Alien Lanes

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Alien Lanes
Alien Lanes.jpg
Studio album by
Guided by Voices
ReleasedApril 4, 1995
Recorded1994
StudioTobin Sprout's home studio (Dayton, Ohio)
Genre
Length41:15
Label Matador
Producer
Guided by Voices chronology
Bee Thousand
(1994)		Alien Lanes
(1995)		 Under the Bushes Under the Stars
(1996)

Alien Lanes is the eighth full-length album by American lo-fi band Guided by Voices, released on April 4, 1995. [4]

Contents

The album was GBV's first release with Matador Records. According to James Greer's book Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll the advance for the record was close to a hundred thousand dollars, one of the more expensive deals in Matador's history. In contrast to the lucrative deal, Greer mentions that "The cost for recording Alien Lanes, if you leave out the beer, was about ten dollars."

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [6]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Pitchfork 9.2/10 [8]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Spin (1995)7/10 [11]
Spin(2006)Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [12]

In a contemporary review of Alien Lanes, Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone described the album's music as "hooky rock that infuses songwriting smarts and a love of melody with a sometimes spiky, sometimes whimsical sense of experimentation". [9] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave the album a positive review, stating that "Pollard's songs are gems that stay just this side of self-conscious eccentricity". [7] Sullivan noted the songs' lengths, stating that they were "just enough time for Pollard to wheeze a few oblique lines and guitarist Tobin Sprout to trace out a raucous melody." [7] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was less complimentary, giving the album a "dud" rating. [13]

Legacy

Mark Deming of AllMusic described Alien Lanes as being similar to Bee Thousand , although without "as many obvious masterpieces" and "fewer obvious mistakes." [5]

Pitchfork placed Alien Lanes at No. 27 on its list of the "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". [14] Magnet named it the best album of 1995. [15] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [16]

Track listing

All songs written by Robert Pollard unless otherwise noted.

  1. "A Salty Salute" (R. Pollard, Tobin Sprout)  – 1:29
  2. "Evil Speakers"  – 0:58
  3. "Watch Me Jumpstart"  – 2:24
  4. "They're Not Witches" (Greg Demos, Jim Pollard, R. Pollard)  – 0:51
  5. "As We Go Up, We Go Down"  – 1:37
  6. "(I Wanna Be a) Dumbcharger"  – 1:13
  7. "Game of Pricks"  – 1:33
  8. "The Ugly Vision"  – 1:34
  9. "A Good Flying Bird" (Sprout)  – 1:07
  10. "Cigarette Tricks" (Demos, J. Pollard, R. Pollard, Sprout)  – 0:18
  11. "Pimple Zoo"  – 0:42
  12. "Big Chief Chinese Restaurant" (J. Pollard, R. Pollard)  – 0:56
  13. "Closer You Are"  – 1:56
  14. "Auditorium" (R. Pollard, Sprout)  – 1:02
  15. "Motor Away" (R. Pollard, Sprout)  – 2:06
  16. "Hit"  – 0:23
  17. "My Valuable Hunting Knife"  – 2:00
  18. "Gold Hick"  – 0:30
  19. "King and Caroline" (R. Pollard, Sprout)  – 1:36
  20. "Striped White Jets"  – 2:15
  21. "Ex-Supermodel" (R. Pollard, Sprout)  – 1:06
  22. "Blimps Go 90"  – 1:40
  23. "Strawdogs" (Sprout)  – 1:17
  24. "Chicken Blows"  – 2:21
  25. "Little Whirl" (Sprout)  – 1:46
  26. "My Son Cool"  – 1:41
  27. "Always Crush Me"  – 1:44
  28. "Alright"  – 2:56

Personnel

Guided by Voices

Additional personnel

Technical

Cover versions

Tracks from the album have been covered by various artists since its release. These include:

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References

  1. ↑ Martin, Garrett (December 28, 2020). "The 20 Best Indie Rock Albums of 1995". Paste . Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  2. ↑ Perpetua, Matthew (July 8, 2012). "Guided By Voices Close Out CBGB Festival with Onslaught of New Tunes". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  3. ↑ Yassin, Jibril (May 20, 2016). "The 10 Best Power Pop Albums To Own On Vinyl". Vinyl Me Please. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  4. ↑ Alien Lanes at the Guided by Voices database
  5. 1 2 Deming, Mark. "Alien Lanes – Guided by Voices". AllMusic . Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ Flaherty, Mike (March 17, 1995). "Alien Lanes". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Sullivan, Caroline (April 14, 1995). "Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes (Matador)". The Guardian . p. A12. ISSN   0261-3077.
  8. ↑ Hyden, Steven (October 2, 2016). "Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Diehl, Matt (March 23, 1995). "Guided By Voices: Alien Lanes". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  10. ↑ Randall, Mac (2004). "Guided by Voices". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  349. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ↑ Ross, Alex (April 1995). "Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes". Spin . Vol. 11, no. 1. pp. 198–99. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  12. ↑ Milner, Greg (November 2006). "Discography: Robert Pollard". Spin . Vol. 22, no. 11. p. 78. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  13. ↑ Christgau, Robert (February 20, 1996). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on June 23, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
  15. ↑ Hickey, Matt. "Guided By Voices Released "Alien Lanes" 24 Year Ago Today". Magnet . Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  16. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (March 23, 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN   978-0-7893-2074-2.
  17. ↑ Modell, Josh (June 8, 2010). "Owen Pallett covers Guided By Voices". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Wreck and Reference – Alien Pains". The Flenser. April 2, 2018. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
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