars (1987–1997, 2007–present)
Debbie Googe – bass (1983–1995, 2007–present)
Discography:
Isn’t Anything (1988)
Loveless (1991)
m b v (2013)
