Loveless

Loveless is author Mike McGonigal's tale as much as it is about this immortal record and even more legendary band. Beginning with a frozen moment where he was mentally baptized by the "noise stretch inside of `You Made Me Realize'" at a 1992 MBV concert, McGonogal investigates, via conversations with those involved in the making of the album, how MBV developed their sound (it's a tremolo bar, not effects!), how they spent time during the two years it took to finish Loveless, the disintegration of Kevin Shields' and guitarist/vocalist Bilinda Butcher's relationship and the controversy surrounding the band's ties with pre-Oasis-signing Creation Records. Between McGonigal's quips and research and Shields' retorts (Shields actually halted the book at the press to clarify facts), the essay is inviting enough to inspire even tenuous fans (like myself) to revisit this magenta-colored record - even if just to test Shields' claim that the "vocals sound the same, at any volume".

Mike McGonical's contribution in the 33 1/3 series is an essential item for any fans of My Bloody Valentine. I suspect more than a few people came to MBV's music like myself, via the Lost in Translation soundtrack, the purchase of Loveless, and then back tracking through the earlier albums, and scouring websites for downloads of other pieces, live concerts and videos. The book is well researched with much of the narrative from interviews conducted by McGonical with Kevin Shields. Much has been written about the lengthy gestation of this album and the financial implications this had for Creation records. However, what comes across more strongly in the personal accounts from Shields, Bilinda Butcher and Deb Googe is the cost it incurred in terms of Shields' relationships with the other group members and the final demise of one of the most original bands of the 1980s and early 1990s. That Colm O'Ciosoig hardly played on the album was probably well known to MBV fans: that Deb Googe played not a note on the album is a revelation indeed and, one senses the hurt and tension this must have caused. The history of the album seems almost oddessey-like in its progress from studio to studio with a multitude of engineers and the debilitating illness from depression that robbed O'Ciosoig of his playing abilities. Loveless is a testament to Shields abilities to keep things moving despite these adversities. Of course, the release of Loveless did not usher in happy times for the Valentines, who were kept afloat for a few years by Island records, before they too lost patience and pulled the plug on the band as MBV struggled to build their own studio. Besides an account of the epic struggle to make the album, there are some interesting conversations with Shields on the creative process, and on the way feedback, trances, dreams and sleeplessness can intersect to provide inspiration. Mike McGonical and 33 1/3 have done a great job in enhancing the enjoyment of Loveless and Valentine's music.

Brilliant overview of my favorite album of all time. So despite my bias toward MBV's effort, my intent was to read this book with an eye toward disinterested formalism. And the result for me was quite pleasing. McGonigal gave several perspectives that overrided some long standing myths, and maybe gave us a couple new ones to ponder. Bottom line, he gets it. He gets the fact that this CD goes beyond the overused ethereal descriptors, and touches the listener in a deep spiritual way. It's not about lyrics, melody, production, sounds...it's about the whole. The poignant philosopher Schopenhauer stated that great art will always dissolve the subject from the object, and he always placed music on top of the hierarchy of art forms. Loveless always had that experience for me, so when I read McGonigal's book I was happy to see that he never swayed from his lofty view, yet remained grounded as well. After all, the process of making great art is never quite as lofty as the outcome. We learn of the painstaking process Shields and others went through to make something that always seemed to be on the brink of demise. McGonigal made this struggle an enjoyable read, and he has given us a perfect literary companion to one of the most perfect musical experiences.

I had been waiting for this book for a long time, ever since I heard that it was actually going to happen. i just got the book in the mail today, and a few hours later, I'm finished. Very cool book. I had read the Tape Op magazine interview and the Buddyhead interview with Kevin Shields before, but this book really expanded on those, added new and clarifying insight, and actually negated some myths that have been floating around for years. And my gosh, someone actually talked to Belinda. I wish the book would have digged a little deeper into Kevin and Belinda's relationship, forcing Alan McGhee to comment, and to maybe talk more about the post Loveless period, but I understand what the purpose of the book was/is, and what needed to receive focus. Thank you for interviewing the actual participants and not pontificating for 115 pages like someone writing a lame art piece for there communications course. Good job and thanks.

It must be hard to write a book about an album most people consider to be absolutely-untouchably-oh-my-god-the-best-album-ever-recorded, but McGonigal does a great job here and digs up plenty of information that I was always curious about. And then some things that I didn't know I was curious about. I'm glad this book finally got to see the light of day...now about that follow-up album...