My bloody valentine: Loveless or isn't anything?
 

I've heard many different opinions on which album is better.

I'm going for loveless, because I think it flows better as an album, doesnt have one bad song on it and for the sheer musical iginuity of it.
Saying that isnt anything has the best song they ever wrote: Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside) what do you guys think?

"Loveless" is a much more consistent album and has more of a unified feel to it, and the alvum where they finally seem to moor free of their shambling/60's songwriting roots.

Loveless is the more ambitious but has far too many fillers. would've been an absolute masterpiece if it'd been released as a four track EP or something.

Yeah, 'Soft as Snow...' has gotta be one of their top 3 best songs - in a way it sounds more original now production-wise than anything off Loveless. The Loveless sound has been copied so much.

I like Isn't Anything better, but I think both albums are awesome.

Another day, another My Bloody Valentine decision. I prefer Isn't Anything to Loveless, because the songs sound more 'wrong'. I haven't listened to it in a while, something like 3 years or so.

Both

LOVELESS


although isn;t anything is great shit. loveless is the pinacle. you can;t tell where the vocals start the guitars end the bass comes in etc, you can barely tell what are drums!

Am i the only one who thinks that Loveless is a fair bit overrated and gets tons of good press but doesn't sound half as fresh as its predecessor? It's not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, sure, but sometimes i get the impression that the almost unanimous consensus seems heavily influenced by press claims that it is THE My Bloody Valentine album of choice.

Yeah, I think there's some hype that's contributed to its status. I remember loving it to death when it first came out though (back when the whole world did not know about it). I only discovered Isn't Anything years later, and while I still love Loveless, there's something about IA I like better. Maybe the more song-oriented approach. I don't know.

I never really liked either album that much. Feed Me with Your Kiss is probably my favourite thing by them.

sounding "fresh" is only possible if half a million other lesser acts did NOT steal your ideas and sounds and musical stylings.

loveless is the BEST

isn;t anything has half the songs are still leaning toward more standard rock riffage, as compared to loveless WALL OF FUZZ!!!!!

I think that's why I give IA the edge. It sounds more rooted in traditional songwriting but at the same time goes out there a bit.

It's a tiny edge, though. On any given day, Loveless might hit me as equal to or better than.

loveless makes me cry cuz I feel so good. isn't anything rocks though.

2 weeks ago it was Isn't anything. Today Loveless. It changes all the time.
Both are great anyway.
Is it true that the 1st album "This Is Your Bloody Valentine" is crap ? I never listened to it.

Dunno about that mate! If you want an EP that rules from that period, get the tremelo EP.

This Is Your Bloody Valentine is poor. It sounds like the band (particularly Dave Conway, the singer at that time) are imitating The Cramps or The Birthday Party; imitating them badly. There are clips here (try Forever And Again, to hear their camp gothic sound at its worst).

However, their earlier work isn't all bad. The Sunny Sundae Smile EP also features Conway on vocals; he sings normally on it (in fact, he sounds like Shields), and its very, very good. The title track, Kiss The Eclipse and Paint A Rainbow are as good as anything from Isn't Anything/Loveless in my opinion.

Then, Conway left, and they made Ecstasy and Wine and so on...

I actually don't think Loveless is very great. Shocker, I know, but I think it's the worst thing they recorded. Some great songs, awesome guitar textures, but damn if the drum sound isn't tinny as fuck, half of the songs are plodding and grungy (the whole middle of the album draaaaaaaaags, and Only Shallow is very overrated).. .sometimes, soon, when you sleep, what you want, and loomer are AMAZING, but the rest? eh...

On the other hand, Isn't Anything is amazing. Yeah, it has it's grungy song (Feed Me with Your KISS), but that is a fucking jam.
ALL the songs on Isnt Anything are creative, catchy, and dreamy.. the perfect encapsulation of what MBV did right.

Loveless is a masterpiece for a completely different reason, but it's more of a studio masterpiece, which doesn't thrill me as much as it used to. Back in the day, I dug the shit out of Loveless, but that was before hearing the EP's and Isn't Anything. Isn't Anything is perfect. Loveless... a dream, but god I will never understand how anyone can prefer it to the much more consistent and interesting Isn't Anything.

I also prefer On Avery Island to Airplane over the Sea....................

Can't decide. *listens to bootlegs*

There is a certain mood that I have to be in to listen to Loveless.

Isn't Anything is a piece of shit compared to Loveless. Come on.

