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’t yet found its bearings. And at its best, Isn’t Anything hints at how great it will be when their sonic discoveries are finally honed. –Roni Sarig
Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. This exclusive version also comes with bonus EP comprising of their rare recordings, scheduled to be included in their upcoming Japan only box set release. Remastered by Kevin Shields. Sony. 2008.
–This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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3 Comments
It would be far too easy for me to simply slap this album with a 4 and a half star rating, state, “this isn’t Loveless,” and call it a day, but instead, I’m choosing to review this (outstanding) album as if the monumental, phenomenal, perhaps-best-album-ever Loveless was never created.
The humbly titled Isn’t Anything is one of the most underrated and tragically ignored albums ever. I would say that it’s easily among the top 25 albums of the 80s, but hardly anyone has a strong opinion on it. It has become massively influential throughout the alternative/indie world, but never duplicated.
Looking at the cover art and song titles like “Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside),” you’re given a clue as to how the album sounds: distant, distorted, and dreamy. The song craft is strong, the vocals are ethereal, and the guitars are deliciously, noisily lush. Listening to the sound samples on Amazon does no justice to this album, for it is far better experienced on headphones during a sweltering summer day or a bitterly frigid winter night.
In my humblest opinion, Isn’t Anything is certainly essential.
I don’t usually take issue with Amazon’s editorial reviews, but Roni Sarig makes two big blunders. First, he calls Isn’t Anything “worthy of Creation [Records]’s ’shoe-gazing’ heritage.” Before this album, there was no such “heritage.” This album created such a buzz in the UK, Creation used its producers and sound engineers to make pop bands like Lush and Ride sound as much like this record as possible … this was the album that set off the shoegazer movement. Despite those efforts, though, no one ever managed to create an album that sounded just like this, not even MBV’s follow-up. Second, Sarig and many other reviewers seem to think Isn’t Anything is merely a step towards greatness. This album does not have the insane, orchestral density of Loveless, but for that reason it’s able to deliver a much wider variety of pleasures. The bass-driven stop-start of “Soft as Snow,” the relentless guitar attack of “Feed Me With Your Kiss,” the pairing of quavering tremelo and creepy, childlike vocals of “No More Sorry” … each of these tracks is a perfect, unique jewel. You can hear many of the tools Kevin Shields and his band would use to construct Loveless, but in a more spare arrangement that allows you to hear each element much more clearly. Many tracks make dramatic use of silence, something MBV never did later in their career. You can also hear the band flatout rock. You can’t call “Feed Me,” “You Never Should” or “Sueisfine” “dream pop” … they’re pure adrenaline. This is, to be sure, a more conventional rock album than Loveless, but it still sounds like nothing else. If it came out today, we’d be falling all over ourselves to praise it.
I would have to say I prefer this album to “Loveless.” The guitars don’t fill up the speakers here as much as on that album, but there’s still plenty of lush guitar noize to savour. It must be the unrestrained rocking-out which matches the dream pop that I really love - especially on the second side (beginning with “Feed Me With Your Kiss”). That side really JAMS in a gleeful kind of way - gives me a great feeling. “Sueisfine” is pretty trippy and I swear they’re really saying ‘Suicide’ which is a twisted thing to repeat over and over. “Several Girls Galore” is kinda darker and sensual with bassier drums to match the seductive female vocals. “Nothing Much To Lose” is another highlight with absolutely spastic drums that do something different each time they cut loose. This song is one of several that takes dramatic turns, leading the listener to surprisingly different places - a bit like 2 or 3 songs in 1.
Side 1 has some real gems on it as well, but I’m not too crazy about the slower songs “Lose My Breath” and “No More Sorry.” They’re not great musically; they’re quite a bit atonal in fact. However, I’ve gotten more used to them in time. “All I Need” is another slow one which might take some getting used to, but its brilliance shines through with its V.U. pulse and shimmering guitar backdrop. To be honest, Kevin Shields doesn’t have the strongest vocal quality, but I dig it none-the-less. These minor drawbacks aren’t nearly enough to deny this album the 5 star rating it deserves.