And so this is the final full year I'm covering because what I have done these last years (I started in April 2016); I listened to every regular album in the overall BEA top 2500 I hadn't yet listened to and did that by starting in my birth year 1963 and the everytime skip 5 years (1968, 1973, ... all the way up to 2013) and then back to 1964 to 2014, and then back to 1965 to 2015 and then back to 1966 up to 2016 and then back to 1967 up to now the last year 2017.
2017 being one of the more recent years and having covered already a lot of the year by participating in another of these fine BEA contests, there are only 9 albums of this year to cover. This is the full list of overall top 2500 albums of 2017 with at the start the overall BEA rank and after that the BEA year rank and my personal rank before this listening session (or already listened or to listen):
BEA Rank Title By Band BEA YearRank - My Rank before
453 DAMN. By Kendrick Lamar 1 - To listen
549 Melodrama By Lorde 2 - To listen
570 Flower Boy By Tyler, The Creator 3 - To listen
719 A Deeper Understanding By The War On Drugs 4 - 2
903 A Crow Looked At Me By Mount Eerie 5 - 84
958 Slowdive By Slowdive 6 - 47
973 Pure Comedy By Father John Misty 7 - Already listened
999 American Dream By LCD Soundsystem 8 - Already listened
1034 Crack-Up By Fleet Foxes 9 - Already listened
1103 Saturation III By Brockhampton 10 - Already listened
1148 Sleep Well Beast By The National 11 - 40
1166 Saturation II By Brockhampton 12 - Already listened
1435 Saturation By Brockhampton 13 - Already listened
1529 Science Fiction By Brand New 14 - To listen
1542 No Shape By Perfume Genius 15 - Already listened
1554 Ctrl By SZA 16 - Already listened
1581 MASSEDUCTION By St. Vincent 17 - To listen
1590 Antisocialites By Alvvays 18 - 33
1814 Flying Microtonal Banana By King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard 19 - 39
1873 Big Fish Theory By Vince Staples 20 - To listen
2002 The Ooz By King Krule 21 - Already listened
2025 This Old Dog By Mac DeMarco 22 - To listen
2198 Villains By Queens Of The Stone Age 23 - 73
2338 Everything Now By Arcade Fire 24 - To listen
2380 Process By Sampha 25 - To listen
2447 Polygondwanaland By King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard 26 - Already listened
And I already listened to the first album:
- Damn. by Kendrick Lamar (nr 1 on the BEA overall chart of 2017): finally a hiphop album that is actually about something (I know I'm generalising) but I still have to admit that hiphop is not my genre and that's entirely my fault
The next 2017 album to listen to is Melodrama by Lorde.
I was listening back to what is to become one of my favorite albums of 2019 (currently ranked 7th):
No Exit by The Resonars
This is in fact about a one man band (Matt Rendon) but has beautiful harmonics and guitar parts which are deeply rooted in the sixties but with still a very contemporary sound and feel (the best comparison is maybe the power rock of The Posies).
So I decided to listen to a number of their older albums and they are also very good with the one remark that these ones are utterly and completely sixties based and even feel a bit aged. But there's nothing wrong with that. The more I went back to the earlier albums of this band, the more they sound as a mixture between the beat generation (early Beatles/Hollies) and the psychedelic influence and guitars of The Byrds. But it all sounds very good and while, unlike on No Exit, there are no real outliers to be found on these albums, none of the tracks are below average either.
But as I already said; if you want to seek them out: go for the 2019 album first. The best tracks are Louise Tonight, The Man Who Does Nothig, Who's Gonna Believe You Now?, Before You're Gone and Fell Into A World.
There weren't a lot of 2017 in the overall BEA top 2500 I had yet to listen to so this is the final overview:
- Melodrama by Lorde (nr 2 in the overall BEA top chart of 2017): Lorde is not one of my favorite artists nor is this album
- Flower Boy by Tyler, The Creator (nr 3): not for me
- Science Fiction by Brand New (nr 14): this band is a bit of a mixed bag for me; sometimes they're a bit too emo for their own good. But this album is one of their better ones. I like it overall, there are no real outliers, bit good enough for my 2017 top chart.
