[Severian]

I wouldn't call it dull myself, but I think I can understand how it might seem that way to some. Seventy two hours after having access to it, and listening to it a number of times, I think I'm pretty satisfied with the album as a whole. I would go as far as saying that, like Genteel Death, I actually prefer it to Loveless, while still considering Isn't Anything to be the album to beat here.

The cover art is just terrible though. So is the album title. It gives it the feeling of something thrown together on a dare. But the music itself is great at best, and almost great at worst. I think it's better by far than it could have been, and I am still really loving the first three songs, and the last one. Can't quite choose a favorite yet, but it would be one of those.

[SYRFox]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

Are electronic elements in a rock band still meant to make them innovative?

no. though they're at least often better than rock elements in an electronic band
note i didn't say i thought they would release something innovative. i said i thought they would go for a more electronic road, considering where they had left things - kevin shields into jungle, remixes of their tracks, shoegaze heading in this direction circa '94 (cf slowdive's in mind, etc). now as that was 22 years ago, it's hardly innovative

[Skuj]

Originally Posted by Severian

The cover art is just terrible though. So is the album title.

I adore the cover and I've grown to appreciate the "mbv" slapped on it. Maybe the album is untitled, and it is by mbv!!

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Skuj

I adore the cover and I've grown to appreciate the "mbv" slapped on it. Maybe the album is untitled, and it is by mbv!!

Hmm. Well, that would be an improvement, but I see no evidence that that is the case. Both album art and title are lazy and lack imagination. The albums itself is great, though.

[guest]

Originally Posted by Severian

Both album art and title are lazy and lack imagination. The albums itself is great, though.

on first glance, I thought the artwork was fucking atrocious, like really horrible. but having listened to the album I've gained a new respect for the cover, it mirrors that illusory aura that the album emits. it doesn't stand up to the music though, can't help but think that.

I think the title is fairly apt though, considering the fact that it really isn't an album in the traditional sense. it serves as a summation of MBV up to a point, just drawing a line under that incarnation of the band.

[Skuj]

Originally Posted by foreverasskiss

same could be said with Whiite Light White Heat. awesome the first couple of days. now i only play the last 2 tracks. still over ten years after i originally heard it.

But the last track is nearly half the fucking album, haha.

[Skuj]

Sorry we are off topic now, but I love that longish freaky one that Cale narrates. That whole album really is amazing, Man.

[Genteel Death]

A shaky interpretation of ''New You'' with some footage I took on a freezing London morning recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...v=skvc8cEfZ3g#!

[Nefeli]

i m listening to the other songs now via utube, because of 'new you', YOU posted baby.
pretty much consistent with Loveless sounds, which seems like a safe choice for them.
for now 'new you' i like the best. and it sounds fresh.

[Antagon]

I really like this album. The sounds are instantly recognizable and echo the whole Loveless-vibe, which one might argue is not very innovative but I really can't complain since I dig the hell out of its predecessor.

So it isn't anything completely new technically speaking but does it really matter? That giddy, dreamlike atmosphere is still there and I'd rather listen to a brilliantly executed Loveless 2.0 than something that is trying to break new grounds but ultimately doesn't really deliver.

In a nutshell: I didn't believe they'd release any new material anytime soon (or possible ever) and in this case m b v turned out to be a very positive surprise. Very good album, Loveless is still a tad better.

First verdict: 8.0-8,5/10 (Might need a few listens to settle for a definite score)

[Ghostchase]

I love it! Start to finish. I love the stutter in Only Tomorrow. Such a vast listening experience! The sound of my heart melting.

Am I correct in saying that this is a recording from the mid-late 90's, I remember Shields saying he has one older direct post-Loveless album and one more current album coming through the pipes in a interview on Soft Focus with Ian Svenonius.

[Antagon]

Originally Posted by Ghostchase

Am I correct in saying that this is a recording from the mid-late 90's, I remember Shields saying he has one older direct post-Loveless album and one more current album coming through the pipes in a interview on Soft Focus with Ian Svenonius.

