Waves

Ride | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: First Time Records
• ASIN: B0000CG8ET
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #384,345 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Like a Daydream

2. Dreams Burn Down

3. Perfect Time

4. Sight of You

5. All I Can See

6. Decay

7. Severance

8. Time of Her Time

9. Not Fazed

10. Mousetrap

11. Birdman

12. Walk on Water

13. Since Then

14. Crown of Creation

15. Let's Get Lost

16. 1000 Miles

17. I Don't Know Where It Comes From

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ride without the sheen..., March 20, 2006

By 

RockerDad (Renton, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waves (Audio CD)

This album is a bit of a puzzle. It captures Ride, the stunning proto-shoegazer band of the early 90's, in the typical almost-live setting of the BBC music studios. The BBC sessions are great in that the band get the chance to maybe do a couple of takes, but that's about it. These might as well be live recordings (the final 3 tracks are indeed live).

So-here's the conundrum: as essentially live recordings, the songs here are much more direct and raw. They also are lacking that glossy sheen that was typical of much of Ride's studio work. This proves to be a huge benefit for the Going Blank Again tracks (Time of Her Time, Not Fazed, and especially Mouse Trap), which I think on the album lose some of their power with studio flourishes. Here, though, they are simply stunning. And, along with the Pale Saints cover, Sight of You, are the album highlights.

However, with the case of Dreams Burn Down and to some extent, Birdman (a distinctly different version than that found on Carnival of Light-none of the experimental studio overlays on the opening or mid-section), this proves to be somewhat of a drawback. The guitar lines on Dreams Burn Down simply don't have the beauty of the original version, and the wall of sound portions of the song and just plain weak here. As for Birdman-it's such a different performance, it's a bit of a surprise. The jangly rhythym guitar lines, though, seem to drone on forever, with no change in volume or texture. So while it's nice to hear the song presented a little more straight-forward, it could have been worked on a little, possibly.

With all that said-Waves is still highly enjoyable for a Ride fan. With the obvious change in style from shoegaze/noise-pop to psychedlic/60's pop just over halfway thru at Birdman, you can choose which portion of the album to listen to, since it all runs chronologically. While not much of a fan of the last two albums-presented here, some of the later songs have a bit more appeal. In particular, the schmaltzy I Don't Know Where It Come From is performed *without* the atrocious children's choir. Severance, a Dead Can Dance cover, is a subtle beauty. Sight of You is amazing-too bad it didn't make it ono an e.p. or something. And Perfect Time and All I Can See have significantly different arrangements than those found on the Smile collection.

All in all, a sure bet for Ride fans, but if new to the band, start out with either the Nowhere Import or the Going Blank Again import, then venture to Smile and this album of BBC gems.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but..., August 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Waves (Audio CD)

O.k., a lot of RIDE fans have been waiting for this for a long time. For the most part these versions are excellent but why the hell did they fade out the cover of the PALE SAINTS "SIGHT OF YOU"????
I have a recording from when that song was originally broadcasted and there was no fade out. It climaxed with the signature RIDE guitar freakout, which was fantastic. I don't know, seeing how Andy Bell helped mix down and compile this comp I can't understand why this would've happened. Buy it anyway.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Discovery, September 14, 2009

By 

Apexing (NoCal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waves (Audio CD)

I discovered this compilation while listening to [...]. Being a huge fan of the Nowhere release, it was disappointing that KROQ in Southern California completely abandoned all further Ride projects. So I found myself, 18 years later, listening to Ride albums I had not been exposed to on Pandora. Sight of You is the song that convinced me that I had to have this CD, just giving me reason to spend 2 weeks overplaying the CD and reveling in the layers of guitar. Yes, Crown of Creation and Since Then pale in comparison to the energy and lavish guitar work in Like a Daydream or Perfect Time (it's odd to even type that since Ride jammed so much music into a 2 year span), however I found the good on this compilation of sessions completely irresistible. It is an interesting walk through Ride's progression of sound through 2 years work. Bonus is the bandmember's comments in the jacket, reflections of time and a peek behind the curtain.