- MASSEDUCTION by St. Vincent (nr 17): also one of these artists I don't really like. as an aside: I always thought this album was spelled as Mass-education until I heard the title track 🫢
- Big Fish Theory by Vince Staples (nr 20): not for me
- This Old Dog by Mac DeMarco (nr 22): I like Mac DeMarco generally but this album is boring
- Everything Now by Arcade Fire (nr 24): I'm a fan of their earlier albums but based on the hits of this one, I never listened to it full and I think I was right: I don't find a lot of interesting stuff here.
- Process by Sampha (nr 25 and the lowest ranked album of 2017 in the overall BEA top 2500 I hadn't listened to yet): Lyrically this album is better than most other hiphop albums but still not my thing
And like this I did the full cycle of BEA top 2500 albums to listen to, although there are still a lot of loose ends to still do especially albums from the fifties and of the 2010's (especially 2018 but that void will be filled partly by the 2018 champion tournament going on right now).
Anyway, here is my overall BEA top chart of 2017 with at the end the overall BEA rank and after that the BEA year rank and my personal 2017 rank before and after this listening session:
Title By Band BEA YearRank - My Rank before To My Rank after
How Did I Find Myself Here? By The Dream Syndicate 213 - 1 To 1
A Deeper Understanding By The War On Drugs 4 - 2 To 2
Dieter Von Deurne And The Politics By Dieter Von Deurne And The Politics 546 - 3 To 3
The French Press By Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever 274 - 4 To 4
Rock N Roll Consciousness By Thurston Moore 230 - 5 To 5
Is This The Life We Really Want? By Roger Waters 31 - 6 To 6
Flat Worms By Flat Worms 555 - 7 To 7
II By The Courtneys 177 - 8 To 8
In Between By The Feelies 454 - 9 To 9
In Mind By Real Estate 183 - 10 To 10
Weather Diaries By Ride 136 - 11 To 11
Life Without Sound By Cloud Nothings 108 - 12 To 12
August By Cake By Guided By Voices 689 - 14 To 13
Tomorrow Forever By Matthew Sweet 572 - 13 To 14
Greatest Hits Vol. II By Ovlov 667 - 15 To 15
The Universe And Me By Tobin Sprout 1038 - 16 To 16
Spooky Action By Jason Loewenstein 1373 - 17 To 17
Hard Love By Strand Of Oaks 951 - 18 To 18
Doris & The Daggers By Spiral Stairs 1587 - 19 To 19
Guppy By Charly Bliss 107 - 20 To 20
Nothing Valley By Melkbelly 1095 - 21 To 21
Visions Of A Life By Wolf Alice 41 - 22 To 22
How Do You Spell Heaven By Guided By Voices 1234 - 23 to 23
Makthaverskan III By Makthaverskan III 780 - 24 To 24
Dumb Blood By Vant 1163 - 25 To 25
The Jet Sessions (Live Or Lavish) By Bellemont 1994 - 28 To 26
The Stroppies By The Stroppies 1950 - 26 To 27
Electric Trim By Lee Ranaldo 1469 - 29 To 28
Uncontrollable Salvation By Pardoner 1291 - 27 To 29
The Deep Set By The Bats 629 - 30 To 30
Invitation By Filthy Friends 1102 - 31 To 31
Strange Peace By Metz 463 - 32 To 32
Antisocialites By Alvvays 18 - 33 To 33
We Are Millionaires By Pete Fij/Terry Bickers 1111 - 34 To 34
Brutalism By Idles 30 - 35 To 35
Powerplant By Girlpool 347 - 36 To 36
What's All The Mumble About By Jacle Bow 2224 - 37 To 37
Northern Passages By The Sadies 1218 - 38 To 38
Flying Microtonal Banana By King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard 19 - 39 To 39
Sleep Well Beast By The National 11 - 40 To 40
To The Bone By Steven Wilson 51 - 41 To 41
Music For The Age Of Miracles By The Clientele 292 - 42 To 42
Trein Vuur Dageraad By Spinvis 1187 - 43 To 43
Reflections Of A Floating World By Elder 118 - 44 To 44
Aloha Hola By D.A. Stern 1681 - 45 To 45
Harmony Of Difference By Kamasi Washington 69 - 46 To 46
Slowdive By Slowdive 6 - 47 To 47
Gargoyle By Mark Lanegan 351 - 48 To 48
The World's Best American Band By White Reaper 173 - 49 To 49
In Spades By The Afghan Whigs 299 - 50 To 50
Concrete And Gold By Foo Fighters 67 - 51 To 51
Plum By Wand 301 - 52 To 52
Exit Humanity By Channel Zero 2650 - 53 To 53
Revolution Come...Revolution Go By Gov't Mule 176 - 54 To 54
The Grinding Wheel By Overkill 1173 - 56 To 56
Feed The Rats By Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs 1087 - 55 To 55
Dead Cross By Dead Cross 711 - 57 To 57
Permo By Spinning Coin 2758 - 58 To 58
Murder Of The Universe By King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard 59 - 59 To 59
Relatives In Descent By Protomartyr 49 - 60 To 60
The Tower By Motorpsycho 956 - 61 To 61
Out In The Storm By Waxahatchee 144 - 62 To 62
Last Place By Grandaddy 161 - 63 To 63
City Music By Kevin Morby 211 - 64 To 64
