Isn't Anything

After the band's original vocalist Dave Conway left in 1987, replaced by Bilinda Butcher, the band at first continued in their previous noisy indie-pop style. Kevin Shields then desired to return to the band's avant-garde roots and began to explore the possibilities offered by the studio facilities available after having signed to Creation Records in 1988.{{cite journal|author=Stubbs, David|year=1999|title=Sweetheart Attack: My Bloody Valentine's Isn't Anything is the Eighties rock album|journal=Uncut|issue=February 1999}} The first fruit of this experimentation was the single/EP You Made Me Realise, released in August 1988, with Isn't Anything following later that year.

Creation head Alan McGee recalled: "Kevin gave me 'You Made Me Realise', which was supposed to be a track on their first EP for us. I went, That's the single! He was shocked, cos they'd only done the track as a joke. Then they did stuff for their album, and I said, Go for more of the weirder stuff. So they went back and did stuff like 'Soft as Snow'. Those are the only suggestions I've ever given them."Select, April 1994

Most of the album was recorded in a studio in Wales{{cite journal|author=Blashill, Paul|year=1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Yh9p0GCKsEC&q=%22isn%27t+anything%22+valentine&pg=PA12|title=My Waking Dream|journal=Spin|issue=May 1989|page=12|access-date=2010-04-25}} over a period of two weeks, and the band members slept about two hours a night.{{cite journal|author=Reynolds, Simon|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ul7jcf4HvN4C&q=%22isn%27t+anything%22+valentine&pg=PA80|title=It's the Opposite of Rock 'n' Roll|journal=Spin|issue=August 2008|pages=78–84}} Butcher described the effect of this: "Often, when we do the vocals, it's 7:30 in the morning: I've usually fallen asleep and have to be woken up to sing. Maybe that's why it's languorous. I'm usually trying to remember what I've been dreaming about when I'm singing."

Isn't Anything is a shoegaze,{{cite web|last1=Jackson|first1=Josh|title=The Best Albums of the 1980s|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/02/the-80-best-albums-of-the-1980s.html?a=1|website=Paste Magazine|access-date=30 June 2016|archive-date=6 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006082557/https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/02/the-80-best-albums-of-the-1980s.html?a=1|url-status=dead}} avant-rock,[http://www.musictimes.com/articles/5153/20140331/8-albums-that-go-against-the-theory-of-the-sophmore-slump-radiohead-nirvana-neutral-milk-hotel-and-more.htm Music Times] dream pop{{cite news | last = Reynolds | first = Simon | author-link = Simon Reynolds | title = Pop View; 'Dream-Pop' Bands Define the Times in Britain | newspaper = The New York Times | date = 1 December 1991 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/01/arts/pop-view-dream-pop-bands-define-the-times-in-britain.html?pagewanted=1 | access-date =7 March 2010

}} noise pop, experimental pop, noise rock,{{cite web |author=Various |date=October 24, 2016 |title=The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9966-the-50-best-shoegaze-albums-of-all-time/ |website=Pitchfork}} and lo-fi{{cite web|title=100 Best Albums of the 1980s|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/best-albums-of-the-1980s|website=Slant Magazine|date=5 March 2012 |access-date=7 December 2017}}album; Q's Stuart Maconie wrote that the album "was the first full-length expression of this remarkable new sound: gossamer vocals and insinuating melodies glimpsed through sheets of blurred, opaque noise." Melody Maker described its sound as "swoon-songs, oblivious, languorous vocals and out-of-focus guitars which are like being taken to the brink of consciousness and held there."{{cite news

| title = Albums of the Year

| newspaper = Melody Maker

| pages = 56

| date = 1988-12-24

| url = https://archivedmusicpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/melody-maker-top-30-albums-of-the-year-1988/

