Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Forgettable.
I definitely disliked this the first time through. It seemed very random and disjointed and unpolished (which, apparently, is the point of "lo-fi"). A second listening revealed a bit more charm, but not enough for me to be a fan.
At first I thought it was boring, but then it started to irritate me.
This was a strange and unsatisfying listen. Lots of short songs in varying musical styles sent through some sort of 90’s grunge distortion filter. There were some good things I would hear then they would abruptly end, like Cliff’s Notes versions of the songs. What’s with the snoring over Ex-Supermodel? Did I accidentally listen to an ad for a KTEL Record?
Not really my thing. But interesting. Probably won’t listen again though
I didn't know this band.
Ik weet dat sommigen hier helemaal weglopen met deze band, maar voor mij is het onsamenhangend en chaotisch.
28 liedjes in 41 minuten. That says it all.
Meh, taas melkoista tusinakamaa ja ei erotu hyvässä eikä pahassa muusta britti-pop-rockista.
Meh
that was very boring
Meh
I dunno. I wasn't crazy about this.
xaropinho
I think I just listened to someone’s stream of consciousness for 41 minutes. No.
tämä olisi parempi jos bändi olisi Briteistä, kolinasta huolimatta puuttuu rosoa, joka tekisi näistä sinänsä kiinnostavalta vaikuttavista biiseistä oikeasti kiinnostavia. eka biisi antaa toisen tähden
why so whiny
This bit of the Pitchfork review is all ya need to know: "Pollard’s method was to write five duds in order to get one perfect tune, and then release all six songs. In the end, making art was like breathing for Pollard—you can’t inhale oxygen without exhaling carbon dioxide." 3.5/5 to a best of tho?
Sounds like they had fun making this album, certainly more fun than I had listening to it.
The good thing about the songs being so short is you don't have to put up with them for too long. The bad thing about the songs being so short is that they can cram even more of the bastards on there. I'm giving it a generous 2 because halfway through, like an island in the middle of a sea of dirge, I enjoyed Motor Away.
Let's call it what it is: Just a crappy garage band with way too many songs on their album (really? nearly 30 songs?) 4/10.
A really interesting album. It has 28 songs but only is 44 minutes. The variety of alternative styles is shown through the songs but it doesn’t feel very cohesive. This album seems like the band just made as many songs as possible and didn’t think about trying to expand or curate them. Some of the songs were somewhat enjoyable. None were that bad but it’s just an odd collection of okay music. 5.0/10
I like the vibe but couldn't really get into the album as a whole. Kinda feels all over the place.
Seems like a bunch of experimental, partially fleshed out half ideas assembled in a very strange collection. There's only a few that seem like actual songs, but nothing that is really too compelling. Interesting.
Not memorable.
His voice is nothing special. I don’t seem to like this album very much. Pass
Eitt gott við þessa plötu: lögin, þó þau séu fjöldamörg, eru flest mjöööög stutt! Einstaka inn á milli með grípandi laglínu, en almennt er þetta mjög einsleitt og ekki nógu skemmtilega útfært.
Amongst the strain of trying oh-so-hard to give off the impression of just hooking up a mic and recording anything that happens, there's a great power-pop album hiding in here somewhere. There are some gems to be found among the 28 (!) songs. Minus the necessary polish, this gets old in a hurry.
I found the vocals so irritating that I only listened to half the album.
Loads of instantly forgettable 2 minute offerings. Not worth your time really. I’ve heard worse music so gains an extra star for that reason only.
An American band tryna sound like Brit pop
No thanks
Never heard it before. Kinda wierd. Don't totally get it.
Sounded like an album full of half baked song ideas. Not for me.
Ehh, not for me.
It's cool how they got to try out lots of different styles, but I didn't really think any of them clicked.
Pretty enjoyable stuff, but worthy of a place on this list? Hmmm
Here's one of those bands whose name I've heard throughout the years and I couldn't name a song of theirs to save my life. Indie low-fi, with a distinct 60's pop/folk vibe to many of their songs. It's not bad, it's just not very compelling to me.
Znowu indyjska hameryczka, tym razem w wydaniu moco lofikowym, bo wlasnie takim krazkiem sa alien lanes od guided by voices, bandy za ktora stoi pan Robert Pollard, ktory jest glownym wokalista i lirykiem grupy w sklad ktorej podczas nagran tej plyty wchodzilo jeszcze szesc osob, ale traki sa grane raczej standardowym setupem gitara, elektryk lub akustyk, bas i drumy, tylko ze postacie sie zmieniaja, a maja sie na czym zmieniac, bo album ma 41 minut, ale zmiescili tam az 28 utworow, co nie daje zbyt duzego czasu na pojedyncze piosenki, co tworzy sytuacje traczek bedzie hitem lub misem i tak 28 razy, wiec mozna znalezc kawalki ktore slucha sie dobrze, bo lirycznie sa lekkie a instrumentalnie jamuja, ale jednak jest to szukanie, przed odsluchem mialem juz na plejliscie jeden utwor z tej plyty, pewnie w polecanym radiu indyjskim cos zaslyszalalem, a po przesluchaniu calosci dodam jeszcze dwa inne motor away i as we go up, we go down, ktore najlepiej sie bronia z calosci nagrania, ktore na generatorze wypada jako jako najbardziej budzetowe jak do tej pory, bo pewnie przesada jest nagrali plyte za 10 dolarow a sprzedali za 100k, ale jak na rok 95 nadal brzmi to w wiekszosci przypadkow przyzwoicie, chociaz dziwne uczucie sluchac takiego lofika na przyzwoitych sluchawkach, bo czujesz jakby czegos brakowalo, a jednak ten brak stanowi integralna czesc brzmienia, bo jesli nie mozesz zagrac czegos dobrze, to przeciez wystarczy, ze nie nagrasz wystarczajaco dobrze zeby ktokolwiek zauwazyl roznice, wiec z mieszanymi odczuciami i kilkoma wylowionymi utworami moge odchaczyc pozycje na liscie
Aburrido y monótono. Como si fueran las canciones más ruidosas de los Beatles mal hechas y mal grabadas. No me ha gustado casi nada, aunque se puede escuchar.
