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Jun 16, 2017There are other flashes of the past, good and bad, from the spring-loaded rhythms to reminders of the sometimes vast qualitative disparity between their melodies and lyrics. Ultimately, compared to their 1996 sendoff, this is more like it.
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Jun 7, 2017All four members are back in the fold and each one sounds like they're playing with purpose and energy. [Jul 2017, p.82]
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Jun 13, 2017For those who already believe, it represents a promising comeback that, while never fully hitting the marks set for it by time or the band’s own peers, points to even more inventive, invigorated music on a horizon that likely isn’t another two decades away.
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Jun 16, 2017Though Weather Diaries is a solid effort from a band trying to balance their mastery of shoegaze with other, outside elements, the strongest tracks on Weather Diaries are when the band fully embrace the skeleton of the songwriting formula they’d perfected over two decades ago.
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Jun 12, 2017It’s incredibly satisfying to hear a band reform and sound completely reinvigorated--every second sounds like it’s been pored over for hours, and Erol Alkan’s encouraging production sits perfectly within the music, never intrusive or stifling.
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Jun 14, 2017If any shoegazers are primed and ready to make the most of this second chance, it's Ride.
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MagnetJun 28, 2017This is an album squarely in the spirit of the band's underrated mid-period venture Carnival Of Light, a classic-rock record with none of the baggage that phrase might imply. [No. 143, p.56]
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Jun 13, 2017Whether the first sign of a late career renaissance or a corrective recourse to their shrugging split in the ‘90s, Bell, Gardener, Queralt and Colbert offer a comeback easily on par with their classic output.
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Jun 19, 2017Weather Diaries is no Tarantula-sized affront to Ride’s legacy, but neither is it a Going Blank Again-style triumph of reinvention and focus. Weather-wise, it is an overcast day with a hint of sun: promising but never quite satisfying.
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Jun 15, 2017Whichever model of Ride one is expecting, and however closely Weather Diaries gets to such expectations, they’ve succeeded at moving past the “heritage’ tour stage and have planted their feet on new ground. For now, Ride have amended their own ending, and also left it unwritten.
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Jul 6, 2017The best parts are worthy contributions to their catalog, and worth the price of admission here. But as a whole, Weather Diaries isn’t the brilliant Ride return fans might hope for. Though there’s enough here to suggest it could be a start, the preamble to the next great Ride record.
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Jun 23, 2017There are gloriously sunny melodies (Cali is a breezy masterpiece), near ambient drones (Integration Tape) and even a touch of politics on Home Is A Feeling. But it’s 100% a Ride record, and neither time nor current fashions can alter that. And nor should it.
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Jun 16, 2017Weather Diaries is both recognizably Ride and a logical, tasteful update of its sound.
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Jun 15, 2017The result is an album that strides confidently between garage rock (Lateral Alice), ambient (Integration Tape) and even prog (lead single Charm Assault). It’s all tidily done, and there’s barely a misstep.
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Jun 19, 2017For Ride to produce such a strong album is a wonderful thing. To compare this to their first two albums is silly--bands and entire genres were formed off the back of those records--but does Weather Diaries sit up there with them? Absolutely.
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Jun 12, 2017Going Blank Again was the sound of Ride discovering the sort of band they wanted to be, turning on the afterburners and leaving their contemporaries behind. Weather Diaries picks up the story from there. The forecast is bright--expect sunshine and the odd hurricane.
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Jun 27, 2017What is clear is that Ride's fifth album is something of a triumph and infinitely better than many a fan could have hoped for. Almost 30 years on those vapour trails show no sign of fading just yet.
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UncutJun 7, 2017The band's core strengths--Loz Colbert's hyperactive drumming, Steve Queralt's incisive basslines, Mark Gardener and Andy Bel's grasp of melody--are all intact. They continue to wear their influences with endearing frankness. [Jul 2017, p.36]
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Jun 20, 2017More than just a retread of old territory, though, Weather Diaries is the most polished-sounding record they've assembled.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 12
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Mixed: 2 out of 12
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Negative: 1 out of 12
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Jun 22, 2017