| access-date = 2017-07-25}}

Taylor Parkes of The Quietus described the album as "livid, lurid and lucid," and called it "the shattering racket of the moment, an audio snapshot of the overwhelmed senses, a noise like nothing you've ever heard, but everything you've ever felt."{{cite web|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/00081-my-bloody-valentine-isnt-anything-and-lovelessreissues-reviewed|title=My Bloody Valentine|work=The Quietus|date=10 June 2008|access-date=25 April 2010|last=Parkes|first=Taylor}} In his book Alternative Rock, Dave Thompson described the album's sound as "dry ice-piercingly intense guitar drones and hefty nods to miasmic hardcore soup, oozing a contrary trance-spun drone. Noise becomes beauty as feedback is layered over vocals over feedback ad infinitum."{{cite book|author=Thompson, Dave|year=2000|title=Alternative Rock|publisher=Miller Freeman|isbn=0-87930-607-6|page=512}} Anthony Carew of About.com described its style as "atonal, desconstructed, free-noise guitar playing" and noted that it had an "ethereal, spectral quality that radically reconfigured the predominant paradigms of rock'n'roll."{{cite web|url=http://altmusic.about.com/od/1980s/fr/My-Bloody-Valentine-Isnt-Anything-1988.htm|title=My Bloody Valentine Isn't Anything – Review of Their Classic 1988 Debut Album|work=About.com|access-date=11 April 2012|last=Carew|first=Anthony|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112090633/http://altmusic.about.com/od/1980s/fr/My-Bloody-Valentine-Isnt-Anything-1988.htm|archive-date=12 January 2012|url-status=dead}}

"Several Girls Galore" has been described as "a cubist take on the Jesus and Mary Chain."

Isn't Anything was released in the United Kingdom on 21 November 1988 by Creation Records.{{cite journal|title=My Bloody Valentine, Feed Me with Your Kiss|journal=Melody Maker|date=28 October 1988}} A limited edition of the first 5,000 vinyl copies included a bonus seven-inch single featuring two instrumental tracks, both titled "Instrumental". The B-side track featured a Public Enemy drum loop from "Security of the First World."{{cite book|title=The Great Indie Discography|last=Strong|first=Martin C.|author-link=Martin C. Strong|year=2003|publisher=Canongate|isbn=1-84195-335-0|page=884}} Isn't Anything{{'}}s lead single "Feed Me with Your Kiss" was released in October 1988, backed with three outtakes from the album's recording sessions: "I Believe", "Emptiness Inside" and "I Need No Trust".{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r214575|label=Feed Me with Your Kiss [CD single] - My Bloody Valentine | AllMusic|last=Abebe|first=Nitsuh|pure_url=no|access-date=11 April 2012}} "Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside)" was also released as a promotional single in the United States in December 1988. Neither of the album's retail singles charted.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The album was reissued on CD by Warner Bros. Records in 1993 and 2001 and by Creation in 1996. A 180-gram LP version of the album was released by Plain Records in 2008, and a remastered version of the album was released in June 2008.{{cite web|title=My Bloody Valentine to remaster classic albums | News | NME.COM|url=http://www.nme.com/news/my-bloody-valentine/36623|work=NME|date=15 May 2008|access-date=25 April 2010}} An additional remaster by Shields at Metropolis Studios in London was released on 4 May 2012.{{cite web|title=My Bloody Valentine - New Releases - Friday 4th May | The Official Sony Music Ireland Site |url=http://www.sonymusic.ie/news/my-bloody-valentine-new-releases-friday-4th-may |work=Sony Music Ireland |access-date=11 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201213400/http://www.sonymusic.ie/news/my-bloody-valentine-new-releases-friday-4th-may |archive-date= 1 February 2014 }}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/isnt-anything-mw0000653280|title=Isn't Anything – My Bloody Valentine|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=25 April 2010|last=Phares|first=Heather}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2score = A−{{cite magazine|url=http://www.ew.com/article/1993/07/09/isnt-anything|title=Isn't Anything|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=9 July 1993|access-date=11 April 2012|last=Tucker|first=Ken|author-link=Ken Tucker|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019102557/http://www.ew.com/article/1993/07/09/isnt-anything|archive-date=19 October 2016|url-status=dead}}

