my bloody valentine - m b v
Critic Score
Based on 42 reviews
2013 Ratings: #6 / 1115
Year End Rank: #4
User Score
2013 Rank: #49
Liked by 363 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Guardian

The songs on m b v ... are more melodically complex, intriguing and often pleasing than anything he has written before.

100
The Skinny

The prevailing feeling is that m b v isn't so much a successor to Loveless; it’s heavier, less immediate, and by the third listen sounds like nothing less than a triumph for Shields. His singular vision has paid off once again.

100
Pretty Much Amazing

Just as Loveless refined and expanded on the elements of early My Bloody Valentine, mbv draws on the past without forgoing the fierce originality that has defined the band from the outset. 

100
FACT Magazine

So un-self conscious and plain true is the rendering that it’s as if they unlearned those 22 years in order to feel how it was the first time; the final outcome is a peerlessly vivid depiction of an era MBV were integral in defining.

100
Consequence of Sound

m b v creates a new timeline for My Bloody Valentine, and one that recalls the past in a broader and bolder light.

95
Under the Radar

If anything, the opening two-thirds of the album are the perfect re-submergence into the band's sound before m b v takes a turn for the sublime on its final three tracks. 

95
Paste

My Bloody Valentine successfully followed up a decades-old classic with m b v, an album that stands as confidently, beautifully and masterfully composed as its predecessor.

94
Sputnikmusic

While m b v is a record that is more than capable of standing on its own, at the same time it also sounds exactly like the sort of thing that we might have expected My Bloody Valentine to produce two decades ago, and this noticeable lack of allegiance to the present is perhaps the most potent thing about this entire revisionist affair. 

91
Pitchfork

Where Loveless felt effortless, mbv strains, pushing at its boundaries with a sense of pensive gloom. 

91
A.V. Club

Regardless of whether it’s an echo of the past or a bridge to the future, MBV stands as something potentially timeless—and immediately breathtaking.

90
Billboard

The rhythms are tighter and more martial; the guitars are sharper, less tremolo'ed and blurred; the sounds a bit crisper. But with many of the songs, you can almost identify the song or moment from "Loveless" that is being evoked.

90
Beats Per Minute

A fully conceptualized 45 minutes of music that both logically progresses the triumphs of its predecessor and doesn’t feel out of place in the musical landscape of 2013. 

90
Slant Magazine

A few twists and turns shy of perfection, m b v is the innovation and sonic warmth of My Bloody Valentine rekindled and made anew.

90
The 405

m b v accomplishes the rare feat of being both timeless and in-the-moment; sounding like a '92 or '93 follow-up to Loveless would have sounded while simultaneously feeling as modern as any 2013 album with a RIYL: My Bloody Valentine on the press sheet.

90
Crack Magazine

The more you listen to m b v, the looser your grip on criticality becomes: the weight of history you earlier sought to shrug off vanishes, replaced by a fawning adoration.

90
Exclaim!

Although it may not necessarily build on Loveless, there's no audible reason m b v shouldn't be spoken of in the same hushed, venerating tones.

90
The Line of Best Fit

It triumphs not as a continuation of a musical conversation that Isn’t Anything and Loveless began, but by forging its own distinct modern dialogue, one that at once sounds rooted in its own imaginative time and place, perhaps even dimension, with any telling outside influences dissipating as soon as the songs truly take their pleasurable hold.

90
musicOMH

It represents Shields and the band’s own fractious, turbulent journey from the creative hangover of Loveless into producing something entirely new, in turn leaving you thrilled and rather moved indeed

89
Northern Transmissions

The key it appears was the timing of the album, Shields solved the riddle of nostalgia and it afforded him the time to create a great return album. One that satisfies the fans, the music world, and himself.

80
The Independent

As before, it's a woozy, deceptively desultory experience, with all sonic elements – and the dreamy murmur-whispers of Bilinda Butcher and Shields buried deep inside.

80
The Arts Desk

m b v is as beautifully opaque and seductive as Loveless, sounding like nothing other than Kevin Shields’ vision.

80
The Sydney Morning Herald
It sounds, typically, like the discovery of a new world.
80
The Observer
This, finally, is the stuff people have been waiting a young lifetime to hear. It more than passes muster.
80
NOW Magazine

While there’s nothing quite as disorienting and alien as Loveless’s dramatic opening song, Only Shallow, there’s notable evolution in both the songwriting and sound, and the overall flow of the album actually seems tighter.