It seems that at least partly it is. The wikipedia entry for the album states that part of it was recorded prior to their initial breakup, probably sometime around 1996 til 1997. It certainly sounds like some of the material was recorded during that time peroid.

[Ghostchase]

Originally Posted by Antagon

It seems that at least partly it is. The wikipedia entry for the album states that part of it was recorded prior to their initial breakup, probably sometime around 1996 til 1997. It certainly sounds like some of the material was recorded during that time peroid.

Okay, I'm watching the interview right now and Shields says its mostly 1996-1997 material paired with some 1993-1994 material, and then a few newer tunes.

http://www.vice.com/soft-focus/kevin-shields

[scott v]

I don't know... first listen struck me as pretty underwhelming, but its growing more now but i still can't help to feel that the album as a whole sounds abit "dated" and it makes sense since this material was written in the 90's. some of the songs have alot of the same feeling and tone as in "loveless" and then there are those heavily electronic dance percussion type tracks (like jungle beats) that make the 2nd have of it sound lazyily produced and haphazard to me (especially "nothing is"). the weird guitar-esque solo track thats in the intro to "in another way" sounds like something the smashing pumpkins would do. alot of the parts of this album sound way too busy and not subtle enough that mbv have been known for me at least. "is this and yes" is pretty great, the repeating synth-esque thing reminds me of that gastr del sol track on "camofleur". I'd be more interested on what Kevin and the band could pull off today as far as songwriting and recording technique are concerned, but damn it may take him another 21 years to do that... for being known as such a "perfectionist" for years now, i'm abit surprised and baffled by this "new" album... it should've been labelled as a "lost" album in a way. all that said, i still love this band though and always will...

[Severian]

First track sweeps over me like a tidal wave every time, despite sounding like a remastered 91 outtake. How could anyone be underwhelmed?

[scott v]

Originally Posted by Severian

First track sweeps over me like a tidal wave every time, despite sounding like a remastered 91 outtake. How could anyone be underwhelmed?

actually, the first track is the best on the album in my opinion, what makes the majority of the album on the underwhelming side for me is in your statement "sounding like a remastered 91 outtake". and I have to agree about the album as a whole sounding underdeveloped, thats more apparent to me on the last several tracks. I was kinda hoping if they were to retread some of the same sounds like they've already done, they would've done at least one more heavy rock-like groove track. (i.e. what you want, only shallow, when you sleep, or honey power) the album is absent of that, except for perhaps "in another way", though that song sounds too messy.

[Rob Instigator]

I need to get this bastard! The wife asnd I are moving this weekend, so in a few weeks I will have the MOney!!!!!

[Genteel Death]

if you forget your music journalist fantasies, or those of being someone into music in a big way, this record has some great licks you can enjoy and maybe lick your own face for a change.

[E. Noisefield]

I can't find anything not to love about the album. the fact that it sounds like my bloody valentine shouldn't count against it, but saying it's treading old ground makes it seem like that's not what we've all been waiting for this whole time. But we have been something that sounds like my bloody valentine is exactly what I've wanted and if it sounded revolutionary for 2012, it would probably piss all of us off.

It really separates the men from the boys though. Nobody made a stink when dinosaur jr put out Beyond and it sounded exactly like dinosaur jr, only more polished. Clearly mbv sucked in people's souls, while Dino had a different kind of effect all along.

[Skuj]

I think it is brilliant how it starts off quite effortlessly and low key, mimicing Loveless, and ends like a plane crash. It's a very unusual way to sequence an album, but given the 21yr gap and the worship of Loveless, mbv feels just right to my ears. It's a fuckin great album, folks. I'm thrilled with it. I only wish that MBV Mk2 isn't just this. I think one more album would complete the MBV saga. And hopefully that album picks up where mbv leaves off.....yikes.