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Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand
transplant
Posts: 1,088
Ok, so I have had this CD for about 12 years. It was released to critical acclaim and that acclaim hasn't stopped to this day. I have continued to read for 12 years that this CD is simply astounding.
I think it is borderline mediocre at best. I give it a few spins a couple times a year and as I type I don't think I could name one song, lyric or note. I have written it off as me not enjoying lo-fi in general but now I don't know. It is probably 1 of 5 CD's I own that it downright pisses me off I don't like it.
So......if anyone out there has this and would like to help, please explain why you like it. Give me a song that does it for you (spare me the 'whole thing is incredible') I want a specific song and why you like it. A certain lyric that you love? let's hear it. A certain story behind these songs? give it to me.
Also, is there a certain setting where you like this the most? dingy bar after 4 drinks? a rainy day over coffee in the morning?
So basically anything you can think of that may push this CD to the top of my collection would be cool. I pretty much dusted it off about 30 minutes ago and I'm ready.
I think it is borderline mediocre at best. I give it a few spins a couple times a year and as I type I don't think I could name one song, lyric or note. I have written it off as me not enjoying lo-fi in general but now I don't know. It is probably 1 of 5 CD's I own that it downright pisses me off I don't like it.
So......if anyone out there has this and would like to help, please explain why you like it. Give me a song that does it for you (spare me the 'whole thing is incredible') I want a specific song and why you like it. A certain lyric that you love? let's hear it. A certain story behind these songs? give it to me.
Also, is there a certain setting where you like this the most? dingy bar after 4 drinks? a rainy day over coffee in the morning?
So basically anything you can think of that may push this CD to the top of my collection would be cool. I pretty much dusted it off about 30 minutes ago and I'm ready.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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but
"Goldheart Mountaintop Directory"
"Gold Star For Robot Boy"
"Buzzards And Dreadful Crows"
"Tractor Rape Chain"
all do it for me. I can't really go into any more since I have to jet for work, but hopefully stoneg82 will have a few choice words to add.
maybe you can't figure out why you like it because the same things that might make the album "bad" in some minds, is actually what is adored by others:
-the garage band riffs (which are catchy as hell)
-the terrible sound quality
-the experimental filler songs
-pollard's voice (takes a while to get used to - i love it)
-the psuedo pop songs (is it pop, is it rock, what is this?)
does that help?
And those misguided, There was a plan for them to be
Now you got both sides Claiming killing in Gods name
But God is nowhere,..... To be found, conveniently
What goes on?
take out B000, stick it in your stereo. Crank the volume, and play track number three. "Tractor Rape Chain"
First off, that was one of the first GBV songs I ever heard, and was the one (along with Game of Pricks) that got me hooked. It starts off with Bob strumming an acoustic guitar, theres some voices in the back and you can hear what sounds like a door creaking open. All this makes me think of is Bob sitting in his house, playing guitar, when the band walks in and just starts playing. Thats basically why I love this record so much. It represents something that I've always wanted to do, and that's get some buddies together and record a masterpiece record in my basement. Bob Pollard made that dream seem very accessible with this record, along with all of his other lo-fi masterpieces.
"Why is it every time I think about you
Something that you have said or implied makes me doubt you"
If that song doesn't make you have some new found appreciation for B000.....then I don't know how to help you.
2nd of all, I'd definitely say the best setting for any GBV record is probably the bar. (or wherever you are gonna have a good time, maybe drink some beer, hang out with some buddies, etc.)
Honestly man, I know you don't wanna hear it, but that whole record is just incredible. From the opening riff of "Hardcore UFO's" to the closing piano of ""Your Not an Airplane".....it's just a masterpiece.
Robert Pollard took some songs and created this very dreamlike world with B000.......from the goldheart mountaintop to the queen of cans and jars.
pollard's voice doesn't bother me, the experimental filler songs are short enough not to care. I have given it 3 spins today while driving around town running errands. I found myself scratching my head why some of these songs never did it for me, as some are extremely catchy. I am not getting overly excited yet but I am encouraged.
I do wish the thing would flow a little better, at times you feel like this disc is a collection of B-sides taken from a period of 15 years. Dylan's Basement Tapes is probably the greatest example of how to make this sort of disc work however this is a small gripe.
Is this your favorite GbV disc? I have kicked around purchasing Alien Lanes next but not exactly sure. they have too much material to guess.
honestly, no...it's not my favorite GBV disc.
that would have to go to Same place the Fly Got Smashed.
B000 is arguably the best record they did, but it's not my favorite.
Alien Lanes is great.....you should check it out. I preferred it to B000 for quite a while. Alien Lanes is like listening to random radio stations from mars really late at night, if that made any sense. Each song sounds different from the last. It's all over the place.
I bet you would like Alien Lanes better than B000, in fact. Most (if not all) of my friends claim it as their favorite GBV disc.
Just kidding.
that should be enough for you mate.
11/26/05 - Buenos Aires
11/28/05 - Porto Alegre, BR
06/01/07 - Sao Paulo, BR
10/16/08 - Sao Paulo, BR
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10/19/08 - Buenos Aires