Going Blank Again
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''Going Blank Again'' is the second studio album by English
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band Ride, released on 9 March 1992 on
Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...
. It was produced by
Alan Moulder Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer. Early life Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music from ...
, and peaked at No. 5 in the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. In October 2009 the album was certified gold by the
British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
for sales of over 100,000 units.


Background and production

Following Ride's 1990 debut album ''
Nowhere Nowhere may refer to: Music * ''Nowhere'' (album), an album by Ride * '' Nowhere: Music from the Gregg Araki Movie'', a soundtrack album from the 1997 film (see below) * "Nowhere" (song), a song by Therapy? * "Nowhere", a song by 112 from '' ...
'', Ride released ''Going Blank Again'' as their second full-length record, accompanied by the singles " Leave Them All Behind" (10 February 1992) and " Twisterella" (13 April 1992), the latter named in reference to a song in the 1963 kitchen sink drama
Billy Liar ''Billy Liar'' is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a play, a Billy Liar (film), film, a Billy (musical), musical and a Billy Liar (TV series), TV series. The work has inspired and been featured in a number of popul ...
. The album consists of ten tracks, selected from twenty-five that the band had recorded. It has been said that ''Going Blank Again'' resembles the band's debut album but also drawing comparisons to the power-pop style of
Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (Scottish musician), Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), al ...
who were Creation Records labelmates of Ride, although it is pointed out that Ride's vocals are more layered, and that the guitars are not as sharp and cutting as those of similar bands of the same era, whilst retaining the reverberating sound that was typical of the
shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...
sound. The album's lyrics have been criticised, but overall this was not seen as an important factor for the album given the nature of shoegaze. The band credit Christopher Gunson with creating the cover art for the album.


Music

Ben Cardew of ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' explains that ''Going Blank Again'' "represents the commercial peak of shoegaze, a glorious explosion of populist noise that proves how utterly satisfying distorted guitars can be when allied with Byrds-ian
harmonies In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
, a drummer at the top of his
Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) was an English musician who was the drummer for the rock band the Who. Regarded as one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music, he was noted for his unique style of playing and ...
-goes- indie game, and bass lines you can hum in the shower. ''Going Blank Again'' sounds like someone has taken the wistful charm of Ride’s debut album ''
Nowhere Nowhere may refer to: Music * ''Nowhere'' (album), an album by Ride * '' Nowhere: Music from the Gregg Araki Movie'', a soundtrack album from the 1997 film (see below) * "Nowhere" (song), a song by Therapy? * "Nowhere", a song by 112 from '' ...
'', fed it three solid meals, and packed it off to
finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...
to be sharpened within an inch of its life." The track “Leave Them All Behind” has been called "a monstrously intrepid, eight-minute slice of thrilling guitars."


Release

The album was re-released on 24 September 2001 featuring four bonus tracks on the Ignition label in the United Kingdom.Ride, ''Going Blank Again'', Ride0x4.net
.
The four tracks were compiled from the two CD singles released from the album, "Leave Them All Behind" and "Twisterella". This omitted the original mix of "Chrome Waves", as found on the "Leave Them All Behind" CD single in February 1992 and the "Grasshopper" compilation EP in Japan in November of that year. On 30 March 2012, a 20th Anniversary reissue of the album was announced, featuring the same track listing as the 2001 reissue, plus a bonus DVD of the band's 27/3/92 Brixton Academy concert, previously only released on VHS and LaserDisc, which had been out of print. According to a recent newsletter to fans, tracking down the original master of the video was no easy task:
After quite a lengthy stint of detective work, we managed to track down the original digital master tape of the Brixton live show. And it looks great! So we asked Catherine Marks and John Catlin at Alan Moulder's studio to mix the audio afresh from the 2″ master tapes of the gig. Catherine had worked under Alan's watchful eye on the Roxy LA mixes and so we were really happy that she could find time to mix and edit the Brixton audio. Needless to say, it sounds truly wonderful and we’re really pleased to now finally have a Ride release on DVD.
Going Blank Again was re-issued in November 2022 by Wichita recordings. All the original audio reworked and refined, the reissue made available on vinyl and CD.


Reception and legacy

Reviewing the album at the time, British music weekly ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' noted that they did not have high hopes for ''Going Blank Again'' but that Ride "did the business" and restored the magazine's faith in the band, noting particularly that they had taken on board a diverse set of influences and developed their sound:
This LP has some top punk rock bass guitar on it! Some new effects pedals! New ideas! It is not ''Going Nowhere Again'' which is the album we feared they'd make. Instead, ''GBA'' fills in the lines between Ride's beauty with cement and then builds like a demon. There is no stone left unturned, as they open up to new reference points... would you believe
King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...
? New Order?
The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
?
The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
? Ride have reinvented themselves whilst retaining all the cuteness of Haircut One Hundred.
An academic study on My Bloody Valentine's seminal shoegazing album ''
Loveless Loveless may refer to: Comics and literature * Loveless (comics), ''Loveless'' (comics), a comic book series by Brian Azzarello, Marcelo Frusin, Danijel Zezelj, and Werther Dell'Edera * Loveless (manga), ''Loveless'' (manga), a manga series by Y ...
'' mentions that the tracks of ''Going Blank Again'' are "predictive" of later genres of
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
, and notes that the seventh track "Cool Your Boots" is a "shoegazing classic".Florida State University College of Music, thesis on , My Bloody Valentine's ''Loveless'', by David R. Fisher, 2006.
"Leave Them All Behind" ranked number 273 in ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, whilst the album itself ranked at number 407 in the corresponding greatest albums list published a year earlier. ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' listed the song at number 5 on its list of the best shoegaze albums of all time. Staff writer Ben Cardew said: "It’s tight, audacious, and supremely confident."


Track listing

All songs composed by Andy Bell,
Loz Colbert Laurence John "Loz" Colbert (born 27 June 1970) is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Ride and formerly of The Animalhouse, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Supergrass and Gaz Coombes. His drumming style has been characterized as fu ...
, Mark Gardener, Steve Queralt. ;Additional tracks


Charts


Certifications


Release history


References


External links


''Going Blank Again''
at
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(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control 1992 albums Albums produced by Alan Moulder Creation Records albums Ride (band) albums Sire Records albums