It’s hard to believe that My Bloody Valentine’s epochal Loveless debuted 30 years ago.
An unhappy birthday, to be honest.
Few releases since have been as singular, riveting, exploratory, immediately identifiable.
Kevin Shields and crew’s mythic innovations have only grown more influential, as those they have inspired — from Radiohead and Trent Reznor to Mogwai and so many more — have themselves become innovators and influencers in their own art, commerce, and epoch.
And while Loveless was swallowed by the stunning procession of albums released in 1991 — an astounding year for musical influentials, from Nevermind and Ten to Spiderland and beyond — it has come to outdistance many of them in the annals of our shared sonic universe.
When the 20th anniversary of My Bloody Valentine’s timeless masterpiece arrived, I did what any self-respecting journo would do and wrote an open love letter over at Wired. All of it still stands.