Quelques moments sympas mais franchement 28 titres c'est tricher.
Meh
very weird
Nice songs but a bit too much garage, too many short songs
booooriiiiing
Korte nummers, niet altijd goed afgewerkt
I normally try to listen to the whole album, after 131 albums, I finally hit an album that I really struggled with. The short song transitions is hectic and disorienting. TMBG did a similar thing in their early years, but with a more eclectic songwriting style that I favor. 2/5.
Rubbish.
Lo-fi, short pieces, but not very interesting. Not awful, just dull.
I get that this is an album celebrated by many people, I just couldn't buy into it. Lo-fi is not an aesthetic choice I usually find pleasant, and this record is not an exception. It sounds dirty and obnoxious. On top of that, having extremely short songs that change up your sound every 30 seconds to 2 minutes is too spontaneous for my taste. It makes the album come off as unfocused and rushed. There may have been a point to the way this album was produced and put together, but it just completely missed me. I don't even have a favorite song, none of them stuck with me
Mediocre 90s indie music thats hard to listen to, avoid.
Didn't get there
Not something I really liked
I don't have a response to this. Its just there. Songs are short and I think because of that it blends together. I am in no way better or worse for listening to this.
19th August 2021 Listened while mowing the lawn before going to watch suicide squad with woody. Like ADHD in an album but I like the 90s slacker vibes
I get that this is an album celebrated by many people, I just couldn't buy into it. Lo-fi is not an aesthetic choice I usually find pleasant, and this record is not an exception. It sounds dirty and obnoxious. On top of that, having extremely short songs that change up your sound every 30 seconds to 2 minutes is too spontaneous for my taste. It makes the album come off as unfocused and rushed. There may have been a point to the way this album was produced and put together, but it just completely missed me. I don't even have a favorite song, none of them stuck with me.
Odd good track, but most are too short to get in to. Extreme lo-fi production is off putting
28 nummers op 41 minuten tijd... soms voelt het aan alsof sommige nummers niet af zijn. Er heerst ook weinig samenhang in het album, het is wat chaotisch. Weinig van kunnen genieten
I love the album prior to this one, Bee Thousand, and have owned and listened to this album several times in the past. Gave it another spin, but no. This is rubbish. The song Game of Pricks is outstanding but the rest of the album is awful. Half-baked song ideas with monotone vocal delivery. Very strange to want to something so incomplete with a listening audience.
Weird one. Not my thing
Feels like a demo tape. Not quite for me, but it at least was interesting.
Meh, it provided nothing memorable or particularly enjoyable. it serves as good background music perhaps. But for active listening I was left wanting more.
...a bit weird. It isn't punk, but it might not be not punk.
Bemerkenswertes Album, aber an meinen Hörgewohnheiten vorbei
Some nice lo-fi indie moments but it's more of a collection of unrelated ideas.
A bunch of ideas that were never developed beyond that which is a shame as there are a few things in here that could've been somewhat decent. Best track: Motor Away
First few minutes ain't doing much for me. Probably only 2/5 unless it gets better. They're like "Beatles Lite" meh. sort of amazing that they're a 90's act; they barely sound it. Doesn't do much for me.
I liked the sound of the album when it started. The first song was good but as soon as I said "I like this" the song ended?? Ditto the second song. These brothers clearly like to avoid certain formulas in music. This is usually positive for me but, as much as I hate to admit it, I guess I like some formulas in music: For example, I like the norm of not abruptly ending a good tune before the 1 minute mark. Call me crazy! I was shocked when I took a look at Spotify and, after what seemed like less than 10 minutes, we were on Song 13 (Closer You Are). I quite liked that song too but it also left the room before we had a chance to properly introduce ourselves. My loss again. It begs the question: Who wins? After listening to Queen recently, it's interesting to compare Queen's over-dub-athon to this Guided by Voices' album that sounds like a high school project in a poorly lit basement. I don't mind their choice not to go over the top with production. It would have been nice if they devoted a bit more time to work on the songs and perhaps even finish writing a few of them. The lack of production time also results in all the songs sounding the same. I know all bands "sound the same" in one way or the other, but the production function can bring out some nuances that reduce the number of times you say "Oh Lord, don't tell me I have to listen to another song with that same sound". By the end of the album I was saying this a lot. At least when I had to say this, I could be happy knowing the next song might not be over 30 seconds long. Yes there were three songs that were 30 sec or less.
28 chansons, 41 minutes. Mince alors! On dirait que quand je trouve une toune bonne, elle finit après 43 secondes. Sinon, la sonorité est bonne mais trop de niaisage.
Couldn’t get into this at all
Hard to get into this one. Felt it was too sporadic and I couldn’t really get into the rhythm of it as an album. Some decent stuff on there, but just felt a bit too much of mishmash of sounds and ideas without ever settling on one.
I like the concept of a load of short tracks but found it a bit crazy in reality. 4/10
Odd album, it grabbed my attention a few times. But not enough to go back. Agree with the comments we song lengths. Relentlessly short!
Not for me!
