oh, so it's a tourist destination? so nice to know
― V79, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
2004, second trip to mammoth cave, something fucking stinks in here
― some lady (La Lechera), Monday, 26 September 2011 14:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
it's a national park!
7. ISOLATION DRILLS / 2001 (10 points)
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
Ok, too low. I think Isolation Drills is a very underrated album.
― righteousmaelstrom, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
Same Place the Fly Got Smashed is really good. Really glad to get turned on to it.
― grandavis, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
Really like some of the unhinged Pollard moments. He really sings the hell out of some of these songs.
― grandavis, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
they've got at least 10 albums better than ID. it's good, but misses greatness to my ears. most boring show i saw by them was on that tour.
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
Disappointed that "Mammoth Cave" the song isn't included in this list of music composed in the honor of Mammoth Cave (the place) http://www.nps.gov/maca/photosmultimedia/sounscapes.htm
Still, one of the oldest tourist attractions in the US -- began tours in 1816!
I also agree that Isolation Drills shows were dull. I felt like they had drank a bit too much Kool Aid at that point.
― some lady (La Lechera), Monday, 26 September 2011 14:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah. gillard was always good, but the rest of the band, it sort of felt like they had picked a few fans out of the crowd.
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
xp hey thanks, the more you know!
re ID, I just hope for a good placing of "Chasing Heather Crazy". like, top 10 would be nice enough
― V79, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
ID was my #3. Love it.
― Jeff, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
The show I saw for that tour was pretty good. Pretty debauched. I think that was Pollard's tequila stage. I will agree that the lows on that album are pretty low but 'Glad Girls'? 'Run Wild'? 'Chasing Heather Crazy'? 'The Brides Have Hit Glass'?
― righteousmaelstrom, Monday, 26 September 2011 14:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
well, yeah, those songs are great!
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:02 (1 year ago) Permalink
I don't really like any of them tbh -- esp Glad Girls. I don't have a lot of negativity about GBV to offer, but that song always felt really lame to me, kinda lowest common denominator "give them what they want" boring rock song. Maybe it sounds half-hearted/uninspired? I dunno.
If there is anything I've learned about GBV fans over the years it's that there are as many different types as there are types of GBV songs.
― some lady (La Lechera), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
Hmm, I voted for "Glad Girls", it possesses a certain steam-rollering quality imho, the song "drives" to my ears.
― Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
6. VAMPIRE ON TITUS / 1993 (12 points)
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
i dunno, i was all for GBV making a polished, radio-friendly rock album and ID comes closest to that. but there's just too much boring stuff on there -- i mean, if pollard had taken the hits from speak kindly of your volunteer etc. and put them on there, he'd have a classic, maybe?
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
Don't rate ID among their best at all though.
― Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
Not much to say about VoT really. I could spend twice as much time with it as I have and still not know it that well, though when I hear individual songs from it I think "hey, that's a really good one!"
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
5. MAG EARWHIG! / 1997 (13 points)
(perhaps not my favorite GBV album, but definitely my favorite GBV album cover.)
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah, that's a nice one
― V79, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
If you want to know what lurks in the mind of the Tobin Sprout hater: GBV's best moments, for me, are their most desperate--the poster child being for that strain being Vampire--and Sprout tends to mar that mood with his whimsical doings (see: "Gleemer"). Of course now I'm taking a closer look at the credits and he's all over the rest of the damn thing, so...
― bentelec, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
Aside from Bulldog Skin, never understood the love for this album. But then I like Isolation Drills.
― righteousmaelstrom, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
Not much to say about VoT really. I could spend twice as much time with it as I have and still not know it that well, though when I hear individual songs from it I think "hey, that's a really good one!"otm
I had the VoT/Propeller combo cd and I'll admit that I skipped to Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox at least 2/3 of the time. It's not that I don't like it, but I never really gave it a full chance. How could it have a chance next to Propeller?!