80
The Needle Drop

On the band's first effort in over 20 years, My Bloody Valentine doesn't overreach their seminal efforts on Loveless, but the band still proves they have a hefty amount of relevance and creativity to spare when it comes to shoegaze.

80
Uncut

Overall m b v is more of a time capsule than a box of surprises, but the contents have survived in immaculate condition.

80
The Telegraph

Those same multilayered textures are all here, and if anything there are more finely chiselled planes of fresh variation: there is a discipline as well as wildness behind the distortion.

80
Q Magazine

MBV isn't perfect; sometimes the songs do drag, but the brilliant moments are so brilliant, and the exciting moments so exciting that you'll forgive them.

80
Rolling Stone

Despite the skull-crushing power, MBV is music that rewards close listening, music that takes its time to give up its secrets.

80
Time Out London

‘m b v’ is a brilliant record – every bit as dreamily turbulent as you’d hope – but it’s not simply a sequel.

80
DIY

There's clearly something here, there's an evolution in what Shields is doing. But, is it any good? Yes. Is it better than 'Loveless'? Probably not – and it's unfair to compare it to a predecessor that we've had two decades to live with and love. 

80
No Ripcord

mbv follows its predecessor without aggrandizing its past resources, and as such, delivers a wallop of sweet, sweet distortion in a way that comes naturally to them.

80
SPIN

m b v seems like both the "logical next step" after Loveless (as if bands were subject to teleological pressures) and utterly contemporary.

80
NME

‘m b v’ needs to be digested like chewing gum, left to swirl around in your system for months or years, before anyone will really be able to gauge how it measures up to ‘Isn’t Anything’ or ‘Loveless’.

80
AllMusic

More comforting than revelatory, M B V reaffirms that My Bloody Valentine are one of a kind; the subtlety to their melodies, instrumentation, and the way they blur together belongs to them alone.

80
Tiny Mix Tapes

It certainly speaks volumes that the group could reemerge in this climate and prove that no one is capable of exactly replicating what they do.

80
Drowned in Sound

The album’s major problem, more than anything, is that such a flabbergastingly brilliant end stretch hints at a better record that might have been

75
Spectrum Culture
While the opaqueness of the lyrics was oftentimes frustrating and there are several moments that felt not fully realized it also had some of the most engaging, richly-textured guitar sounds since the demise of Sonic Youth.
70
FasterLouder

My Bloody Valentine still sound like no other band, but they’re stretching out to a large degree on this album, making their sound even more texturally dense.

70
Classic Rock

Despite its long delay, m b v is no great leap forward, though it’s still aeons ahead of its 21st-century competition.

60
PopMatters
It’s a good album, but not a great one, and though the long tail of history will eventually render such a long production time moot, it’s certainly not a record justifying the ludicrous wait.
BradTasteMusic
92

Uhhhh, this is just as good as Loveless.

It’s a completely different vibe, and it works. The sound is stunning. I feel completely entranced by this. Truly amazing project.

YoussWRLD
84

amazing record if you havent heard loveless, somewhat of a disappointment if you have

look, they still have their distinct sound which automatically makes this better than most other albums out there
but overall I gotta admit they've kinda lost the magic they had on loveless :(
other than the opening track (or 3 tracks, really) which is extra mellowy and dreamy, the album doesn't really improve or build on their previous works. it's just a weird detour that left me hungry for more a bit too ... read more

Stupidrob
94

I was pleasantly surprised

This album is a great evolution of their music, and most of the songs feel like a slow burn with excellent payoff, until it doesn’t…..

And then the ending saves it.

Only problem, it drags like hell sometimes

guixas
87

woaaaaa
a near perfect balance of noise and melody

YOLK1I
90

22 years for this album and wow, such a come back. The album can drag on, personally didn't feel it, but could see why people have said that. Loveless is still the better album, but thats ok because this is and feels like its own thing while building upon what came before.

Tublabius
90

Fucking beautiful

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Track List

1she found now
5:06
92
2only tomorrow
6:21
91
3who sees you
6:12
91
4is this and yes
5:06
81
5if i am
3:54
87
6new you
4:59
88
7in another way
5:30
88
8nothing is
3:33
73
9wonder 2
5:51
88
Total Length: 46 minutes
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Added on: February 2, 2013