My Bloody Valentine – Isn't Anything

I just bought this from a record fair. I thought it might be a new reissue but alas, I was fooled. My Bloddy Valentine :(

Ignore the haters; awesome release. Bought two copies during my European tour and was going to sell one but keeping both. Want the analog release but this one hits every time.

Fantastic pressing, not a single imperfection.

Modest turntables seem to have difficulty with some of the songs. The extreme high frequencies in "All I Need" are just too much for mine, but at least it doesn't skip!

Important info on My Bloody Valentine pressings:

If ever there was a band where it truly mattered how the music is transmitted to your ears and on your body e.g. [the source - which vinyl pressing, what kind of digital stream, tape vs cd vs vinyl-, equipment (record player, cd player - mediocre or great digital to analog conversion - ], that band is My Bloody Valentine. You will have such a different experience if you get an original CD vs. a remastered CD or the original vinyl pressing vs the Fully Analog pressing.

This album can seem harsh and ear fatiguing unless you get the fully analog pressings starting in 2018. It is a different animal. Or get the digital remaster in 2012. They did all kinds of things Shields didn't understand when Creation put this out in 1988. And it wasn't corrected until he remastered it for CD and especially vinyl.

Here's what Shields said in 2004 about the orignal mastering in 1988: "I never liked how mastering engineers would add treble and compression and totally fuck up the sound. It would bring out the cymbals and make the guitars sit way back where they shouldn’t be. “Isn’t Anything” was originally mastered very quickly. I think it was done in a couple of hours. Way faster than a normal album. For some reason we put a De-Esser on the whole thing. Apparently there was some fundamental spike occurring on the vocals and stuff. So because the whole album went through that circuit, I’ve often wondered what it would sound like if it hadn’t."

Well we now know what a huge difference it made. I think the fully analog vinyl from 2018 and 2021 sounds so amazing and is not harsh or ear fatiguing. And then my next choice would be the remastered CD from 2012.

He puts so much thought and time into the recording. If you really want to hear what was intended then get the remastered vinyl. (I haven't given a good listen to the digital vinyl remaster from 2021 so I can't compare that.) But my copy on vinyl from 2018 sounds amazing, revelatory on vinyl. And I've been listening to this abum since 1988.

It all just flows betters and the harshness is gone. I really feel the fully analog vinyl versions from 2018 and 2021 will give you a different experience than the previous pressings. And the same should be said for Loveless. He put so much time and effort into these remastered fully-analog vinyl. These reflect his original intention on record. And they are both a revelation. Now if he would just tackle the four Creation EPs and make fully-analog vinyl remasters the world can be at peace.

Actually, he's actually too busy for that working on the other new albums he promised He went so far as to say in one interview there would be a double album, a regular length album and several EPs. I think he's going to shock the world with all the music he'll release and then there will be a world tour. In the next 1-3 years I'm willing to bet IT WILL HAPPEN. He's not going to wait until he's 70.

I really think he will surprise everyone with a lot music.

This thing isn't all completely terrible, it has its highs and lows. The audio quality is pretty good and clear, but It was not a good idea to put All I Need as the last track on side A. By the time it gets to that track the distortion is too much for the vinyl and it becomes kind of a high-end crackle mess. The rest of it sounds passable though, maybe worth getting if you can find it for cheap, I paid $30 which isn't bad, but a little much for what I got tbh.

Beautiful packaging, that attention to detail on the vinyl sleeve is amazing. The pressing could be good or bad, but there's so much distortion so I'll never know :)

Very disappointed with the first US CD cut of this album, i'm gonna trust that Kevin gave this what it deserves on the latest CD cut. The dynamics are completely goofed on this, the highs don't cut through, the EQ is very flat not in a good. Possibly through a graphic equalizer this can sing, but yeah

Their best album in my opinion! Not sure why Loveless is hailed as their masterpiece.

💗💗💗one of my favorite cds it's such a pretty color.

This does actually sound very good. No skipping clicks. Minimal background noise. +++