Isn't Anything
by My Bloody Valentine

Isn't Anything by My Bloody Valentine
Year: 1988
Release date: 1988-11-21
Overall rank: 478th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 706 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1988 (7th)
Award Top 100 albums of of the 1980s (71st)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (478th)

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My Bloody Valentine bestography

Isn't Anything is ranked 2nd best out of 9 albums by My Bloody Valentine on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by My Bloody Valentine is Loveless which is ranked number 24 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 26,970.

My Bloody Valentine album bestography « Higher ranked (24th)
Loveless
This album (478th)
Isn't Anything
Lower ranked (549th) »
MBV

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Isn't Anything track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Isn't Anything rankings

Isn't Anything rankings summary
Overall rank: 478th | 1980s rank: 71st | 1988 rank: 7th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 4 hours ago).
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 LedZepTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s53/10010
2026SiromynianTop 29 Music Albums of 198816/292
2026bonnequestionBest albums from '85 to '9480/100 -
2026 RomanelliTop 74 Music Albums of 198840/742
2026 PasticheTop 28 Music Albums of 198810/283
2026areminderTop 100 Greatest Music Albums27/10070
2026 ExTeaSeaTop 67 Music Albums of 198839/672
2026leniadTop 301-400 Greatest Music Albums76/100 -
2026 neilgeeTop 43 Music Albums of 198829/432
2026saltysurpriseTop 63 Music Albums of 198858/630
2026arturoTop 40 Greatest Music Albums10/4074
2026 imacgillTop Greatest Music Albums 201-30075/100 -
2026matterhornriderTop 44 Music Albums of 19886/444
2026pinkfreud1981Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s72/1006
2026 ssteveTop 23 Music Albums of 19885/234
2026 Xxnu99etxXMy Top 116 EPs (of those allowed on the site) pt. 146/81 -
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s77/1005
2026 RepoTop 87 Music Albums of 19883/875
2026bonnequestionTop 13 Music Albums of 19884/134
2026 DingerbellTop 10 Music Albums of 19885/103
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 534
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 3,565
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Isn't Anything collection

Isn't Anything ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 706 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 706 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !
07/12/2026 17:51 liquidbottle  Ratings distribution  77582/100
 
85/100
 !
05/17/2026 20:33 libbyshuss  Ratings distribution  9080/100
 
100/100
 !
05/09/2026 19:13 chriskarman  Ratings distribution  2,85681/100
 
45/100
 !
05/06/2026 08:07 Steve_Emmett  Ratings distribution  12168/100
 
80/100
 !
05/01/2026 20:26 Ilor  Ratings distribution  26376/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.6/100, a mean average of 78.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.7.


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Isn't Anything comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 41 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
80/100
I can't fully decide if I like this album or not, but I appreciate what they did in 1988, because it sounds very ahead of its time. It's not an easy listening, this record is very noisy and there is only a few clear melodies, so it demands a couple of relistens and after them I started to enjoy this album much more.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 02/20/2022 15:27 | #281615
Sorry for being blasphemous; The sound of this album is just one noise, but perhaps my ears are filled with wax and that is fake news.
Needs an infinite amount of relistens, but I do not have the time in the world.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/03/2021 22:47 | #268173
A quantidade que influência que esse álbum promoveu é enorme!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 07/26/2020 00:53 | #256211
Isn't Anything is a good debut, in that it displayed what My Bloody Valentine were about, i.e. their sound and goal as a band. It doesn't achieve everything it's set out to do perfectly, but Isn't Anything is certainly a valiant effort. It's a bit disjointed at parts and the production is pretty odd sounding (the snare particularly sounds very electronic/choppy and is soaked in reverb).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/12/2020 13:37 | #253357
Fav. Tracks: Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside), Lose My Breath, All I Need, Sueisfine.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 06/27/2019 02:20 | #238372
Really good album. Unlike Loveless, which took many listens for me to enjoy, I got into this right away.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 04/04/2019 23:26 | #234516
Took me about 7 listens to love Loveless. I don't know about this one though...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 10/17/2018 21:11 | #222686
I was really shocked going back and listening to this, considering how much I love Loveless, just how sour this record is. Some very few moments of memorability are mostly overshadowed by a record that doesn't come close to realizing Shield's vision for the sound.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 10/04/2018 01:50 | #222009
Some very haunting moments during the first half.

Favorite tracks: Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)

B+
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
I have always loved those "I was there " album stories , for example "I was there when Sgt Peppers came out " or " I was there when Joshua Tree was released " .... well I have my very own "I was there " moment , I was there when 'Isn't Anything' was released in 1988 and I'll never forget it . I pretty much picked this album up the week it was released , I don't recall why I decided to pick it up on vinyl LP but I just did (it must have been the musical gods speaking to me ) and TBH it was life changing . So I bring it home and drop the needle and I couldn't believe what I was hearing , it was like nothing that had come before and it literally blew my mind , I'll never forget that moment like the moment I first heard 'Surfer Rosa'

The reviews were Mind-Boggling such as this example from Melody Maker describing the album as - " a raving nymphomania and out of body experience that establishes them as absent minded rulers of this daydream nation"

Every song here is great , every moment means something . The song that really unlocked this album for me was "No More Sorry" a sorrowful longing piece that gets me every time

And you have to remember this was a land mark album / sound in that nothing had been done like it prior , shoe-gaze is now an established musical gene , this album is Ground Zero

Masterpiece

85/100
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +11 votes (11 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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