― some lady (La Lechera), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
i think mag earwig is a bit too much of a hodge podge (not that bob can't make a masterpiece out of a hodge podge). again, great stuff on here, but not terribly consistent.
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
I like the hodge podginess - I just don't feel particularly moved by most of the songs. The "get wild!" part of Bulldog Skin is enough to buoy me through a bunch of boring songs.
― some lady (La Lechera), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
did not in my airforce come out the same year as ME? i think i ended up liking that one better. the cobra verde-era live shows were pretty great though, even if it was initially disappointing that the classic lineup was gone.
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think Airforce came out in 96 (the same day, or maybe month, as Tobin's Carnival Boy). We didn't find out until 97 that they weren't going to be working together in GBV anymore.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
Aside from Bulldog Skin, never understood the love for this album.
― righteousmaelstrom, Monday, September 26, 2011 5:29 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark
This is the opposite for me! I don't like Bulldog Skin (anymore ~ it's like Nada Surf's 'Popular', for a lot of people "that one song by that one band that had a cool video"), but man are there some gems on ME. 'Learning to Hunt', 'Not Behind the Fighter Jet', 'Choking Tara', 'I Am A Tree'...
Well, I think I voted for songs from ME the most, didn't keep count.
― Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah, I definitely like a lot of songs on ME!, but Bulldog Skin isn't one of them.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
so many lovely ballady things on ME.
― ledge, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
^^ yeah I'm a sucker for those introspective GBV moments. At least more than all GBV aficionados I know. Lol melancholy soul.
― Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
I'm a right sucker for GBV's moments of spleen
― Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
4. UNDER THE BUSHES UNDER THE STARS / 1996 (39 points)
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
ahaaa, here's one i voted for. classic through and through (including the amazing bonus ep)
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
my #1; not the first i heard (that was alien lanes), but the first i bought and imo a perfect sweet spot between the early period chaos and late period fm radio friendliness.
― ledge, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
Sometimes I'm pretty sure this is my favorite.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
the record that linked between gbv lo to hi fi
― nostormo, Monday, 26 September 2011 15:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
Had I got my ballot in, UTBUTS would have been my #1
― BlackIronPrison, Monday, 26 September 2011 16:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
It's a really warm record, both in recording techniques and in the songwriting. I wear it like a blanket.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 16:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
would love an expanded version of this record --seems like there are a bunch of tracks from the albini sessions floating around? at least those few that greer has posted.
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 16:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
Just fwiw, #3 only beat #4 by a single point and #1 only beat #2 by a single point...so some real tight races. #3 coming up...
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 16:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
3. PROPELLER / 1992 (40 points)
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 16:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
Sorry if I've not been paying attention, but are the "most hated tracks" calculated in the countdown song list?
I didn't vote for "hated" tracks tbh
― Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 26 September 2011 16:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
There wasn't enough consensus of any kind to even bother with a hated tracks countdown. The (optional) exercise was all for naught.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 16:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
Thanks.
― Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 26 September 2011 16:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
i wonder what the top 2 will be ;)
― i'm hearing Bowie sing this, and it's the best single of 1985 (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 26 September 2011 16:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
hmmm
― tylerw, Monday, 26 September 2011 16:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
Universal Truths and Sandbox, of course. oops! Spoiler!
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 September 2011 16:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
I just learned something unbelievable about a GBV song I thought I knew! According to the gbvdb official lyrics for the original version of "If We Wait", the last line is
We'll all be there
not, as I have thought for literally umpteen years
We'll all be dead
My mind: it is blown.
― Paul Smon (La Lechera), Friday, 23 March 2012 04:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
Actually, even worse, now that I look, it's (acc to gbvdb) "Then we'll be there"
― Paul Smon (La Lechera), Friday, 23 March 2012 04:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
are we sure it's not we'll all be dead? that's what i thought it was too! gah!
― tylerw, Friday, 23 March 2012 14:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
i mean, it's definitely "we'll all be ..." maybe it's a mistake? please let it be a mistake!
