Swervedriver "Juggernaut Rides '89-'98"

These days when people think of the shoegaze sound, the dreamier (in my opinion, just plain wussy) artists like Slowdive, and, for Christ's sake, the Cocteau Twins seem to get mentioned first. While I like some of Slowdive's stuff, they were hardly the holy grail of the amazing early '90s UK guitar rock movement that spawned the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Ride, The Boo Radleys, Catherine Wheel, and, perhaps, best of all, Swervedriver. What these bands all had in common -- at least on their early records -- was noise and melody with lots of reverb and feedback. All but one of Swervedriver's four full-length records are in print these days, which is why the recently released "Juggernaut Rides" is so essential. In addition to legendary cuts like "Rave Down," "Duel," "99th Dream," and "Last Train To Satansville," this two-disc 33-song career retrospective contains a number of rarities, previously only released on UK import EPs. If you haven't heard stuff like the title track and "Planes Over The Skyline," man are you in for a treat! Mixing then-modern influences like early Dinosaur, Jr. and Husker Du with '60s icons like The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, Stooges and Love, Swervedriver created vast soundscapes that would all but overwhelm you if not for Adam Franklin's silky smooth vocals. Do yourself a favor and get this while you can.

http://www.swervedriver.com