My Bloody Valentine – Before Loveless (Vinyl Red/Black)

No need to go on and on repeating what others have already stated. Simply put this is one of the greatest and most influential records ever released. I’m a big fan of many different genres of music (hip-hop, classic rock, metal, alternative, punk, etc) and this is still one of my favorite albums of all time, and I’ve been listening to it for 27 years since the day it was released in 1991. Buy this and it will change your life. It’s a grower and gets better and better with each additional listen.

When I was in high school, Rolling Stone magazine published a guide they called "The Essential 200," a list of albums spanning the '50s to the mid-'90s. On that list, among many other albums I'd one day call favorites, was "Loveless." I bought a CD copy of the album in college, in 1998, though it would be years until I fully appreciated what I was hearing. It's probably the album I've heard -- and thought about, and read about, and talked about -- more than any other. As remastered reissues have become the thing over the years, owning an updated (read: louder) copy of "Loveless" seemed, to borrow a phrase from RS, essential. This 2012 set offers a remastered original version as well as a version of the album mastered from the 12-inch analog tapes, and truth be told, I can't tell much of a difference. The analog disc does seem to have a "wider" sound, where the guitar(s) stretch out over the tracks in places, but beyond that, I'm not sure. They both sound great. Can someone tell me what I'm (not) hearing?

Correct me if I’m wrong but this 2021 release appears to be in the correct order with the CDs now labeled correctly and no obvious “glitch” as was with the 2012 version. CD 1 is now CD 1 (from DAT) and CD 2 is now CD 2 (from analog).

Fantastic CD! For this review I will be describing the CD and the quality of it, as opposed to the (fantastic) music it contains. The first disc is a very mediocre at best cut and is a very poor port. Disc 2 however, is the optimal version of this album (besides maybe the +$100 vinyl maybe). The music sounds FANTASTIC and has a very pleasing range. The second disk allows for new, previously buried sounds, to be heard in the mix and they sound better than ever. Please do yourself a favour and buy this fantastic CD if you are considering it.

Five stars of course. I really do think My Bloody Valentine is such an important band to contribute to the history of music. One of my favorite bands, always will be. This album is a collection of three EPs, Ecstasy, Feed Me With Your Kiss, and the classic You Made Me Realize. All are fantastic, but YMMR is definitely the winner. The vinyl sound quality is excellent. I got a light blue marble and grayish purple marble. If you like MBV, this should be a very obvious buy for you.

If you love this album but cringe at the shrill, hashy and brittle sound quality of the 1991 CD, you need the remastered version, and you need it desperately. The content of both discs in this package is identical, but CD1 was remastered from the original digital tape and CD2 was remastered from the original analogue tape. Even CD1 sounds far better than the 1991 disc, but CD2 is where the fine hand of mastering wizard Alan Moulder really shines. The sound is clean and rich, and even has a sense of depth to it, making it easy to hear every layer of this brilliantly dense music. CD1 has slightly better resolution, but CD2 is the overall hands down winner as it is simply more fun to listen to. Perhaps best of all, the analogue version allows you to listen to this glorious album really loud without any discomfort. When I listened to the 1991 CD at a high volume, I'd often find myself listening to just a couple of cuts at a time because the sound quality was so nasty. And let's face it, really loud is only way to listen properly to Loveless.

This edition is fantastic. A classic shoe gaze, Loveless is timeless. This deluxe edition has been remastered from the original analog tapes, making it worth every bit of it and sounds splendid on vinyl.

I'm a new MBV fan, having just gotten into them upon ordering this release a few weeks ago. I'm not going to waste time rambling about how great the album is, but instead how great the reissue is, since there are a lot of mixed reviews about it on here and Amazon.co.uk especially, and I'd like to help clarify things.First off, this album turned me into a MBV fan instantly. Wow, what an album. It got me to purchase their others right away. It just shows that anyone can be turned on to any band at any time, no matter when their music came out. Now, about the reissue. When I first popped Disc 1 into my CD player, I found the sound to be a bit flat, so since there was the luxury of a second disc with the same material on it, I put that one in to see if it would sound any better. Oh, it did. Way more dynamics and a wall of noisy guitars surrounding the listener even during the quieter tracks.Now a lot of the mixed reviews bring up the fact that the labels on Disc 1 and Disc 2 are actually mislabeled. Disc 1 is stated in the booklet as being digitally remastered from the original tapes, and Disc 2 is supposed to be a new analog master, but from my listening experience, Disc 2 does indeed sound like the digital remaster that Disc 1 is supposed to be. Another issue that people have with this is the supposed "glitch" that you hear in "What You Want" on Disc 1 (the analog master). Personally, I favor Disc 2 whenever I listen to this album so I haven't given Disc 1 a fair listen, but even if there is a glitch, who cares? If Kevin Shields had reissued this album with just the digital remaster, there would be only praise about it, because it sounds really good. I haven't heard the original 1991 CD, but from what I've read on message boards, apparently Disc 2 here is that, but a little louder. That's fine by me. It's not overly loud, and if you listen to it on a good pair of headphones, you'll be submerged in the gorgeous shoegazing soundscape of MBV for 45 minutes, and be proud that you bought this reissue in the end. And I'm sure if I do ever get down to listening to Disc 1, the glitch probably won't bother me that much. It's not that big a deal, guys. Stop giving an excellent reissue such negative reviews.By the way, the reissue of "Isn't Anything" sounds just as good, and their new album "m b v" is just mindblowing.

IMO this is possibly the greatest album ever made. Absolute masterpiece. Once you realise it's meant to sound like that there's no looking back. Let this seep into your soul and experience the devine. Every time I listen I feel the same warm glow and while it lasts nothing else matters.

Couldn't hear much difference in the 2 versions.After a while I couldn't hear anything.

I bought this album for my big sister as a Christmas present as she's into shoegaze music and I am as well. I honestly never listened to My Bloody Valentine much before but this album is a terrific lush sounding indie record from the Irish dream pop group. The guitars really take centre stage here over the vocals which create this very ethereal sound similar to The Jesus and Mary Chain, another popular band from the shoegaze scene. I'm really love with this album and I can see why My Bloody Valentine are such an influential act on several alternative and hard rock bands (they were a huge influence on The Smashing Pumpkins and Deftones).

Loveless can be impenetrable at first: it seems tuneless and lacking in conventional pop songs. But give it time and listen to the entire album and it begins to make sense. I like music or TV that requires you to make an effort, whilst this is not for everyone, it can be hugely rewarding. Loveless is an astonishing album and for me it can sound different each time. Even 22 years later, no one has surpassed what Kevin Shields achieves with the guitar here. Simply put he reinvents what the guitar is capable of. That they could return with something as great as m b v is cause for celebration.

An aural assault, but so life affirming