Which is your favourite song on Loveless?

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I know Ned's answer. What's yours?

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 24 October 2002 21:24 (twenty-three years ago)

I was just listening to it on tuesday and asking myself the same question. 10 years ago it was "Blown a Wish". I think I have to go with "To Here Knows When" now. This is besides "Soon" at both times.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 October 2002 21:29 (twenty-three years ago)

I turn it off after "Only Shallow"

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 24 October 2002 21:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Nice answer, Alex though not mine...

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:01 (twenty-three years ago)

"Loomer", easy... "pretty boys with the sunshine faces tiptoe down to the lonely places"

― Paul (scifisoul), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I haven't had the CD in years, but I remember it was track 5. Somebody remind me of the name??

― Aaron A., Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:04 (twenty-three years ago)

While You Sleep. I think it's called that. Great song. Reminds me of Mark David Chapman by Trail Of Dead.

― Callum (Callum), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:06 (twenty-three years ago)

You mean When You Sleep, Aaron and Callum? I could listen to this for hours. That is what I call a hook. Is it really similar to Here Come the Warm Jets? I haven't listened to that one for ages.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:11 (twenty-three years ago)

When You Sleep! Tis my fave too. Does not in any way remind me of "MDC", though... Which is a song I really love too btw.

― Simon L, Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:11 (twenty-three years ago)

When I first heard the album, "Soon". These days "To Here Knows When".

― Underclocked, Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:13 (twenty-three years ago)

I can't stand Soon. I stop the album before Soon starts. It's awful.

― Callum (Callum), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Hard choice, but it'a gotta be "Sometimes". I love the vibe of deep, swoony romance that it conjures up and the way that the guitars seem to radiate static. The first time that I heard it I thohght that Billy Corgan should have cut Kevin Sheilds a check. Second favorite: "To Here Knows When"--it's eroticism made from noise.

― Brenya, Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:20 (twenty-three years ago)

"To Here Knows When" (esp. with "Touched" as the intro)...

― gygax!, Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:20 (twenty-three years ago)

The first time that I heard it I thohght that Billy Corgan should have cut Kevin Sheilds a check.

Same exact reaction, although I heard them in the opposite order.

I think mine is still Only Shallow.

― Aaron W, Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:24 (twenty-three years ago)

The first time that I heard it I thohght that Billy Corgan should have cut Kevin Sheilds a check.

Heh, I'll go with that. Weird thing was, I was already well into MBV before Gish came out, and it wasn't until a couple of years later, after Siamese Dream, that I was listening to that song in particular and went, "Hey, wait..."

"When You Sleep" is indeed very, very gorgeous. The cover by Mira is equally wonderful. :-) "Blown a Wish" is another not so secret favorite of mine, not only in the weird swirl of the guitars but those vocals! What the hell!

First time I played "To Here Knows When" when it came out on Tremolo, my then-flatmate asked, "Is something wrong with my stereo?" Those random bursts and swoops = bliss.

And yeah, "Soon." I think I've mentioned it. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Generally, the whole thing's of-a-piece to me. Although I find myself gravitating toward the song Bob Mould ripped off the melody to "Favorite Thing" from.

― wl (wl), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Varies, depending on my mood. Right now it's "Come in Alone". Go figure.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:39 (twenty-three years ago)

the one near the middle with the boy singing...lovely. "Soon" is good too. Mmm.

― Charlie (Charlie), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:53 (twenty-three years ago)

No one has mentioned I Only Said yet. The guitars are phantastic. The archetype of noisy. The last two comments are OTM. This album is one long piece and favourites change depending on the mood.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Thursday, 24 October 2002 22:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Predictably boring, but the album works best for me in one 'I prefer this swoonful planet'whole.
If pushed, the dripping gorgeousness of 'i only said' followed by 'Come in alone'.
When I listen to those two tracks, I kid myself I'm great.

MBV were to me a perfect mix of the best Cocteau Twins backed by Bob Mould in his prime

― panico (panico), Thursday, 24 October 2002 23:12 (twenty-three years ago)

When I first heard the album, "Soon". These days "To Here Knows When".

same.

― Keith McD (Keith McD), Thursday, 24 October 2002 23:43 (twenty-three years ago)

"Sometimes" or "When You Sleep"

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 24 October 2002 23:45 (twenty-three years ago)

I think "When You Sleep" (#5) and "Sometimes" (#8) are the best. Those are also the two tracks that sound most like-- here it comes-- Slowdive.

― Rahul Kamath (Rahul Kamath), Friday, 25 October 2002 00:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Heh. But that's a fair comparison!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 October 2002 01:37 (twenty-three years ago)

i used to listen to the first 4 or 5 or so tracks... and that made the mega anthem... which, though i love the whole thing... it's fine to put something else on...

i love the one that's really short and has nothing but drumlike sounds echoing like popping elephants in love.

that's good shit,
m.

― msp, Friday, 25 October 2002 04:34 (twenty-three years ago)

make that 4 tracks... i agree with gygax... "touched" (my popping elephants in love song) fading into "to here knows when" is the best... "to here knows when" still gives me goose bumps... like slow motion kissing.

yikes,
m.