Many, many, short snippets of lo-fi songs sounds like an interesting idea for an album so I tried really hard to like this, but as soon as I got into a groove with anything it abruptly ended. Many with no fadeouts, just a slammed door. This was a frustrating listen for me.
J'avais vraiment l'impression d'écouter un demo. Je me suis demandé si j'étais pas sur un album payant qui m'offrait juste le début des tounes. Mais non, c'est comme ça. Merci à Guided By voices de nous rappeler que la qualité est plus important que la quantité.
Like the lofi sound. Sounded nostalgic, even though I've never heard of it. Nothing remarkable about the album though.
Cool vibes, but nothing memorable.
Formato muy extraño. Durante este ejercicio he descubierto que el exceso de "cancioncitas" me desagrada entonces el punto de partida al ver el setlist de este disco no fue bueno y tampoco sorpresivo. La música no es mala pero en la mayoría se siente que lo que se va construyendo termina de manera abrupta y no llega a nada. Fui apenas la reproducción 1415 de Hit, de tan sólo 0:22 de duración. Songs: My Valuable Hunting Knife, Motor Away
grateful it was so short. I'm grateful for the nineties but not this voice, sadly
Alot of songs on one album. Very different from song to song. But I didn't really care for much of it.
Couldn't finish the album. I would describe it as amateurish and undeveloped. It is garage band grunge rock that may have inspired others, but I feel like I have heard exactly this from freshmen in high school bands. Both not my cup of tea, and not the pinnacle of achievement.
Uninspiring. I liked how it differs from other albums by having a lot of short songs rather than the usual number of songs with the usual length. But we all lnow that quantity doesn't mean quality.
Hmmm... qué decir de este álbum... ¿wtf? O sea, literalmente es un demo tape convertido en álbum o_O Ignoremos eso un momento. Algunas canciones son interesantes, pero como no les alcanzó para contratar un productor, se quedaron en bruto, lo cuál es una lástima.
como pioneros del LoFi pues chido pero un álbum lleno de demos? Por lo menos unas 10 rolas podrían haber llegado a ser algo muy bueno si las hubieran terminado.
2.5 | Empecé el disco con muy altas expectativas, porque la primera rola tiene muy buen inicio aunque acaba demasiado rápido. Luego vienen los cortes abruptos y los saltos casi al azar entre sonidos, la voz desafinada a propósito, etc. y me cuesta más y más trabajo. Pienso dos cosas, por un lado tienen reconocimiento por ser pioneros en temas como las grabaciones autónomas y el LoFi; pero por otro lado siento que tienen muchos pedacitos con potencial de ser buenas canciones y que nunca terminan de cuajar en la cápsula digerible que conozco y espero, y eso me frustra.
Started of well but then just... No. Quantity of tracks over quality.
2.5. nice to see mitch mitchell getting work
Not something i would normally listen to but it was cool. The songs were way too short
Fairly generic poppy 90s lo-fi sound, lots of short tracks that feel like half-or even quarter-ideas, feels jumbled not a huge fan. Is this looked upon with higher praise because of newer focus on lo-fi esthetic?
This is the blandest album I've listened to in a while. And, to be honest, of the twenty eight tracks it has, none is memorable or nearly good. Yes, some little nice melodies between all the noise. That's the most you can get out of this record. And, it doesn't feel long at all, but it's pretty uninteresting. I can get why it could have been interesting, but it feels very insipid. The guitars sound tired, the voice broken, the drums are just awful. And, the result is just a bunch of short songs that end up getting nowhere. Just an album that sounds cheap and like a joke. I won't say it's the worst thing I've ever listened to, but I just don't care.
Should've been guided by musicality
Like a cocktail hour where everything is fried, the 20+ songs did not offer much in variety.
7/1/26. Wasn't a fan. Thought it was noisy in a bad way; at least the songs were short. Also couldn't get it out of my head that the vocalist sounds like a mix of Sting and David Gilmour attempting a low budget project.
I have to go Robert Christgau on this one and give it a “dud” rating.
Terrible
More tracks means more good, right? Worked for Minutemen, right? Are those vocals intentionally obnoxious? Sounds like they're trying to be edgy but are only managing to cause me physical pain. And how many times to they have to use the word 'fa**ot'? Once is too many and I think I've heard it at least twice. I understand it was the 90s but that doesn't make it ok. I stand by my intolerance of slurs, even if used "ironically". "Ironically" just being a lazy hipster excuse for being a pos. That's a -1. Eat me. There might be a good album in here somewhere but they seem to have chosen to go with "bad because 'art', amirite *fart noise* lol". -_- wow you're so cool /s
Never heard of them before. This is their EIGHTH out of FORTY-TWO studio albums? I would say they'd fallen into "release everything you record", but I found out later that at one stage Pollard dug out 100 unreleased tracks for a box set – ha ha to the bank. After reading quite a fewe reviews, I gather that some people love the melodies and lyrics, but I'm with Christgau on this one, for me it’s a dud. Yes there are some catchy bits, but you shouldn't get a gold star for everything brought to show and tell? So many tracks to get through: I could pay more attention to the more popular ones? But the apparently-most-streamed song (Game of Pricks) is less-than-half-assed: if I wanted guitar pop with a bit of melancholy, I'd like it played properly (and I'd probably listen to Buzzcocks, not something "influenced by", YMMV). Some songs are awful, even the good songs are more like a demo tape than an album, and an ill-disciplined demo tape at that. But not much point in me making more negative comments about songs that offend me. Good news is that GDV don't have another album on the list, phew. For me, this album is Really Bad, I'll give it a new-for-me rating of 0/10 on my personal spreadsheet.
Not for me 1/5
Terrible. All the songs are just concepts that weren’t fleshed out.
