Ride-Going Blank Again

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 9/8/08.

Following the critical success of 1990's full-length debut release Nowhere, Ride was already riding a wave of critical acclaim as the shoegaze genre was in full-bloom with bands like Lush, Chapterhouse, and Slowdive releasing records that blended noise-pop and dream-pop. Then in November 1991, My Bloody Valentine raised the bar for the genre and pop music all together with Loveless which many claims to be the definitive album of the genre. Ride meanwhile, after releasing the Today Forever EP in March 1991 collaborated with My Bloody Valentine's engineer Alan Moulder, who had also been collaborating with another shoegaze act, Curve. In the fall of 1991, Ride and Alan Moulder collaborated on the band’s second release entitled Going Blank Again.

Produced by Alan Moulder with songs each written by their singers/guitarists Mark Gardener and Andy Bell. Going Blank Again is an album that takes Ride’s dream-like shoegaze sound of Nowhere with broader production and noisier palettes that pays tribute to the burgeoning grunge music scene in America. With the thunderous rhythm section of bassist Steve Queralt and drummer Laurence Colbert, the album pushes the band's sound to new limits as they also go for ambitious song structures and noises. Though lacks the richness and dream-like angst of Nowhere, Going Blank Again is still an excellent release from Ride.

The album opener is the eight-minute, eighteen second opus Leave Them All Behind with its wobbly bass line, mid-tempo rhythms, and warbling guitar shimmers as a blazing solo emerges. Mark Gardener leads the way in singing the song with its hazy lyrics as he's joined by Andy Bell on vocals. With its smooth, driving rhythm and blazing guitar noises, it's definitely a great opener for the entire album. The single Twisterella is a bouncy, upbeat song with thumping rhythms and washy guitar arpeggios as Mark Gardener sings with his smooth, cool vocal style as Bell joins him in the chorus. With ringing chimes and percussions, it's a wonderful pop song with ringing guitar melodies and dream-like lyrics led by Gardener. Not Fazed is a more rocking song with driving guitar riffs and a smooth, upbeat rhythm as Andy Bell leads the way with his more evocative, dream-like vocal style. Joined by Gardener on vocals, it's a more rocking track with arpeggio riffs and washy guitars.

Chrome Waves is an acoustic-led track filled with mid-tempo, thumping rhythms and dreamy, evocative synthesizers in the background. With Bell singing in a haunting vocal style and Gardener singing in the background, it's an excellent track led by Alan Moulder's crisp, wall-to-wall production. Mouse Trap is an upbeat song led by a washy guitar riff before going into a thumping, driving rhythm led by Steve Queralt's low-sounding yet bouncy bass line. With its blazing guitar washes and rollicking rhythm, Bell and Gardener sing the song's dream-like lyrics after two-minutes of playing only to play once again. It's a good song but not a great one. Time Of Her Time is another upbeat song with blazing guitars and rollicking beats as Andy Bell sings the song with his hazy lyrics and dream-like vocals. With warbling guitar solos and washy riffs, it's another song that's good but falls short a bit.

Cool Your Boots is a six-minute, mid-tempo, guitar-blazing song that features some great production work from Alan Moulder and Bell's evocative vocals. With its driving guitar and smooth, thundering beats, it's an excellent song filled with a soft, synthesizer background that does get a bit long during its instrumental coda. Making Judy Smile is a mid-tempo yet bouncy rocker led by thumping rhythms, a melodic bass line, and washy guitars led by Bell's smooth vocals. With ringing guitar melodies flourishing, it's a wonderful little pop with its flourishes showing they can create unique songs. Time Machine starts off with a one-minute intro of wobbly bass and drums until it becomes a full-sounding track with a more driving tempo, swift guitar washes, and acoustic guitar plucks. Mark Gardener sings the song through his evocative vocals with Bell joining him in this slow yet melodic song that isn't very memorable.

The album closer OX4 is a seven-minute epic filled with slow yet warbling guitar chimes as it turns into a full-on sound with noisy guitar background, arpeggio chimes, and a thumping rhythm. With Gardener singing lead with Bell in the background, the song goes into a simple, mid-tempo track with guitar washes and shimmering synthesizers layered by Alan Moulder's crisp production. The track is definitely one of the band's career highlights. In the 2001 remastered version of the album comes four additional tracks including the album's title track from the Twisterella single. The mid-tempo yet melodic, arpeggio-chime driven track is one of the band's simpler songs with the harmonic vocals of Gardener and Bell as they lead the way for this chiming, dream-like song.

