Nowhere
seems to hold consensus as the second-best record of the
shoegaze
era, and with very good reason. All of the common words, phrases, and adjectives commonly used with the short-lived subgenre fit properly here, and they're all positive, every one of them. Whir, whoosh, haze, swirl, ad nauseum -- this record holds all of these elements at their most exciting and mastered. But in the end, great
pop
records necessitate quality songs, which
delivers throughout. Undeniably, it's
Ride
's zenith -- dense, tight, hypnotic.
"Seagull"
serves as a dynamic opener; after a couple seconds of light feedback, bassist
Steve Queralt
kicks in with a rubbery, elliptical line (reminiscent of a certain
Beatles
song), which is soon followed by
Andy Bell
and
Mark Gardener
's guitar twists and
Loz Colbert
's alternately gentle and punishing drumming. After the upbeat
"Kaleidoscope,"
the record falls into a tempo lull that initially seems impenetrable and meandering. However, patience reveals a five-song suite of sorts, full of lovely instrumental passages that are punctuated with violent jabs of manic guitars. The endlessly escalating
"Polar Bear"
is a high point, featuring expertly placed tom rolls from
Colbert
. The tempo picks up for the closing
"Vapour Trail,"
a wistful
song with chiming background guitars galore and mournful strings to close it out. The U.S. version was bolstered significantly with the remainder of the
Fall
EP (
"Dreams Burn Down"
having reappeared earlier in the record).
"Taste"
is one of their finest pure
numbers; the moody/driving
"Here and Now"
rates well, and the five-minute
"Nowhere"
is a nasty distorto-freakout. [
was remastered and reissued by
Ignition
U.K. in 2001. Added to the 11 tracks featured on
Sire
's U.S. edition are the four selections from the equally wondrous
Today Forever
.] ~ Andy Kellman