Going Blank Again

Following Ride's 1990 debut album Nowhere, Ride released Going Blank Again as their second full-length record, accompanied by the singles "Leave Them All Behind" (10 February 1992) and "Twisterella" (13 April 1992), the latter named in reference to a song in the 1963 kitchen sink drama Billy Liar. The album consists of ten tracks, selected from twenty-five that the band had recorded. == Music ==

Ben Cardew of Pitchfork explains that Going Blank Again "represents the commercial peak of shoegaze, a glorious explosion of populist noise that proves how utterly satisfying distorted guitars can be when allied with Byrds-ian harmonies, a drummer at the top of his Keith Moon-goes-indie game, and bass lines you can hum in the shower. Going Blank Again sounds like someone has taken the wistful charm of Ride’s debut album Nowhere, fed it three solid meals, and packed it off to finishing school to be sharpened within an inch of its life." The track “Leave Them All Behind” has been called "a monstrously intrepid, eight-minute slice of thrilling guitars." ==Release==

The album was re-released on 24 September 2001 featuring four bonus tracks on the Ignition label in the United Kingdom. On 30 March 2012, a 20th Anniversary reissue of the album was announced, featuring the same track listing as the 2001 reissue, plus a bonus DVD of the band's 27/3/92 Brixton Academy concert, previously only released on VHS and LaserDisc, which had been out of print. According to a recent newsletter to fans, tracking down the original master of the video was no easy task: After quite a lengthy stint of detective work, we managed to track down the original digital master tape of the Brixton live show. And it looks great! So we asked Catherine Marks and John Catlin at Alan Moulder's studio to mix the audio afresh from the 2″ master tapes of the gig. Catherine had worked under Alan's watchful eye on the Roxy LA mixes and so we were really happy that she could find time to mix and edit the Brixton audio. Needless to say, it sounds truly wonderful and we’re really pleased to now finally have a Ride release on DVD. Going Blank Again was re-issued in November 2022 by Wichita recordings. All the original audio reworked and refined, the reissue made available on vinyl and CD. ==Reception and legacy==

Reviewing the album at the time, British music weekly NME noted that they did not have high hopes for Going Blank Again but that Ride "did the business" and restored the magazine's faith in the band, "Leave Them All Behind" ranked number 273 in NME's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, whilst the album itself ranked at number 407 in the corresponding greatest albums list published a year earlier. Pitchfork listed the song at number 5 on its list of the best shoegaze albums of all time. Staff writer Ben Cardew said: "It’s tight, audacious, and supremely confident." ==Track listing==

All songs composed by Andy Bell, Loz Colbert, Mark Gardener, Steve Queralt. ;Additional tracks ==Personnel==

Personnel taken from Going Blank Again liner notes. Ride • Andy Bell • Mark Gardener • Steve Queralt • Loz Colbert Additional personnel • Ride – production • Alan Moulder – production, recording, mixing • Matt Oliver – recording • Christopher Gunson – cover art Dialogue on "Cool Your Boots" taken from Withnail and I ==Charts==