Science Fiction By Brand New 14 - To listen To 65
Welcome, Stranger! By The Blue Aeroplanes 2924 - 65 To 66
Americana By Ray Davies 375 - 66 To 67
Glow And Fade By Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy 341 - 67 To 68
Lotta Sea Lice By Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile 76 - 68 To 69
Lindsey Buckingham / Christine McVie By Lindsey Buckingham / Christine McVie 311 - 69 To 70
Zero Hour By Diablo Blvd. 696 - 70 To 71
Sciencing By Millionaire 3105 - 71 To 72
Exhale By Intergalactic Lovers 2557 - 72 To 73
Villains By Queens Of The Stone Age 23 - 73 To 74
Capacity By Big Thief 36 - 74 To 75
The Laughing Apple By Yusuf 1295 - 75 To 76
Gumboot Soup By King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard 160 - 76 To 77
Near To The Wild Heart Of Life By Japandroids 200 - 77 To 78
The Late Album By Spencer The Rover 3307 - 78 To 79
Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins By Chuck Prophet 1568 - 79 To 80
50 By Michael Chapman 412 - 80 To 81
Heartworms By The Shins 139 - 81 To 82
Reaching For Indigo By Circuit Des Yeux 290 - 82 To 83
Goths By The Mountain Goats 240 - 83 To 84
A Crow Looked At Me By Mount Eerie 5 - 84 To 85
Colossus By Triggerfinger 1879 - 85 To 86
And another sidedish= while relistening to their 2019 album and already having listened to their 2017 and 2018 albums, I realised that Wand also had earlier albums which were supposed to be really good.
To put them into perspective: this LA band started in 2013 as a real psychrock band but than gradually moved on to softer music which is to be best surprised as a mix between Radiohead (especially the voice) and Yo La Tengo.
In listening back to all their albums I must admit I like their psychrock albums better and this 2015 album is the quintessence of that:
Golem by Wand
So I finally decided to try to cover Guided By Voices. S T O P I should say Robert Pollard because the guy is involved in so many solo and side projects that you just can't pin him down to GBV only, especially since in whatever band he is, prog, hardrock or just plain powerrock, his vintage Bob Pollard sound always comes out.
So I'll try to cover Robert Pollard as the artist and will try to do this chronologically and because his music production is so huge I'll try to cut it up in three or four parts:
- his pre-classic period which to me runs from the start of GBV in 1987 to 1994, just before the release of Bee Thousand which is to me the beginning of his classical period. This first period can be subdivided in two subperiods as well. On the first albums they really were trying to be rip offs of R.E.M., singing manierisms of Michael Stipe included. But unlike a lot of people I fairly like this period because they were rip-offs but they did it very well. The second subperiod is a more experimental period which was marked by short songs with many ideas which weren't really worked out yet combined with very poor sound quality: the word lo-fi was not on everyone's tongue and was only in his latter records that the word made any sense. The quintessential albums here are good exemples in Propeller and Vampire On Titus which to me is a much worse exemple. Other side note: I'm not aware of any side projects or solo projects in this period: correct me if I'm wrong. And a large part of the production in this era consists of EP's.
- his classic period starts to me (and I know not everybody will agree with me on this) with Bee Thousand of 1994, when their original Scat label made a deal with Matador records, and goes on with Alien Lanes, Mag Earwhig and the likes. I know again many people won't agree with me but for me this classical period runs far into the years 2000 and in my opinion stops with his last real classic: Half Smiles of The Decomposed of 2004. The point where many people agree with me, I guess, is when GBV decided to stop being a lo-fi DIY band and signed for a larger label in 1999 (on which they recorded Do The Collapse)
- then follows his post-classical period after 2004 in which first he decided to start a solo career but then reformed GBV but where he never reached the heights of his classic albums but kept (keeps) on churning out album after album which are just good GBV even if it's under a moniker name. I might be tempted to cut this period in two and I suppose the most obvious year is 2010 when he reformed GBV. In any case Bob Pollard is one of the most prolific and the same time consistent artists to walk on this earth.