― msp, Friday, 25 October 2002 04:44 (twenty-three years ago)

ifi had to pick one it would be ''to here knows when''.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 25 October 2002 08:35 (twenty-three years ago)

but they are all good.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 25 October 2002 08:36 (twenty-three years ago)

A toss-up between "To Here Knows When" and "Blown A Wish" for myself.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Friday, 25 October 2002 08:40 (twenty-three years ago)

I like the little interludes inbetween the songs best. I wish some of them went on for longer. Same goes - in spades - for the interludes on the 'To Here Knows When' EP (is that the title?)

― Jeff W, Friday, 25 October 2002 09:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I just bought it this week, and so far I have only had the chance to listen to it once. I thought "Soon" was pretty horrible, the beat made it really cheesy in my opinion. But hey, that was just the first time, I'm hoping it'll improve for me.

I was really impressed with the rest of the album. I think "Only Shallow" was the best one. Such a fantastic opening, and then the singing kicks in... boy.

― Orange, Friday, 25 October 2002 09:32 (twenty-three years ago)

as already mentioned it's a whole innit. it's one of those albums that i played for years without bothering to know the names of tracks. then i did buy the tremelo ep for "To Here Knows When" -- did that come out before the album? anyway "To Here Knows When" always. probably the most consistent favourite song of mine for the last 12 years.

― Alan (Alan), Friday, 25 October 2002 09:40 (twenty-three years ago)

'tremelo'! that's the name.
yes, it came out a few months before Loveless IIRC

― Jeff W, Friday, 25 October 2002 09:44 (twenty-three years ago)

I'll go for Sometimes, I think... I love the spaced-out folky feel to it.

Am I the only person who had to go back and check their copy of Loveless for the tracklisting? I tend to listen to it as one continuous piece of work rather than mentally breaking it up into separate tracks - Soon excepted, naturally.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 25 October 2002 10:14 (twenty-three years ago)

"Sometimes", with "To here knows where" and "I only said" a close second. I could have "I only said" go on for another hour and not be bored with it.

Anyway, this is too easy, what's your LEAST favourite song on the album?

― Rob M (Rob M), Friday, 25 October 2002 10:26 (twenty-three years ago)

"To Here Knows When" for me -- by far.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 25 October 2002 11:57 (twenty-three years ago)

First time I played "To Here Knows When" when it came out on Tremolo, my then-flatmate asked, "Is something wrong with my stereo?"

Same here, except I was playing it on Community Radio at the time. I always wonder if anyone was actually listening to it, and if they tried retuning the radio.

I would have to agree that the passages between the songs are fantastic, I really love the one after the first track. Sublime.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Friday, 25 October 2002 12:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Was When You Sleep is now Soon.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 25 October 2002 13:35 (twenty-three years ago)

First time I played "To Here Knows When" when it came out on Tremolo, my then-flatmate asked, "Is something wrong with my stereo?"

I got the classic "there's fluff on the laser!"

― Alan (Alan), Friday, 25 October 2002 14:43 (twenty-three years ago)

The gradual build of "Sometimes" sounds very dramatic. The vocal at the end is reminiscent of some of Mercury Rev's stuff, that epic John Ford western thing.

― David Gunnip, Friday, 25 October 2002 16:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I can't really make out [m]any of the vocals. Or, perhaps rather, I just haven't listened intently enough to them - more just the overall sounnnd, y'dig? - and I have it on vinyl only and it's (now) quite crackly indeed ('Only Shallow' jumps a bit at the start also. Bah).
Faves? Erm, 'I Only Said' or 'Soon' I think. Also love 'Off Your Face'... but that's on the 'Glider' ep, not on't LP, so...

― DavidM (DavidM), Friday, 25 October 2002 17:15 (twenty-three years ago)

what's your LEAST favourite song on the album?
Strange the song which seems to be the ILM consensus favourite To Here Knows When is the song I skip most of the times. I find it really irritating. Especially the singing and the guitar arrangement which sounds false too my ears. Like a tape played on a tape deck with slightly varying speed. Just terrible. I know this sound very well as I used to have shitty tape decks which couldn't hold a constant speed in my youth. You hear it foremost with violins and those guitars sound almost like a small violin orchestra to me. Maybe this is the most radical song on the album which is hardest to get into for the conventional listener.

Overall too flat for my likes, no dynamics in this song though it is kind of lulling I could probably not fall asleep to it as it annoys me too much. And where is the tune?

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 25 October 2002 18:15 (twenty-three years ago)

''And where is the tune?''

are you deaf?

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 25 October 2002 19:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Ok, Julio. There is a kind of tune but I find it is going nowhere, it is dull. And extremely repetitive in its dullness. Can someone explain the appeal of this song to me, please?

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 25 October 2002 19:42 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm not good at explaining why a song should appeal to someone...

however!

blast it as loud as possible and sit/lay on the floor...

maybe partying will help?

