Lee and Thurston's top 3 Guided By Voices albums
 

Magnet magazine recently had a cover story on Guided By Voices/Robert Pollard. I think this was the 57th time they did so ;):D. As you can see above, Mike Watt interviewed Bob and it's a pretty sweet read. (I'm not gonna scan it for you because I want to keep Magnet in print — buy it, it's only five bucks).

The feature also includes a survey in which 34 people list their favorite three Pollard albums (GBV or otherwise). Here are T and L's picks:

Thurston Moore
1.- Guided By Voices, Propeller
2.- Guided By Voices, Bee Thousand
3.- Guided By Voices, Devil Between My Toes

Lee Ranaldo
1.- Guided By Voices, Propeller
2.- Guided By Voices, King Shit And The Golden Boys
3.- Guided By Voices, Bee Thousand

That's crazy that we chose 2 of 3 the same!
L

Thanks for posting this, who else was among the 34 people to list their favourites?

Choosing 3 favourites from GBV is tough.

Alien Lanes is defo my no1, and probably I'd put Propellor no2, but no3 could be any one of these:

Suitcase 1
King Shit
Vampire on Titus
Bee Thousand
Not in My Airforce

I don't have the magazine with me right now, but I remember some interesting names: Steven Soderbergh, Eleanor Friedberger, and of course mega-GBV fan and former White House press secretary Jay Carney. Can you imagine Sean fucking Spicer diggin' Guided By Voices? I think NOT.

What have you got against Sean Spicer?!































































Just kidding

Reporters burst into laughter as Sean Spicer insists Trump didn't misspell 'covfefe' tweet
:D

One is not an album, but an ep...

1. The Grand Hour EP
2. Bee Thousand
3. Propeller

OK, got the magazine right here, lessee... Besides the people I've already mentioned and what seems to be most of Magnet's staff, I'll name the cats I'm more familiar with: Fred Armisen, Patrick Carney, Michael Cerveris, Paddy Considine, Britt Daniel, Patterson Hood, Tommy Keene, Sean Lennon, Scott McCaughey, Jason Narducy, Mike Watt... and even Chicago Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper.

Not everybody went for Guided By Voices records only; also picked were titles by Boston Spaceships, ESP Ohio, Lifeguards, Keene Brothers, of course Robert Pollard solo, Robert Pollard/Doug Gillard, and —thanks to Watt— Richard Meltzer/Robert Pollard/Smegma/Antler. Yow!

Reviewing the list, I started thinking that the masterful Michael Shannon should have been on it as well. I know he's a fan of bitchen stuff — could he be a Pollard guy too? So I did a Google search and whaddayaknow:



Bitchen... :cool:

OK, my own top three:

1.- Guided By Voices, Bee Thousand
2.- Guided By Voices, The Best Of Guided By Voices: Human Amusements At Hourly Rates (SUE ME!)
3.- Robert Pollard, Relaxation Of The Asshole

did mike rep do one?

I don't think so, no.

that is disappointing, I need a place to start with gbv and only trust mike

Well i think Propellor is the only GBV record Mike Rep had any involvement in making, which is to say Propellor is as far i can remember the only GBV record to have a "Lovingly fucked with by mike 'rep' hummel" credit in the liner notes. Plus it was a joint release between his old age/no age label and Scat records. So that is as much of an endorsement as you are likely to find.

Well ya gotta trust ME, mkay? 1) Bee Thousand, 2) Propeller and 3) Human Amusements At Hourly Rates. There.

so do I actually need to listen to gbv or can I just listen to the columbus guys instead? like I imagine that they're pavement to the supreme dicks or something, but then again soooo many people adore them so I feel like I need to give them a go.

Only a masochist and an enemy of rock & roll wouldn't wanna listen to Guided by Voices. Are you a masochistic enemy of rock & roll? No? Well there you go: the club is open for ya, guest.

oh man I am so full o' regret....propellor is everything I've been looking for lately. like v-3 I can play around me mum without her crying.

You got this album in less than one day? Oh, digital shit, right... Unless you have a really cool record store near you. Anyway, it's PROPELLER, with an "e", you dig.

Glad yr enjoying it. Propeller was the start of the GBV golden era, everything they realsed from then until 1996 is superb. And that is 6 LPs about 6 or 7 EPs and a couple of solo records, and a few live bootlegs and the first Suitcase collection (the first of four collectios each of 100 previously unreleased songs). Outside that era things are less consitent but there are still plenty of great things to find.