Just kind of a discordant album, the flow between tracks was not there at all. The songs were alright and the singing was a bit rough for my liking. There's potential if it hadn't been such a compilation of short tracks. 1/5 stars.
Enminuterslåtar ska förstås vara punk. Vad är det annars för mening med dem? Nu blir det bara en sörja av allt. Här är det inte bara produktionen som är lofi. Hela materialet med något enstaka undantag, som Motor away är, low på alla möjliga plan. Att som i Ex-supermodell lägga in snarkljud kan nog vara den sämsta idén i pop/rockhistorien.
Grabbarna fick 100 000 dollar i förskott för att göra skivan. "The cost for recording Alien Lanes, if you leave out the beer, was about ten dollars." Jag antar att det är därför albumet är med i boken. En samling embryon till låtar där det kanske, ibland, med mycket god vilja kan anas något som skulle kunna bli en ok låt. Men å andra sidan går det allt för långt över tramsighetens gräns allt för ofta.
I usually don't like this kind of '90s lo-fi bullshit and this was no exception. A couple of ok songs (As We Go Up, We Go Down, Motor Away) but overall annoying to listen to. And the longer I listened, the more it annoyed me. Sorry, GBV. I don't think I'll be listening to your other 156 albums.
Dura 40 minutos y tiene como 30 temas, me parece una exageración. El chiste debe ser escucharlo todo entero de arriba a abajo pero tampoco es algo increíble je. En otras palabras: una pija.
Nope.
Baffles me how this was included in the list.
Never going to be my thing but can appreciate parts of this. Adjusted to one star because of the snoring wtf. RYM: N Saved a song: N
Álbum muy largo, canciones muy cortas. No es disfrutable, la música se escucha más que las voces. Es un caos
Not for me
I definitely did not need to listen to 28 90-second demos of some trashy rock band before I died. The ten dollar recording cost is very evident
Lo fi rock with extremely short and forgettable songs. I didn't really like their sound and after 28 songs in 41 mins I felt like I'd been listening for more than an hour.
Cut the number of tracks in half and then flesh out the songs. Sorry, Gen X, this sucks. Production is good and that's about it.
This simply doesn’t sound good… objectively. There’s the occasional somewhat decent song but overall just a mish mash of sounds.
"The Club is open." De band heeft een propper bij de deur van dit album neergezet. Hoe jaren '90 wil je het hebben? En net als in het echte leven zorgt die propper ervoor dat we liever een deurtje verder kijken. Maar goed, om andere redenen, waren we al van plan naar binnen te gaan, dus vooruit, let's go! Binnen blijkt hoe slecht de propper is. De tent is leeg. Er komt wat ongebalanceerde muziek ons tegemoet. Het publiek dat wel binnen blijft, lijkt knettergek. Het zou mij niet verbazen als ze mijn schoen willen lenen om mee te bellen. De muziek blijft intussen vraagtekens oproepen. Was dit nummer al afgelopen? Heeft dit nummer nog iets met de club te maken? Het geluid is belabberd. Soms krijgen we even (iets) beter geluid om het weer terug te draaien naar schuur-geluid en daarmee de eerdere zin nog eens te zingen (Pimple Zoo). Dat we maar mogen weten, dat dat nare geluid expres is....
The only thing good about this album; Is how brief it is. Jangled, ratchety noise. No coherence or structure. Just a rambling mess of instrument noise over the audible manufactured hiss of vintage sound.
Speed running this, cause so did these freaks
You're joking right ? I was meant to listen to this before I die ? Just let me die in peace next time. Did they forget what rhythm is? Why are the vocals so hard to hear, the production quality is straight ass. low 1
Steamy trash
Not good. Loads of very short songs all sound the same, dull
Best album ever
Lät lite intressant när jag läste om bandet. Men detta var ju vansinnigt trist. Lo-fi på ett dåligt sätt. Skulle kunna vara en demoinspelning. Helt ok röst och säkert några bra melodier stundtals men det drunknar i intetsägande slask. Första 1:an.
13 song in, and the longest is 2:24, and THAT's to long! I have to listen to 15 more songs? No way. I've heard enough.
At least it was quick. Not for me.
Really……..I REALLY needed to hear this album before I die? Whoever suggested this needs to have giving opinions revoked because was was this
Nothing of interest. And grating on the senses. I do not care for this at all and never wanna hear it again.
Guitar chords, vocal melodies, and lyrics all appear to have been selected at random by rolling dice on a table of entries that all hate you. The best thing about this album is that none of the tracks are over 3 minutes long, and a bunch of them are less than a minute. Unfortunately, that's still too long.
Confused, too many songs and too many influences
No well played, nothing new, voice not so good.
Ok
Eh I just had Kendrick and discovered Nick Cave through this the other day as well, so my standards felt pretty high. And then I also happened to read that this band got a $100,000 advance for this album that sounds like it was recorded with a Blue Yeti microphone. So yeah 🖕 u Guided By Voices, Listend By Noone, it should've been me instead, learn to finish your songs.
Nothing special. It may have been a first, but it's generally poor
oh fuck fuck fuck my username wasnt unique fuck FUCK fuck fuck
Normally for an album that gives me a headache I give 2 stars. This is getting one. Why? Because they're clearly musical ability that they're ignoring in favor just creating a schizophrenic cavalcade of noise at times. One song has long snoring dubbed over it for gods sake. Don't try again boys.
out of the twenty eight tracks here, i think "always crush me" might be one of the only songs that made my ears perk up because i *really* like the guitar tone which plays to the distorted strength of lo-fi. the rest of this though? absolutely miserable. some of the most grating whiny singing i've heard in a minute. this is basically a demo album. it's a disjointed scattershot mess of half-baked ideas thrown at the wall then discarded just as quickly. this is the unfinished rough draft of a maybe decent album that for some reason they gave to the famed mastering engineer bob ludwig to make any of this listenable. audio engineering is such an art and a skill. it's unfortunate that it was talent wasted here.
