My Bloody Valentine Albums Ranked

My Bloody Valentine is an Irish-English band formed in Dublin in 1983. Since 1987, its lineup has consisted of founding members Kevin Shields (vocals, guitar, sampler) and Colm Ó Cíosóig (drums, sampler) with Bilinda Butcher (vocals, guitar) and Debbie Googe (bass). Their music is best known for its merging of dissonant guitar textures, androgynous vocals, and unorthodox production techniques. They helped to pioneer the alternative rock subgenre known as shoegaze during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Following several unsuccessful early releases and membership changes, My Bloody Valentine signed to Creation Records in 1988. The band released several successful EPs and the albums Isn’t Anything (1988) and Loveless (1991) on the label; the latter is often described as their magnum opus and one of the best albums of the 1990s. However, they were dropped by Creation after its release due to the album’s extensive production costs. In 1992, the band signed to Island Records and recorded several albums worth of unreleased material, remaining largely inactive. Googe and Ó Cíosóig left the band in 1995 and were followed by Butcher in 1997. Unable to complete a follow-up to Loveless, Shields isolated himself and, in his own words, “went crazy”. In 2007, My Bloody Valentine reunited and subsequently embarked on a world tour. They released the compilation EP’s 1988-1991 in 2012. Their long-delayed third studio album, m b v, was released in 2013. Here are all of My Bloody Valentine albums ranked.

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10. Glider, 1990

“Glider starts where Loveless left us. Literally. It starts with the album closer, “Soon”. It’s Loveless’ most danceable track. Actually, the video has Belinda dancing as if she’s some raver in Manchester and it is such a perfect song, a shoegaze epic, inpenetrable in its own sublime, sensual joy. Next track is the scary, carnivalesque title track which has no vocals, all industrial sounding guitars and very thrilling. “Don’t Ask Why” sounds straightforward compared to that. It’s a sustained swoon that ends just in time for the gorgeous “Off Your Face”. This EP is not quite satisfying but for the right reasons. It leaves you wanting more MBV.”

9. Feed Me With Your Kiss, 1988

“I would have to agree with the general sentiment that the vocals really drag down the quality of this record. The instrumentation is really as good as MBV gets – cuts like I Need No Trust and the title track being great examples of what the band is about. All tracks on here *almost* have that idiosyncratic MBV feel and atmosphere, but unfortunately as I said the lacklustre vocals keep this from being a great record.”

8. This Is Your Bloody Valentine, 1985

“I must say, this is extremely different from the essential shoegazes this band wound up being. Who knew that this dreamy, noisy group had a gothic, post-punk album. Personally I think that this album is pretty good. It’s a nice goth rock collection of songs that I enjoyed listening to.”

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7. Ecstasy, 1987

“She Loves You No Less is one of my favorite songs in the entire My Bloody Valentine discography. Also, as usual their lyrics are understated by fans and critics. Very poetic, in my opinion. The whole thing is just lovely. A different side of MBV, but a welcome and potent one I couldn’t imagine myself without.”

6. Ecstasy And Wine, 1989

“This is an enjoyable, but very naive, and hardly life changing album. Check it out if you like this sort of stuff. The first and last three tracks are probably the best, it falters a little in the middle. I hear Shields is gonna re-record a bunch of old MBV songs. Let’s hope he picks a few from here, as I can imagine liking this even more if it had better production.”

5. EP’s 1988-1991, 2012

“It’s astonishing, how all those EPs match each other – it looks like EP’s 1988-1991 were another record from their classic era, even if we had heard this music many years before. This compilation perfectly sums up whole their sound – from noisy “You Made Me Realise” to dreamy “Swallow”, “Honey Power”, or “Moon Song”, and still those 2 CDs sound like one album. Highly recommended for all of the people, who heard only Loveless yet, and feel lack of more My Bloody Valentine.”

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4. You Made Me Realise, 1988

“Yeah, um, greatest EP ever. Not much else to say other than if you like shoegaze or are just getting into the genre, this is essential in every sense of the word. Hell, this is essential for anyone who likes music. Incredible melodies and instrumentation are represented throughout this whole EP, and these are MBV’s bread ‘n butter. The greatest band of the late 80s and early 90s in my opinion.”

3. m b v, 2013

“This really is a wonderful work, almost on par with loveless (its hard to beat the best album of all time). I think people give m b v one or two listens and then discard it, thinking “its no loveless.” However, one must remember that Loveless was not an instant classic for people, but one that had to grow on them. The same is true of m b v, but it just isn’t given the same chance. I would really recommend trying to listen to it a decent number of times.”

2. Isn’t Anything, 1988

“Strings through time tying consciousness and emotion into vitality and memory. Bleached-out and flesh, a gentle abrasion in-vacuum and “when you wake, you’re still in a dream.” Long auburn hair, “nothing much to lose,” a distant green cools. Messages in bottles, time-time awareness, icicled trees and corinthian cigarettes. Prognostications of regret, speed of silence, truths whispered, fantasies shouted. Shells cracking, facades collapsing, sonic streams marking new parameters. “Several girls galore” and “soft as snow,” a song in place of words, a blissful graduation. Changes, reprises, dissonances, distances, time without time-time. Probably isn’t anything at all, but I can still see it and feel it.”

1. Loveless, 1991

“Harmony has always been a matter of approximation, but until relatively recently, Western music has treated it as something absolute, noises as fitting into ascending steps of notes. Part of what’s so great about this album is that it claims its noise– it abandons neither harmony nor melody, but self-consciously does treat them as approximations, as noise itself becomes a sense of depth and atmosphere that, set off against the melodies and harmonies, provide a deep padding for the emotional impact of these songs.”