So I'll start with the first period and I think I made the effort to listen to all their albums and EP's of that period. After some high school band Robert Pollard (born in 1957 in Dayton, Ohio, and also had a bit of a teaching career: who wouldn't have liked to have this guy as his teacher) started GBV in the early 1980's where he was mainly teaming up with his brother Jim but they really became GBV when the band was joined by Robin Sprout in 1985, that other great member of a large part of the GBV trajectory. Their first EP was released in 1986, Forever Since Breakfast. They released another run of REM like EP's until they released the first full album in 1987, Devil Between My Toes.
I (re-)listened to all the albums of this period but the albums/EP's which haven't made it to my top charts because they lack really good songs (I know GBV is known for the varying quality of the tracks on their albums but all their good albums have a number of really good songs) or are of really bad sound quality. Amongst these is the one which many people (sorry Tilly) consider a classic, ie Vampire On Titus. I hadn't heard of them yet when they released this album but I bought this album in the beginning of the nineties (bundled with Propeller) so I can safely say that I have listened to this album enough times to know it will never become my favorite). The other ones are EP's: Static Airplane Jive (1993), The Grand Hour (1993), Clown Prince Of The Menthol Trailer (1994), Fast Japanese Spin Cycle (1994) and Get Out Of My Stations (1994)
And these are the albums from their first period I do like in reverse order:
2. from 1992: this is an album from their more experimental phase but already contains the roots for their later classics (fine examples are Weedking, Metal Mothers and many others)
Propeller by Guided By Voices
1. from 1986: yes I like their first EP which only contains 6 tracks best just because they are such an endearing version of R.E.M.
Forever Since Breakfast by Guided By Voices
Let me know if there are any albums from this period I forgot or if you have other remarks on my ramblings. I know there are many GBV lovers amongst you and I'm sure I already launched some blasphemous statements.
Whenever I feel like it I will go on to discuss their classic period.
Finally justice has been done. It was a long time I had listened to their older albums and couldn't stop lauding their two most recent albums and convinced myself they were better than those older albums + in fact I only owned two of their older albums: The Days of Wine And Roses and Out Of The Grey and hadn't fully listened to their other two regular albums.
Before I give my final ranking some info on the band. Steve Wynn who has emerged from the LA paisley underground scene of the eighties has always been one of my personal heroes especially I saw him and his band a few times live. His time with the Dream Syndicate doesn't even consist of two but of three different periods:
1982 to 1984: with Karl Precoda as the main guitarist next to Steve Wynn himself and with of course their main album The Days Of Wine And Roses as the highlight.
Wynn stopped the band briefly also to team up with Dan Stuart of Green On Red to form Danny & Dusty
The Dream Syndicate was reformed in 1985-86 and had another succesful period now with guitarist Paul B. Cutler who was as good as or maybe even better than Precoda. Here the main album Out Of The Grey was the main one.
They broke up again in 1989 after their fantastic live album at Raji's after which Wynn went on different solo and other Baseball and other projects, a period where he also shone but I will have to tackle later.
In 2012, the old band was again revived now with guitarist Jason Victor but a new album was only released in 2017 and now they are at the second full album in their new line-up.
All in all Wynn only released six regular albums under the Dream Syndicate name and these is my current ranking in reverse order:
The good:
6. from 1988:
Ghost Stories by The Dream Syndicate
the songs on these album are potent but fairly basic. A good example is Weathered And Torn, a fairly basic rock'n roll tune until the blazing guitar solo comes. I also have the impression that Steve's voice is a bit shaky unlike on all his other albums. The version of the album I was listening to has some outtakes and sometimes better versions than on the regular album (good example is When The Curtain Falls, already one of the best tracks on the regular album).
The very good:
5. from 2019:
These Times by The Dream Syndicate
Their most recent album which I originally thought was much weaker than its predecessor but after listening back to it recently I really think this is also completely worthy of the band. I especially like Still Here Now and the album is already ranked 5th in my 2019 ranking (but the year is not over yet).
4. from 1986:
Out Of The Grey by The Dream Syndicate
This album contains a few almost classics like Forest For The Trees and Boston (which was also one of his most played songs in his solo career).