| rev3 = The Irish Times

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/about-bloody-time-1.1269959|title=About bloody time|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=20 June 2008|access-date=28 July 2019|last=Carroll|first=Jim|author-link=Jim Carroll (journalist)}}

| rev4 = Mojo

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Crown of Creation|magazine=Mojo|issue=177|date=August 2008|last=Eccleston|first=Danny|page=118}}

| rev5 = MSN Music (Expert Witness)

| rev5score = A−{{cite web|url=http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/expert-witness-blogpost.aspx?post=eb2caad1-3ef8-4f40-96be-d27f6002f76d|title=My Bloody Valentine/The Vaselines|website=MSN Music|date=22 February 2013|access-date=26 May 2016|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323114918/http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/expert-witness-blogpost.aspx?post=eb2caad1-3ef8-4f40-96be-d27f6002f76d|archive-date=23 March 2013|url-status=dead}}

| rev6 = NME

| rev6score = 8/10{{cite magazine|title=Valentine Daze|magazine=NME|date=19 November 1988|last=Barron|first=Jack|page=38}}

| rev7 = Pitchfork

| rev7score = 10/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16605-isnt-anything-reissue-loveless-reissue-eps-1988-1991/|title=My Bloody Valentine: Isn't Anything / Loveless / EPs 1988–1991|website=Pitchfork|date=11 May 2012|access-date=11 May 2012|last=Richardson|first=Mark}}

| rev8 = Q

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=My Bloody Valentine: Isn't Anything|magazine=Q|issue=117|date=June 1996|last=Maconie|first=Stuart|author-link=Stuart Maconie}}

| rev9 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev9score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book|chapter=My Bloody Valentine|last=Sisario|first=Ben|author-link=Ben Sisario|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/566 566]}}

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10score = 10/10{{cite web|url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/my-bloody-valentine-isnt-anything-loveless-m-b-v-eps-88-91-reissues-1988-1991-2013-2012-130604/|title=My Bloody Valentine – Isn't Anything / Loveless / m b v / EPs '88–'91|website=Uncut|date=21 May 2021|access-date=11 August 2022|last=Troussé|first=Stephen}}

}}

Upon its release, Isn't Anything received acclaim from critics. "If Isn't Anything had been made by Americans", wrote NME reviewer Jack Barron, "My Bloody Valentine would be greeted as the new messiahs of dreamrock guitar." A 1988 year-end roundup of the year's top albums in Melody Maker ranked Isn't Anything third of the year and called it "a raving nymphomania and out-of-body experience [that] establishes them as absent-minded rulers of this daydream nation."

AllMusic editor Heather Phares referred to Isn't Anything as "the most lucid, expansive articulation yet of the group's sound" and said the album "captures My Bloody Valentine's revolutionary style in its infancy and points the way to Loveless, but it's far more than just a dress rehearsal for the band's moment of greatness." Entertainment Weekly reviewer Ken Tucker reflected on Isn't Anything in 1993, saying "the passion of their playing – the rafter-shaking guitar chords, the baleful vocals – attests to their faith in romance, betrayal, and dizzy crushes. They nearly bury their somber melodies beneath surface noise. But unearthing the tunes is part of the listening pleasure."

The remasters of Isn't Anything also generated favourable reviews. Uncut{{'}}s Stephen Troussé wrote: "[I]n rock algebra you might deduce that they'd worked out some new equation involving the barbed languor of the Mary Chain, the speedfreak urgency of Sonic Youth, and a dash of The Vaselines' sauce – but none of that accounts for the savagely sensual results."{{cite web|url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/my_bloody_valentine/reviews/11825|title=My Bloody Valentine Reissues Special – Isn't Anything/Loveless/The Coral Sea|work=Uncut|access-date=25 April 2010|last=Troussé|first=Stephen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011021849/http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/my_bloody_valentine/reviews/11825|archive-date=11 October 2008}}

