Going Blank Again

Ride recorded Going Blank Again at Rockfield Studios in Wales with returning producer Marc Waterman, aiming to build on Nowhere's success while refining their sound. The sessions in late 1991 proceeded smoothly—the band were confident, experienced from constant touring, and creatively aligned. The album pushed their melodic sensibility further forward. "Leave Them All Behind" offered a genuine anthem that worked on mainstream radio while maintaining shoegaze credibility. "Twisterella" showed increasing sophistication in arrangement. "Mouse Trap" delivered the textural density that defined the genre. The album peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart in March 1992, with "Leave Them All Behind" reaching No. 9 as a single—shoegaze's highest commercial achievement. Creation Records positioned Ride as potential crossover stars, booking them on mainstream television shows and targeting radio playlists. But the album's success came at shoegaze's commercial peak, just before the critical backlash intensified and Britpop's extroverted aesthetic captured media attention. Going Blank Again represented shoegaze's moment of maximum visibility, proving the genre could achieve mainstream success. That success also made the subsequent collapse more dramatic—within eighteen months, shoegaze would be critically dead, and Ride would be struggling to find their direction.