Loveless

1	Only Shallow 4:17
2	Loomer 2:38
3	Touched 0:56
4	To Here Knows When 5:31
5	When You Sleep 4:11
6	I Only Said 5:34
7	Come in Alone 3:58
8	Sometimes 5:19
9	Blown a Wish 3:36
10	What You Want 5:33
11	Soon 6:58

Barnes & Noble

Recorded at a reported cost of nearly $500,000 and delayed for months while the band tinkered in the studio, Loveless arrived shrink-wrapped in an aura of perfection. A masterpiece of beautiful guitar noise, it was worth the expense and the wait. Bandleader Kevin Shields uses volume as a sonic weapon, letting overtones bounce and shimmer while his self-described "glide guitar" moves in and out of phase. Beneath the majestic, chaotic metal lie the pretty vocal melodies of Shields and guitar mate Bilinda Butcher. Their warm, buried harmonies on the pounding pop of "When You Sleep" and the dreamy "Blow a Wish" come on like a punk-rock version of the Carpenters. While that may sound absurd, the groundbreaking Loveless has turned out to be a very pop album, indeed. MBV's shoe-gazing sounds have seeped into the mainstream since Loveless debuted in 1991, influencing everything from the Smashing Pumpkins to trip-hop to a generation of Brit-poppers. Albums that redefine pop's sonic template in so many ways -- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Dark Side of the Moon, and Massive Attack's Blue Lines -- are rarities. Loveless deserves a place in that pantheon. Seth Kaufman

All Music Guide

Isn't Anything was good enough to inspire an entire scene of My Bloody Valentine soundalikes, but Loveless' greatness proved that the band was inimitable. After two painstaking years in the studio and nearly bankrupting their label Creation in the process, the group emerged with their masterpiece, which fulfilled all of the promise of their previous albums. If Isn't Anything was the Valentines' sonic blueprint, then Loveless saw those plans fleshed out, in the most literal sense: "Loomer," "What You Want," and "To Here Knows When"'s arrangements are so lush, they're practically tangible. With its voluptuous yet ethereal melodies and arrangements, Loveless intimates sensuality and sexuality instead of stating them explicitly; Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher's vocals meld perfectly with the trippy sonics around them, suggesting druggy sex or sexy drugs. From the commanding "Only Shallow" and "Come in Alone" to breathy reflections like "Sometimes" and "Blown a Wish," the album balances complexity and immediately memorable pop melodies with remarkable self-assurance, given its difficult creation. But Loveless doesn't just perfect the group's approach, it also hints at their continuing growth: "Soon" fuses the Valentines' roaring guitars with a dance-inspired beat, while the symphonic interlude "Touched" suggests an updated take on Fripp and Eno's pioneering guitar/electronics experiments. These glimpses into the band's evolution make Shields' difficulty in delivering a follow-up to Loveless even more frustrating, but completely understandable -- the album's perfection sounded shoegazing's death-knell and raised expectations for the next My Bloody Valentine album to unreasonably high levels. Though Shields' collaborations with Yo La Tengo, Primal Scream, J Mascis, and others were often rewarding, they were no match for Loveless. However, as My Bloody Valentine fans -- and, apparently, Shields himself -- will attest, nothing is. Heather Phares