Ride were a British shoegazing band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene that emerged in England during the early 1990s. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other projects, most notably Bell who became the bassist for Oasis. In 2001, the band members were briefly reunited for a one-off performance for a television show. Their debut album 'Nowhere' has been named one of the greatest albums of the shoegazing genre, Nowhere was voted number 74 on Pitchfork Media's list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s, and closing track "Vapour Trail" was voted at number 145 on Pitchfork's Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.

The album is also included in the book '1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'.