No it isn't. It is a great album. It might not be as surreal sounding, but the songs on Isn't Anything still rule.

Feed Me With Your Kiss, You Never Should, All I Need, and Sueisfine are some of my favorite MBV songs.

Enya with guitars. I love half of isn't anything and all of loveless but i think i love the half of isn't anything more intensely than the whole of loveless, however the rest of isn't anything is so bad it cripples my adoration and drags it ultimately into second place.

I always wished that Off Yer Face was on loveless - other than that I think it's the far superior album by almost every respect... without that album i dont think I'd site them as a major influence for me - I'd just think they were a really good band which isn't enough... It's like about about what it's intending and what it achieves and all of this kind of stuff.

Agreed. That's why I'll say neither and go with Tremelo.

I'm agreeing, but I can't pick one. They're both equally great.
I prefer Isn't Anything when walking, going to school and such, because the songs are faster and shorter.

My favourites from both albums:
Isn't Anything:
Cupid Come
When You Wake
Feed Me...
Sueisfine
Several girls galore
Nothing Much to loose

Loveless:
Only Shallow
When You Sleep
Soon
Sometimes

I haven't listened to either in a long time and I probably won't again anytime soon.

for me it's loveless

i bought loveless on the day of release in 91. i was blown away by it then and i am still blown away by it now. it has not one dud song, absolutely no fillers (maybe colms little bit of noise but thats only short) it has the dancable floor filler of soon and it has the most beautiful song ever written in sometimes. its in my top 3 albums of all time and it will remain there for all eternity...

isnt anything is also wonderful, its also a great album but not as great as the 4 creation eps and the glider full length ep. those collective recordings are amazing......

the love of loveless hs a lot to do with age. folk of my age group and slightly older (40-30) will love loveless as we basically found something memorable in our youth. anyone under the age of 25 may not hear what we heard in that album...... ages 25-29 are just fence sitters!!!!!! thats just my theory on it!

the greatest album made by an irish band ever (yeah i know 2 of em are english but kevin and colm and the name mybloodyvalentine are irish and will be always)!!!

yeah, I'm not bothered about half of the tracks on Isn't Anything and on Loveless (they're good and add to the mood yet they're not memorable songs), and I think the other half are outstanding. Actually, To Here Knows When and Sometimes are enough to make Loveless a classic on their own (by my definition anyway).

I think their best EP is You Made Me Realise. I love Thorn and Slow and Cigarette In Your Bed.

slow. a song that actually bends time.....

as much as a cliche as it is, i like loveless better by a slight hair, it's one of my most listened albums ever. it's a think of it's own, it's almost like the band isn't as important as the sound on the album, while isn't anything is my bloody valentine doing an album.

yes, i'm not too cool to acknowledge it. although it is overrated, people always mention that album and kinda denies not only mbv's other output but similar bands'; it's a case where overrated doesn't mean bad, it just mean "too much"

also, every time i listen to it, a different song stands out, for me it was first only shallow, then to here knows when, then when you sleep, then loomer. then sometimes and now it's what you want...the only song i think is a filler and for which i didn't like mbv for so long as it was the first song of theirs i heard, is soon; now i think it's ok, but i used to think it was the most boring song in the world.

you made me realize is probably my favorite mbv song (along with what you want)

Loveless is miles better than Isn't Anything. There is no comparison.

God bless you IA lovers. Though I have a feeling that if Bilinda sang 50% or more of the songs by herself, then I'd feel a hell of a lot better about it. Kevin sounds pretty Emo here.

kevin sheilds sounding emo...
there is a sentence i thought id never read....

repped! i disagree with you but repped for the quality of the sentence!

Loveless is so much better it's not even funny. I don't like Isn't Anything all that much, first song is great but then it just goes downhill.

What is with all these people coming out of the woodwork to insult Isn't Anything?

Loveless is more coherent but Isn't Anything has much better songs. It is as simple as that.

Someone give me one freaking reason that Feed Me With Your Kiss isn't awesome. Or Sueisfine. Or All I Need. Or You Never Should. Or Lose My Breath.

There isn't a single bad song on Isn't Anything, and there are some really good ones.

Some atleast give some arguments for not liking Isn't Anything besides "half the songs suck."

I like This Is Your My Bloody Valentine in that it is a sort of campy almost psychobilly sounding effort. It makes me giggle that they originally did that sort of stuff.

Hey! That's what I found they sound like too.

Both albums are great. Wasn't there already a thread on this same subject a few months ago?

my sentiments exactly.