Isn't Anything

Sounding as if fragments of crystal were being levitated into the air and whirled around to resonate at a high frequency, "All I Need&quot in a fashion that's patient and deliberate with regard to how it unfolds ;, the fifth track from "Isn't Anything" owes a debt of inspiration to one of My Bloody Valentine's musical touchstones, the Jesus and Mary Chain, as that track plays out as a slower analogue to the tunefully distorted feedback that creates the bouncy harmonics of more than several cuts on their own debut CD, "Psychocandy" . Anyone who began listening to MBV after the release of "Loveless" and expected "Isn't Anything" to match its seamless, pristine values of production is going to be in for a bit of a shock. And while you can hear the underpinnings of the most heavily, gorgeously overlayered textures so predominant on "Loveless" within the guitar work on "Isn't Anything", the, gelled, embroidered quality of that sound is nascent and the riffs punchier or much more aggressive (just listen to "Sueisfine", "Feed Me With Your Kiss", or "You Never Should" if you need any confirmation). "Soft as Snow" , the opening track combines both of these elements, though not with the glistening production that characterized "Loveless"; instead, it's a little murkier, a little heavier, and to some who have complained about the production values, muddier. "Several Girls Galore", the track that served as my introduction to the band, is perhaps a perfect example. Raw, heavy with distortion, squalling at times, and with a swirling directionality (though nowhere nearly as aggressively paced as the track that follows it, "You Never Should") underneath the sculpted quality of the cut lies a tunefulness that the band would mine to a much greater degree on "Loveless". And listening with an attentive ear (as well as a pair of quality headphones) can result in revealing newly successive wrinkles on the first few runs through the CD. "Isn't Anything" isn't a release that's designed to promote a casual listening experience. It's not party music. It could be said to more of a deconstruction of the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Cocteau Twins, or a blueprint for the shoegazing movement that would come into prominence after the release of this CD, thanks largely in part to the release OF "Isn't Anything". This is my third copy in the past 21 years, and it still is in rotation within my car CD changer. I would definitely recommend getting a copy, especially if you already own "Loveless" and are on the fence about this one.

Isn't Anything is special to me for a lot of reasons. I heard it in college, after having listened to their much more well known album Loveless several years before. This album blew me away; it didn't sound quite like the My Bloody Valentine I was familiar with, but it had a distinct, otherworldly quality that characterized MBV's later work. Songs sound more like individual creations rather than a unified body of work, and the variety of sounds is quite impressive. I was very impressed with how good the drumming and bass playing are on this album. Those two instruments were not quite as clearly defined on Loveless, but they make a much stronger presence here, and the album is all the better for it. The "shoegaze" sound was shaped with help from this record; crunching, wailing, screeching, droning guitars somehow sound as sweet as honey. They might not have quite established their iconic sound, but this band was deep in the midst of forging their identity on Isn't Anything.

After hearing a poor quality mp3 of 'lose my breath' (john peel version) show up regularly on a PSP playlist I have, I had to find the LP version. Quickly scanning through these reviews I find that nobody can get past how good 'Loveless' is to give a fresh perspective to absorb 'isn't anything' justly. So I bought 'isn't anything' and ate a large amount of cyanescens shrooms. This happened last October, and 'isn't anything' is still my favorite full length from mbv. Every song is good all the way through, with 'Loveless' I think tracks 3,4,6&7 don't compare to the rest (well #4 is just inaudible, and sounds like a vacuum cleaner). Some of the best songs are actually on their Ep's. I recognize that 'loveless' is a masterpiece, so I intentionally started in chronological order. As somebody else said "you're gonna fall in love with this band", and this is a great place to start.

This record, Isn't Anything, and the two EPs released priorly, are THE records that started the shoegaze movement as it came to be. Loveless, for all its accolades, merely upped the ante exponentially, and went on to be imitated too much by some bands. Isn't Anything, however, showcased a sound that was loud, distorted, bristling, crazy, psychedelic, yet not overly aggressive. The influences are discernible--Jesus & Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, psych, punk, glam, even a touch of soft rock! Yet, in so many ways, this era of MBV's artistry transcended those influences. The MBV formula is that of shoegaze in general--digestible pop songs buried like yummy cake under a layer of icing laced with something that'll make you wonder why you trusted the baker--although, you'll be none the worse for wear, so long as you don't crank it up too loud. I recommend speakers, not necessarily headphones, for this era of MBV. I rank this fourth of all their releases.

Classic shoegaze release before the orgasm that was Loveless. This one is decidedly just as good and flows from start to end with cohesion. A more poppy and punky record that is just as important in my mind. It comes in a nice digi case with prominent artwork, a bit oversized. I like it. Quality stuff. You can't go wrong with many of the tunes on this record.

Meh.

I (like a lot of people) absolute adore Loveless, and heard that album a good while before I heard this one. So I was surprised at how different this album was in some places. But I warmed up to it and absolutely loved it, it’s not quite as amazing as Loveless, but it’s a great album and an immensely impressive debut.

This is one of those albums than everybody ought to have in their possession. MBV is THE shoegaze band, and this is their most all-out effort. The songwriting here is impeccable, and the musical style is definitive of the "shoegaze" movement. This is the album that everybody and anybody who considers their music shoegaze will be compared to.