Which is why I put Human Amusements At Hourly Rates on my list. We all know most "best of" collections are bullcrap, but this one really gives you a "compact" (over 77 minutes) 411 on GbV from '87 until '03. Just as an example, Isolation Drills, from 2001, may not have the lo-fi charm, but who gives a shit — it features MEGATONIC rockers like "Chasing Heather Crazy" and "Glad Girls".

By the way, guest: THE endless debate among Guided By Voices fans is whether Bee Thousand or Alien Lanes is their greatest album. Faces have been punched over this issue! :D So please think about getting those bad boys next.

all the indie ladies in the 90's loved them some mid-tempo alt-rock GBV.

Also, as deeply as I love unimpeachable ultraclassics like "Echos Myron" and "I Am A Scientist"... I think Earthquake Glue's "The Best Of Jill Hives" (2003) may be my favorite Guided By Voices song.

All the indie ladies I've ever known were into The Cure and some such crap.

Fucking nice choices Lee! I reckon mine would be similar. Maybe Alien Lanes instead of Bee Thousand. I dunno. But gotta love King Shit.

I'm totally with you on Human Amusements at Hourly Rates.

It's true... not all bands work in the "best of" format, but some bands do. GBV does, and I actually probably find myself listening to Human Amusements and Live in Austin more than any of their proper albums.

"Chasing Heather Crazy" is a great song. I like "Frostman" too. A lot. Nice, gentle little tune that captures a feeling in a minute and a half. Just lovely. I like to listen to that one around Christmas time.

And now, the opinion after which I'll be chased to be burned at the stake:

Guided By Voices > Pavement

[seeks asylum in Dayton, OH]

Dayton would welcome you and provide much good local
music for your listening enjoyment.

Also, while many a daytonian would agree with you, there are many who believe

Brainiac > Guided by Voices

GBV actually played the first concert I ever went to.

my top 3 (hard shit):
1. Bee Thousand
2. Tonics & Twisted Chasers (underrated as FUCK!)
3. Alien Lanes

but they got a shitload of good albums

I forgot to include my list

1) Vampire on Titus (the first I heard after seeing them live that time)
2) Bee Thousand
3) Isolation Drills

I'm far from a completist though. There are several albums I've not heard including propeller

I can see this, actually. It's not an opinion I share (like, at all) but I can see it. I can see how GBV at their career best (like, say, 1990-1999?) might be more appealing than Pavement's discography, especially if you're into rollicking rock tunes, of which Pavement never had many.

But I like to take the whole into consideration. And Pavement's career is one of more hits and fewer misses than GBV's, in my opinion. GBV stopped being great many many moons ago. Now you're lucky if you can get an album that's more decent songs than throwaways. Just sayin'.

OK.

Pavement > Braniac > Guided by Voices.

That's not to say GBV isn't a tremendous band when they're at their best, and I've been a fan for as long as I can remember, but it's been almost as long since I've been pumped about anything other than playing their older, golden era records.

Pavement was, for a time, the best rock band in the world. Slanted & Enchanted and Crooked Rain are more transcendent than Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes. More boundary pushing, for the time. More interesting over the long haul. And way back when, man, Pavement was just the gold standard for indie rock. They didn't stick around long enough to sully their legacy, and that's important. I'm not going to get into the finer points of their latter discography, because not all the points are fine, but Pavement was pretty fearless for a while there, and they called it quits before they could start to really repeat themselves or flush their quality away.

Brainiac had some perfect records, and they also called it a day before shit could get too embarrassing.

Nothing but respect for GBV, but they aren't exactly living up to their legacy, and haven't for some time.

I fell you. GBV's career is inconsistent, and few bands come to mind with more than 20 years of staying power other than Sonic Youth.

The end of Brainiac's run was very tragic. And two out of three full lengths being pretty much perfect is a great track record.

Yeah. If GBV had closed up shop in 1999 (or sooner) they'd be fucking legendary by now. As it is, they kind of have to make sure people still know they're a thing whenever they drop a new album (or five), and they look a bit desperate and uninspired compared to most of their contemporaries. Even the ones that have long since ceased to exist. It's a shame really.

This is online now, so it's OK to share it :) : http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2017/0...mpression-now/

Pavement only have 1 good album.

Lies. All lies.