The Outstanding
3. from 1988:
Medicine Show by The Dream Syndicate
In fact I have only recently listened to this album for the first time but I already knew many of the tracks from live albums. And what a great record this is with as highlights the two longer tracks at the end which also feature great vintage Wynn guitar solos: John Coltrane Blues and Merrittville (especially this last one has its quintessential version on Live at Raji's.
2. from 2017:
How Did I Find Myself Here? by The Dream Syndicate
When I first heard this comeback album I was completely astounded and thought it was better than all their other albums from their eighties period and it is indeed a fabulous record with guitar explosions on long and winding but fantastic tracks which stand as rocks. The best tracks here are Glide and The Circle, tracks which even sound better live.
The Classic
1. from 1982:
The Days Of Wine And Roses by The Dream Syndicate
But I had to admit. I was completely stupid. This album is unbeatable and the REAL classic of this band. It just goes on track after track, classic track after classic track with as top of the bill the title track and That's What You Always Say, also two tracks you just have to also hear on Live at Raji's.
As you can see: this is one big advertisement to listen to their live album Live at Raji's. There are actually two versions of it and do yourself a favour to listen to the extended one:
The Complete Live At Raji's by The Dream Syndicate
Hail to Johnnyo who put this album (but the shorter version of the two) on top of his eighties's chart and who is also a great lover of Steve Wynn, see also his special list:
Wynner takes all by Johnnyo
I was listening back to the last 2019 album of Glen Hansard, an Irish singer-songwriter and quite liked it so I decided to some of his earlier albums but overall didn't like them as much.
So then I decided to go back to his roots: his work with The Frames of which I even had an album in my overall one album per artist overall top chart and hadn't heard in a long time and thought I might have overrated it: Burn The Maps. And I also listened to their albums.
And guess what: I still liked Burn The Maps as much I did initially. I scored down a few of the tracks but scored up many others and ended up in placing this album even higher in my top chart. Glen Hansard is really a good singer with a real emotional depth and when he was surrounded by a great band like the Frames this led to magnificent albums like Burn The Maps. But also on The Cost, the follow-up which I had underrated completely.
Not to say that their earlier albums are not good, and For The Birds is also great.
So this is my final ranking of their albums:
The good:
The Classic
1. of 2004:
Burn The Maps by The Frames
Finally and For The Birds are the classic tracks here with Sideways Down and Keepsake following closely after that. This album is an emotional rollercoaster.
Here is my second post on Robert Pollard/Guided By Voices and the likes now covering his classic album period from 1994 to 2004 when he disbanded GBV but only for a short period.
This is to me the classic period because all GBV period are really good and nearly every single one of them contains at least one classic track which would make a fantastic greatest hits album if compiled together.
But this is also the period Pollard started to do different side projects, not only solo but also with bands with strange names like Go Back Snow Ball, The Lexo & The Leapers, which were not that bad but also very goofy projects like The Circus Devils. In his later period some of these side projects were really good and actually had about the same success (but I suppose that's always hypothetical with Pollard) as the GBV albums but in this period they remained fairly obscure and were also a lot more DIY than the GBV albums of the period which sometimes couldn't even be considered Lo-fi anymore. Nevertheless I didn't have to create a lot of those albums myself on BEA because Larryrrr was first: he seems to be a big fan...
Just as an aside: for a band which had so little success they had quite a cult following and the number of website devoted to Robert Pollard and GBV is mind-boggling: good ones are An Earful O' Wax and The Rock Robt's Guide to Guided By Voices.
I listened to many more albums but this is the list of albums I currently have in may year lists from that period:
9. from 1994
Bee Thousand by Guided By Voices
their first album from this period and still very good with I Am A Scientist as the classic track closely followed by Tractor Rape Chain and Queen of Cans and Jars. But the album contains too many lesser songs to be considered as a real classic
1. Under The Bushes Under The Stars by Guided By Voices
Their most consistent album and also one of their most polished but if you have tracks like Cut-Out Whitch and The Official Ironmen Rallye Song on one album you can speak of a real classic.
In my opinion GBV has not made anything as good as these albums in their latter years although the overall quality was still consistent.
Let me know what your opinion is on their best albums. I know that the main criticism could be that my favorite albums are not the most DIY ones.
RoundTheBendI miss the comfort in being sadProfile Ground Control
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
dihansse
RoundTheBend
