Reviews (page 6 of 8)
I mean...I guess some people like listening to garage ramblings of drunken 20-year-olds. There's maybe a certain charm to it, in an outsider-music kind of way. But I feel like I could have lived my life without ever hearing this and I wouldn't have missed anything. Guitars are out of tune, drums are off beat, it just sounds like a bunch of dudes who have no idea how to put together a cohesive song.
First heard Game of Pricks on the IT Crowd and it altered my brain chemistry. It’s beyond impressive the prolific songwriting career that Robert Pollard has had.
I probably miss something in this album, but it felt like listening to a draft composition from a bunch of teenagers, in constant pain, could not listen until the end
There's one amazing song on this album. It's called "Game of Pricks" and it outshines the other tracks. The songs before it were a bit boring. It did get quite better afterwards but not to the same level as "Game of Pricks". I also loved "Alright" at the end of the album. I'll give "Alien Lanes" 3 stars.
A Salty Salute opens things on a familiar tone -- reminds me a lot of crustier Spoon. LoFi recording, some husk to the vocals, and a simple melody. The Ugly Vision is wonderfully uncomfortable -- makes me think a bit of a more southern-inspired Modest Mouse with a more pleasant singer. I've tried Guided By Voices before... didn't stick then, not really sticking now. This is all fine 90s indie rock. I dig the LoFi production throughout and the short song structures. While it is all enjoyable enough and pleasant in the background, it wasn't something that had me excited to come back for repeated listens. I appreciate it, but not that much. 3 / 5
I think there was like 1 or 2 decent songs in here. 28 songs in 41 minutes is crazy talk. Some of these aren't even songs. They're just a few lines and maybe a short guitar lick. The mix makes everything sound so flat and fuzzy.
Incredibly messy 28 songs :O shoved into 41 minutes of very low quality music. I know that it was probably intentional but it's dumb. I have never heard someone try to sound so British, had to double check to see where these guys were from. I will give it to them though that the album cover is pretty sweet.
I was convinced I had to look up the actual end of the album to skip out on the deluxe version songs, but nope. 28 songs in 41 minutes is mental. Once again, I take longer pisses than some of these songs. This was a crazy album. Who tf decides to make something like this? Every song had a different vibe to it. Multiple ones I heard huge Beatles influence and then a million other weird random things. Just wish some of these songs were fleshed out a little bit more. Kinda respect it and see why it's on the list, but not for me and won't be back.
I wish these songs felt more complete. Another reviewer (or maybe several of them) said that this album felt like a demo for a great album and I think that's what i'm hearing. Loads of potential and a lot of cool parts, but most of the songs feel unrealized.
Sounds like a mix-tape/demo-reel of 90s garage rock songs. I kinda dig it. The quick and rapid disjointedness of tracks was a little off-putting to me at first, but started to grow on me throughout the rest of the record. The artist doesn’t linger too long on a particular idea and gets his message out with a quick verse/chorus or two. Definitely lacks the structure and vision of what we’d hear in a traditional album, but some of these songs were pretty catchy for me, so I can’t complain. Solid collection of short-and-sweet songs. Favorite track: Game of Pricks
altern. Rock, 1995 -> 2
Not for meeeee
noh aletaan jakaa ykkösiä... koko ajan halunnut keski arvoa pidätellä... 733-738 ollut tuskanpäiviä.. tietää paskaa kun hakee albuminimiä ja löytyy ylläpito kuittirenkuilua..
This sounded like a demo. Rough production, snippets of songs, I don't get it
Didn't hate it.
Thoughts before listening: I want to like Guided By Voices, but I just can't ever get into them. I think it's mainly the crappy production. Robert Pollard writes some good songs, but it's hard to tell with the tinny sound. We'll see if this is the listen that changes that perception for me. Review: So they call this lo-fi I guess. There are definitely some great ideas on this album, but it all just sounds like sketches of unfinished demos. Maybe thats the appeal, but its just hard for me to get into this album. Best songs/ideas here: "As We Go Up, We Go Down", "Game of Pricks", and "Motor Away". In general, my opinion remains the same that there are some good songs here, but its a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. 2-stars
Started off sounding like trash and progressed into a landfill
Can a forty one minute album be enjoyed fully when all the tracks are this short? I suppose that is the main question with this. And I think my answer is no. If the tracklist was condensed halfway to about 14 songs, I feel I’d enjoy this more. However it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. Very short track lengths aren’t an alien (haha) concept to me, but an entire album of them is. As for the actual musicality, there’s certainly slacking in the rock, but no relaxing. There’s consistent heaviness and (albeit often half-arsed) high energy. Perhaps if the music itself was slightly different, the short tracks would work better. But in all it’s, again, very interesting and certainly enjoyable enough.
I love this kind of fragmented album where almost every song could have been a classic if the band didn't rush nervously through it. There's still some classics in there, but pay attention because they're going fast. Really fun and exciting to listen to.
I couldn't care less for this kind of rock album. Nothing bad, but it sounds just so generic that I don't feel engaged to it in any way.
Very nice album with great vibe that kind of gets boring past the twentieth songs, because the very same concept is applied over and over again to each songs until it becomes rotten to the core. I like the slacker and rushed ideas concept, but it's pushed a little too far for me.
Were the 90s so boring, Pitchfork, that this 60-second-song album was the 27th best?
Pretty meh. Nothing stuck out. Would probably never listen to again.
I really wanted to like this but I don’t think it’s good enough to be on the list. I appreciate the shorter songs with more of them, but it’s quantity over quality here. 2 star because it is very unique, but I don’t think it’s polished enough.
Definitely get some hints of inspiration from the 60s pop/rock bands and overall it’s not too bad. Nothing blew my mind by any means, but enjoyable enough even if there were a couple times I asked myself what I was listening to. I don’t know if I’ll come back to this one, but a couple songs coming up on a shuffle wouldn’t bother me. Also, this has to be the winner for shortest average track time out of all of the albums on the list.
I can appreciate why this album is on the list. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there whose favorite Brit pop rock band didn't make the list and are upset that this one did. This is different, unique, and a little strange. I'm not saying I necessarily like it, but I like that it is here.
Alien indeed. Perfect as a backdrop to Cult of the Lamb.
Well this was fun. Likely the only cool thing to come out of Ohio aside from the Drew Carey Show and the Major League movie based on the Cleveland Indians. I love the fuzzy quick hitters they put out here, most of them were great poetry, great jangle rock. Robert Pollard is a drunken genius and I respect what he has done and appreciate his ability to insert humour into music. I don’t look at reviews before writing but I have a strong sense this is rated below 3, I hope I’m wrong but I just listened to that boring drivel Adele puts out and all those dumb fucks that gave that a 5 can lick my taint. 4 stars
I am so glad GBV is on here. Great example of lo-fi. Songs can be very catchy and simple. Love this.
not bad but not for me 3
This reminds me a lot of The Who Sell Out. Some short songs that could be pop brilliant. The developed songs on this album are catchy and indie gold. But there’s just a lot of bite size tunes throughout that make you work for those songs.
