Thanks to my friends over at Criminal Records, I picked up Rhino’s 20th anniversary re-issue of Ride’s Nowhere last weekend.
Nowhere, originally released in October 1990 on Creation in the U.K. and in December 1990 on Sire in North America, is one of the definitive contributions to the shoegaze scene that flourished in the U.K. during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
It is certainly one of the best records to come out of that scene, next only perhaps to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless (personally, I prefer Nowhere to Loveless).
Rhino doesn’t always get a lot of love for their re-issues but credit where credit is due: they did an admirable job with this one.
On the front of the jacket “Ride” and “Nowhere” are both embossed, just as on the original U.K. LP. The record also includes the original U.K. track listing – none of the “bonus tracks” included on the Sire North American release are here. (If you’re someone who appreciates faithfulness to the original, you’ll be pleased with this.) The vinyl itself, a 180-gram pressing, is flat and plays quiet with excellent sound.
I’ve never heard the original Creation pressing on vinyl so I won’t make any claims here about how this re-issue compares. However, I will say that if you want to save a hell of a lot of money (the original U.K. pressings typically sell for silly amounts on ebay) and still enjoy the record on vinyl, this should more than suffice.
After all, it doesn’t get much better than cranking up the stereo, laying back and absorbing tracks like “Seagull”, “In A Different Place”, “Polar Bear”, “Dreams Burn Down” and “Vapour Trail” as they swell and crash over top of you.
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