Interesting that after self-producing Factory they brought back both John Shough (Under the Bushes) and Todd Tobias (Universal Truths/Earthquake Glue/Half Smiles) to produce Class Clown (someone called Darryl Robbins is also credited, plus Tobin)
Bears For Lunch sticks with Todd Tobias for the studio tracks, Tobin for his own tracks and then the obvious self recorded ones listed as being recorded at Mitch or Gregās house
That was fantastic, @myyada 
I love reading these sort of writeups, when somebodyās enthusiasm and passion for the music really shines through. One of the reasons why I love those two GBV fan blogs as well.
A bit of a production dream team, really. I love the way this record sounds.
Updated personal leaderboard:
It was great reconnecting with Class Clown this week, just a very fun GBV album overflowing with excellent tunes. It almost matches Bears in terms of quality, but Iāve got it just very slightly a notch lower.
will do another listen this morning as I only got one in last week due to the oddness of a YT playlist
scores for now anyway for CLASS CLOWN
I havenāt given up in the listening club - Iām still working my way through the releases, but given the volume of material and the almost complete unfamiliarity of it all to me thereās no way I can absorb each record in a week before moving on without it becoming a blur or a chore.
Currently enjoying early impressions of Earthquake Glue though - love the production and the energy. Will need a few more plays for the melodies to sink in.
always welcome delayed reaction (brats) to the club, so yeah just keep us posted as you get through everything
glad you dig Earthquake, one of my personal most-underrated releases
did you have a fav so far? or a fav outside of the Classic Era ones
so yeah, Class Clown is good - shock to everyone! Less unique/memorable than Factory and just not quite as good a set of songs as Bears imho, so thatās probably why it got lost in the shuffle for me. Plus years of not having easy access to a way to listen to it, canāt have helped
Despite shitting on Tobinās songs this time round it turns out my two favs are Forever Until it Breaks and All of This Will Go, canāt trust a thing I say. Both lovely moments of pure Toby sweetness but build to something a bit bigger, feel almost grand and stately by his standards. Really into his faux-orchestra sound on Forever, its kitsch but fun
Title track is great but Iāll always prefer the Suitcase version so just sounds a bit off to me - still a classic anyway. Couple of Bob mini-masterpieces in Chain to the Moon and Fly Baby, though Chain I especially wish was longer! If we just got another verse and chorus it would be my fav track on here I think
Keep It In Motion is a total earworm, love the transition into the psych sprawl of Tysonās High School, and Billy Wire completes a strong heavier middle section. BW is a proper leg-kicker mic-twirler. Surprised that No Transmission hasnāt made anyoneās top 3 yet, think itās just behind BW as my fav pure rock track - great closer. Might throw it a vote actually, BW is already romping ahead as it is
think thereās a few too many blink-and-theyāre-gone tracks that donāt leave much of an impression, always feels weird this is a 20+ song album as I couldnāt name half of them. Thereās literally not a bad track on here, but more mid-tier stuff than the other reunions. Again - Factory peaks highest and lowest, Bears is a similar vibe to this but just all a little more memorable or heavier etc.
a 7 feels a bit light but maybe fair. Gonna be interesting when we get into the later albums, do I start dropping down to actual bad scores, or will GBV basically always be 6/10 albums even at their least inspiring? some of these current scores might seem a bit off if iām giving much worse albums only one point less!
but yeah, a very good original reunion trio of albums that show off lots of the diff sides of GBV. If theyād called it quits here I think everyone would have been happy to have these 60 new tracks even if they didnāt scale the old peaks
and letās kick on with ENGLISH LITTLE LEAGUE
interesting first track title 
When I first heard English Little League (and it wasnāt on streaming initially so didnāt get to spend much time with it at first) I thought it sounded like a big step down after the 2012 albums and that theyād really run out of ideas. But when I eventually bought a copy (found the CD going for Ā£3 in a second hand shop in town) and spent a bit more time with it I found it to be a grower.
It isnāt as strong as the 2012 albums but it is worth giving a decent chance imo. Itās all a bit denser or something (there are a couple of quite rubbish home-recorded Bob tracks though)
Also really love the album cover for some reason
giving it a spin, but just going by tracklist itās like theyāve overcorrected to my Class Clown issue - 17 tracks in 45 mins vs. 21 in 40 mins
if CC had a few too many underdeveloped ones, then I can already tell this has a few that go on longer than they need to, a bit of that trudging sound that their less good albums can settle into after this point
I was initially trying to give scores relative to other music, but in the last few Iāve been giving them relative to other GBV albums.
Not much use being inconsistent I suppose, but on the other hand Iād probably take a GBV albums that is only 4/10 qua GBV album over ā¦ letās say 90% of the ātop 100ā albums in the top 100 albums thread
After a very busy 2012 they were a lot less active in 2013 (only one album!) and Bob strongly hinted in this interview that this might be the final GBV album (it wasnāt obviously)
https://phawker.com/2013/07/03/incoming-in-bob-we-trust/
ROBERT POLLARD: Honey Locust Honky Tonk is basically the songs I wrote for the next Guided By Voices album, but Iām not sure thereās going to be a next Guided By Voices album. Iām not gonna say for sure, but itās already got a little bit stagnant. To me itās kind of run its course.
Honey Locust Honky Tonk is a pretty solid solo album so could have made for a pretty strong GBV LP, although I think maybe a lot of the songs suit the more slick Todd Tobias musicianship than being bashed out by the lads.
Interesting take on the difference between GBV and solo Pollard as well:
MAGNET: I think the consensus opinion of the post-reunion albums was that you were putting your poppier stuff on your solo records and your more experimental stuff on the GBV records. Is that true?
ROBERT POLLARD: Well, you know, to me, I donāt know if thatās true. What I thought is I was putting my more mature stuff on my solo record because it has a name of a person and some of my less mature stuff with the band name because you can do whatever you want, there is no age limit. Robert Pollard is fifty-five years old, but the singer for Guided By Voices is whatever.
Biographer Seahorse instant standout for me
and A Burning Glass a lowlight lol
Oh boyā¦these next three or four albums are where things get really messy quality-wise
I remember thinking ELL being a bit of a clunker when I first heard it, I guess revisiting this week will see if I was right or not.
honestly not sure Iāve listened even once to Motivational Jumpsuit, Cool Planet or Please Be Honest (I am!) Genuinely thought there were only 4 OG lineup reunion albums, finding out there was a 5th surprised me
which is probably part of why August By Cake is high on my list, cos I had a break so it was nice and fresh