They really shovel out the hits
Wasn’t sure what to expect, I’ve heard of this band before but didn’t have a clue what they’d sound like. And with 28 tracks coming in at 41 minutes, I had zero expectations. With that, I pretty much enjoyed everything here! I liked the quick, bite sized songs. It felt like the group didn’t want to get too stuck in one place sonically and they truly recorded whatever they wanted. I’ll have to check out some of their other releases.
Strange stuff wish some songs were longer.
Something had represent lo-fi in this list and I agree this is pretty damn good. I'm all for DIY recording but they had enough money to buy a decent set of microphones at this point in their career, maybe some sound dampening foam. 7/10 Kind of annoying when the bad recording is deliberate. Great for what it is though
I'm on the fence here. Although I did enjoy this album in parts, most of the tracks were done just as I was starting to vibe with them. It actually left me feeling like I needed some better lo-fi and I ended up on a Neutral Milk Hotel binge to fill my needs better than this did. 3 stars, would have been a strong 4 if there were half the songs and they were twice as long.
28 songs in 41 minutes. The medley of Abbey Road taken to extremes and recorded solely using two low-quality mics in a damp basement. When 'Alright' rang out, I instantly re-started the whole thing from the top. On a second listen, every single one of the songs were recognizable. What a catchy achievement.
Blink and you miss a song. So you should probably apply some duct tape; it'd be a shame to miss any of Pollard's creative overload. (I know it's a shit metaphor for sound, so please insert a better one mentally, if you have one at hand. Thank you in advance)
First time listener of Guided by Voices. I know this is their thing but some of these songs sound like demos that have not been fleshed out as of yet. That's probably the purpose. It gives me a bit of whiplash to get settled into hearing a song and then another song comes on a minute later. As someone who has complained about song length, I probably shouldn't complain about short songs. They move so fast it takes quite a few listens to catch everything going on in each song. This is lo-fi by its very definition with an intentionally fuzzy sounding production technique. Enjoyed it but the catalog is just so massive I don't know if I could ever catch up with them.
Another Band I’ve never heard of…have I been living under a rock? This is a good, catchy, simple album.
Interesting album with a unique mix
Not bad! Did have a very unique layout. 3.5/5
2.5
Generic, did nothing for me
Started well but got less chilled out, and less enjoyable as it went on
Not my thing
Kinda just vibed, wasnt bad. had some hard duds, others I was tempted to actually write down. Ok background music
The production is awful. I'm not enjoying it. 28 songs in 41 minutes just feels too abrupt
Definately the best album I’ve heard recorded inside a bin. I think there is some pretty dodgy lyrics on there but is so muffled I can’t really tell.
Not really me
An album full of demos, sounded ok but not needed before I die.
This band is so... unique. The sheer volume of music they have published intimidates me. I've explored a bit, but it all sounds samey to me. Allen Lanes has a lot of variety though. The first track to catch my attention was As We Go Up, We Go Down because I recognized it. I was shocked that I was five songs in already. Felt like maybe three. Game of Pricks and Motor Away were kinda cool too. There's a lot of filler here, but that seems to be the band's MO.
Interesting
Thank you 1001 list for including this low-fi classic! I've been wanting to listen to GBV for a while now. This album delivers. Listening to Alien Lanes is like listening to a songwriting course. Some pieces are complete, and some aren't, but that's OK. Liked Songs Added: - Watch Me Jumpstart - As We Go Up, We Go Down - Game Of Pricks - A Good Flying Bird - Pimple Zoo - Closer You Are - Motor Away
Ok. Sounds like a lot of other stuff. Also sounds like a demo album.
One of my faves. Every listen a new song clicks. This time strawdogs. Power pop masterpiece.
Such fun songs, really inspiring songwriting! Love it all!
They sound like coitus interruptus! A premature ejaculation. Although they have a lot of potential good songs and some good ideas, they are completely wasted, because you can't just fill an album with a bunch of one and a half minute songs and think that's cool. Other than that, they actually sound cool at times, and for that reason alone I won't give them the slightest rating. 2 stars.
Very fitting as I leave Nashville
I’ve been needing to get more into them for decades.
I don't really care for this.
The quick songs and rawness to the recordings are an interesting choice but it’s hard not to think I’m listening to the demos of a project in the works. I’m torn between liking the stylistic choice and feeling like this could’ve been more with a little polish (2.5/5)
3.
I always want to like Guided By Voices more than I actually do. Personal enjoyment: 3/5 Relevance to this list: 3/5
I kind of like this ragtag noise. Not fully like it, but just a little. There are songs I like here, but the amount of tracks kind of takes away from it. Then again there’s a charm in the eclecticism.
I’m struggling to rate this one despite the fact that I overall quite liked it. But there were a handful of songs that were actually physically hard to listen to. Just noise and weird sounds and bad production. Listening to those was almost painful. But on the other hand, there were some absolutely brilliant songs. “As We Go Up, We Go Down,” “Game Of Pricks,” “My Valuable Hunting Knife,” “King And Caroline,” “Blimps Go 90,” and “Little Whirl” were spectacular, and I actually loved the brevity of most of the tracks and how some of them were like short poems being sung. Some questionable lyrics at times, but it was the 90s. Because of how much I really loved some of the songs, I’m giving this a higher rating, but a few of the tracks and the production really left something to be desired. Really had to sit with this one for awhile, but overall I think it’s a worthy inclusion to this list.
I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Turns out I miss the polish. Some masterful songs, but just not something I want to sit through
Albums like this are one of the best things about this challenge. Scuzzy, Indie-adjacent 90s band I’ve heard of but never listened to? Good start. 28 tracks? Uh-oh. But wait, 41 minutes total. And all tracks under 3 minutes. Most of them under 2 minutes and some of them under 30 seconds? What’s up here then? Well, it’s a fun little blast through the mind of Robert Pollard. Some of it fades out, some blends into the next idea, some of it comes to a deliberate - and sometimes abrupt - halt. I didn’t necessarily love it but it kept my attention and I was keen to give it another go soon. This maybe a slightly generous score but I just respect the fact it does what it wants and never outstays its welcome.
I'll give them props for having an eclectic mix of songs. The problem is all the songs are pretty boring and seem like they're unfinished.
