-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
Artist..: Ride
Album...: Smile
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Shoegaze, Indie Rock
LABEL....: Sire SCENE.....: 2016-03-12
BITRATE..: 903 kbps avg STORE.....: 1992-00-00
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V TRACKS....: 8
SIZE.....: 200.7MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(Ride_album)
- TRACKLIST
1 Chelsea Girl 2:58
2 Drive Blind 4:45
3 All I Can See 3:24
4 Close My Eyes 5:27
5 Like A Daydream 3:06
6 Silver 4:10
7 Furthest Sense 3:24
8 Perfect Time 3:51
Total Playtime: 31:05
Ah, all you knowing folk need a history lesson, don't you? Yeah, you know you
want one really. Well, okay then! Following The Stone Roses disappearing, the
UK indie/alternative scene suddenly didn't know what the hell to do or where
to go. Enter a scene known as 'Shoegazing' a bunch of bands related purely by
their common love of the mighty Jesus And The Mary Chain and My Bloody
Valentine. Bands who tended to not face the audience, and stare at their
shoes during live concerts. Bands with all the charisma of a faceless piece
of stone, but let's also remember that this little band here, Ride, were the
first band to break Creation Records into the UK top 75 singles charts. The
next Ride single broke the top 50, the following became Creation Records,
some ten years running or so - first genuine hit single. That hit single
isn't contained here, but a better single is. Ride gave Creation Records an
impetus, an impetus that eventually produced Oasis. Ride were the better
band. Ride made better records than Oasis. Andy Bell, Singer/Guitarist in
Ride is now the Oasis bass player! How's that for funny goings on? Okay, so
I'm rambling here. Ride also included a very solid rhythm section and a guy
named Mark Gardener who in the early Ride days played second guitar and also
sang most of the songs. He sang them in a tuneless, flat - emotionless way.
Surrounded by a wall of My Bloody Valentine and Jesus And The Mary Chain
influenced guitar and noise. There's also the hidden fact that Ride were huge
Who fans, not an obvious thing to discover listening to this compilation of
their first two EPs, but it's there. The drummer knows what to do. Nowhere
close to the class or talent of Keith Moon, but it's there. The bass player
in Ride was cool, and then you have these 'My Lady Friend' ( performed and
written by David Crosby and The Byrds ) guitars. Plus effects pedals and
feedback. That pretty much describes the early sound of Ride pretty damn
well.
So, what's here? Well, 'Chelsea Girl' has a rush of drums and guitars, 'Drive
Blind' is pretty doomy and misery laden but it has a power in the performance
- a section where this huge wall of noise appears, albeit a wall of noise
rendered not quite so impressive due to cheap, murky production. We've got a
few nice, b-side type songs with 'All I Can See', 'Close My Eyes', the slow,
shivery 'Silver' and the pop structure of 'Furthest Sense' and 'Perfect
Time'. All good songs, none special, but let's see here. I'm missing out
something aren't I? Ah, yes! 'Like A Daydream' is simply magical and one of
the finest songs produced in around twenty years of UK alternative/indie
music. 1980-2000. Ride with 'Like A Daydream' produce a little piece of
magic. The Byrds did 'Lady Friend' which wasn't perceived as one of their
better singles. There is something about Ride writing and performing 'Like A
Daydream', the chime of the interweaving guitars, that reminds me of 'Lady
Friend' by The Byrds. Only Rides 'Like A Daydream' is better. And The Byrds
are one of my favourite bands. And the middle section of 'Like A Daydream'
includes a glorious pause, a moment of silence before the guitars go
everywhere, oh so special melody amid a dark, murky sound and pummelling
drums. I love the song to pieces. You should too.
*
This album reminds me of the scene in Back to the Future in which Marvin
Berry calls his cousin, Chuck, and holds the phone up to transmit the sound
of Marty McFly playing "Johnny Be Good". That's only because I first heard
Smile in exactly the same way. A friend called me, told me to listen to this
music he just got, and played "Close My Eyes" through the phone. In BTTF the
phone method seemed like an ingenious use of technology but in 1990 it seemed
quite primitive and, in fact, I really couldn't hear anything but cymbal
crashes and feedback tones. That didn't stop me from cherishing Smile and it
hasn't left my side since.
Smile is an 8-song EP that combines the material on two previously released
4-song EPs, Ride and Play, which were also released in 1990. I won't go on
about how this album is an important pieces of shoegaze history etc., etc.,
because I still hold on to the shimmering idea that this was simply good,
enlightened pop music with which, once again, the Brits put their US
counterparts to shame.
It's clear from the start that Ride knew how to make pop music out of
distortion and feedback better than anybody that had come before. "Chelsea
Girl" has that garage-rock sound of distorted guitars being recorded from
inside a metal trash can. The vocals are high in the mix and that's where a
lot of the melody is found. Frenetic beats sound at first like they may be
for dancing but that idea goes away quickly û they are for head nodding with
closed eyes. That description might conjure images of a 60s psych-rock
throwback but it's not. This is something new.
"Drive Blind" and "Close My Eyes" are the two songs that I would have
considered 'the singles' if I was a promoter. They are both examples of how
this music works; you bury a catchy song underneath noise. I can't think of a
better example of that simple concept than the combo of these two songs. "All
I Can See" has some goth flair like a sad bass line and guitars that chime
more than riff. The moaned chorus (goes something like
"Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ah-oh") seems like it's there to prove that Ride are not
concerned about providing your entertainment.
The four songs that comprise the second half of Smile don't feel as
monumental simply because they mostly echo what Ride did in the previous
four. Of course, the previous ones are some of my favorite songs ever so I
don't mind four more at all. This album has not worn on me in almost twenty
years. Maybe that's because, like the knowledge bestowed upon Chuck Berry
when he first heard Michael J. Fox play rock guitar, Smile made me feel like
I was hearing noisy pop music for the first time û and it has never felt any
less important or enjoyable.
Smile is a personal 10/10 but this won't be a proper critical review without
at least a bashful mention of Smile's place in shoegaze history. While some
of the ferocity of Smile is nowhere to be found elsewhere, Ride took their
concept a little bit higher and deeper on their masterpiece, Nowhere. Still,
I could have died and gone to shoegaze heaven simply on the merits of Smile.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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* NuHS we miss you! *
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