Saturday, February 9, 2013

REVIEW: My Bloody Valentine - M B V

9.5 9.75 out of 10


I (amongst many other Shoegazers) honestly never thought I would see this day come to be, I kinda figured "Chinese Democracy II" would be out first. Then one day (late Dec.) My Bloody Valentine post something on their facebook; "On 21-12-12 we finished mastering the new album!", ..Kevin had promised this for years now. In-fact as you all know it's been 20+ years since 'Loveless' came out. A little bit after the first post Mr. Shields teased us with "The record may or may not be out in the next 2-3 days..." Side Note: If F5 was ever a lonely/overlooked key it finally had it's glory day. I checked, everyone checked over and over again, 4 days pass, 5 days, 6 days.. Late Saturday afternoon: "We are preparing to go live with the new album/website this evening. We will make an announcement as soon as its up." ?!! Checking, checking, checking, listening to classic My Bloody Valentine material while doing so of course... checking, checking.. boom. Midnight = new My Bloody Valentine album.. Don't celebrate just yet.

If ever an album has been hyped in my life time, 'M B V' would take the cake, I honestly can't see myself witnessing anything as "large/important" as this release for quite possibly the rest of my life (I hope that's not the case, but man I can't imagine..). 20 years in the making?? F$%^ IT BETTER BE GOOD! So it's midnight:05.. why hasn't my download begun? Well, to torture us just a little bit longer, MBV & Co. forgot to look into overloaded bandwidth errors..(those happen when everyone bum-rushes a website at once) I got into the site, I got to the store (I was there right away), but that's as far as I could take it.. The site crashed, it crashed hard. A couple hours later into the night, while witnessing/participating in one of the funniest comment threads in facebook history, the album was out but nearly impossible to acquire. It felt like a "community" of happy-shocked, (kinda) patient believing in the same thing, group of people -- all waiting together. hope, you got to participate because it really was fun;] After all the nails from both of my hands have been chewed off and anger has subdued into toxic passive aggressive a break in the chain FINALLY happens.. I get in, I log on, I purchase..(immediate download with) a vinyl copy.. This can''t be real, this can't be happening, the day came! I'm hyped/pumped & I feel like I'm in some sort of surreal moment in my life (maybe?)..maybe, am I too pumped? (no.)

First thing's first, get all the comparisons out of your head, don't ask yourself "is this 'the next Loveless'?", just listen to this album and believe that My Bloody Valentine actually had (at least) one more thing they wanted to share with you. I'm not going to tell you if this is their best release or worst release, it simply IS them. To be honest though, 'M B V' definitely is the next logical step after 'Loveless'. Is 20+ years pushing it? Yes, but we all know the kind of luck Mr. Shields has. The fans waited patiently (what else could we do), a reunion happened + some re-releases here and there = they made a lot of money. They spent it (an absurd amount of money) on new studio equipment/audio toys. The vision has always been there, the means to do so have always been in question. So maybe 20 years was the only way to do this right? This debate will rage on I'm sure. No matter what, it was their baby all along, when they felt it was aged properly enough for the world to be blessed by it's awesome powers they would release it amongst the hopeful. (--woah. That sounds sort of biblical). They wanted it (their "holy opus") to sound a particular way, and I'm pretty sure they did it in such a fashion. There are lot of familiar tones, and sounds from the previous MBV era; unique/testing the listeners tolerance guitar distortions (so many new explorations--love it!), a few more "in-the-front keyboard riffs, the vocals sound as amazing as ever, the drumming is perfect & complex, it's a lot louder too, every element is exactly what I would want from a new MBV release. If I had any complaints; 1. The artwork, I'm hoping there's an explanation on the way. 2. Although almost an hour long, I wish there were 2-3 more tracks. Am I greedy sure, but I will always constantly crave/want more/new My Bloody Valentine (I can't help it, the addiction is too strong). Will this release be for any general music listener out there? No. But for fans of guitar pedals and all things perplexed-lush-androgynous (and [obviously] MBV fans), you probably won't find a better release all year long. You know exactly what you're in for, you will not be let down, they gang is back. My Bloody Valentine have delivered the goods one (last?) time. Please don't make us wait another 20 years though OK?

HIGHLY (no need to recommend this, you already own it.) RECOMMENDED.

Standout Tracks: (all of them) Only Tomorrow, Who Sees You, Is This And Yes, If I Am (stains my brain, can't get this song out..), New You, Nothing Is

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