Shite. Tried the infinite number of monkeys trick - if you record enough tracks some of them must be good. They did not record enough!
So many albums on here have a really small amount of long songs. It’s nice to hear the other side of the coin. Overall I liked the lofi sound , and a few of the songs were catchy. I liked the idea a lot
I was ready to dismiss this out of hand but stopped. It's like coming across an early demo tape by the Beatles or Pink Floyd it's so hit and miss it's.........quite confusing. So many ideas and none of them fully realised this could be 5 albums by other bands. I've discovered a new band.
J’ai aucun souvenir de l'album, ni même le genre, faque 3 pis ont n’en parle plus
Liked it more than I didn’t. Some songs were annoying. Overall it was ok.
didn't feel this got going, tons of songs but really short and each one sems to try going in a different direction to the last - wanted it to end
Strange, lo-fi pop blasts. 28 songs (and song fragments) in 41 glorious minutes. Dive the fuck in.
Decently interesting but a bit boring
Very non-special
Af en toe moeilijk, vaak origineel, en soms echt uniek. Maar over het geheel klinkt het net iets te vaak slecht.
Ok. quite interesting but wouldn't rush to listen again
Fascinating record, love the format of these very short, but still catchy and impactful songs. Random but flows really well
I only knew Game of Pricks, which is a song I really like. I wasn't really blown away by the rest of the album. I like their dedication to lo-fi recording, but in places it sounded awful.
It's like stoner post-punk. I don't love it but I appreciate the vibes.
Holy smokes this shi is ass
When it's good, it's good, no doubt - but not all material is. Hardly surprising with 28 tracks. Kill your Darlings, Robert.
Definitely had the 90s indie/alt rock sound and reminded me of so many bands during that time. There were some choices musically and lyrically I didn’t care for, but it overall is what I would expect from a mid-90s album of this genre.
I went to go pee and missed 13 songs from this album. 4/10
evil speakers as we go up, we go down dumbcharger game of pricks closer you are motor away striped white jets my son cool
Didn't vibe
Yes
Well they certainly throw everything at this. I really enjoyed the meandering themes, and although there’s a LOT of songs on here they’re all well formed and make sense as part of the album. A great album to be pretentious to your friends about knowing.
Can’t tell if the run on nature of this album was intentional or not.
Viele kurze Stücke, ganz ok zu hören 3/5
Guided by Voices can be described as this: Pavement for people with extreme ADHD. At first I was impressed, and then the song ended after lengthy 1:30 seconds. Spool up the next, and end it 0:59 secs later. This album comes off more like a group of kids who had a great riff but didn’t know how to write a bridge so they just ended the song. I appreciated the 1950s quality of Prick, and several songs got the head bobbing briefly. Favorite track was the epic of the album (2:30) Watch Me Jumpstart. Probably won’t be returning to this street…or should I say driveway?!
This is indie + punk for sure. Songs are so short I can't really get into any groove. But thank goodness some of them are short because some of them are horrendous - hello "Ex-Supermodel" and your snoring. I won't be coming back to this one.
3.5. Different listening experience. Found myself listening multiple times and once the short songs become familiar, it is fun to hear them come and go.
This is a fun interesting album, I'm was not familiar with Guided by Voices until this record. I am going to check them out for the other records.
Sounds like the early Beatles recorded in a garage
Fine
nothing special but nothing bad
kinda whack but not really
So the first day I listened to this one I think I was in a bad mood and I really did NOT like it at all. In fact, I was annoyed while listening to it and almost turned it off. But I think I was getting annoyed with everything that day. I gave it another listen the next day and ended up really enjoying how eccentric and quirky it is.
I don't really know if I liked this or not. The songs were so short I couldn't really get into them, but overall I liked their sound.
Better to have not been guided to listened to these voices.
This is what you hear when you miss all the notes in Guitar Hero
Felt like watching a "Best Trailers of 2017 Hollywood Movies!" playlist. The songs are fortunately short enough to not remember but when my half-way fatigue kicked in and I checked the remaining amount of songs and saw how many there were, it did not instill confidence in me
Probably a bit too experimental/low-fi, even for me.
Strange lyrics and inconsistent
Äh, sinänsä ihan erilainen idea kun kappaleet on tosi lyhyitä ja niitä on paljon, mutta kappaleet on enimmäkseen pelkkää älämölöä. Esim Striped White Jets ihan siedettävä.
I'm enjoying the short song format. This album has grown on me as I have listened. Halfway through now, and some real gems on here. Interesting lyrics. I'm not loving the second half of the album as much.
Mixed bag but I did find it an interesting listen
me costo escucharlo, good songs they just sound very VERY similar one to each other, nada increíble. very light 5/10
surprisingly not too bad if you listen to it for a while. The songs are all very short
This album is so unbelievably oversaturated with songs (28) that it becomes difficult to appreciate any specific one. There isn't much of a flow between tracks. If you're trying to sift through the album in an effort to differentiate between the okay songs and the good songs, just look at the number of plays on Spotify. I am trying to enjoy "Game of Pricks" which is objectively the largest hit on the album, but there is this distorted effect that is either originating from the quality of the microphone or added in post. At first I liked it, but the more I listen to this grainy, distortion effect, the more annoying it becomes and less desirable it is. To double down on the point of oversaturation, 8 songs are a duration of 1 minute or less, with the shortest song, "Cigarette Tricks", being only 18 seconds. There isn't much composition to the album. It seems more like an attempt at a psychedelic experience, perhaps "Guided By Voices" was indeed guided by voices in the making of this album. The free spirited vibes carries through more than a structured piece of music. I am sure they had a lot of fun making this album, if you can call it that.
Musically not bad. Just felt like a lot of unfinished ideas.
I don't get it. It's good, but I don't consider it great. Not sure why it would be an album I must listen to.
Typical 3 star fare. Wasnt great, wasn't awful and it was good at times. Nothing special, though.
Huh…turns out I really like Guided by Voices.
Never caught them back in the 90s; wasn’t expecting to like it this much!
I've heard of this band but it's the first time I've listened to them. I would've liked it they took the time to develop 10 of these to full songs. As it is, the shortness of each track makes it feel like a demo.
I expected this to be hippy music. Instead I got a somewhat noisy rock album that occasionally make me think that this is what the Beatles would sound like in the mid 90’s. Drugs were probably big at this point in their careers. This also could have been a Syd Barrett album. This album was just a little on the positive side of not good.
New favorite
This album isn't really the type of music I listen to, but I did find it somewhat enjoyable. My only issue with the album is that all of the songs are really short so they end before you know it.