Yet another album I didn't need to hear before I die.
Lousy songs recorded on a toaster. What even is this?
What the??? So bad.
The vocals are unpleasant to listen to. The instrumentals are boring. On a technical level, the audio sounds like shit (and saying that it's on purpose doesn't make it any better). There are so many tracks on this album that sound so unpolished, it's like I'm listening to someone ramble incoherently over random noise. 28 tracks on this album and they're all awful.
what am i supposed to do with this
Songs too short , too many - 1
Meget ringe lyd på albummet.
Why is this on the list? It's extremely basic in my opinion. Nothing really grabbed me. Bit of a dud.
Meh
One incomplete thought after another.
Look you should at least be able to sing before you publish an album.
After 132 albums, I am loath to assign a 1 or 5 to anything, but this one plumbs the depths. I don't know what voices were guiding them, but their own nonsensical snippets are better without voices. The songs still aren't short enough.
I think it says a lot that there are no songs on this album that are longer than 3 minutes long. This album sounds like they just pressed record, played for on average 90 seconds, and then moved on to the next one. I cannot find anything good to say about this album, but I wish the band success at their high school's upcoming Battle of the Bands.
The production quality was terrible, and the different players weren't all on the same page for any single song. I felt like this was music that more closely matched the sounds of the '60's, but it was made in the '90's. They also had an annoying habit of hitting these weird discordant off notes. The vocals were really bad too.
I hated this. It was just repetitive, barely melodic noise most of the time. I kept waiting for a good track but they just kept getting worse and worse as the album went on. This sounds like an album a friend of mine recorded on a laptop microphone in 2003 and he had never had a day of musical training in his life. I did not enjoy this in the slightest. It was mercifully short but I still couldn't wait for it to be over. WHY IS THIS ALBUM IN THIS LIST? Is the author just checking to see if anyone's actually listening to these??? One star.
Trash. Would I listen to again? I don't listen to trash.
It's like they put together all of their demos and threw them in the media. It's incoherent and not that good.
This has to be the most frustrating album I’ve ever listened to. There are 10-12 really cool song ideas in this 28 song record. But the amount of absolute garbage in between is awful. The whole thing just comes off as exceptionally lazy. Couldn’t bother to finish a single song. Couldn’t bother to record it with any sort of quality production. First album I’m giving the 1/5.
28 songs averaging 90 seconds a piece, you need a good reason to have that many tracks on an album. Releasing a ton of music doesn't make it good and before you even get into most of the tracks they end and a new one starts. Monotonous.
Suht tuskainen setti kuunneltavaksi.
Look, if you're going to just give us 1 or 2 minute song snippets, make them fucking enjoyable to listen to. This was not enjoyable. And the production sounds like it was all recorded in a tin can. Sure, it's lo-fi alt rock, but I'd rather hear Pavement than this. Hell, even the album cover screams stay away.
Um…..Uh……I guess I don’t get it. I’ve heard about Guided By Voices forever, but I never knew anything about them. I was kind of hoping they were a punk band, and I guess some might say they are. Alien Lanes is the group’s 8th album and it has 28 songs with some lasting just 19 seconds. In fact, the album has several songs under a minute. Are they songs at that point? Maybe they’re jingles? Music critics love this band, which generally means I’m not smart enough or I’m not pretentious enough to get it. Or maybe I’m not afraid to admit I don’t like it? The songs seem like they turned on the the recording equipment and decided to make up a song on the spot. I guess I can see the appeal to some. I thought of Weezer, the Who, the Eagles of Death Metal’s first album when I listened to GBV. However, I will also listen to those bands in the future. GBV is what some refer to a lo-fi, indie music. They are praised for their songwriting and their lyrics, but I don’t get it. They actually have what sounds like a dude snoring throughout one song. The song is called Ex-Supermodel. Check it out and tell me a dude isn’t snoring. Hey, I get it, I wanted to snore through most of this album. It’s not all bad; there are several good jingles on the album. If GBV worked on them longer than 2 minutes, they might make actual good songs. I don't hate this album, because I’m old. I've never liked this kind of music. Maybe I’m the pretentious one. I recommend not listening to this unless you like pretentious indie rock or you want to hear how snoring can be a musical instrument.
28 songs in 41 minutes is insane. I don't know about this one. It wasn't the worst but I'll also never listen to any of the songs either on their own or as part of this album again. Tinny and hissy wasn't particularly pleasant. Maybe I'm being too harsh but it just didn't work for me.
I tried listening to all of the songs but was only able to hear 5 of them, I did not like the sound of the guitar in any of the songs at all, too rough
This shit blows
*Not my preferred type of music and nothing hooked me as interesting or noteworthy.
This was not for me. Too many tracks, and none of them stand out. Made the album feel twice as long, and not in a good way. Sounded like a demo tape of unfinished songs
I’d rather have had half the number of tracks that at least felt complete. Did they just bore easily?
Not for me today. It's a trashy, noisy cacophony.
Lots of talk about how prolific the songwriter is and how inexpensive it was to record this album. There doesn't seem to be any actual songcraft involved here. Every track is too (mercifully) short for any thematic development or any contrast or really anything. This is the musical equivalent of the guy who walks around with a handheld mini-cassette recorder so he can record all his "profound" thoughts. Comedic gold, especially when the character is as earnest as this album comes across. It's laughably bad. Would that I could give it 0 stars. 1 star.
