Track Listing

1. Salty Salute
2. Evil Speakers
3. Watch Me Jumpstart
4. They're Not Witches
5. As We Go up We Go Down
6. (I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger
7. Game of Pricks
8. Ugly Vision
9. Good Flying Bird
10. Cigarette Tricks
11. Pimple Zoo
12. Big Chief Chinese Restaurant
13. Closer You Are
14. Auditorium
15. Motor Away
16. Hit
17. My Valuable Hunting Knife
18. Gold Kick
19. King & Caroline
20. Striped White Jets
21. Ex-Supermodel
22. Blimpe Go 90
23. Straw Dogs
24. Chicken Blows
25. Little Whirl
26. My Son Cool
27. Always Crush Me
28. Alright

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27021 in Music
• Released on: 1995-04-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
Guided By Voices, the mascots of antihero rock and four-track hackery, chart another couple afternoons in their basement on Alien Lanes. It's the band's ninth album and second since being unearthed from the rich Ohio clay a year or two ago.

So now that lead voice Robert Pollard and buddies have quit their day jobs and late-bloomed into one of today's more successful indie rock institutions, what does the band's insistence on maintaining their signature muddy humming home recordings signify when they could obviously afford better studio-quality sound? Two possibilities. One: In order to continue delivering the stuff they have built a name on, Guided by Voices have descended from stardom to self-parody quicker than any band since the Doors. Or two: Do-it-yourself is not a romanticized economic necessity, but rather a conscious artistic choice--and hence reducible to merely this year's fad.

Either way, Alien Lanes finds Guided by Voices in the frustrating position of a new-aesthetic Moses: They can lead us to the low-fi Promised Land but can't enter with us. Or in other words, the band is like a mass-marketed "homemade" cookie: a well-intentioned contradiction that has nevertheless outgrown its usefulness.

But for everyone who still loves the music, there's a third possibility: Maybe the tape recorder is neither utility nor gimmick, but rather an irreplaceable piece of the band--even more so than any instrument or musician. That makes Alien Lanes simply a better-distributed chapter in the band's inimitable recast of classic psychedelic rock as sloppy postpunk; another collage with dozens of irresistibly cryptic song snippets shifting speeds and colors and not stopping (except for a disturbing homosexual slur half way through) until the last Beatlesque "all right" twenty-eight songs from go. --Roni Sarig

Customer Reviews

Beware
I recently caved in to some burning curiosity and got the pair _Bee Thousand_ and _Alien Lanes_ used, being given to understand that those are their two best. At first listen to them both, my reaction was "This is just junk! To put this in the same boat with, say, Yo La Tengo is just ludicrous!" And I couldn't be more amazed with how my outlook turned around after about the third listen.

At first, when I was still getting into them, I thought I liked _Bee Thousand_ better, but when it really finally hit me, it was this one. I mean, _Bee Thousand_ has tons of great, great songs (I've yet to hear a GBV album that doesn't), but it's a little more on the acoustic side than I'd prefer, whereas _Alien Lanes_ just absolutely *rocks out* and *does not look back*! After the aforementioned third or fourth listen, I was addicted. The tunes here are amazing, and so incredibly prolific (on just one album out of so many!), I can hardly begin to name songs. These songs just grab hold of your brain and *do not let go*! The 'challenging' production really delays the effect as you get used to it, but once you do, it's like... like... well, like nothing I've ever experienced--like hearing music for the first time. I am not exaggerating. And now I'm hopelessly addicted to the incredible tune stylings and workmanship of Mr. Bob Pollard, dammit. ;) So, this is fair warning--don't start with them unless you're willing to shell out $150 or so (at least) when you get hooked and have to buy their entire discography.

Commitment trailblazer... you are such a daredevil... and you are such a collector...

The greatest pop/rock album of the 90's?
Some people refer to "Bee Thousand" as Guided By Voices' crowning acheivement. I myself have to disagree. Alien Lanes has the same undefinable vibe that makes albums like The Beatles "Revolver" and White album so great. The songs flow together like one 40 plus minute mini rock opera. I don't think I can listen to songs like "Motor Away" w/o starting off with "Auditorium". Songs like "My Valuable Hunting Knife" and "Blimps Go 90" are songs that even the greatest songwriters of our time couldn't write in a million years. Even the songs that don't stand out at first you find yourself singing along w/ like the national anthem after the 30th listen. If you like pop music a la the Beatles, the Who, Big Star, R.E.M. and have a short attention span than this might as well be the only album you ever own.

The epitome of GBV
If you don't love this album, i seriously wonder about you. It is like one, long, nonstop beauty of pop. The 28 little pieces of perfection add up to one wonderful 41 minutes and 15 seconds. Once you pop this in, you WILL NOT stop it until it's done. You start seeing Robert Pollard as a genius, and wondering how he became so prolific. How come he is able to just spout out a million perfect melodies, one after the other? If you don't think lo-fi stuff is you, then you will after hearing this. It's messy, yes, but each little mess or note he hits off key, or off beat, becomes an essential part of the album's overall feel. It wouldn't be the same without it. And by the way, the lyrics are simply unparalleled wackiness! Just take a look at the song titles. "Game of Pricks", "Closer you Are", "My Valuable Hunting Knife," and "Blimps Go 90" are some favorites, and as with most of their songs, they're short and sweet, so much so, that you're actually disappointed when they end! You just keep wanting more, but you definitely get it all here. This will always be in my top ten list, and is the best cd to start with if you've never heard GBV. I know every word, every note of this cd. But it wasn't my fault i learned them, i just listened, and listened....