Bloody Valentine
Top 3 Most Influential Shoegazing Bands
Shoegazing was a term for a subgenre of alternative rock that reached its peak in the early 90s and was named after the tendency for shoegazing musicians to stand still during performances and look down at their shoes. The sound of shoegaze was typified by loud guitar effects, mostly manipulated with a complex array of guitar pedals and delay effects and often forlorn and ethereal vocals that blended into the nose of the music. They usually played in near pitch darkness, without the effects of modern hid lights or other complex light shows. Here is a list of the top three most influential shoegazing bands.
My Bloody Valentine
The stars of the shoegazing scene, My Bloody Valentine formed in Dublin, Ireland and released a number of experimental, punk influenced EPs and singles before they finally released their debut record in 1988, “Isn’t Anything.” Their sound was a complex and intricate mix of producer, perfectionist and guitarist Kevin Shields’ wall of melodic guitar sound and Bilinda Butcher’s soft, girl-like vocals that were often buried so deep in the mix you could only make out her melodies and not the lyrics. They set the groundwork for many earl 90s shoegazing bands and many noise-rock bands today that are interesting in mixing beautiful harmonies with loud guitar effects.
Ride
Ride fell into the shoegazing label when they first started thanks to the heavy guitar effects and forlorn vocals of Andy Bell, but as the years progressed they shed their shoegazing sound that made them unique and inched more and more towards boring British rock in the vein of Oasis or Supergrass. Their one classic album, “Nowhere” is still held up as one of the greatest records of the 90s and a blueprint for many bands to come. “Vapour Trail” is one of the few perfect shoegazing singles of the era and still sounds as fresh today as in 1990.
Slowdive
Slowdive were the most cerebral of the shoegazers, interested not only in emulating their peers (My Bloody Valentine, The Smiths, The Velvet Underground) but taking the shoegazing genre to new heights. The original founding duo of Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell formed the band in 1989 and soon after released an EP that received early praise from critics. Their debut album, “Just for A Day” only hinted at the lofty goals the band had set for themselves, with the band arguably peaking with their final record, “Pygmalion” a dark, sparse and atmospheric mix of shoegazing and electronic elements that sounded like no other shoegazing band before or after them.
About the Author
Alan McGee is a freelance writer from MN.
TATA YOUNG : MY BLOODY VALENTINE [ OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO ]
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Isn’t Anything $11.43 Three years before 1991′s Loveless, My Bloody Valentine’s masterwork of impossibly dense soundscapes, the Dublin quartet offered some fairly affecting dream pop on its first full-length album, Isn’t Anything. Both worthy of Creation’s “shoe-gazing” heritage and skewed enough to stand up next to pre-grunge guitar bands like Sonic Youth and the Pixies, the record makes the most of a group that hadn’… |
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