There’s not many bands who hold as much influence as My Bloody Valentine. Their 1991 album Loveless paved the way for countless bands of whom we know and love today. Loveless was and still is seen as a pinnacle point in the history of indie music - it was shoegaze’s majestic defining moment. Fast-forward 25 years and a crazy live recording from the album release tour has emerged, you can check it out below.
After it's 25th birthday late last year, the now defunct indie-label-powerhouse Creation Records (home to the band for their first and second LP) recently brought to light an incredible live recording from the London show of the Loveless release tour. So, if like me you weren’t lucky enough to witness them first-time round, or on their 2008 reunion tour, then you're now able to experience their truly visceral live show in its prime.
The performance dates back to 14 December 1991 and was hosted at the Town & Country Club in London or as it's now known, the prestigious O2 Forum Kentish Town. Their primal set clocks in at just over an hour long and boasts a pretty impressive track-list; from the swirling wall-of-sound in 'Only Shallow' to the sludgy drone of 'Sometimes' and the otherworldly, sugar-coated 'When You Sleep'.
Although the dated recording can barely come close to capturing the true sonic assault of a My Bloody Valentine live show, it gives us a damn good idea, and personally I think the lo-fi recording makes this pretty special. It somehow manages to sound totally immersive despite being an utterly terrifying blast of sheer noise and feedback that reverberates around droning pop melodies that are barely able to scratch through the colossal walls-of-sound. Besides, their shows were renowned for being freakishly noisy to the point of inaudibility anyway, that's what made them so famed.
Also in the recording’s defence, trying to capture the Loveless sound proved to be a near-impossible feat when actually recording the album itself. Its sound was so unique and hard to recreate that Kevin Shields spent years trying to get the perfect sound, amounting to over 250 recording sessions in 19 different studios with a number of different producers. In his 2013 book Creation Stories, Alan McGee – head honcho at the label and brit-pop/shoegaze’s answer to Malcolm McLaren or Tony Wilson – explained that Kevin was erecting tents in the studio to get a special guitar tone only he could hear in his mind, experimenting relentlessly
Shields had his vision and wouldn’t stop until it was perfect no matter what the cost, be that the labels money or his, and also probably the labels, sanity. It came close to bankrupting Creation and nearly saw them dropped from the label on more than one occasion but thankfully in 1991 the album was finally released to worldwide acclaim and from then, My Bloody Valentine’s legacy was set in stone.
