Won't you shine some light in my mind

Continuing my trip back through the 1994 album charts.

26/06/94 : Carnival Of Light - Ride


I really like Going Blank Again, Ride's second album (arguably the best shoegaze album) and I bought this one (eight for the year) but don't remember ever listening to it, which suggests it might not be quite as good.

Hmmm - tricky one. They've certainly tried to do something a bit different - it's kinda like they wanted to sneak The Stone Roses tricky second album out before the real thing came along later in the year. It's not without its ambition but it's hard to say on first listen whether it works or not - I can quite understand why I went back to Going Blank Again, but I can see that persistence might have worked here (except for "How Does It Feel To Feel?" which is really quite bad and "I Don't Know Where It Comes From" which ain't great). I get the impression they were aiming to produce a masterpiece and I think they've missed the mark, but it's an interesting miss.

We're at #5 with a new entry in the charts this week on the start of a five week run - it's fair to say this didn't exactly set the world alight. The rest of the top five were Ace Of Base, Mariah Carey, The Cranberries and Eddi Reader (a new entry) and the next highest new entry was the Electric Light Orchestra best-of (#10). 

Wikipedia tells us it's their third album and named after a lost Beatles track. It "showcased the band's shift from shoegazing to a more traditional, folk rock sound" but I think it's fair to say the band weren't entirely convinced by their change of direction because by the end of the year they were referring to the album as "Carnival Of Shite" (which feels a bit harsh). Looking at the band's entry, they weren't the happiest bunch at the time and the clues are present in the track listing with the first half being written by Andy Bell and the second half by Mark Gardener with them not wanting their tunes to mix - because who knows what might happen if that was allowed?!? Despite the band's reservations, it was well received critically but didn't exactly set the world alight commercially with #24 in Sweden being the next highest chart placing.

discogs.com suggests there aren't all that many copies out there because you're going to have to spend a whole three pounds if you want a decent CD copy but it you want a double vinyl album then it's going to set you back - wait for it, £140! What?!? I think "an interesting miss" is a very fair way of putting things here - "Carnival Of Might Be" possibly? It's obviously pretty forgettable though because I didn't remember any of the stuff when I revisited it and I don't remember any of it now. I'm just hoping I get to see Going Blank Again in '92 - it's looking like it's going to be touch and go!

19/06/94 - Not great
03/07/94 - Needs stronger songs

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