Ride
Formed: 1988
Location: Oxford, England
Genre: Shoegaze
Years Active: 1988 - 1996; 2014 -
Meaning of the Name: Taken from the 'ride' cymbal because it has connotations of both sound and travel
Core Members: Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Loz Colbert, Steve Queralt
Way of Working: Collaborative
Essential Releases
Fall EP (1990)
One of a collection of early EP's that established the band's ethereal sound.
Nowhere (1990)
Debut album. Dreamy indie rock.
Going Blank
Again (1992)
Shoegaze classic. Adds more pop elements. Upbeat drums.
Ride was one of the big three shoegaze bands. For years, they harnessed the chaos of distorted guitars into a coherent whole, only to fall apart due to internal conflicts and the rise of Britpop. Formed by four university friends in the leafy suburbs of Oxford in 1988, they imbued the genre with elements of indie rock that gave it a driving momentum accessible to mainstream fans.
While pioneering shoegaze groups such as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive were introspective and experimental, Ride combined the hazy distortion of effects pedals with established verse-chorus-verse structures and melodic harmonies on tracks like 'Vapour Trail' and 'Leave Them All Behind'. This approach proved commercially potent; the latter single, for example, reached number 9 on the UK chart, significantly outpacing My Bloody Valentine's highest charting single (number 29) and Slowdive's (number 52).
Indeed, all three shoegaze greats were signed to the iconic British indie label Creation Records, but it was Ride who achieved the most commercial success, with their second album Going Blank Again (1992) reaching number 5. Without this early triumph, it's possible Creation would have lacked the financial resources necessary to launch Oasis and Britpop into megastardom later in the decade.
It's a cruel irony that Ride built the foundation for a genre that would be their undoing; the musical tide was turning with the coming of Britpop and Ride were swept away by the waves. The genre had such an impact on British culture that it was embraced by New Labour, who won a landslide election victory in 1997, and held a celebratory Downing Street meeting with Oasis co-founder Noel Gallagher not long after.
By the release of Ride's third LP, Carnival of Light (1994), the songwriting partnership of Andy Bell and Mark Gardener was breaking apart. In an effort to keep the band alive, Bell wanted to pivot towards rock, while Gardener favoured incorporating elements of dance music. The resulting album was split between songs written by Gardener (tracks 1-5) and songs written by Bell (tracks 7-12). By 1996 the band broke up. To make matters worse, Andy Bell joined Oasis in 1999 and even got the requisite 'shaggy dog' Britpop haircut (collar length layers with a fringe).
However, the legacy of Ride lives on in the shoegaze revival of the 2010s, dubbed 'Nu-Gaze', that recognised the ability of bands of the OG shoegaze era to create brooding atmospheres of psychedelic haze with jagged guitars and vocals buried in the mix. In acknowledgement of the popular reappraisal, Ride reformed in 2014.
Skills
*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.Emotional Impact
70
Mental Impact
60
Originality
80
Artistry
60
Authenticity
60
Live
80
Production
70
Musicianship
80
Textures
70
Songwriting
85
Danceability
70
Fun
65
Consistency
55
Range
60
Cool
60
Charisma
45
Commercial & Critical Success
Awards
Certifications >>>
- Nowhere - Silver in the UK
- Going Blank Again - Silver in the UK
Charts >>>
- Going Blank Again - Number 5 in the UK
- Carnival of Light - Number 5 in the UK
- This Is Not A Safe Place - Number 7 in the UK
- Interplay - Number 8 in the UK
Critics >>>
- Pitchfork - Nowhere: Top 100 albums of the 1990s (2003): 74th
