Friday, November 21, 2014

Flashback Friday: Mad Love (EP) by Lush

As I've mentioned before - I'm a huge fan of the Shoegazer movement.  One of the first Shoegazer releases I ever heard was the Mad Love EP by Lush. 

Lush was a relatively young band signed to the prestigious 4AD music label.  Their initial mini-album - Scar - was kind of punky - but their follow-up - Mad Love - found them working with the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie who moved them firmly into Shoegaze territory with a wall of swirling guitars, buried vocals and dense layers of sound.   

You can hear it here: Mad Love (EP) by Lush

After a follow-up album with Guthrie - entitled Spooky - they moved away from their signature sound and became one of the forerunners in the Britpop movement with their final two albums, Split and Lovelife.

Sadly, Lovelife was to be their last album, due to the tragic loss of one of the founding members of the band.

If you haven't heard Lush before, I think Mad Love is a perfect place to start.  If you like what you hear, then dive into the rest of their catalog.

NOTE:  4AD put together an American compilation album of Lush's first three releases entitled Gala.  The Gala collection includes the Sweetness & Light, Mad Love and Scar EPs/Mini-albums, plus bonus tracks.  If you still collect physical media (i.e. CDs) this is the easiest way to get their initial EPs stateside.  I recommend it highly.

Give this a spin and let me know what you think.  Comments are always welcome.