'Alien Lanes' contains an ambitious 28 songs over the course of 41 minutes. Inevitably, that ends up feeling more like a collection of half-formed demos than a proper album. The music sounds like a cross between the Beatles and pop-punk, which isn't terrible. Beatles fans may recall the suite of songs on 'Abbey Road' formed from incomplete songs. It's a similar effect here but arguably out stays its welcome fairly quickly. It's a novelty and as with other similar albums, any tracks less than 90 seconds are frustratingly short while the others are pretty decent. For me, I'd have cut out all of those micro tracks and called it a quick EP. There is something interesting about including a load of sketches of songs but for me, it's not something that I'd ever want to listen to again. Which is a shame because there are some genuinely good songs that get lost in the sprawl here. I may need to save them in their own playlist.
Robert Pollard is a man who is not short on ideas. And ideas are exactly what he presents, rather than fully-developed songs that have been labored over - and that’s ok! Seems like he gets a little hook and riff in his head, presses record on whatever is lying around…and that’s what ends up on the record. It’s not easy to digest even though it’s only 41 minutes long because of the sheer volume of ideas. Some are great and some are out of your head as fast as they were in it. Most of the songs longer than about 90 seconds are really enjoyable. Lots of poppy hooks (many seem Beatles-influences) hidden beneath the lo-fi sonic experimentation.
Meh. It’s ok but I’m not sure I’d listen to it again.
This album is garbage! Guided by Voices are out of tune and quite frankly boring. The songs are so short that it's like they ended right where they started. What's even the point of this? 41 minutes of my life I can never get back, though I tell ya it felt much longer than that.
So much of this album sounds unfocused and unfinished. The tracks are like snippets of various ideas of songs across many different genres without anything to really tie them together. Not only do virtually all the songs feel incomplete, but the snippets that are there are incredibly unpolished. And there are 28 of these tracks, by the way, resulting in all of this just sounding like a demo tape of a demo tape. I'm really not sure what supposedly makes this album so special or worthy of inclusion. If anything, it's a bit of a bummer imagining what the album might have been with a bit more time spent on it.
I'm a sucker for lo-fi
Oh how I wish this was recorded better :( But still a really fhn album with this many tracks and sitting at only 40 something minutes wow
just not the kind of music i like
I can't see myself ever listening to this again.
Allerwelts lala Gitarrenpop, Versuch die Beatles zu imitieren, nix Dolles
#250. This might could've won a middle school talent show. 3/5: A for effort, I guess Song added to playlist: As We Go Up, We Go Down I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link
Never heard of this band I can see why. These aren’t really catchy songs. 28 songs over 41 minutes. 2 star and they’re pushing 1 Striped white jets is a real song wow they can do it. An entire album with no groove whatsoever.
The crown jewel of their best stretch of making music.
Feels like a loose collection of demos or flipping through a radio, some cool ideas but never something that really sticks.
To do
I'll borrow this, a good comment: "Sounds like flipping through AM radio in a dream" This also applies to how it doesn't just grab me. But I do enjoy the nature of this, four stars, why not.
Fast, melodic & basic. Cost $10 to record and you can really hear it. Crunchy and bright guitars, relatively low in the mix and the vocals really dominate. A ton of songs, none more than 2.5 minutes - most under 1.5 mins - it give this a pretty thrown together half thought out feel. Unsurprisingly the longer songs are best, because they’re actual songs, not just self-recorded demos to come back to and finish. Many ideas, little execution, lots of wasted potential bc there are some great moments and sounds. But the songs finish before they even start. Classic slacker trick: if we don’t really try nobody can say we failed.
One of my all-time favorites
With 28 songs in 41 minutes, this felt like a lot of ideas for songs that never got very far. I quite liked it though
It’s giving lofi Beatles I fw it
Favourite tracks: game of pricks; salty salute
Guided By Voices answers the question of whether one can get to know a band through samples.
Short versions of sounds I've heard before. Maybe another day I’d give this a 3 but after 2 excellent albums this is sub par.
I read only a little about lo-fi music. New thing to me that I don't believe I enjoy, if these guys are representative of the genre. There were some bits here and there that I sorta liked. At times, I heard hints of early Beatles. But mostly, I think I'd like them if they'd just try harder to be better musicians. 2.5 if it was an option, but rounding up to 3 as I wasn't consistently irritated by their music.
Absolutely terrible. This should have been a single, let alone 28 songs. Great band name. Seems like Guided by Nothing would have been more apropos.
28 songs in 41 minutes! 28 songs usually means a double album, and I often feel like double albums should have been an LP, but when they’re all less than 2 minutes long the song experiments are much more tolerable. I first heard GBV around 2003, from a guy I worked at a comic book shop with who loved them and The Tragically Hip. I listened to both for a little bit, but then the indie music boom of the 00s quickly put them on the back burner. “Alien Lanes” was not what I had briefly listened to though. “Bee Thousand” was a bit familiar, but it seems it was “Mag Earwhig!” that I knew the best. Man, were they prolific! 20+ song albums 1-2 times per year! In that way they were the King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard of their day - unrivaled productivity. “Bee Thousand” is more in the vein of “Alien Lanes,” with most songs under 2 minutes. “Mag Earwhig!” reins it in better. Some songs actually pass the 2 minute mark(!), and the production is cleaner. So what I’ve now learned is that early GBV was just too lo-fi for me. Robert Pollard was proud of how quick and cheaply “Alien Lanes” was recorded, but with new collaborators and a more professional studio set up, I like the sound of “Mag Earwhig!” a lot more. So while “Alien Lanes” only gets a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me, “Mag Earwhig!” would be a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
GBV is something I listened to in high school as I fell down the rabbit hole of lo-fi, indie bands like Sebadoh and Pavement. I have a lot of nostalgia for the overall sound even when there is not one track that sticks out.
This is a lot of songs, well not songs. Riffs with a couple lyrics is more like it. And I do like it. There is abundant potential in these tracks. This could be a 5 star album if they actually finished what they started. Each time I got into a groove with a track it was already the last track. The experience inspired me to revisit a fully formed song, Visions Of Johanna by Bob Dylan. The dude deserved a Nobel Prize just for that song. It’s a masterpiece. Unfortunately, Guided By Voices never stopped hitting the bong long enough to find out if they could turn Alien Lanes into one too.
The short runtime for each track doesn't do it for me. Feels like I don't have time to get to enjoy the songs before they end and move on to the next. A tedious listen.
