Lazer Guided Melodies
Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: 30 March 1992 | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Fucked Up Inside1993studioLazer Guided MelodiesSpiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies.pngSpiritualized30 March 1992November 1990 – July 1991Template:HlistTemplate:Hlist61:17DedicatedJason Pierce, Barry Clempsonx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}
Lazer Guided Melodies is the debut studio album by English space rock band Spiritualized. The album was recorded by the inaugural line up of the band, consisting of Jason Pierce (vocals, guitars), Mark Refoy (guitars), Will Carruthers (bass), Jonny Mattock (drums) and Kate Radley (keyboards) from 1990 to 1991, and mixed by Pierce in London in January 1992. The album was first released on Dedicated Records in March 1992, on cassette, Compact Disc and Vinyl (2 x LP, with initial copies containing an additional free 7").
Initially released on two 45rpm vinyl LPs, the album's twelve songs are segued together into four colour-coded (red, green, blue, black), cross-faded suites. As such, the album was included in PitchforkTemplate:'s 2010 list of "ten unusual CD-era gimmicks".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
By 1995, the album had sold 10,000 copies in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Background
Lazer Guided Melodies is unique in Jason Pierce's oeuvre as it simultaneously explores motorik, minimalist music, and space rock while subtly using "meticulously detailed, layered instrumentation, the sumptuous deployment of horns and strings" to create cinematic, textured, and deeply narcotic soundscapes.<ref name="NME"/> Pierce reported that the album cost £3800 to produce.
Critic Simon Reynolds wrote in his Melody Maker review of the album:
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Spiritualized's music quivers with Apollonian attributes – airiness, fleetness, radiance, serenity ... At times, Spiritualized recall the Kraut version of freeway rock known as motorik, in particular Neu ..."Run" is all about the exhilaration of cutting loose, of goalless propulsion ... "If I Were with Her Now" is throbbing motorik too ... swathed by scintillating guitar chimes like the world whooshing by ... Along with motion, Spiritualized's other consummate metaphor for release is ascension. "Step into the Breeze" makes me think of a Wiltshire water meadow or somesuch pastoral bower of bliss ... "Symphony Space" [is] an amorphous flux of orchestral resonances that hover and ache, swim and brim, for a small eternity. The sound of heaven ... At times, Spiritualized are making 21st century gospel.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>{{#if:|
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Music
The album is described musically as dream pop,<ref name="AllMusic"/><ref name="50best">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> space rock,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and shoegaze.<ref name="NMEShoegaze">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Critical reception and legacy
Lazer Guided Melodies was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2016, Vinyl Me, Please listed the album as one of the "10 Best Shoegaze Albums to Own on Vinyl".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2017, NME ranked the album at number 2 on its list of the "10 Best Shoegaze Albums Ever".<ref name="NMEShoegaze"/> In 2018, Pitchfork ranked the album at number 11 on its list of "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums."<ref name="50best"/> The Quietus said that the album's "cosmic prettiness" anticipated dream pop.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While reviewing its 2021 reissue, Pitchfork described it as "one of the most gentle rock records of its time" and stated that "Spiritualized seemed to emerge from the ether perfectly realized, creating rock music that was serene, spaced-out, and untroubled."<ref name="Pitchfork"/> Music critic Jim DeRogatis called Lazer Guided Melodies “one of the most enchanting psychedelic rock albums ever made.”<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Track listing
On the LP edition, tracks 1–3 are the "Red" section, tracks 4–7 are the "Green" section, tracks 8–9 are the "Blue" section, and tracks 10–12 are the "Black" section. Track 4, "Run", contains elements of "Call Me the Breeze" by J. J. Cale and "Run Run Run" by The Velvet Underground.
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Spiritualized
- Jason Pierce – guitar (Fender Telecaster, Eko Rocket, acoustic guitar), dulcimer, autoharp, piano, vocals
- Kate Radley – keyboards (Vox Continental, Farfisa, piano), vocals
- Mark Refoy – guitar (Gretsch Country Gent, Epiphone Casino, Fender Telecaster), acoustic guitar, dulcimer
- Will Carruthers – bass (Gibson Thunderbird)
- Jonny Mattock – drums, percussion, dulcimer
Additional musicians
- Simon Clarke – flute
- Roddy Lorimer – trumpet
- Will Gregory – saxophone
- Colin Humphries – cello
- Martin Robinson – cello
- Owen John – violin
Template:Col-2 Technical personnel
- Jason Pierce – production, mixing
- Barry Clempson – mixing, engineering, production
- Angus Wallace – engineering
- Declan O'Regan – engineering
- Mike Long – engineering
- Paul Adkins – engineering
- Chris Blair – mastering
- Gavin Lindsay – artwork
- Pete Gardner – photographer
- Andrew Sutton – sleeve design
- Albert Tupelo – sleeve design
Charts
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|
| Chart (2021) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
18 |