Strong Beatles influence but not my thing. Sloppy garage sound doesn't do it for me.
Nothing really for me here
LOL what a fucking joke this album was. Songs so short you don’t even have time to get into them. Just a waste of time for anyone doing this challenge
not a fan of the production and recording quality. i get what they're going for but it just doesn't do it for me. songs are too short and lots feel out of place, the album doesn't seem to make much sense and feels like it was thrown together too fast.
No me gusto mucho, me gusto solo 1 canción
One of those bands that seems universally beloved by people who have similar musical tastes as me, but I just CANNOT get into them. I cannot understand their appeal whatsoever. The only decent song here is "Watch Me Jumpstart" because it's the only one that is given space to develop. The rest is, to put it nicely, undercooked to the point of being raw and inedible. For my tastes, at least. I just don't get it.
1 star. Started out strong then they said the f slur then they started getting samey with it. Booooo
Reminded me what I don't like about slacker rock.
TikTok versions of songs that are only slightly longer than most contemporary TV show theme songs. Not for me.
A bunch of song ideas and demos disguised as an album
These songs aren't unfinished, they're barely started.
Already didn't rate it but questionable lyrics brings this down to a 1
Push the instruments over a cliff and do not let this band play again.
It's like being in a schizophrenic brain also added woth ADHD. 28 very short tracks. One track has someone snoring. I'm not sure the guitarist or vocalist understand what a tune is. I'm sure it's a UK band, they use a sspecific slur a lot, but it means cigarette to them. Still it's jarring. Oh there is a violin. Trying to sound like they are underwater ? Or like the old surfer bands gri the 60s? Terrible. It's all terrible. Except the drummer is ok. Is this a final for a high-school music class maybe? So much cringe
Just awful
Muito chato, meu deus, banda de garagem total
It’s a bit Beatles, it’s a bit proto-Strokes; some nice ideas here and there but it sounds unfinished, like a demo album. Could’ve done with more time in the oven. The more I listened the more I disliked it. 41 minutes that never seemed to end. Rubbish singing, rubbish lyrics, rubbish recording, rubbish songs. Some of it is impressively bad - ‘Ex-Supermodel’ has this horrible sample the whole way through of what I can only imagine is someone snoring? Who likes listening to that?
this album wasn’t even mid. do you know how awful it is to listen to a plain, boring, 28 track album? it made it feel so much longer (despite being under 45 minutes). zero sense of cohesion. 1/5.
How do you even have an opinion on that? A few decent melodies buried in there, but all in all it’s a deluge of crap.
don't like
Guided by voices are one of those bands that people seem to be really into but produce quite vague and generic rock, leaving me surprised that it can generate strong feelings in either direction in anyone. I really liked their track "Everywhere by helicopter" for ages, but it's not on this album. This album is pretty horrible. It was more lowfi sounding and experimental than i was expecting, but when it drifts that way it generally comes across as quite self indulgent. So the tracks either sound unremarkable or quite irritating. The 2 part harmonies seem to be heavily influenced by the Beatles.
I've heard better bands play in a garage. In fact, it sounds like I'm listening to a lousy band play in a garage. A band that can't be bothered to write complete songs or play/sing in tune. Absolutely awful (especially Ex-Supermodel. What the hell is happening? Is someone moaning into the microphone? Snoring? Horrible. Also, Chicken Blows blows).
I find this boring to the moon and back. As if these guys don't have the talent and knowhow on how to craft a proper 3-minute song, so they just make each song sound like the sounds coming from switching channels until you see there's nothing on, so you turn it off. Maybe if it was an EP of a few songs, but even then, it would be shoddy. ⭐
how is it possible to make a record about aliens that is this fucking crap
I didn't really understand this album but at least it was relatively short
New rule I’m identifying from past votes (c.f. Nirvana) and this one. Any album by straight people that involves casually dropping the f-slur for no real reason gets a 1 star vote.
Can someone tell me why I hated this
What is with all this low quality, shit sounding albums? WHY ARE THEY ON THIS LIST???? Were the writers of this list high? Losing faith in this list
Had 10 hours of school, came home and had to listen to this, my headache got WORSE. This is BAD. This is if the Beatles were absolute unbearable shite x
⅛★
Music is subjective yeah? I get that. But there's some much I didn't enjoy about this, short tracks....I settle in for one, try to get my head around it, then it ends. Next one...etc etc etc. The quality of it, honestly thought there was something wrong with my speaker....this is lo-fi is it? Just do not know what they were pitching here, found it pretty miserable and needed a real lift after it and a cold shower!! I guess, some out there love it, fair play to them as artists, they must have made a stack of cash from it at a very low budget & hopefully enjoyed themselves, but jez!
This album did absolutely nothing for me—I’m honestly surprised it made the list. It lacks standout moments, the hooks are forgettable, and the overall sound feels like a generic take on ‘90s indie. I struggled to find anything worth revisiting. Favorite song: Couldn’t pick one. Least favorite: All 17 tracks. Album artwork: Cool cover, though.
Uhhhhh.....this is an album? There's like 45 second songs that sound like rough demos rather than anything else. Not into it at all. Just a lot of noise. Not it, not even a little bit. Sounds like something that is played at that really overpriced record store and you just think to yourself "i can't believe people listen to stuff like this". But they're just playing it because it's 'cool'. Different yeah, for sure. But cool? Good? No thanks. Some songs are honestly ok. Closer you are should be a full length song. not 2 minutes. For those that like it - good for you. You're cooler than me I guess
I'm confused. Is this an album or just a collection of what sounds like unfinished demos? The songs end randomly and all sound way too similar. The lead singer's voice was very grating at times. As the album went on I hated it more and more. This album sucked.