― tylerw, Friday, 23 March 2012 14:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
i know! it HAS to be "dead"!! but i checked and listened to it a few times and it could either pollard using his fake english accent OR a poorly articulated "dead."
i just know that i have been singing "dead" at the top of my lungs for a long time and don't believe i will stop now.
― Paul Smon (La Lechera), Friday, 23 March 2012 15:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
listening to a stream of Class Clown -- title track is some kind of instant classic.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 27 March 2012 15:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
Is this a stream you can share with the class?
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 27 March 2012 15:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
sorry, did not mean to be a tease, it's some kinda password protected thing. i'm sure it'll be available shortly. really sounding good though!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 27 March 2012 15:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
Class Clown Spots A UFO is an old GBV song, known as Crocker's Favorite Song on King Shit and the Golden Boys. There's also a version on Suitcase 3. The clip I heard from this newest version sounds fantastic...
― ColinO, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 04:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
ah ok, knew the title had been around for a while, didn't know it was that song. actually not the *worst* idea pollard's had -- to go back and rework some of those older tunes?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 15:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
he's been doing that for ages -- tractor rape chain was one of those!
― Paul Smon (La Lechera), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 15:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
right, yeah! see, he should write songs, let them sit around for a decade or so, and then re-write them. instant classics!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 15:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
another great one on the new gbv - Roll Of The Dice, Kick In The Head, 46 seconds of perfection.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 16:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
Hoping Class Clown is their "no fuckin' around" reunion album.
Just now getting around to listening to it. Less fuckin' around than Let's Go Eat the Factory, but still not a terrible lot of umph to it. So this is the sound of old dudes making choons, I guess.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 05:49 (11 months ago) Permalink
i like it a lot more than factory so far in general, but sprout's tunes are worse than ever
― sissy space echo (electricsound), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 05:56 (11 months ago) Permalink
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/guided-by-voices-ready-third-album-of-2012-20120727
With a pair of albums already out this year, Guided By Voices releases another new effort this fall — and plans to put out a new album every six months after that, guitarist Tobin Sprout says.
The Bears for Lunch is due in November, and the band is set to begin work on the next LP, English Little League, in August.
The Bears for Lunch track listing:
"King Arthur the Red""The Corners are Glowing""Have a Jug""Hangover Child""Dome Rust""Finger Gang""The Challenge Is Much More""Waving at Airplanes""The Military School Dance Dismissal""White Flag""Skin to Skin Combat""She Lives in an Airport""Tree Fly Jet""Waking Up the Stars""Up Instead of Running""Smoggy Boy""Amorphous Surprise""You Can Fly Anything Right""Everywhere Is Miles From Everywhere"
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 30 July 2012 18:25 (9 months ago) Permalink
i'm glad pollard is adhering to the one-album-about-airplanes-every-four-albums rule.
― all the worlds a stage and kitty's just stepped into the spotlight (cajunsunday), Monday, 30 July 2012 19:01 (9 months ago) Permalink
good tracklist
― ciderpress, Monday, 30 July 2012 19:03 (9 months ago) Permalink
I saw them in Philly on their latest tour, and they played "Hangover Child". It was nothing special, but who knows, could be another grower. In general they were very good live, though, way tighter than on the reunion tour (until the 2nd encore or so, but it usually gets ropey way earlier).
So far Class Clown > Factory for me; but both are victims of Pollard's refusal to self-edit, unfortunately.
― cwkiii, Monday, 30 July 2012 19:05 (9 months ago) Permalink
I don't think the leak of English Little League I just acquired is complete (it's missing some tracks and includes some b-sides, so whatever), but "Islands (She Talks in Rainbows)" is Tobin's best song in a dog's age.
― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 14 April 2013 07:57 (1 month ago) Permalink
― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 14 April 2013 12:53 (1 month ago) Permalink
i had no idea gbv albums COULD leak. i thought they released them 35 seconds after recording them.
― fact checking cuz, Sunday, 14 April 2013 15:29 (1 month ago) Permalink