Performer Notes

One of the seminal records of the shoegazer movement, Ride's NOWHERE typifies all of the best qualities of the movement's sound. Shimmering, psychedelic atmospheres, squalling guitars shot through with distortion, and hypnotic drones balanced by genuine pop songcraft are all on ample display here, and are executed with a precision and mastery that represent the pinnacle of their technique.
"Seagull," the album's opener, pushed by the swirling twin guitar attack of Andy Bell and Mark Gardener, is simultaneously thunderous and radiant. Surging cuts like "Polar Bear" testify to Ride's skill at building dynamic tension and ringing sonic drama. But Ride were more than mere noise-merchants; their debt to psychedelic '60s pop also results in some fine songwriting, as the chiming, arepeggiated pop confection "Taste" reveals. NOWHERE is Ride's finest moment, and as a definitive document of shoegazer bliss, it ranks right alongside My Bloody Valentine's classic LOVELESS.

Professional Reviews

Spin (p.110) - "NOWHERE features melodies that are gentle like a windstorm, in line with the Stone Roses or American Indie rock."

Entertainment Weekly (1/25/91) - "..the band creates something refreshing from elements that have become alternative-rock cliche...The crucial, and welcome, difference is one of sonic crunch....in waves of feedback and throbbing cacophonies that bounce off each other and give the music potency and force.." - Rating: B

Clash (magazine) - "[T]he group's sound is much broader than any one tag could consummate, veering from grunge influence to psychedelia, to the Pop Art vein that ran through their home on Creation."

Record Collector (magazine) (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Opening track 'Seagull' clatters into view, all Keith Moon drums and a typically nimble, REVOLVER-esque bass line."