''This Is Your Bloody Valentine'' is the debut

mini album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

by the Irish-English

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band My Bloody Valentine, released in January 1985 on Tycoon Records. Recorded in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, it features the band's early

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

sound, which contrasts 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 with which My Bloody Valentine are associated. The band secured a contract with Tycoon Records after sending a demo tape they had recorded in their hometown—

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland— to a label associate. The demo tape included five songs, "Girl on the 13th Floor", "Halfwalk", "Last Tango in Paradise", "The Garden of Delight" and "Don't Cramp My Style", the latter of which was re-recorded for the album. The demo was recorded in guitarist

Kevin Shields Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an Irish musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, who achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine (band), My Bloody Valenti ...

' parents' home in

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent coastal suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It lies south of Dalkey, east and northeast of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown within ...

, South Dublin. Shields and drummer

Colm Ó Cíosóig Colm Ó Cíosóig (; born 31 October 1964) is an Irish musician and songwriter, who achieved international fame as the drummer for the alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine. Their studio albums '' Isn't Anything'' (1988) and ''Loveless'' ...

later overdubbed bass and drum tracks at Litton Lane Studios. Upon its release, the album made little impression and the band relocated to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom. Similarities between My Bloody Valentine and

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the ...

had been suggested in the music press but guitarist

later told ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' "we've got a mini-LP we made in Berlin in '84, pre-Mary Chain ..with all our traits there—feedback thrash."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

has referred to the album as "an unfocused and derivative collection of post-punk goth rock". ''This Is Your Bloody Valentine'' was reissued in 1990 by Dossier Records on LP and CD.

Track listing

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from ''This is Your Bloody Valentine''s liner notes. My Bloody Valentine * David Conway – vocals *

– guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals *Tina Durkin – keyboards *

– drums (credited as Colm Cusack) Technical personnel *My Bloody Valentine –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

*Markus Bosak –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

References

Footnotes Bibliography *

External links

* * {{Authority control 1985 debut albums My Bloody Valentine (band) albums Post-punk albums by Irish artists Gothic rock albums by Irish artists Noise rock albums by Irish artists