Alien Lanes

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

Most of the songs were pretty boring, and when I found a song I liked it ended so quickly because all the songs are like 1 minute long.

wtf is this

Cashing in the first of the three cop out cards I've dealt myself because I listened to my first GBV album at Christmas and it was dreadful. And because their fan base seems to be comprised only of people I don't like.

Short songs that don't seem complete. Hard to get into, I feel like I would like them if they wrote complete songs.

Not good 90s alt

rubbish

Considering their obvious influence, I thought I would enjoy this more than I did. Shame really.

More miss than hit!

shite. 28 songs could combine to make about 3 half decent tunes - if you're lucky.

je donne une étoile parce que les pieces ne durent qu'une minute bravo...

Dit was echt moeilijk om af te luisteren, echt niet mijn jam

I did not like this album