Isn't Anything is regarded by many as among the greatest albums of the 1980s. The album has been included in The Guardian{{'}}s list of 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die{{cite web|title=Artists beginning with M (part 3) | Music | guardian.co.uk|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/21/1000tohearbeforeyoudie|work=The Guardian|date=21 November 2007|access-date=11 April 2012}} and ranked at #16 in their Alternative Top 100 Albums list.{{cite web|title=Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The alternative top 100 from 11-40 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/albums/Story/0,2763,209104,00.html |work=The Guardian |date=29 January 1999 |access-date=11 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020109182150/http://www.guardian.co.uk/albums/Story/0%2C2763%2C209104%2C00.html |archive-date= 9 January 2002 }} Archived from [https://www.theguardian.com/albums/Story/0,2763,209104,00.html the original]. The album was also ranked #24 in The Irish Times{{'}} list of Top 40 Irish Albums of All Time,{{cite news|last=Carroll|first=Jim|author-link=Jim Carroll (journalist)|title=On the Record: The Ticket's Top 40 Irish Albums of All Time|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=29 February 2008|page=4}} selected by Pitchfork staff as #22 on their "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s" list{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5882-top-100-albums-of-the-1980s/|title=Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1980s|work=Pitchfork|date=20 November 2002|access-date=25 April 2010|archive-date=25 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825114150/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5882-top-100-albums-of-the-1980s/|url-status=dead}} and listed at #92 on Slant Magazine{{'}}s list of Best Albums of the 1980s.{{cite web|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feature/best-albums-of-the-1980s/308|title=Best Albums of the 1980s|work=Slant Magazine|date=5 March 2012|access-date=11 April 2012}} Uncut writer David Stubbs has called Isn't Anything "one of the most important, influential British rock albums of the eighties." In its 2013 update, the NME ranked the album at 187 in the list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.{{cite web|url=http://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-200-101/324534|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 200–101|work=NME|date=24 October 2013|access-date=26 May 2016}} Pitchfork selected the album as the fourth-best shoegaze album of all time.{{Cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9966-the-50-best-shoegaze-albums-of-all-time/?page=5|title=The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time|work=Pitchfork|date=24 October 2016|access-date=19 November 2016}}

{{Track listing

| total_length = 38:00

| all_writing =

| all_music = Kevin Shields, except for "Sueisfine," composed by Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig

| title1 = Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside)

| lyrics1 = {{hlist|Kevin Shields|Colm Ó Cíosóig}}

| length1 = 2:22

| title2 = Lose My Breath

| lyrics2 = Bilinda Butcher

| length2 = 3:38

| title3 = Cupid Come

| lyrics3 = Butcher

| length3 = 4:29

| title4 = (When You Wake) You're Still in a Dream

| lyrics4 = Ó Cíosóig

| length4 = 3:18

| title5 = No More Sorry

| lyrics5 = Butcher

| length5 = 2:47

| title6 = All I Need

| lyrics6 = Shields

| length6 = 3:05

| title7 = Feed Me with Your Kiss

| lyrics7 = Shields

| length7 = 3:54

| title8 = Sueisfine

| lyrics8 = Shields

| length8 = 2:12

| title9 = Several Girls Galore

| lyrics9 = Butcher

| length9 = 2:21

| title10 = You Never Should

| lyrics10 = Shields

| length10 = 3:23

| title11 = Nothing Much to Lose

| lyrics11 = Shields

| length11 = 3:17

| title12 = I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)

| lyrics12 = Shields

| length12 = 3:14

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Bonus limited edition single{{cite AV media notes|title=Instrumental|others=My Bloody Valentine|year=1988|publisher=Creation Records|id=CREFRE 4}}

| total_length = 7:55

| title1 = Instrumental No.1

| length1 = 3:19

| title2 = Instrumental No.2

| length2 = 4:36

}}

All personnel credits adapted from Isn't Anything{{'}}s liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=Isn't Anything|others=My Bloody Valentine|year=1988|type=CD|publisher=Creation Records|id=CRELP 040CD}}

