Ride have wisely sidestepped retreading old ground by using an updated sonic palette for a furiously fun, endlessly listenable record in Weather Diaries.
In keeping with their tradition, Weather Diaries is yet another Ride album unique from the rest. What's most remarkable about this one though is that it's as inventive and dynamic as anything else they've done.
Whichever model of Ride one is expecting, and however closely Weather Diaries gets to such expectations, they’ve succeeded at moving past the “heritage’ tour stage and have planted their feet on new ground.
In the scheme of things, Weather Diaries may only be the band's third best LP; however, when it's coming in behind Nowhere and Going Blank Again, two of the most worshiped discs of the shoegaze era, deserving mention within the same breath is no small feat.
Ride's fifth album is something of a triumph and infinitely better than many a fan could have hoped for. Almost 30 years on those vapour trails show no sign of fading just yet.
Weather Diaries is both recognizably Ride and a logical, tasteful update of its sound.
The first songs to be released from the album “Lannoy Point” and “Charm Assault” showed promise, but the album doesn’t quite deliver.
The best parts are worthy contributions to their catalog, and worth the price of admission here. But as a whole, Weather Diaries isn’t the brilliant Ride return fans might hope for.
Weather Diaries actually has enough individual moments over its 11 tracks to suggest that new Ride could work. But these are sadly surrounded by too many wobbles, missteps, and poor decisions to make the case for Weather Diaries as a great comeback album.
Weather Diaries channels Ride’s classic LPs like Nowhere and Going Blank Again and peppers the formula with renewed energy.
Some of Weather Diaries sounds a bit thin, as the album's vibrant singles come off as outdated recreations of old songs with some unnecessary polish. It isn’t short of ideas, though, which suggests that Ride are on their way to better refining their latest chapter.
There’s an attempt here to go back to the relative atmosphere of at least Going Blank Again, but the resulting music ends up sounding like the more reverb-heavy, turn-of-the-millennium British art-rock bands.
#14 | / | Fopp |
#14 | / | Louder Than War |
#34 | / | Gigwise |
#35 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#37 | / | Uncut |
#59 | / | Under the Radar |
#37 | / | Under the Radar (First Half) |