Guided By Voices
Jul 8, 2008 at 6:01 PM Post #4 of 9
Had Bee Thousand for years but never thought there was anything special about them. Then late last year I decided to pick up their last album (Half Smiles Of The Decomposed) based on a few tracks I heard and that was it - I was a complete fan.

Picked up every album after Bee Thousand AND the last 3 Pollard solo albums.
Excellent albums, all of them. My 3 faves would have to be:

Earthquake Glue (2003)
Under The Bushes Under The Stars (1996)
Half Smiles Of The Decomposed (2004)

I don't agree with a lot of fans who claim they went downhill after Alien Lanes and hold Bee Thousand above the rest. Bee Thousand had some great material on it but suffered from it's "Lo-Fi-ness". Not that the later albums were audiophile quality but the difference in sound just made the songs shine that much more.

Not only that but Pollard's songwriting skills improved immensely on every release after Bee.

I do think they should have stuck to shorter albums (as far as amount of tracks, not actual album length since the songs are usually short) only because as great as the albums are there is always a track of three on most GBV albums that were unnecessary (with the exception of Earthquake Glue and Under The Bushes which were excellent from first to last track).

Pollard is most guilty of this on his solo albums, the last few which contain possibly the GREATEST songs he's ever written together with a few of the most mediocre (but never terrible) songs.

For any GBV curious I highly recommend starting out with Earthquake Glue and then Under The Bushes. If you like either of these then move on to Mag Earwhig, Isolation Drills or Half Smiles.
 
Aug 3, 2008 at 12:44 AM Post #6 of 9
Quote:

Originally Posted by Relayer71 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I don't agree with a lot of fans who claim they went downhill after Alien Lanes and hold Bee Thousand above the rest. Bee Thousand had some great material on it but suffered from it's "Lo-Fi-ness".


i DO agree with em....but "under the bushes under the stars" had some moments and i do still enjoy it on vinyl. i have one pollard solo record that is pretty great also "not in my airforce". there is one song in particular that i just adore. "chance to buy an island".
i kinda gave up on them after "alien lanes", but maybe worth a revisit?
 
Aug 3, 2008 at 12:48 AM Post #7 of 9
Isolation Drills is one of my all-time top 10 desert island discs (despite the crappy mastering).
 
Aug 7, 2008 at 11:31 AM Post #9 of 9
if you don't already have the 4 hour dvd of their final concert as a band i can't stress enough to do so. one of my favorite music dvds. as far as their albums go i still always finding myself going straight to bee thousand and alien lanes. the other stuff isn't bad but it just makes me want those albums even more.
 
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