Not what I was expecting at all. This sounds like the best band at a house show. If it wasn't for the f-slur dropped in the 22-second "Hit" I might not have noticed the 90s of it all. A startling 28 tracks across 41 minutes, nothing overstays its welcome or over-explains itself. I'd go wild to this shoulder-to-shoulder in someone's garage. I wish I'd known about this album in high school. Highlights: A Salty Salute, They're Not Witches, As We Go Up We Go Down, Game of Pricks, A Good Flying Bird, Closer You Are, Motor Away, Blimps Go 90, My Son Cool
Proto-Flaming Lips and about 100 songs long, but rarely going over 2 minutes per track, quite a trip. LoFi taken to the absolute lengths of low fidelity as it sounds it was recorded on a handheld tape recorder.
Sure, I'll drink 3 beers at 10am to "Alien Lanes"
I really enjoyed so much of this, but can only give 3 stars bc this seems like just the framework of what could be a really rad album. Feels like we got scraps and I wanted more! OHIO represent ✌️
I went into this one expecting it to be shite Surprisingly I really enjoyed it! The songs are very choppy and almost seem unfinished. But the snippets of songs we get were very enjoyable! The random snoring also contributed to it losing a star 4 ⭐️
Too noisy
I don't know, maybe needs another listen as it went by fast
Surprising good, filled with a tons of little nuggets! Makes me rethink the normal album and song format!
Exzentrische Aneinanderreihung von teils kurzen Dongs (24 in 38 Minuten). Diese haben die alternative Rock-Attitüde wie Blur oder Greenday. Starke Gitarre/Bass dumpfes Schlagzeug und Keyboard und leicht schräge Vocals. Gegen Ende gewinnt das Album An Härte. Rockig ist “Watch me Jump Start”, charakteristisch sind “Game Of Pricks” oder “Closer You are” und mein Favorit ist “Blimps Go 90”.
2.5
Great album. I've been a GBV fan from afar but never dove into the albums too seriously. Although it take a second to get used to the shorter songs, it generally all comes together conceptually. Standout tracks were "A Salty Salute," "As We Go Up, We Go Down," "Game of Pricks," and "Motor Away." ****
Pollard has somehow put 28 songs into 41 minutes of album. How is that possible?, you may ask. Well, just imagine B-side Abbey Road for the indie crowd. These are pared down, isolationist insights, focused on themselves only. Enjoy the moment and wonder how you pay attention to each of those moments expecting them to turn into something more. They don't, but you keep listening.
I was quite shocked when this ended. It seemed much shorter than I imagined it to be. I was just getting into it. I can imagine I would have loved this more if I’d heard it back in the day and replayed it many times. But i had no idea who they were and yet on first listen I was pleasantly surprised. I might well revisit this.
I have long been aware of this band but had never intentionally listened to their music before yesterday. The music was fine and some of the lyrics were clever but nothing stuck in my head and I’m not clamoring for more.
I expected to find this really difficult, but that wasn't the case. That said, this wasn't an album I connected with. There was some cool stuff going on throughout, but it never quite ascended to something that struck me as sublime or even above average. Perhaps, with multiple listens, I might better understand and appreciate what these guys are up to — though unless I'm trapped in a room with Scott for a week with nothing else to listen to, I don't see that happening. It may have even crept up to a 3.5, but I can't get to a 4, so a 3 it is.
I laughed when this showed up as this is such me album, and as much as I love it, boy do I get why people might not. This thing is a beautiful mess, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It reminds me a lot of The White Album in that not every song is great or even meant to be great, but the whole thing works so well thanks to the sequencing. I love how goofy it all is and its lo-fi production, but I'm also amazed at how many instantly catchy melodies Pollard is able to conjure up. Even in the songs that start out as complete nonsense, he somehow finds a way to make them sing. And best of all, nothing overstays its welcome. One complaint: i don't love the use of "the other f-word" on here, but other than that, this is my jam. I was grinning like an idiot all morning. Bee Thousand is also amazing, but their other albums never did much for me.
Until starting this 1001 project I did not realize the 90s had such a distinct sound and vibe. This band strikes me as peak 90s indie scene. I would have been over the moon to catch them at Khyber Pass with my new boyfriend and his musician friends.
A band I'd heard of, but never bothered to seek out at the time. They were OK, but it is not a good sign when you are listening to it while you work, your ears perk up 'That song's OK' but Spotify has run on, and it is Long Division by Fugazi.... There was a weird 'snoring' chorus in one song
Just didn't like the style. Doesn't sound like it was recorded in a studio. Instruments have a tinny feel. Voices coming through distorted, annoyingly so.
I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this. Not that it was bad -- I feel like I could name 5 albums it reminded me of, all of which were probably taking influence from this, rather than the other way around. The album's own lack of attention span was probably not a great accompaniment to a work day where I was struggling to pay attention ... throw in some random slurs and I have no idea how to rate this.
This was mostly fun and interesting but I find it surprising that by 1995 it was still interesting enough to get on this list.
It was interesting! I appreciate the shortness of the songs. I didn't like that the second I actually tuned into the lyrics I heard the f slur, but this seems to unfortunately be a common theme with many of these albums. Idk if I would listen again, but I appreciated hearing it once.
songs weren't super distinctive but i enjoyed it as an album
Another long 40 minute proggy listen brought to me by 1001albumsgenerator.com
The nice thing about this was if I didn’t like a song it was over quickly But also if I did like the song it was over quickly as well
I know this album isn't niche, as it is probably one of the more famous indie releases of the 90s, but this album could've only ever been heard by three people and a dog and I still think it would have this vagueness coating its outer layer that would drive away additional listeners. Once again, not saying this is hard to listen to for the common person either, as it is surprisingly listenable, catchy, and has a good driving tempo throughout that actually most reminds me of Nirvana's MTV appearance in its sound and structure. It is just so fast past that things fly by, and you realize three songs have been played for you, and you thought it was one. It actually makes me most surprised that the band isn't brought up more, because Guided By Voices' seemingly disdain for the three-minute pop/rock tune feels so very 90s anti-establishment in its own, melancholic way that I can't help but really dig it. Each song is fresh and unique, with my earlier confusion on the fusing of songs instead coming to realize the whole project is like one big song, with an overall theming that I can't quite pin down, but the feeling is just there. That is all to say, I love the low fidelity: the fuzzy guitars, the offbeat production, the unique lyrics, all of it. Sure, there are definitive "better" songs (there's a reason Game of Pricks ended up on the IT Crowd and not Cigarette Tricks) but there is never an obvious song to pick out and say "this was made to be the best," it just feels like an album jammed out in a couple of days, with the best of only being discovered in post, and that feels like the best way to make an album. It has some pacing issues, as it does feel like the idea becomes a little tired in the last ten minutes, and as I said, not every song is one you're going to be putting on over, and over, and over... but this whole thing is just extremely well-made, despite its coarse exterior, and I quite enjoyed my time with it.