The next two bonus tracks also come from the Twisterella single. First is Howard Hughes, a rich ballad with washy, dream-like acoustic and electric guitars followed by a wobbly bass line and Mark Gardener's soothing vocals. With layers of shimmering and arpeggio guitars, it's one of the band's richest B-sides. Stampede is a mid-tempo song with arpeggio and blazing guitars with rollicking beats and slow bass lines as Andy Bell sings the song with his dream-like wail as it features a shimmering chorus led by its guitar. The final bonus track from the Leave Them All Behind single is the near, eleven-minute instrumental epic Grasshopper. The track starts off as an instrumental jam with thundering beats, wobbly bass lines, and layers of guitar ranging from blazing to rich arpeggios. With guitars blazing and making noises, it's one of the band's great highlights in this jam-like instrumental piece.

Upon its release in March 1992, the album achieved critical acclaim as well as a degree of commercial success. Yet, the band was unable to break through into the U.S. while the shoegaze musical scene was going into a huge decline. A year later, plans for a third album were in delay due to tension between Mark Gardener and Andy Bell. In 1994, the band released Carnival of Light to mixed reviews as the album signified a change in sound with psychedelia that also had dashes of the current Brit-pop music scene. Two years later, the band released their final album Tarantula to poor reviews a year after the band had called it quits. Today, Ride remains one of the most celebrated bands of the shoegaze scene with Andy Bell being the most-profiled as he currently plays bass for the popular British band Oasis.

Going Blank Again is an excellent album from Ride. Though doesn't reach the heights of their debut album Nowhere. Fans of the band and of the genre will no doubt consider this one of the band’s finest despite a few moments that don't live up to expectations. Yet, it's the kind of record that shows that a band like Ride can and could overcome the sophomore slump. In the end, Going Blank Again is an album worthy to listen to from one of Britain's overlooked acts.

Ride Albums: Nowhere - Smile - (Carnival of Light) - (Tarantula) - (OX4: The Best of Ride)

(C) thevoid99 2011

Ride-Nowhere

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 9/3/08.

Following the releases of the band's first two EPs Ride and Play, Ride were becoming the critics darling in the burgeoning shoegaze music scene. Along with bands like My Bloody Valentine, Lush, Slowdive, and Chapterhouse, Ride were the most famous next to My Bloody Valentine. In the early fall of 1990, Ride released the Fall EP to more critical acclaim as the four tracks on that record would end up being in the band's first full-length released entitled Nowhere.

Written and performed by Ride and produced by Mark Waterman, Nowhere is an album filled with Ride's swirling guitar work, break-pace rhythms, the dream-like vocals of singer/guitarist Mark Gardener and guitarist/vocalist Andy Bell. With a unique rhythm section in the form of bassist Steve Queralt and drummer Laurence Colbert, the album would be the definitive sound of Ride. The result is one of the genre's most landmark recordings.

The six-minute album opener Seagull arrives with Steve Queralt's bouncy bass lines and Laurence Colbert's cymbal tapping before going through the blazing, fast-paced rhythm and blaring twin guitars of Mark Gardener and Andy Bell. With its washy guitars and fuzz-drone noises, Gardener and Bell sings the song's dream-like lyrics through their evocative harmonies that matches the noisy guitars that swirl through the song. Kaleidoscope is a more upbeat song with chiming guitar washes and upbeat, pounding rhythms with bouncy melodies as Gardener and Bell sing through the song's psychedelic, imagery-laden lyrics. With its droning and shimmering guitar chimes and fuzz, it's a more accessible song than its opener.

