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My Bloody Valentine
Total Media Plays: 68,377
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Like
the Velvet Underground
,
Sonic Youth
, and
the Jesus & Mary Chain
before them,
My Bloody Valentine
redefined what noise meant within the context of pop songwriting. Led by guitarist
Kevin Shields
, the group released several EPs in the mid-'80s before recording the era-defining
Isn't Anything
in 1988, a record that merged lilting, ethereal melodies of
the Cocteau Twins
with crushingly loud, shimmering distortion. Though
My Bloody Valentine
rejected rock & roll conventions, they didn't subscribe to the precious tendencies
of anti-rock art-pop bands. Instead, they rode crashing waves of white noise to unpredictable conclusions, particularly since their noise wasn't paralyzing like the typical avant-garde noise rock band: it was translucent, glimmering, and beautiful.
Shields
was a perfectionist, especially when it came to recording, as much of
My Bloody Valentine
's sound was conceived within the studio itself. Nevertheless, the band was known as a formidable live act, even though they rarely moved, or even looked at the audience, while they were on-stage. Their notorious lack of movement was branded "shoegazing" by the British music press, and soon there were legions of other shoegazers --
Ride
,
Lush
,
the Boo Radleys
,
Chapterhouse
,
Slowdive
-- that, along with the rolling dance-influenced Madchester scene, dominated British indie rock of the late '80s and early '90s. As shoegazing reached its peak in 1991,
My Bloody Valentine
released
Loveless
, which broke new sonic ground and was hailed as a masterpiece. Though the band was poised for a popular breakthrough, it disappeared into the studio and didn't emerge over the next five years, leaving behind a legacy that proved profoundly influential in the direction of '90s alternative rock.
Born in Queens, New York,
Kevin Shields
' family moved to Dubin, Ireland, when he was six years old. In his teens, he became obsessed with pop music, eventually playing in Complex with his childhood friend
Colm O'Ciosoig
. In 1984,
Shields
and
O'Ciosoig
formed
My Bloody Valentine
with vocalist
Dave Conway
and keyboardist
Tina
, taking their name from a slasher horror film. The group relocated to Berlin, where they released the
Birthday Party
-influenced EP
This Is Your Bloody Valentine
on the Tycoon label in 1985 to little notice. The following year, the band moved to London, where they added bassist
Debbie Googe
. By the summer, they had signed to Fever and had released the EP
Geek!
, which again was ignored. Later that year, the group moved to Kaledoscope Sound, releasing
The New Record by My Bloody Valentine
EP, which illustrated a
Jesus & Mary Chain
influence. The following year, the band moved to
the Primitives
' Lazy Records, releasing
Sunny Sundae Smile
early in the year. That EP was the first
My Bloody Valentine
record to mesh airy melodies with grinding guitars, but the two EPs that followed in 1987 --
Strawberry Wine
and
Ecstasy
-- were more focused and acclaimed.
Conway
left the band by the end of the year and was replaced by vocalist/guitarist
Bilinda Butcher
, whose breathy vocals fit the group's evolving sound more appropriately.
My Bloody Valentine
's new sound coalesced with the group's first full-fledged album, 1988's
Isn't Anything
. Released on Creation Records,
Isn't Anything
was greeted with enthusiastic reviews in the U.K. music press and the band's following increased dramatically by the end of the year; in fact, their reputation had become large enough to attract the attention of Sire/Warner Bros. in the U.S., who became the group's American label. Two other EPs,
Feed Me With Your Kiss
and
You Made Me Realise
, were also quite popular, and by the beginning of 1989, bands that based their sound on
My Bloody Valentine
's droning swirl began to appear. The group retreated to the studio in 1989 to record its follow-up, which meant that only one EP,
Glider
, was released during that year. By the spring of 1990, it was becoming clear that the follow-up to
Isn't Anything
wouldn't be appearing anytime soon, and reports about
Shields
' growing perfectionism began to circulate in the U.K. weekly music press. Soon, it became apparent that the band's lengthy recording sessions were crippling Creation Records, but the group's audience was still passionate despite the inactivity: the
Tremolo
EP was released at the end of 1990 to considerable acclaim, and managed to climb into the U.K. Top 40.
When
My Bloody Valentine
's second album,
Loveless
, finally appeared in late 1991, it was greeted with uniformly excellent reviews and it became a hit within the U.K., reaching number 24 on the charts. In America, the group made significant inroads, particularly by supporting
Dinosaur Jr
. Despite the band's acclaim and growing audience,
Loveless
didn't sell in numbers to recoup its reported 500,000 dollar recording cost and Creation dropped the band from their label roster; Creation wouldn't fully recover until 1994, when they signed
Oasis
.
My Bloody Valentine
signed with Island and entered the studio at the end of 1992 to record a new album. In 1993, the group contributed a James Bond cover to a charity compilation.
And then...nothing happened.
Shields
built a home studio with his Island advance and reportedly completed two separate albums, but scrapped them both. Often, the studio ran into technological problems. Between 1993 and 1997, both
Googe
and
O'Ciosoig
left the band, leaving only
Shields
and
Butcher
; after driving a cab for about a year,
Googe
formed
Snowpony
in 1996. There were signs that
My Bloody Valentine
were emerging from hiding in 1996, when the group contributed to the
Wire
tribute album
Whore
and
Shields
played on
Experimental Audio Research
's
Beyond the Pale
. Still, no new
My Bloody Valentine
material appeared. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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© 2008 All Music Guide, inc. All rights reserved.