Odd. Very odd. Lots of songs, most of them pretty short. Wear their influences on their sleeves, but would have benefitted from a producer & editor to streamline the running order and finish some of the shorter tracks. Good, but not great. I will look out for more of their stuff, but there is so much that I'm not sure where to start!
Decent, but not outstanding
Too long, too boring, too meh.
I couldn't even make it through this one. What hot garbage.
i'm pretty sure i've listened to this in full before but i can't remember because most of the songs kind of slide off your back like water off a duck. the ones that stick are some of my all time favs though.
Meh
Ehhh
Pleasantly surprised by this record. Great lo-fi indie reminiscent of British indie in its unpolished era, with hints of Neutral Milk Hotel (before the… unpleasantness….). Was a bit put off initially by the sheer number of tracks but the album never drags. Definitely one to revisit.
Short songs, still too long
How is this special? Not impressed at all. The mix is annoying af. This is just more whiteboy bullshit. 2/5
Grungey, up beat, indie rock with some proto-emo undertones. Nice album to break up the monotony with. Not a tastemakers choice, not an amazing album but definitely interesting and engaging. Think Superchunk.
OK.
I'm surprised to read how critically acclaimed this album was. I didn't care for it at all. I agree with Robert Christgau of The Village Voice that it's a dud.
I wish some of the songs were longer. I'd just start getting into them, and then they were over.
What bothered me most about this album was its lo-fi production. I'm normally pretty open to lo-fi if it's done correctly, but something about Guided by Voices's un-remastered, homemade sound is very off-putting. Another reviewer wrote it best: "I cannot stand the mix. I get what they were going for with the dirty, fuzzy sound but I fucking HATE it. The guitar tones on this album are fantastic but I feel like that gets so muddy and hidden in the mix. This would easily be a 3 or 4 star album for me if it were a little "cleaner" sounding." Another issue is melody. These vocalists cannot carry a tune. Add that to the factor that some of these melodies can hardly be called tunes in the first place - owing to lack of musicality and a generally improvisatory feel - and the list of tracks that could be considered catchy becomes short very quickly. But with 28 tracks, at least a few had to stand out, and indeed I did notice some highlights. The main factor that boosted these to being "good" songs was higher energy and a solid melody. These songs, in particular, I wish could've lasted longer (nearly all 28 tracks are under 2 minutes), but I still appreciate them as they are. Also, for what it's worth, the lyrics are pretty fun. So is the album cover. Key tracks: A Salty Salute, Game of Pricks, A Good Flying Bird, Blimps Go 90, Alright
Oh hello lo-fi friend. Pleasure to cross paths again. I really miss the days of OG DIY album production. Nowadays, bedroom rock wins Grammys and has a very monotonous sound to it. It's somehow been packaged and sold as a genre. But in GBV's day, it was the wild west. I really love how quick and dirty this is. There's SO MUCH experimentation with sounds, guitars, drums, drum machines and just kickass kookiness here, it's hard not to love.
Alien Lanes exudes a concise lo-fi charm, its 28 blink-and-you’ll-miss-them tracks evoking the feeling of scrubbing through radio static in search of the perfect fuzz-tinged gem.
Have absolutely no idea why this is on the list. Run-of-the-mill indie stuff. Badly produced, too.
gen x alex g
I had hopes for this one. I had got behind on the list and looked to the 10 albums ahead and thought that this would be the one to choose next. Sadly mistaken. Another questionable inclusion on the list.
Not for me today. Maybe another day.
I really enjoyed this album, it was fun and the idea of having tiny songs is a bit of a novelty! 28 songs in 41 minutes - Bravo!!!
Yesterday I had a terrible headache and listened to the first track and thought I’d save it for another day - it’s not any better today. This album desperately needed a producer who could help the band turn these demos into actual songs - it’s not even that I mind some of the tracks being short, they just don’t go anywhere and are so half arsed - full arses only please. Twangy and out of tune without a built up release or intention, some weird noises. There could be something here, but its not enough and I don’t have the patience for more listen throughs to find it - if anyone needs me I’ll be laying in a dark corner with a wet flannel on my eyes with my ears gently bleeding.
A bunch of short songs that sound like they were recorded in a garage. Good times.
Sounds like an album of samples, where every song starts, tries to build up something and anticlimactically ends without any release
What in the hell is this crap? This is a bloated collection of songlettes that could have used an editor.
Enjoyed this one and would give it another listen
I wasn't a fan of lots of short tracks, it made listening quite frantic. It was quite beneficial for the weaker tracks, as they ended that bit quicker. For the odd decent track I wasn't at all disappointed it was over after 90 seconds. I guess what I'm saying is, it was tolerable but not great.
Didn't mind the short tracks, but there were a LOT of them. If you like this, you'll LOVE Half Japanese.
I like the way the songs flow into one another. It's a little rambling at 28 tracks. Melodies are rare, attitude is everything. The budget clearly wasn't spent on production values. At times it sounded liked a random bloke shouting shit down a mic. This probably sounds best on a C90, rather than a streaming service.
Maybe it gets better with multiple listens, but I dont think I WANT to listen to it again. 2/5
Indie que me fez lembrar da alcunha "roquito", ou seja, era para ser rock, mas é inofensivo.
What a waste of Time
I forgor
I don't know. I do like short songs but some of these are over before they really establish anything. It's not bad but not thrilling. It doesn't help that I once knew a douchebag who was obsessed with GBV and thought they were the greatest thing ever. I guess a 3, but I kind of want to make it lower.
It was average to be honest.
Listened to this while doing my taxes. I definitely enjoyed this more than taxes...but taxes are the worst part. Good hazy mid 90s indie rock. Nothing groundbreaking, but still decent enough.
Wikipedia specifies the genre as Indie Rock / Lo-Fi / Power Pop? The longest track is less than 3 minutes long, with the average track length being around one-and-half minutes. I'm sure that there's some talent in there somewhere, but it's not too obvious from this album, as the whole album sounds very amateurish, but I guess that's the "Lo-Fi" aspect. The album in parts is truly depressing, especially "As We Go Up, We Go Down" and "The Ugly Vision". I was going to give this album 2 stars, but the longer I listened, the worse it got.
Some songs are good, but a lot of them sound like unfinished ideas or they gave up halfway through the song.
Jumping back into the mid 90s with this album
1000 ideen in schnappschüssen, aberr alles viel zu schnell vorbei
Wow, I was REALLY ready to not like this. It started off too happy and bright, but it felt fresh and catchy. The more songs I heard the more unique and complex it became. Suddenly reminded me of The Mountain Goats and Jeff Mangham sounding songs (which I do like) so I'll listen to more of these guys. 4 stars!