In A Different Place is a slow yet thunderous song led by Colbert's bass-pounding drums and guitar arpeggio chimes as Andy Bell sings the song with his smooth, dream-like vocal. With a chorus filled with blazing, noise-driven guitar washes, the song emphasizes on its dream-like verse and noise-laden chorus structure. Polar Bear is a shimmering, heart-pounding song led by its washy guitars and crashing cymbals as Mark Gardener sings with a more lower-octave tenor than Bell's higher-pitched dream-like vocals filled with descriptive, dream-like lyrics. With the bass and drums intensifying as is the chiming guitar swirls, the song becomes a full-on jam as it crosses between dream-like and noise. Dreams Like Burn, from the Fall EP, is a powerful, mid-tempo song with Colbert's hard-hitting drums and fierce guitar work layered with arpeggio and blazing noise. Led by Bell's dream-like vocals and dark lyrics, the song starts out dreamy until a noisy instrumental of guitars come in.

Decay starts off with Colbert's pounding bass drum that's followed by a guitar melody and Queralt's bass line as Bell sings through the song's dark lyrics with his evocative vocals. Then the guitars blazes with Bell and Gardener singing the chorus as it becomes more intense in its performance and presentation. Paralysed is a dreamier, arpeggio-laden song with acoustic flourishes and slow, thunderous rhythms as Mark Gardener sings the song's hazy lyrics led by his vocals. With its washy, noise-driven guitars in the chorus and instrumental coda, it's another example of the band's blend of dream-like textures and noise. The famed single Vapour Trail with its washy guitars, break-beat rhythms, and Mark Gardener's evocative vocals is one of the album's highlights. With its dreamy, descriptive lyrics, it's easily one of the best songs of the genre that includes some bouncy bass lines and a cello solo in the background.

The next three tracks come from the Fall EP with Taste being the first as the bass-pounding song with upbeat rhythms and swirling guitars lead the way. With Bell's more high-pitched, dream-like vocals, the song is filled with rollicking beats by Colbert and twin guitar attacks from Bell and Gardener. Here And Now is a mid-tempo track with rumbling beats and arpeggio-laden guitars with a harmonica playing in the background. With Gardener's vocals driving the song with its smooth, dream-like presentation, it's a great song with its layers of melodies and jam-like musicianship. The album's closer is its brooding title track arrives with its slow yet noise-laden guitars as it plays in a dark tone with Gardener's eerie vocals. With its soft yet hollow beats and low bass lines along with shimmering, ringing guitars. It's a haunting closer for the entire album.

In the 2001 remastered version comes four bonus tracks from the Today Forever EP that followed Nowhere. Produced by Alan Moulder, famous for his work on My Bloody Valentine's Loveless album, the EP starts off with Unfamiliar. The song starts off with bouncy rhythms and hard-hitting snares with shimmering and arpeggio guitars layered with Alan Moulder's crisp production. With Andy Bell's dream-like vocals, the song with its hazy lyric is the epitome of dreamy-noisy pop music thanks in part to Moulder's production. Sennen is a slower, melodic-laden track with washy guitars and smoother beats as it plays like an acoustic track of sorts. With its dream-like guitar washes and the evocative harmonies of Bell and Gardener, it's an excellent track from the band.

Beneath is an upbeat, rumbling track with bouncy melodies and rhythms with Bell and Gardener singing the song with chiming guitar melodies as Colbert's drums pound and rollick through. With its dreamy lyrics, the song is filled with the swirling guitars and washy performance. The closing track Today is a six-and-a-half minute ballad with washy guitars and Gardener's dream-like vocals leading the way with its hazy, elegant lyrics. With a droning guitar solo in the background, the rest of the instrument comes in as it intensifies with its hypnotic, dream-like presentation.

Released in October of 1990, the album was a critical favorite as it was considered to be the great album of the shoegaze album until a year later when My Bloody Valentine released Loveless. Today, Nowhere is considered to be one of shoegaze's finest moments as it's often considered to be the best shoegaze album ever made that wasn't by My Bloody Valentine. Fans of the shoegaze genre must pick up Nowhere for its swirling guitar work, dream-like presentation, and rollicking musicianship. This is definitely the best album Ride has ever put as they remain one of Britain's most overlooked acts.

Ride Albums: Going Blank Again - Smile - (Carnival of Light) - (Tarantula) - (OX4: The Best of Ride)

(C) thevoid99 2011

Ride-Smile

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 9/2/08.