― gygax!, Friday, 25 October 2002 19:52 (twenty-three years ago)

''Ok, Julio. There is a kind of tune but I find it is going nowhere, it is dull. And extremely repetitive in its dullness. Can someone explain the appeal of this song to me, please?''

well i'd try but the last time i've heard this beauty oif a rec must have been a year ago. i'll see whether i can listen to it tonight and i'll try to explain.

I love 'blown a wish' as well. i think with any great 'song' record you'll always have one favourite this month, and another the next.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 25 October 2002 19:55 (twenty-three years ago)

You are absolutely right, alex. There is no traditional "tune" on THKW. Its still the best song on MBV by miles. Its one of my favorite songs ever. THKW is where MBV veers off into ambient/drone/experimental territory. And they do it very very well. Beautiful. Waves of and waves of warm , lovely fuzz. Gives me shivers.

― fletrejet, Friday, 25 October 2002 20:30 (twenty-three years ago)

no song on loveless has a 'traditional' 'tune' but there is a melody in THKW just like in every track.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 25 October 2002 20:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not good at this sort of thing either, but I'll give it a shot.

Why "To Here Knows When" appeals to me: I read the song as an evocation of good sex after a long period of abstinence. The lyrics are unusually gentle and artless for a song about sex ("slip your dress over your head/it's been so long...move on top/because that way/you touch her too", something like that), and the wavering guitar lines and ebbing rhythms create an atmosphere that's beautifully subdued, tender and celebratory.

― Underclocked, Friday, 25 October 2002 20:36 (twenty-three years ago)

>no song on loveless has a 'traditional' 'tune' but there is a melody >in THKW just like in every track.

Well I guess it depends on what you mean by a "tune". I usually thing of a "tune" as meaning a traditional "song" (= verses + usually a chorus). If you mean that tune = melody, then a lot of music qualifies as having a tune that is not usually considered as such, e.g. autechre, etc.

― fletrejet, Friday, 25 October 2002 20:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Holy shit .... someone actually bothered to decypher the lyrics on THKW. Really pointless I think.

― fleterjet, Friday, 25 October 2002 20:48 (twenty-three years ago)

"Sometimes", closely followed by "What You Want". I don't think Soon is one of the best tracks, either. That riff running through it is a little cheesy. Incidentally, when I heard "Only Shallow", I thought Butch Vig should cut Shields a royalty check (hear Supervixen by Garbage)

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Friday, 25 October 2002 21:04 (twenty-three years ago)

I disagree with this idea that no song on Loveless has a "traditional tune" -- strip "When You Sleep" and "What You Want" down to the chord progressions and the melodies, and they could practically be Belle and Sebastian songs.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 25 October 2002 21:15 (twenty-three years ago)

I can't not mention the Loud Family, whose new live album "From Ritual to Romance" contains versions of both "Here Come The Warm Jets" and "When You Sleep". Go buy it now.

I am sorry.

― dan (dan), Friday, 25 October 2002 21:50 (twenty-three years ago)

The Loud Family have covered "When You Sleep" as well? Interesting! But I'm not surprised seeing as how in ways it really is the most conventional song on the album and perhaps the easiest to interpret. But that said, "Sometimes" is at heart equally conventional -- its sheer majesty lies in how feedback becomes arcing ascent (and how drums of any sort would have kept it from sounding so gloriously stunning...I think I'll listen to it now!).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 26 October 2002 00:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Nabisco is OTM. I always found that Loveless was full of gorgeous melodies. An easy album if you want. What really made it a great album for me was the way how these melodies are presented within noise, fuzz and drones. The marriage between beauty and before unheard layers of sound is what this album is about.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Saturday, 26 October 2002 08:05 (twenty-three years ago)

''Well I guess it depends on what you mean by a "tune". I usually thing of a "tune" as meaning a traditional "song" (= verses + usually a chorus). If you mean that tune = melody, then a lot of music qualifies as having a tune that is not usually considered as such, e.g. autechre, etc.''

OK it's just me not knowing quite what was meant by 'traditional tune' (thought it was something to do with a jazz standard).

Nabisco is OTM indeed. v v simple melodies lie behind the layers of guitar work. few bands do simple melodies on their own well. belle and sebastian are not one of them tho'.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 26 October 2002 14:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Leaving out "Touched", each track on Side One is similar in structure to it's corresponding number on Side 2. Shields stated this himself in an interview.

― David Gunnip, Saturday, 26 October 2002 14:19 (twenty-three years ago)

five years pass...

http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Tupac-Shakur-Poster-C12197610.jpeg

― banriquit, Sunday, 8 June 2008 10:00 (eighteen years ago)

That riff running through it is a little cheesy

um?

― Charlie Howard, Sunday, 8 June 2008 11:14 (eighteen years ago)

TS: Discussing Favorite Song on Loveless vs. Posting "Ha Ha U R So Funny" Tupac .Jpg in Thread Six Years Later

― stephen, Sunday, 8 June 2008 14:49 (eighteen years ago)

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