This is not an album. It is a catalogue of song samples. Less is not always more....
I wondered what the hell was going on when I heard the first couple of songs on the album. All in all thia was pretty decent
So I never heard anything of this artist or album at all in my life. Like discovering a planet or walking into the largest library and randomly grab a book and go. Here’s the problem with this scenario though, this piece of art is coming at you randomly. It’s on a list, a list that states is MUST before 💀. I’m a new father and I love listening to music and everything about music and feel like I enjoy a wide variety. I will never mention nor play anything from this album ever. This album isn’t the worst on this list and even had some fun moments and help me realize this list is a grind and has many far from ever being MUST. 1.5 rounding up.
A few decent tracks here but significantly diluted by a bunch of unfinished dross.
This album is 28 songs yet only 40 plus minutes long. The songs are not very good. They feel unfinished and incomplete, but even if they were longer I am not sure if it would have helped. I don't know what to do with it. It is between a 1 and a 2. I will round down
Really enjoyed it. But since there were so many songs it was at some points not as great to ba a full 5star rated album.
I find this album very unsatisfying. It's a tease. Great little pop hooks, but only the hooks. They're over before I get a chance to enjoy what's going on.
Music is nice, sounds like The Pillows, but the actual songs are drawn-out, yet very short and actually "boring" to listen
Good, too long though.
Sounds like they shouldn't have left the garage. One of the band members even fell asleep while recording
I think this is my first one star. It had nothing I wanted.
Got a weird one today. Average song length is like 1:30ish, which makes it feel like just like a bunch of unfinished ideas. It's like indie rock, or lo-fi. Props to them though for being mentioned in an episode of The IT Crowd. There's also a scene in the show where Game of Pricks is playing to drown out the sound of people banging. Apparently the creator and director, Graham Linehan was a huge GBV fan. Favourite songs: Game of Pricks, Blimps Go 90 Least favourite song: The Ugly Vision, Cigarette Tricks, Pimple Zoo, Auditorium, Striped White Jets, Ex-Supermodel, Chicken Blows, My Son Cool, Always Crush Me 2/5
I am learning that I really dislike that I think intentionally fuzzy sound. Also, while I am generally a big fan of brevity and often criticize albums and songs for being too long, this swings too far in the other direction. Every song feels like an incomplete thought and even ones I am enjoying (A Salty Salute, Game of Pricks) seem to end abruptly. Not a great experience overall.
That was a nice listen. Kind of middle of the road for content, probably not going to throw that on the phone for mobile listening but I'll keep it in the at home collection
Was a nice change of pace. Sometimes it is nice to just have a bunch of quick songs. Will I listen to again: 50%
Interesting.
super charming but each song fails to create its own identity. i think i just need to listen to it more but i love it already. 8/10
Gets annoying after a bit.
Liked it the more I listened.
-this sounds like a bunch of dudes who wanted to talk the alt music talk but can’t walk the walk -like maybe they just started dressing/were alt music scenesters that no one ever bothered asking if they could make music -I couldn’t find any synergy between the lyrics, melodies, riff ect throughout the entire album
This album feels a lot like a beer flight or scrolling your phone for a while. Nothing lasts long enough to make an impression on you. It’s like 30 tracks of a minute each. The music isn’t all bad but they’re more like incomplete thoughts than songs. It’s more of a scratch pad of chords and high thoughts than a continuous musical idea. I get the feeling this album could have been at least mid if they took the time to flesh some of these out.
Ooufff. Difficult one. It wasn't really bad, but it was too wild; too incoherent to make it work out for me.
Ja best goed, zaten paar goeie dingen tussen maar alle nummers zijn heeeeel kort en dat vind ik wat minder
Hoy toca una banda fundamental para el indie, sobre todo desde su concepción base: proponer una producción independiente, pensada y llevada a cabo en su totalidad por las y los artistas con plena libertad. Sus sonidos sesentosos, psicodélicos, me recuerdan a bandas como Deerhunter. Siempre la música como vanguardia. Buen disco de una buena banda. Parece una frase falta de creatividad, pero muchas veces la escasez de recursos dice más, como las canciones crudas, sucias y cortas de Guided by Voices.
Gave it one listen, some ok lyrics, but the songs are short even by punk standards. No real enjoyment of the music. 2/5
Just absolute shit. Avoid at all costs. Stuff like this crap doesn't belong on this list. The thing about putting stuff like this on this list is that it gives a significant source of funding to these people who don't belong on the list, because a list like this generates a lot of streaming and download clicks every year that an artist is on the list. The global history of this challenge shows, as of today, some 9.5 million votes, and while some percentage of people quit and never finish the challenge, it still means significant income generation that I think should go to artists that truly merits musical inclusion on the list. Alright, TED talk over. Stepping down from soapbox.
Nice album. Shorter songs lend itself to a shorter album but in this case, even with the limited time, there was variety and cohesiveness. Also it was very 90s - that's a good thing to me haha
Not my thing in many possible dimensions. Absolute anarchy in the music, and monotone vocals. Very uninteresting.
a very alternative rock sound. very eclectic. at times you hear sounds reminiscent of the beatles, the black keys, the gin blossoms, cream… all with a deliberate lo-fi production quality. an adventurous listen in that you never knew what the next song would sound like. that’s ok because if you didn’t like the song you wouldn’t have to wait too long for the next one, in that most of the songs were under two minutes. highlights: “a salty salute”, “watch me jumpstart”, “closer you are”, “striped white jets”
Heard a lot about this band over the years but never listened until now. It’s poppy garage rock and perfectly fine even if nothing stands out as great.
Enjoyed this. But also constantly couldn’t not recall a single song
The poor singing and lack of intonation made me not enjoy listening to this album. Not my style of music.
I really enjoyed the lofi nature of this album. it had the spirit of a band that was starting to find its way to something great. I love the roughness of it, its jittery but sweet, ragged yet lovely. I will be exploring more of their catalog for sure
Kinda all over the place. Not keen on it.
Liked the first maybe 25% of the album. Catchy, quick songs. But I got very bored by half way through the album. I like the indie sound, but don’t know when I would enjoy listening to this. In the end, didn’t hate it, didn’t love it.
I get that the bad recording quality and unfinished songs are the artistic concept and they are probably done well in that regard. It just doesn't do much for me.
Ok, 3 stars
Meh
Meh
An interesting way to make songs. Just when you're getting into the song, it's over and they continue on yet another thing. An long string of short, inspired tunes. I kinda like it.
Ein paar Songs sind ok, die meisten aber schlecht.
Didn’t enjoy. Too lo-fi chaotic.
