“The year is 1997. Andy Bell, emerging from the wreckage of his old band, the mercurial Ride, two years previous, is on stage with his new band Hurricane No. 1. Bell, whose guitar-playing in Ride was once rich and expansive, now plays his instrument with rather less razzle-dazzle. Too late for the Britpop party, too early for the raw, garage-led rock revolution that would soon arrive, Hurricane No.”
“Shoegaze had one hell of a run in 1991. My Bloody Valentine dropped their dissonant masterpiece Loveless and four other legendary bands—Slowdive, Swervedriver, Chapterhouse and Ride—all released their debut albums. Ride’s first LP and melancholy sonic mountain, Nowhere, remains one of the genre’s all-time greatest records, as does their chunkier, supercharged 1992 follow-up, Going Blank Again. 199”
“On their second post-reunion album, the shoegaze band sound emboldened, merrily tinkering with their legacy.”
“Ride's second post-reunion album won't win any new fans, but it's not without merit”
“This Is Not a Safe Place is a fine album with some songs that, with time, could become Ride staples. However, there are times where the band crumble under the pressure of bringing both a progression in sound, as well as a catering to their older audiences. ”
“Although Wikipedia will tell you that this is Ride’s sixth LP, the resurrected shoegazers could be forgiven for fearing a bout of difficult-second-album syndrome on This Is Not A Safe Place: after all, 2017’s Weather Diaries, their first album in 21 years, managed to reanimate the band with impressively little nostalgia, feeling more like a debut than a revival, and creating more anticipation for ”
