My Bloody Valentine

As Jaxxalude mentioned below, for a while the influence of MBV was judged to be only towards the indie scene, where their sound was one of the main components of the "shoegaze" DNA.

As time has gone by, and others have failed to pick up the gauntlet, MBV are now an outpost, the furthest line travelled by a guitar band, who still remain accessible and not purely "experimental".

Their pop sound is the most futuristic laid down by a guitar band, and while there are heaps of copyists and acolytes, no one has come close to running any further with the guitar in pop music. Seefeel made some interesting noises on the fringes of MBV territory, but became less and less melodic and "pop" as they did so.

My generation was treated to an incredible ride from the "You made me realise" EP in 1988 to the "Tremolo" EP in 1991. Breathless innovation and incredible textures and melodies.

When Loveless finally came, it seemed like a slight dip, given that it included 2 of the best tracks from previous EP's, and offered more at the same level, but not really any new ground. Since then, obviously, its position has cemented and it stands tall as their greatest single achievement sonically, though those of us along for the ride have our own favourites, in my case the "Isn't Anything" LP burns with an intensity that keeps me returning to it more than Loveless!

What a band, what a visionary in Kevin Shields, and whatever else they achieve, will be remembered as THE indie band of the past 30 years.

I found this comment a little strange, until I remembered that Discogs started as a catalog of "electronic" music only. Good thing it has since expanded to all forms of music, because really, what constitutes "electronic" music? Unless a recording is analog mixed and recorded and pressed onto vinyl, there's some electronics in the process somewhere. Loveless is a good example of blurring the lines between "electronic music" and traditional rock.

I can listen to them already: "this is not an electronic project!". Bullshit! Electronic music must be, in my opinion, one of the most "open" music scenes there is (if not THE most). And the groundbreaking remixes Andrew Weatherall did for "Glider" were enough to warrant them a fair place in this database. But it isn't just about that. The sonic textures and atmospheres that My Bloody Valentine presented were so amazing and innovative in themselves that their influence could not be limited to the rock world alone. And proof of that is the constant name-checking of MBV by such different people as Lali Puna, Schneider TM, Laub and the a major part of the "indietronica" crowd (whatever "indietronica" really is), DJ Hell, 2 Many DJ's, Rinôcérôse and the whole Anticon posse, just to name a few. The way most of these projects work with sound and its textures show an undeniable MBV influence and that shouldn't be overlooked. My Bloody Valentine are becoming - and dare I say it - as far influential as a rock band as Velvet Underground were (and still are).