You Made Me Realise (stylized in lowercase) is the third extended play (EP) by the Irish-English band My Bloody Valentine. The band produced it and most of the songs were written by Kevin Shields. The band conceived the EP after signing with Creation Records in January 1988, recorded it that same month over a week. It was released by the label on 8 August 1988. Musically, You Made Me Realise is a pioneering shoegaze record that blends elements of noise rock and dream pop.
You Made Me Realise garnered positive reviews from the independent music press, who deemed it a step forward for My Bloody Valentine in developing their sound. It was a modest commercial success, entering the UK Indie Chart at number two. The EP gained renewed attention when it was remastered for EP's 1988–1991 (2012), a compilation album of the band's Creation-era music and rare tracks.
Recording
My Bloody Valentine were signed to four independent record labels between 1983 and 1987, during which the band experienced little success and several membership changes.[1][2] In early 1987, Bilinda Butcher replaced lead vocalist David Conway, who left the band after becoming disillusioned with music.[2] Butcher learnt how to play the guitar shortly after,[1] and she shared lead vocals with guitarist Kevin Shields.[3] They then faced pressure from Lazy Records to produce new records, leading to the releases "Strawberry Wine" and Ecstasy (both 1987). Amidst production difficulties, both works earned some positive reviews.[4]
In January 1988, My Bloody Valentine performed in Canterbury where they gained the attention of record executive Alan McGee, who invited them to record and release a single for Creation Records. You Made Me Realise was then conceived and recorded at a studio in Walthamstow, East London in less than a week.[5] The model on the cover is commonly mistaken as Butcher, though Miki Berenyi from Lush confirms it was instead a mutual friend of the bands.[6][7]
Composition
You Made Me Realise marked a change in direction for the band, where they adopted a noisier sound. Peter Kember, then of Spacemen 3, recalled seeing the band play "You Made Me Realise" at a live performance at the Roadmender in Northampton in 1988, after My Bloody Valentine had supported the Pixies on the latter's first European tour: "They’d transformed. I don’t know quite what had happened, but sometimes bands hit a certain quantum shift. The noise was overwhelming".
In a 2013 interview, Kevin Shields acknowledged the influence of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis on his guitar playing at the time, but also highlighted a change in how he used reverse reverb. He had used this effect on the band's previous releases "Strawberry Wine" and Ecstasy, but "to no great consequence, because I was using it the way it was meant to be used. Then in '88, I discovered that it was extremely sensitive to velocity and how high you hit the string. You could make huge waves of sound by hitting it softer or harder". He also credited starting to smoke cannabis, which he had done for six months by the time of recording the EP, as an influence.[8]
The single and EP versions of You Made Me Realise were released by Creation on 8 August 1988, with the former format limited to 1,000 copies. Mercury released a version of the EP in November of that same year, which was combined with tracks from the band's following EP Feed Me with Your Kiss (1988). Two promotional music videos were directed by ex-Jesus and Mary Chain bassist Douglas Hart. The EP was later remastered for the compilation album EP's 1988–1991,[10] which was released in 2012.[11]
You Made Me Realise received positive reviews from critics. Nitsuh Abebe of AllMusic wrote that the EP "made critics stand up and take notice of the brilliant things My Bloody Valentine were up to [...] it developed some of the stunning guitar sounds that would become the band's trademark."[9]Spin's Simon Reynolds called the record "astonishing".[12] Daniel Harrison of Slate said it demonstrated "a massive step-up" for the band.[13]Pitchfork's Mark Richardson opined that You Made Me Realise "is a perennial on any list of the greatest EPs of all time and it vastly improves upon their earlier work. [...] They were finally a real rock band, with pulsing bass and brisk tempos and guitars that sound like guitars."[14]Alexis Petridis included all of the songs from You Made Me Realise in The Guardian's list of the band's 20 greatest songs, deeming it the band's "breakthrough" and "thrilling".[15]
The EP's title track has additionally been a particularly enduring work of My Bloody Valentine. During live performances of the song, the repeats a single chord from the song for as long as they felt bearable, as the song descending into cacophony.[16] It usually lasts around 15 minutes, although there are reports of shows where it went on for well over half an hour.[16][17][18] For the 2008–09 reunion shows, it brought each show to over 130dB.[18][19][20] These performances were praised by Billy Corgan, who cites the band as an influence.[21] "You Made Me Realise" is ranked by Stylus Magazine at number 24 on their "Top 50 Basslines of All Time" list,[22]Q at number 35 on their "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks" list,[23] and NME at number 50 on their "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever" list.[24]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Kevin Shields, except where noted.
↑McGlinchey, Joe (January 1996). "My Bloody Valentine". Perfect Sound Forever. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2025. Also noted is their influence on Billy Corgan, who recruited the engineer of 'Loveless', Alan Moulder, for the latest Smashing Pumpkins album.
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