Ride

 

In 1990 Ride appeared on the music scene as the new hot thing. Formed by vocalists and guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardener in Oxford they really made the sound of the year as they released during January and September 1990 three EP's in row. Soon they were filed under shoegaze a genre I didn't really understood what it should mean if I am honest. Now these EP's are going to be released again and you can get these masterpieces once again. Ride was a band I always agreed with even even though the musical minds of this band have increasingly disputed in their musical orientation. Starting with an untypical upbeat song like Chelsea Girl further songs like Close My Eyes show what potential Andy Bell has and that this was the basis of fantastic albums he gave us during the last years.

Nowhere

 

In 1992 Ride released their first album Nowhere not knowing that they made their masterpiece. It was an album that stamped a genre. After this release shoegaze was in every ones mouth. I never could get firm with this genre because it had a somber mood in it's name. For me Ride wrote some of the best songs in the early 90's- Of course their songs are introspective but they all have a positive attitude. The main figure behind Ride was Andy Bell who formed this formidable band in 1988 in Oxford. Listening to their songs after a longer time again you can see the beauty in their songs. And also you can hear a lot of influences of post-punk era. Howling guitars, psychedelic moments, claiming bass-lines and the vocal harmonies by Andy Bell and Mark Gardener are the floor of great songs. If you need a few albums from this era - Nowhere should be one of them.

Ride - Vapour Trail

Ride - Paralysed