POLLSTAL BLOWFISH - ILM Artist Poll #8 - Guided By Voices - ReSuLtS!!!

propellor has enough mediocre-for-gbv tracks that i don't consider it in their top tier

the good songs are really good though

XP: Also, most songs on Propeller tend to remind me of other, sometimes later, GBV songs.

dunno, it seems weird to me to see all these do the collapse + beyond tracks up high. i like that era of the band, but it just does not compare to what came before.

Propeller is so fucking great. Love the Matt Sweeney (?) essay in the greatest hits about listening to it for the first time. "Am I high?! Who are these guys?!"

tylerw otm.

wait, sure it does!! there are lots of great songs on the later albums. (stinkers too, mind you, but lots of great ones!)

secret star
for one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZIi97N5sFM

yes i have posted that before
but it is just that good

4. "My Valuable Hunting Knife" (Alien Lanes, 1995) [702 points, 26 votes, 3 #1 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A8LyAqtaa0

Un-fuck-with-a-ble

My fandom didn't start till the DTC era, so I think that would certainly affect my voting. Even though my first albums were the ones from the 90s.

iirc THIS was the first song of theirs I fell in love with. I heard a song from King Shit on a CMJ sampler and went out and bought Alien Lanes. This one slapped me around a little and then gave me a kiss.

Also? This marks the transition to where songs are on at least half or more of the ballots submitted.

Hmmm, interesting. That song never really clicked with me.

there seems to be a lot less consensus on the later stuff though

like i was pretty sure "Surgical Focus" would place if "Chasing Heather Crazy" and "My Kind of Soldier" did but maybe people just didn't spend time with Do the Collapse

there are good songs on the later albums but I don't consider much of it to be THEE GREATEST OF GBV. (many xposts)

Surgical Focus hasn't placed yet, has it?

I don't know if I still want it to place, this high :-/

nah it's not gonna, there's 3 dead locks left

My DTC hopeful was Things I Will Keep

With this GBV poll I have absolutely no clue what dead locks are

I still have the 7" of Surgical Focus with the oogling eyes staring into my abyss though <3

clap clap

fond memories of sock hop dancing to "hunting knife" with my friend rebecca and being the only two people dancing and not caring

This was the first GBV song I ever heard. Still love it.

final 3 ... game of pricks? tractor rape chain? motor away? those are my guesses.

My guess is 'Awful Bliss' instead of 'Tractor Rape Chain'. There's not enough Tobin in the top 10.

no way does awful bliss make it over tractor rape chain

Motor Away must be in there for sure. I'll guess Surgical Focus now, too. Mystery third left.

This is where I realize my number #2 and #1 aren't going to place ;_;

i still say #1 is Dragons Awake!

"hunting knife" was my #1!

I, for one, am really shocked "Awful Bliss" didn't make the top 60. the final three is pretty much obvious now.

Surgical Focus?! Really?! No way.
Game of Pricks
Motor Away
King and Caroline? Did that one already place?

3. "Tractor Rape Chain" (Bee Thousand, 1994) [765 points, 28 votes, 4 #1 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ6yS71j-cw

I would like to hear a bluegrass take of this song

Awesome. I do wish Glenn Campbell had covered this instead of Hold On Hope.

Johnny, you should reveal #2 and #1 at the same time. Once #2 comes up it will be obvious which one will win it.

Hunting Knife is a perfect track, almost too perfect - I prefer the messier ones. I imagine that TRC would be a lot less popular than it is if the lyrics were different, which of course isn't an argument that it's overrated but IMO it's a less anthemic track than people give it credit for.

Awesome. I do wish Glenn Campbell had covered this instead of Hold On Hope.

― righteousmaelstrom, Thursday, September 29, 2011 9:15 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

YES! <3

that said TRC is Chumbawumba-level catchy.

it's a less anthemic track than people give it credit for

the way it crescendoes on "PARALLEL lines ... BETTER yet" is pretty anthemic

I listened to a long bluegrass cover of Witchita Lineman last night. I'll have to share the link with yall if you're interested

By the way, what is a tractor rape chain?

You don't want to know.

I have no idea.

oh, you know

the acoustic intro of TRC is so classic, it shouldn't work as a lead-in to the song but it does! that's genius right there.

yeah, great guitars all the way through.

You don't want to know.

Which is to say that I also have no idea.

speed up slow down go all around yeah <-- kind of stupid, but sounds good with that melody because it's only such a tune that will carry a song called "tractor rape chain" into the hearts of the people

the idea that you can "get wet" on it is what intrigues/disturbs me most about it

in the first place it's probably just paranoia

I had heard it was inspired by some news of the weird article about a farmer who tried to do autoerotic asphyxiation by tying something to his tractor wheel. Maybe that's BS, I dunno.