Ride Vinyl Records – Nowhere, Going Blank Again & Essential Albums on Vinyl

Ride are one of the great British guitar bands. Formed in Oxford in 1988 by Mark Gardener, Andy Bell, Laurence Colbert and Steve Queralt, they took the walls-of-sound approach of My Bloody Valentine and the Cocteau Twins and added actual hooks, producing a run of records between 1990 and 1992 that remain some of the finest of the shoegaze era.

Nowhere (1990) is the classic. Going Blank Again (1992) is poppier, cleaner, and arguably just as good. After a messy split and twenty years apart, the band reunited in 2014 and the subsequent albums — Weather Diaries (2017), This Is Not a Safe Place (2019), Interplay (2024) — have been genuinely excellent. Ride on vinyl is extraordinary: the twin-guitar interplay of Gardener and Bell, the reverb washes and the detail of Colbert's drumming all benefit from the format. The 180g coloured-vinyl reissues and the recent Wichita pressings are consistently superb.

Best Ride Albums on Vinyl

Nowhere (1990)
Their masterpiece and one of the greatest debut albums of the 90s. Seagull, Polar Bear, Dreams Burn Down, Vapour Trail — immersive, emotional, and genuinely new-sounding. The Creation Records original UK pressing is a collector's item; the 180g reissues are all excellent.

Going Blank Again (1992)
The poppier follow-up and, for many fans, even better. Leave Them All Behind opens with an eight-minute Hammond-organ prelude; Twisterella, OX4 and Mouse Trap are all tight pop gems. A more confident record than the debut.

Weather Diaries (2017)
The reunion album, produced by Erol Alkan. Charm Assault, Home Is a Feeling, Lannoy Point — a record that vindicated the reunion completely. One of the best returns by any classic-era shoegaze band.

Carnival of Light (1994)
The more extreme and polarising third record. I Don't Know Where It Comes From, Moonlight Medicine, Birdman — the band stretching out into classic-rock territory. Divisive on release but increasingly well-regarded.

Tarantula (1996)
The fourth album and the one the band famously disowned at the time. Black Nite Crash, Sunshine, Castle on the Hill — a genuinely good record now that the context has faded. Worth picking up on vinyl.

If You Like Ride vinyl records, check these out:

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