Slowdive - Just for a Day

The Essence of Shoegazer

When it comes to Slowdive, fans are generally irrevocably split between giving the "Best of Artist" nod to this album or the following effort 'Souvlaki'.

I would contend that the sophomore album is a more polished work but that 'Just for a Day' captures the essence and energy of a young band finding its way - and the results are frequently delightful.

Washes of guitar seem to ebb and flow throughout the tracks, rising to magnificent crescendos and fading to nebulous atmospherics. The tracks "Celia's Dream" and "Primal" build in pulsating waves to dramatic conclusions, while there is a much lighter touch given to "Ballad of Sister Sue", "Erik's Song" and "The Sadman".

This album puts the dream into dream-pop. It is a more ethereal and less hard-edged work than contempories from My Bloody Valentine and friends. Think blissed-out, dreamy, surging, peaceful with only occasional bursts of (superb) sonic violence.

Certainly one of my favorite albums of all, containing two of my favorite songs in the shoegazer/dream-pop genre - the aforementioned "Primal" and "Celia's Dream".

Sublime album that should remain a seminal part of the essential shoegazer collection. March 28, 2007

Hey, it's OK!

Back at the end of 1991 when I first got this album, I was only 13 and just starting to buy music. Being musically inexperienced at such a tender age, I'd never heard anything like it before and was absolutley blown away. This is going to sound like sacrilege, but I liked it even better than My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless"! (Actually I still do).

It definitely borrows heavily from MBV's swirley guitar delay feedback and obscured vocals, but Slowdive pushed this sound in a direction that was considerably more melancholy and emotional than MBV. And where MBV would sometimes rock out (making for some of their lesser moments in my opinion), Slowdive would never go for such crude antics and kept the overall sound on a distinctly ethereal plane.

If you're new to the band, I would suggest you start with the album "Souvlaki", as it is definitely the most diverse of their recordings and thus is a good starting point to branch out from.

In hindsight, although "Just For A Day" is in general a lovely album, I can understand that it would have been a disappointment at the time (which I remember was most definitely the view of the music press) after they had released a perfectly crafted taster in the shape of the "Holding Our Breath EP". If you're a fan of the band, I highly recommend seeking out this sincerely beautiful EP. The fact that it's really difficult to find these days probably says a lot about what other people think of it too, because it actually sold relatively well. May 9, 2006

Very Good

The album that divides the 80s from the 90s, that signes the death of shoegazing and the birth of dreampop.. a must-have October 23, 2005

Serene overall . . . what did I just listen to?

Not too long after I went ga-ga for My Bloody Valentine's LOVELESS, I picked this up and was somewhat underwhelmed. Basically it's agreeable atmospheric background music, but nothing that will stick in your head (except for, maybe, the first track). There's certainly nothing mind-blowing here. If you're into ambient music, this album might turn you on. Others, purchase with . . . eyes wide open.

P.S. - judging from what I've read about Slowdive, I still intend to give their follow-up record SOUVLAKI a try at some point - I have hope that it's better than this one. Peace! UPDATE - I just heard SOULVAKI at a listening station and while it does sound like an improvement over JUST FOR A DAY with more distinctive songs, it still didn't turn me on much. Give me MBV any day, unless I just need to crash out. Just an opinion people! - to each his own . . . August 8, 2005

Dream

This album is unbelievable. I have owned Souvlaki for quite some time now and generally avoided this one due to some poor reviews I had read. However, I recently picked it up on cassette at amoeba and I was blown away. It is easily better than souvlaki and one of, if not, the best dream-pop album of all time. The super-phased guitars will put you in a daze. July 12, 2005

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