Ride (band)

Ride is a 1980s and 90s British shoegazing band, formed by Loz Colbert, Mark Gardner, Stephan Queralt and Andy Bell in 1988. They soon signed to Creation Records and released an EP entitled Smile in 1989 (1989 in music). It scraped the bottom of the UK charts and won the band quite a bit of critical praise.

Ride was followed by Nowhere in 1990 (1990 in music), a terrific success by indie British standards. Their first LP was followed by Going Blank Again. In spite of having a solid fanbase and some mainstream success, the lack of a breakthrough contributed to inter-band tension, especially between Gardner and Bell. Their third LP, Carnival of Light, was released in 1994 (1994 in music), after shoegazing had given way to Britpop among mainstream listeners. Carnival of Light was oriented towards this new sound, but sales were sluggish and the shift in musical tastes devastated much of their original audience.

1995 (1995 in music) saw the dissolution of the band while recording Tarantula, their final LP.