Sounds like a bunch of demo ideas from voice memos
Gear: Fostex TH610 Artwork: 🏜️🥁💊 Production: 🧏♂️📏💩+👂🔪🩸=💀 Music: 🌀⌛🛌 Rating: ⏹️/5
Well, at least the songs are short. 3/10
I will never listen to this album again. What a mess. The recording is like something off a Fisher Price cassette tape recorder.
This album is a real head scratcher for me. Why is it here? Why all the praise? I like lo-fi indie music but this is a bit all over the place, a random assortment of song snippets. Some of them are interesting, but most of them aren't.
Nah bruh
Base trash.
The only song I might like is Blimps Go 90 but even that one I can’t decide on
Don’t get it, quick but emotionless tracks. Got bored by the same sounding guitar patterns by the third single.
I opened this on Christmas 2024 and it definitely was not what I asked Santa for. 1.28
How did this get on the list of 1001 Albums you must listen to...? I put it on my list of Never liste to again.
This has to be the worst; when you get the sound of the 90s, but it's just outright bad music. For starters, the album sounds incredibly bad. Like it was recorded and mixed on a toaster. With 28 songs crammed into 41 minutes, there is no way every song can punch hard, and it shows. Some songs are not that bad, but they drown in the rest that are mediocre or worse. Definitely quantity over quality, and that's not how I want my music. Think this deserves a strong 1. Could've gotten a weak 2 as well, but we've had some many twos and this is just such a boring album. Taking into account the issues with it sounding bad, and way too many songs, I think it cemented itself as a 1 star album for me.
This just sounded like a demo tape and embodies everything i do not like with 90s music. Just felt like an unfinished mess of 28 songs in nearly as many minutes. The sound sometimes isn't bad but I just wish it was more polished. I feel like I'm missing the point somehow.
Rotzooi bij elkaar
Maybe they should have stuck to 'quality over quantity'.
Some of the inclusions in this book have astounded me.
You can really hear why it cost $10 in total to record. Basically a bunch of badly recorded, out of tune, short demos.
The music is worse than the cover, if you can believe that
Groupe inconnu. Cet album est bizarre, on dirait qu'il est constitué uniquement d'introduction de morceaux. Donc aucune idée musicale n'est développée ici ... le résultat n'est pas très intéressant. =>1/5
1.5
No, thanks.
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.
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
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.
noh aletaan jakaa ykkösiä... koko ajan halunnut keski arvoa pidätellä... 733-738 ollut tuskanpäiviä.. tietää paskaa kun hakee albuminimiä ja löytyy ylläpito kuittirenkuilua..
Started off sounding like trash and progressed into a landfill
Were the 90s so boring, Pitchfork, that this 60-second-song album was the 27th best?
Not my thing
The production is awful. I'm not enjoying it. 28 songs in 41 minutes just feels too abrupt
Shite. Tried the infinite number of monkeys trick - if you record enough tracks some of them must be good. They did not record enough!
Very non-special
Holy smokes this shi is ass
Can’t tell if the run on nature of this album was intentional or not.
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.
Sounds like the early Beatles recorded in a garage
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
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.
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.
Allerwelts lala Gitarrenpop, Versuch die Beatles zu imitieren, nix Dolles
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.
I couldn't even make it through this one. What hot garbage.
Ehhh
Have absolutely no idea why this is on the list. Run-of-the-mill indie stuff. Badly produced, too.
What in the hell is this crap? This is a bloated collection of songlettes that could have used an editor.
Indie que me fez lembrar da alcunha "roquito", ou seja, era para ser rock, mas é inofensivo.
What a waste of Time
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.
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
I think this is my first one star. It had nothing I wanted.
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.
Not my thing in many possible dimensions. Absolute anarchy in the music, and monotone vocals. Very uninteresting.
I can't think of any reason why this is on this list. Would give 0 starts if possible.
No
I suppose this is where grunge went after grunge. I'm sorry, but I didn't go with it.
There is a song with some really obnoxious snoring going on very much in the foreground. It's awful. Poor songwriting. There is a reason I've never heard of this band.
Nicht meine Richtung
Not my style
As We Go Up, Motor Away and Blimps Go 80 are the only not horrendous songs.
Why did I need to listen to this incohetant noise?
"Hey, Brian, the audience screening feedback just arrived in the post from the record company!" "Oh wow, that's great Gerald. Did they like the orchestral pieces?" "Umm, let's see... Orchestral... Orchestral... Uh, no. No mention of orchestral pieces. Hey, is audience feedback usually written in crayon?" "What? Well what did it say?" "The gist of it is that the tracks are too long, too complex, with too many instruments, and it says here that the 17-22 year old market doesn't like that it was in tune." "Oh." "Yeah." "I see." "Yeah. But the record label really liked it and said can we make a bazillion songs to go on the album." "They liked it? OK. Well let's do all that then."
En ole koskaan kuullut artistista, joten ei mitään ennakko-odotuksia. Eikä levyn kansi edes paljasta musiikkiityyliä. Odotan mitä tulossa. Erikoinen kokonaisuus, jos nyt oli oikea levy kuuntelussa. Vähän kaikenlaista laidasta laitaan ja punainen lanka hukassa.
Lame Indie Rock
Deplorable.
Garbage
I think I may have heard the name Guided By Voices talked about before, but I was completely unfamiliar with their work. This album was not my speed at all. I tend to enjoy things that are different and experimental, but I didn't enjoy listening to this, not could I find anything that stood out to me as important or influential. I'll take a hard pass on GBV.
Another first time listen.