;My Bloody Valentine

• Kevin Shields – guitar, vocals
• Bilinda Butcher – guitar, vocals
• Colm Ó Cíosóig – drums
• Deb Googe – bass

;Technical personnel

• My Bloody Valentine – production
• Dave Anderson – engineering
• Steve Nunn – engineering
• Alex Russell – engineering
• Joe Dilworth – photography

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" ! scope="col"| Chart (1988) ! scope="col"| Peak position
scope="row"| UK Independent Chart{{cite book|title=Indie Hits: 1980–1989|last=Lazell|first=Barry|year=1997|publisher=Cherry Red Books|isbn=0-9517206-9-4|page=155}} | 1

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" ! scope="col"| Chart (2012) ! scope="col"| Peak position
scope="row"| Irish Albums Chart{{cite web|title=GFK Chart-Track|url=http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240002&arch=t&lyr=2012&year=2012&week=19|work=Irish Recorded Music Association|publisher=GFK Chart-Track|access-date=13 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002010755/http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240002&arch=t&lyr=2012&year=2012&week=19|archive-date=2 October 2013|url-status=dead}} | 49
scope="row"| Japanese Oricon Albums Chart{{cite web|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/159543/ranking/cd_album|title=マイ・ブラッディ・ヴァレンタインのCDアルバムランキング、マイ・ブラッディ・ヴァレンタインのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典|trans-title=Oricon Entertainment Encyclopedia – Oricon CD: My Bloody Valentine Album Rankings|publisher=Oricon|language=ja|access-date=10 July 2013}} | 29
scope="row"| South Korean Albums Chart{{cite web|url=http://www.gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/album/list.gaon|title=:: 가온차트와 함께하세요 ::|trans-title=Gaon Album Chart: 2012.05.06~2012.05.12|publisher=Gaon Chart|language=ko|access-date=10 July 2013}} N.B. User must select "2012 년" from the right drop-down box, select "2012.05.06~2012.05.12" from the second drop-down box and then select "51–100유" from the bottom of the chart. | 70
scope="row"| UK Albums Chart{{cite web|title=My Bloody Valentine {{!}} full Official Chart History|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/26143/my-bloody-valentine/|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=29 May 2021}} | 61

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (2021) ! scope="col"| Peak position
{{album chart|Australia|45|artist=My Bloody Valentine|album=Isn't Anything|rowheader=true|access-date=28 May 2021}}
{{album chart|Flanders|116|artist=My Bloody Valentine|album=Isn't Anything|rowheader=true|access-date=24 October 2021}}
{{album chart|Wallonia|81|artist=My Bloody Valentine|album=Isn't Anything|rowheader=true|access-date=30 May 2021}}
{{album chart|Netherlands|63|artist=My Bloody Valentine|album=Isn't Anything|rowheader=true|access-date=29 May 2021}}
{{album chart|Ireland3|31|date=20210528|rowheader=true|access-date=28 May 2021}}
{{album chart|Portugal|44|artist=My Bloody Valentine|album=Isn't Anything|rowheader=true|access-date=2 June 2021}}
scope="row"| Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan){{Cite web|url=https://www.sverigetopplistan.se/chart/234?dspy=2021&dspp=21|title=Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 21|language=sv|publisher=Sverigetopplistan|access-date=29 May 2021}} | 2
scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC) | 22
{{album chart|UKIndependent|4|date=20210528|rowheader=true|access-date=29 May 2021}}

{{Reflist}}

{{My Bloody Valentine}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1988 debut albums

Category:My Bloody Valentine (band) albums

Category:Sire Records albums

Category:Creation Records albums

Category:Experimental rock albums by Irish artists

Category:Experimental rock albums by English artists

Category:Experimental pop albums

Category:Lo-fi music albums