Going Blank Again (studio album) by Ride

It is a sunny version of shoegaze, upbeat and catchy. Not as great as previous record, but different and still very good.

A disappointing follow-up. The crashing, dynamic whirlwind heard previously on "Nowhere" seems to have given way to an unmemorable crop of washed-out pop tunes. Ride assaults their noisy shoegaze sound with a glitzy hi-fi production job, and cakes a load of compression on top. The result is a messy wall of sound with no sense of nuance. With dynamics removed, Ride exposes themselves as uninspired pop songwriters who can't write a catchy hook or progression to save their lives.
The few highlights here ("Chrome Waves", "Time Machine") take a spacier and more minimal approach, providing welcome refuge from the droning lull that is this album.

From Boltzmann 07/05/2020 14:04

This was the exact moment where the drugged-out fever dream of shoegazing woke up into the upbeat hyper-positivity of britpop. A change that wouldn't last long, but which has sparked some of the last great examples of classic rock 'n' roll (not Oasis).

From Yann 05/27/2017 17:40

Classic shoegaze with proper tunes in it. I've listened to the first 8 minute single "leave them all behind" recently and strangely it made me think of children choir classical music covered with a wall of guitars. Nice. The weak point is perhaps the frail vocals, but then again, it's a shoesgaze attribute.

From discojets1 03/27/2017 16:59

An essential for lovers of 90s music and shoegase. Arrangements arent as complex as MBV but still a very rewarding listen

One of the most overlooked albums of the nineties. A classic record, and along with, nowhere, Ride's best album. I can never make up my mind which one. Both brilliant.

While not as iconic as Nowhere, Going Blank Again is definitely more versatile than its predecessor, proving that Ride's talent wasn't limited to shoegaze. Highlights include "Leave Them All Behind", "Twisterella", "Chrome Waves", and "Grasshopper".

From reverendgreen 01/10/2015 19:03

Better than nowhere??

Shoegaze indie...ah them were the days

From Graeme2 08/11/2014 19:37

Not heard this in years. I was a massive ride fan from when nowhere was released and remember telling a mate when this came out that it was the best album ever made. Just shows you how many albums i'd heard then but i must have thought it was better than PE and The Roses at the time. Strange. Ha. I need to dig it out to see what it's like now. I too had a mark Gardner haircut and look a bit like him in my old band photo.