Best albums of 1990: #3 Ride “Nowhere”

At album number three on this best albums of 1990 list, we are getting even more iconic.

Ride is the legendary original shoegaze quartet from Oxford, England. Mark Gardener, Andy Bell, Steve Queralt, and Loz Colbert first formed the band back in 1988 and created a buzz with a string of cool singles. They were extraordinary for the genre in that they were relatively commercially successful, even during the first go around, even performing on some of the hip TV music shows at the time. They released four albums but the last did them in and they split acrimoniously in 1996. Of course, they re-formed triumphantly almost twenty years later, in 2014, toured globally a number of times, and have released three more excellent albums.  And yeah, they are still a going concern.

“Nowhere” was Ride’s debut album. Originally released with a track listing of eight songs, the version I first heard was substantially longer with a bunch of bonus tracks from an earlier EP tacked on. This wasn’t my first exposure to Ride. I got a copy of it based on my love for their sophomore album, 1992’s “Going blank again”, which was passed to me on dubbed cassette from my friend Tim and I nearly wore out from playing. The debut by comparison was a lot more raw and immediate, with much less programming and a cleaner production. But I grew to love it just as much as the sophomore.

“Nowhere” was genre defining. It is a mass of swirling guitars, intense basslines, heavy drums, and the layered duo lead vocals of Mark and Andy just hanging out deep in the mix. Pure shoegaze perfection. Each of the eight tracks is now a classic but I’ve selected three for you to sample, just in case you’ve never had the pleasure before.

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“Seagull“: “You gave me things I’d never seen. You made my life a waking dream.” The opening track on “Nowhere” is a six plus minute explosion of sounds. It is a miasma of four musicians playing the hell out of their instruments. Though somewhat buried in the haze, Loz is going full-on animal on the kit. Queralt’s bass line, though, refuses to be ignored, as muscle-bound as they come, relentless, hammering and holding up everything on a platter. Meanwhile, Bell and Gardener are punishing their guitars, playing against and with each other, conversing between jangle and feedback, and at the same time, their duo vocal attack adds yet another layer to the noise. All of it, like a tangled web to pick through, each line interesting to pull out and examine but all of it best taken together, like a tasty sugar pill that explodes in your mouth.

“Dreams burn down”: “Lying on the floor, the tears are falling down and more, her eyes speak loud but actions speak the best.” On “Dreams burn down”, Gardener takes the lead, singing about the breakup of a relationship, probably one-sided, evoking the despondency of endings. The verses are measured and even and melancholy. The drums laconic, the bass line warm and embracing, and the guitars chime, evoking a haunting, early hours feeling, where the question is raised on whether or not to finish the dregs of that last drink. But each of these verses are rudely interrupted by a burst of noise, as if each of the instruments are ripped away from their corresponding musicians and railed against by a demon intent on destroying them. The volume is flipped to eleven, matching the angst and flood of emotion. It’s almost too much. But just when you are thinking it might be a good idea to get up and adjust it, so as not to anger the neighbours, Andy, Mark, Loz, and Steve right the ship, and you settle back into your comfy spot in the bed of sound, sighing… until the next explosion and the next.

“Vapour trail”:* “Thirsty for your smile, I watch you for a while. You are a vapour trail in a deep blue sky.” “Vapour trail” is easily Ride’s most recognizable and popular tune for a reason. And even Andy Bell, who wrote this particular track, has been quoted as saying that this is the song of which he is most proud from that era. It closes “Nowhere” with a bang and an exclamation point. The funky drums that won’t quit and that string coda leads the listener reluctantly away from such an explosive mess of noise and begs for a click on the repeat button. There has been lots of conjecture over the use of effects to create that sweet guitar line that pulls the whole song together but Bell has been adamant that it came about naturally. They achieved it by twinning twelve string Rickenbackers and you can almost picture Bell looking at Mark Gardener with a nod and a smile, free and easy, embodying the whole mood of the song. It’s eyes closed on the dance floor, not quite dancing but shuffling, and not a care in the world, except for the fear that the song might end. Unfortunately, it does but the ecstasy stays, fading slowly, that beautiful, shimmering C-sharp minor–B–A–E chord progression reverbering in your eardrums.

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*Pardon the bit of self-plagiarism here but I couldn’t help it. I don’t think I could have said it better than I did when I posted words for this song when it appeared at number three as part of my best tunes of 1990 list… so I didn’t…

We’ll be back in a handful of days with album #2. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. The Northern Pikes “Snow in June”
9. Jane’s Addiction “Ritual de lo habitual”
8. Sinéad O’Connor “I do not want what I haven’t got”
7. The La’s “The La’s”
6. Concrete Blonde “Bloodletting”
5. Spirit of the West “Save this house”
4. The Sisters of Mercy “Vision thing”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.