From the Vaults Friday Primal Scream Screamadelica 1991

The Year: 1991
The Album: Primal Scream, Screamadelica
Who it Influenced: Radiohead, Portishead, Cornershop, The Big Pink, Beck, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Primal Scream's Screamadelica and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless were issued on the same record label, Creation, merely six weeks apart. Each was the work of Scottish acts who had, from fey, jangly beginnings, grown grander, more singular, and more interesting in their scope; working with swirling sonics, electronics, and the endless vista.

Yet, for all that they shared —and you can't make it much farther than a paragraph on either without mentioning drugs— they weren't exactly twins: Screamadelica was a work of reinvention and futurism, razing the blueprint of the rockband and rebuilding it in the spirit of the DJ; whereas Loveless marked the ultimate act of refinement, of the guts and grunt of rock music being removed until all you had were the beautiful, shimmering, tremulous surfaces.

The legacy of each LP is, too, an interesting study. In their day, Screamadelica was way more acclaimed, its fusion of acid-house, disco, gospel, and roots was the perfect synthesis of rock past and future, an easy critical reading and a progressive LP to champion. Loveless was, at least in England, associated inextricably with shoegaze, a once-hype scene that was heading swiftly toward being passe in the press.

Yet, Loveless has grown exponentially in stature since, Kevin Shields' mad studio perfectionism now seen as being, well, near-perfect; whereas Screamadelica's assorted experiments —and 65-minute length— leave it a little more uneven. Primal Scream's classic has never lost its luster in the UK press, and, depending on how much you put stuck in their opinions, the actual LP is either better or worse than its reputation. It may not be amongst the greatest albums ever authored, but it's certainly no dated relic, either; its E'd out futurism and handclapping communalism still sounding plenty sweet over two decades later.

• Full review: Primal Scream, Screamadelica