If the term shoegaze, a genre that combines elements of dream-pop with noise rock and space rock, is mentioned. The one that band that's often talked about in that conversation is My Bloody Valentine. With only two full-length albums to their credit from 1988-1991, the legendary Irish quartet led by Kevin Shields were one of the most acclaimed and enigmatic groups as the band had recently reunited. Though My Bloody Valentine is the most famous band of that genre. There were several other bands that also helped define the genre such as Slowdive, Lush, Chapterhouse, and most of all, Ride. Formed in 1988 in Oxford, England by singer/guitarist Mark Gardener and guitarist/vocalist Andy Bell along with bassist Steve Queralt and drummer Laurence Colbert. Ride were signed to the prestigious indie label Creation Records, home to My Bloody Valentine.

In 1990, the band released three acclaimed EPs: Ride, Fall, and Play. Play was the third EP whose tracks later appear in the band's acclaimed 1990 debut album Nowhere that was later followed by the Today Forever EP. In 1992 after the release of their second full-length album Going Blank Again, Creation Records released a compilation of the band's first two EPs, Ride and Fall, entitled Smile. Written and produced by Ride, the Smile compilation is an eight-track album combining the band's first two EPs to display their dreamy yet distorted rock sound that provided a different approach to the shoegaze genre. The first half focuses on Ride while the second on Fall. The result is one of the most essential records of the genre.

The album opener Chelsea Girl is an upbeat, guitar-driving song with Steve Queralt's pounding bass line, Laurence Colbert's fast, hard-hitting drums, and the twin guitar drive of Mark Gardener and Andy Bell, the latter of whom sings with Gardener joining in for the chorus. Filled with psychedelic-driven lyrics and swirling guitar drones, it's one of the band's definitive songs. Drive Blind arrives with arpeggio-like guitar riffs and then a driving bass and guitar drone with mid-tempo drums as Mark Gardener sings the song with its descriptive yet hazy lyrics through Gardener's soft yet dream-like vocals. With the twin guitar layering of distorted drone and swirling arpeggios, it's a wonderful concoction of rock.

All I Can See is a bouncy, mid-tempo song that starts off slow with fuzzy arpeggio-chiming guitar melodies layered with droning riffs as Queralt's bass start to pound with Colbert's drum playing. With its swirling guitars, Gardner's dream-like vocals, and indistinct yet hazy lyrics. The song shows the band's knack for psychedelia mixed in with washy shoegaze-style guitars. Close My Eyes is a slow yet driving track led by Queralt's bass line and droning guitars as Gardner sings the song's dream-like lyrics. With its smooth, dreamy presentation and underpinning of layered, fuzzy guitars, it's another excellent song from the band. The second half begins with Like A Daydream is an upbeat, swirling track with rollicking drums, smooth bass lines, and layers of washy and arpeggio guitars with Bell and Gardener singing the song in their evocative harmonies. With its dream-like lyrics, the song plays to the style of dream-pop but with droning, siren-like guitar tracks.

Silver is a slow yet thunderous track filled with hard-hitting drums, wobbly bass lines, and drone-wailing guitars as Mark Gardener leads the song with his eerie, low vocals to the song's desperate lyrics. Though the song's production is a bit muddled, it works to convey the sound of its guitars and pounding drums. Furthest Sense is an upbeat song filled with driving guitars mixed in with arpeggio melodies and pounding rhythms as Bell takes control with his higher-pitched yet dream-like vocals. With its crashing, pounding beats and spacey lyrics, it's one of the stand out cuts on the record. The album closer Perfect Time is an upbeat song with fast-paced instrumental breaks with rollicking drums and driving guitars as Bell and Gardener sing the song with their dream-like harmonies and angst-ridden lyrics. The song slows down by the end of the first half with wailing guitar fuzz drones and arpeggio melodies as it turns into an instrumental jam filled with spurts of feedback.

Smile is an excellent record from Ride. Despite a few muddled moments in the production, the record is an excellent compilation of the band's first two EPs. Fans of the group will want this to experience Ride in their glory years of 1990-1992. For shoegaze enthusiasts, it's one of those records that showed the genre in full bloom. In the end, Smile is an excellent, dreamy compilation from Ride.

Ride Albums: Nowhere - Going Blank Again - (Carnival of Light) - (Tarantula) - (OX4: The Best of Ride)

(C) thevoid99 2011