I don’t get it at all. It sounded like a terrible demo tape.
So overrated. Like I understand why it's in here but goddamn
ok
Nope.
A schizophrenic, rather stupid way to mix an album
Not listening to this one again. Regardless of the content, which already isn't my cup of tea, technically it's just a poor recording. yay it's over
Didn't hold my interest
Genres: Indie rock, lo-fi, power pop Formed: Dayton, Ohio in 1983 Run time: 28 songs, 41 min, 15 sec The eighth full-length album by the American lo-fi band. The longest track on the album is just short of three minutes in length. The shortest is 18 seconds, and most are between two to three minutes. Spotify: Least popular song: 2.2k Most popular song: >14M plays. Considering they are a lo-fi band, they produce a well polished sound. For me though, the tracks don’t have enough punch energy, or substance to be that short. This is another album that makes me wonder why it is on the list of 1001 albums to listen to before you die. It is entirely unremarkable. Listen Again?: No My Rating: *
n tem como
Most of the songs are immelodious and the guitars are discordant. “Good Flying Birds” was okay but all the songs leading up to that were awful. “Motor Away” was pretty good. “My Valuable Hunting Knife” sounded like an actual song in that the few instruments on the track were on the same page. “Alright” was so bizarre! It’s nearly three minutes long. Other than some ‘Alrights’ early on, there are no lyrics until there are 20 seconds left. Gratefully, the songs are short. Garage rock at its worst.
...my instant reaction this is going to be more of that whacky (cool?) stuff on all those nostalgic/atmopsheric/retro soundtracks of Hollywood 1980s 'vietnam' war films. - way out psychadelic road rock 8 track rediscovery stuff... generously or optimistically thinking "ah, We are in Woodstock territory here. Not sure when I will next be in the mood for that..., but maybe this is ithe time?" If "in-a-gadda-da-vida" is meant to sound like their signature anthem for their album, the first 20 seconds of noodling is fun and familiar, but then its a bit overdone and verges on rock opera.... oh my. the vocals lets this down. not for me.
Look, I was happy to listen to this, but when I got to track 16, Hit, & heard the line “giggling faggots”, I lost all desire to listen further. I googled that track & saw that it had not been missed in online debates about homophobic band lyrics &, indeed, homophobic bands. I’d already spent considerable time following online discussions about the meaning of “lo-fi”, a term used to describe this band. That was a fascinating exercise. I’m pretty sure my ears are extremely lo-fi. I wasn’t perturbed by the quality of these recordings. And I’ve never been against the idea that less is more. But these guys ain't The Ramones. And their 20-second tracks just sound like a wank to me. Other than all that, they certainly sounded like they could write a decent pop song. But I’m not listening.
0.5/5 unlistenable
ylläpito tietää.. päässyt liian korkealle keskiarvo! lähetti tällästä paniikissa. tynnyrin pohja-albimi, likaista.. (explicit song, leave my EFFIN life alone (holy incredible nastiness lyrics)) 41 minuutin kokoinen virhe game of pricks
Ugh.
Of all the albums that have ever been made, how this one made the cut is beyond me.
One of the worst things I have ever heard. This album will bring you closer to death. Should not be anywhere near a list of 1001 albums to hear before you die, unless for the sole purpose of dying while knowing what a fucking TERRIBLE album sounds like. I hated every single second of this.
2 manee sawngs
A disappointing listen. Lo-Fi that sounded very bad on my hi-fi.
Alien voices: Lofi thing can be cool I guess but it gets distracting here. Sometimes there’s like a hiss behind the vocal or drums that is kind of harsh on the ear. I like the super short song thing with these tunes but I feel like if all the songs are that short at least some should feel tighter. Maybe there is potential here but I don’t think this is the best version of this album there could be. It’s not even the production, so many of my favorite recordings are very rough sounding demos. I think the sounding like “I don’t care” thing in punk and alternative rock is really overrated and over represented in this list. Music is definitely worth caring about and I think if there is so much amazing music and musicians in the world- why would I choose to listen to this?
dogshit
Jenkkibändi yhdistää spontaaniutta ja 90-lukulaista mauttomuutta luodakseen oman Pink Flaginsa. Opetus: biisien pilkkominen lyhyiksi näytekappaleiksi ei maagisesti synnytä koukkuja.
Very distinctive guitar
I know he’s meant to a prolific song writing machine but this sounded all over the shop.
Sounds like someone recorded a band jamming for 40 min and then released it. Sometimes there are songs others are just random ideas. Nothing really resonated with me and the recording/mix quality was not the best.
By now I stopped trying to decipher the logic behind the criteria for including albums in this list; there's just too much noise, from the mediocre through to the nothing special, making it impossible to pick up the signal. Which is my way of saying that this is yet another WTF pick for this list, as in - I fail to see what raises this album above the rest. If anything, I can see the opposite.
What is this? it seems like they set out to make the most generic rock album possible.
I did not connect with this music at all. Blah.
Found the song length a bit iritating. Heavy guitar and sad vocals didn't mix for me. Was alright but not for me. Not very polished. King and Caroline is god awful. Ex super model is some snoring?
je ne sais pas ce qui vient de se passer je crois qu’un mec s’endort à un moment puis il joue faux du violon et il chante avec le doigt dans sa bouche un truc comme ça
So odd
This album is 41 minutes long and has 28 tracks. It's like an amuse-bouche concept album, which could be cool if the band making it were competent or interesting in any way. In the hands of a shitty mid-90s indie pop rock band that loves to drop homophobic slurs whenever they get a chance, it's annoying at best. Best track: Alright
Awful. No further words.
I liked the idea of the shorter songs, but it got old real fast