Not even adverse to lo-fi indie rock music, and certainly like my fair share of Guided By Voices music. But I feel like many people I trust cite this as one of the most important albums of all time but it sounds like a bunch of demos to the worlds greatest album.
In the sense that melodically it’s often great & lyrically superb but it sounds pretty awful 75% of the time and a lot of the songs feel completely underwritten and unfinished.
#Hot Takes
6.5/10
FUCK OFF
I strongly disagree, but I can’t think of an interesting enough way to turn this into a discussion. Maybe it shouldn’t be.
Think I pretty much agree with every word of that except the score, which should be 10/10.
You know when you type something and almost immediately regret it? The reason I posted this is because I’ve been trying to like this album for years and I’m actually listening to it now and from Awful Bliss onward it finally… clicked?
Interesting development. Will keep you posted.
Are any of GBV’s albums great?
I actually love ‘Same Place the Fly Got Smashed’ ‘Proppeler’ and ‘Alien Lanes’
I think you’ve got it already. It’s snapshots of the worlds greatest album, dashed off and recorded in a bin.
Okay well I think that concept finally appeals to me then XD
Under The Bushes Under The Stars is one of the best albums ever made.
I will check it out. I know very little about GBV.
If you’re a fan of winsome power pop then you’re in for a treat!
actually now I think about it I also initially didn’t care altogether too much for it because I was listening to a crappy rip of the ‘director’s cut’ - the much shorter real [?] version flows much, much better. Normally I wouldn’t accept less GBV though, a rare occurence! So there we go.
Always felt it tails off quite sharply on the second half. Must give it another spin.
FTFY
it’s very wonderful.
those criticisms can be leveled at some of their work certainly, they do have stuff that sounds tossed off and unfinished etc.
but Bee Thousand is where it all works and fits together perfectly at last. it’s a brilliant patchwork piece of indie rock songwriting in its purest form.
i don’t understand how someone could love Alien Lanes but not Bee Thousand
both are great but Alien Lanes always feels to me like an attempt to make Bee Thousand part 2, which comes close enough but doesn’t quite capture the same effortless patchwork magic of BT.
never listened to them because I think their band name is stupid
Really? Always thought it was a great name