The warm fuzz that radiates throughout Alien Lanes does more than lift up the breakneck, devil-may-care speed-run of the songs housed here. A one-two punch that began with the predecessor Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes sees the aptly if not curiously titled Guided by Voices nestled up nicely with indie stalwarts and the alternative giants. If that moment of time in regards to the band's stature was temporary, well would it matter anyway? The work, if there was one, was already done. Time to surrender to surrealism.
Not the worst thing I’ve heard. 2.5 stars
A poor imitation of The Who
I can't think of any reason why this is on this list. Would give 0 starts if possible.
An LP that's simple in execution but manages to hit a wide swath of rock genres, emotions, and reactions effectively. Stumbled upon this album my sophomore year of college, and though 'Game of Pricks' was the standout track for my adolescent depression the whole thing just hit all at once even in piecemeal. I must shamefully admit that I've never given the whole thing a straight playthrough until today. The smattered, ramshackle tracks can stand on their own but work much more effectively as a train of consciousness recorded straight to tape, and even if a given melody or lyric doesn't work it's quickly swept away and replaced with another in logical sequence. That's not to say there are too many misfires here, most of the instrumentals ramble along in a shockingly workable approximation of harmony that all comes together under the lo-fi production and the melodies are simple but damned effective. Feels almost as if Robert Pollard and crew are having a rager, group therapy session, and intervention all at once on record
A friend of mine introduced me to their music a few years ago and I liked it but didn't dig deeper. Got a chance to listen to a full album and I did like it. Striped White Jets is a banger. Very economical album with over 20 songs in 40 minutes. But the drawback is that it loses flow at times and makes it a tad uneven. But an overall solid album.
Lots of starts to songs…
I dunno. Never heard a single song by these guys.
The sound quality on this drove me nuts, and I was confused about why this album sounded like it was played on a small town radio station but I guess it was intentional. This is a long one too, I think if this is your genre its a shining example but to me it was just a lot of garbled noise and half-songs that didnt need to be recorded (Always Crush Me is awful for this and made shut it off for awhile).
This album did nothing for me. But it wasn’t unpleasant so 2 stars
I'd like to say I like this, but I don't. I don't especially dislike it - sure, there were a couple of skip tracks, but having listened through this album I can honestly say that my life is no better for having heard it, and that gives me no inspiration whatsoever to listen to it again.
There is so much from the album cover that made me think this was some kind of instrumental type album. Didn’t realize it’d be a hundred thirty second songs that sound like those dollar 45 records. Would love an explanation on why this one is on here.
Quite like this one. Like if the Beatles made punk. Lots of short tracks, and I think I'm saving ten (of 28). Still impressive though, this is a nice album. Some great melodic riffs. Favorite tracks: A Salty Salute, Watch Me Jumpstart, As We Go Up, Game of Pricks, Big Chief Chinese Restaurant, Closer You Are, Motor Away, Blimps Go 90, Strawdogs, Chicken Blows. Album art: Really cool, a wigged-out psychedelic overlay on a steel drum in the desert? Very, very cool one. 4/5
This album is in desperate need of a remaster. Lo-fi is one thing, but this sounds like garbage with how compressed the audio is. Virtually unlistenable. The music itself was ok - the vignette style keeps things interesting at least, though no songs stuck out. 2/5.
I knew and loved Game of Pricks going into this, but never heard the rest of the album. Overall I really liked it. They’re at their best when they lean into their British Invasion interests, and the album does suffer the same way other ones with many very short songs do where they kind of bleed together
This is in my wheelhouse - so many great lo-fi songs that channel the Beatles, Who and Kinks with a DIY sensibility.
This wasn’t as awful as I thought it was going to be, so I guess that’s something. I didn’t enjoy this in any way, though.
Man, talk about throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. I think the most disappointing thing about this record is that there are some songs on here that, if fleshed further out, would be absolutely A+ songs. Feels like a record where, the moment the writer hit a block, he moved on. Ends up that there are a lot more great songs on here than bad ones. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, looking at the track list length initially, but now what? Do I get further into this band? With that long a discography? Favorite tracks: "They're Not Witches", "Game Of Pricks", "Little Whirl"
No
This was almost a good album. There are some good ideas here but, with comically short track lengths, nothing has enough time to breathe. Despite that, it flows very well and is quite good as a holistic album experience. Until Ex-Supermodel. That song made me cringe viscerally the whole time, and the album never really picked back up after there.
You just sat down at a local brewery and have 45 minutes and want to try everything so you start ordering flights. Some are great, some are good, some are average, some suck. That's this album in a nutshell. Goes by fast and in the end you enjoyed it but can't recall which songs you really like because you just drank 28 4 oz beers.
7 songs under a minute, w/ the longest song under 3m. If you distorted the hell out of it & increased the BPM by about 200 this could be a grindcore album. "Lo-fi" definitely covers it, as it sounds like it was recorded with a walkman. 90s/American was also a shock, since many of the songs sound like rough, discarded Beatles demos dug out from Ringo's trash. Overall, I don't really get it -- and I've listened to The Frogs, but maybe it's because they didn't seem to be taking themselves too seriously. Wait, is that SNORING I hear in the background? wtf. At least it was relatively short.
3.5 Bee Thousand is the best!
It sounds like the cover of the album looks.
Meh.. just very full throughout most of its runtime. I appreciate the lo-if sound, and the vocals are nice. The mixing needs getting used to as well, as it’s all over the place. There’s some things I appreciate here, but most of this album is dull with most of the time basic lyrics. That F slur was uncalled for to..
Some good songs, but kind of fades into the background.
Not something I would choose to listen to. Some songs remind me of the Beatles
Really enjoyed this unexpected album in its entirety from band Ive never heard of prior. Lo fi first. Loved the sound
niet soort lo-fi rammelgejenkel uit de USA gaf en geeft me altijd flink veel donkerbruin in mijn aura.
Ja sorry. Dit is gewoon muzikale diarree. Matig opgenomen. Kill your darlings! Als er al wat leuks tussen zit, valt het simpelweg niet op temidden van de matigheid van alles.
This felt like an America's Got Talent audition record, nothing was finished or a full song, just parts of songs that left me wanting more. I think I could like this band, but I wouldn't listen to this again because it just left me wanting more.
meh 2 stars
I suppose this is where grunge went after grunge. I'm sorry, but I didn't go with it.
I love some songs from this album, but I also never think to listen to this album as a whole because there are 1000 songs on it.
This feels VERY 90S. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.
"Guided by Pricks" is the standout. So many tracks that Guided by Voices outstays its welcome. 3.2 stars rounded down.
Britisk 90’er, korte intense indierock-numre, lidt punk
I didn’t love it though I really thought I would… kinda meh