Favorite album? Song? Side project? Member? Let's just talk about GBV and have a good time m8s! Personally pic-related is my all time favorite but I also think Propeller is pretty flawless.
Guided By Voices thread!
Hunter Ortiz
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Julian Long
Recently I've been digging more into the side projects though, and this one is a huge standout. It's on par with the best GBV albums IMO. Much better than Do the Collapse which was released the same year. And I do enjoy that album as well. But this one feels more like the mid-90s albums.
David Powell
Among all 20 or whatever of their albums in my opinion there are 4 good ones. Alien Lanes, Bee Thousand, Propellor and Sandbox(which doesn't get much love for whatever reason). I really love their take on pop rock. You basically take what's good about it in the hook, write a quick song that hits you with it once or twice but doesn't overstay it's welcome, and then pack an album with those.
Hunter Morris
Alien Lanes is not very good, I've tried a few times and it's just not memorable
Bee Thousand is fuckin incredible
Under the Bushes Under the Stars is also great from a couple listens though I'm not as familiar because every time I wanna hear GbV I just listen to Bee Thousand
I tried Pollard's Not in My Air Force for the first time the other day and it was p-good
Xavier Ward
Good band.
Ryan Baker
Their best stretch of songs is the end of Alien Lanes, from Blimps go 90 to Alright. It's a pretty epic 10 minutes. Haven't checked out their side projects since their music seemed to get a bit weak in the late 90's.
Alexander Rodriguez
Bob himself expressed regret at one point for not releasing this as the GBV album that year, though they play a lot of DTC songs live nowadays so I'm not sure he feels that way anymore. But Speak Kindly is amazing and it's getting a reissue later this year, can't wait to own a physical copy.
As far as the side projects go, Mars Classroom and Keene Brothers are both very polished and well done.
My favorite GBV album nowadays is probably Vampire on Titus but I'm the kind of person who has a special connection with Pollard (he taps into something in my brain) so I can find good in pretty much everything he does, I like a lot of the solo albums too (Honey Locust Honky Tonk and Blazing Gentlemen, which came out the same year, show two sides of him and get regular spins on the turntable, I love them)
Alien Lanes is often considered their 2nd best but it is weirdly polarizing, for whatever reason the collage/song snippets approach doesn't work for some people - I think it's amazing but considering the rest of my post I doubt that's surprising.
Jaxson Nguyen
Agreed that Sanbox is incredible. I started listening in chronological order and that was the first one that really stood out to me. Pollard has said on at least one occasion that he feels it's the worst thing he's ever put out which I think in turn has soured some fans toward it as well.
I strongly disagree that they only have 4 good albums though. For me almost nothing clicked at first, but I've become kind of obsessed with Pollard and his brand of songwriting as of late. IMO he doesn't have anything truly terrible to his name that I've heard. I also find it interesting that people often think Alien Lanes is one of the only GBV albums worth listening to since it's one of the most cluttered. If you can appreicate Alien Lanes then you can probably appreciate any Pollard release.
Jack Edwards
Bee Thousand has a very unique feel to it that separates it from the others in a lot of ways. I love Propeller, Alien Lanes, UTBUTS and all the other classics but it's easy for me to single out Bee Thousand as my absolute favorite because of it's unique feel.
That being said, you should check out pic-related as a lot of it was recorded around the same time as Bee Thousand/was considered for the album and much of it made it's way onto the "Director's Cut" of Bee Thousand.
I would definitely continue to dig into the GBV/Pollard discog, especially the above mentioned Speak Kindly. Like most of his work, it really REALLY grows and starts to sink in on repeat listens.
Colton Rodriguez
>the collage/song snippets approach doesn't work for some people
Exactly. It's one of those things that is very polarizing at first but over time becomes the sort of quirk that makes you appreciate the album all the more. Which is funny because there are some who swear they would love GBV/Pollard more if he did less snippet/throwaway songs and released less music overall but then there are those who like him specificically because he puts out almost everything he's ever come up with.
I understand both sides and earlier on was definitely in the former, but as I familiarize myself more with his music I'm kind of glad he just puts so much out. IMO the good far outweighs the bad, and if I do come across something I absolutely despise I can just not return to it. Case in point being Tonics and Twisted Chasers which is unlistenable beyond a small handful of tracks IMO.