Ranking The Guided By Voices Studio Albums 

I would definitely rank Under the bushes, under the stars as number one. Most consistent album with some of their best songs. Bee thousand behind alien lanes and isolation drills.

Greetings Scott, just wanted to say thanks for posting this ranking. For whatever reasons this band just passed me by. You have peaked my curiosity enough to explore their albums. (They have enough to keep a person busy for awhile) I really like a lot of what I hear so far. Especially impressed with their newest album, Bee Thousand, and Do the Collapse. A long way to go. Thanks again!

Amazing to think there has been another 5 albums since this review. Incredible band.

I agree completely with how surprisingly good Crystal Nun Cathedrals is. Earthquake Glue is also my favorite album of all time by any band ever so glad to see it in your top 10. Lastly, love the RP solo selection you've got there behind you. Would love to see your ranking for those!

Props for keeping up with all of them, especially on vinyl. I just can’t do it myself. But I am a huge fan.

But for real, I’ve been just blindly playing their albums while I deliver Amazon packages. Your video is helping point me toward some great songs. Thanks!

I fucking love this band, and I'll never get tired of them, since they have so many fricking albums. So many things to discover!

That was epic!! Can’t believe you ranked all 34. You pretty much nailed it but I wanted Half Smiles a little higher, but that was awesome!! Thanks again!!!!

I’ve been diving into their greatest hits and absolutely LOVING their vibe. Reminds me of Pavement mixed with Flaming Lips. I have yet to hear the prog vibes from the greatest hits album but I’m sure deeper album tracks might show that.

Man I would love to see you rank some of Roberts solo projects! this was awesome, thanks for the ride 🤙

Wonderful stuff! I'm completely jealous of all your vinyl. (I've only got about 15 of those... For me: 1. Alien Lanes 2. Bee Thousand 3. Do The Collapse (You are ABSOLUTELY correct... and I might even be a heretic and put it into the #2 slot... it's THAT freaking great) 4. Space Gun 5. Tremblers and Goggle By Rank / Isolation Drills / Crystal Nuns Cathedral / Earth Man Blues / Universal Truths And Cycles / Under The Bushes Under The Starts (TIE) Eagerly waiting for your Pollard Solo Rankings (""From A Compound Eye" is the best... followed closely by "Waved Out" "Speak Kindly..." and a few others) AND his side project rankings (The Boston Spaceships are phenomenal... along with Airport 5, Circus Devils, ESP, and Cub Scout Bowling Pins) Cheers!

This truly Made my day, nice to see "Do the Collapse" so high up, its in my top 10 somewhere, and it would probably be higher if i add all the b sides, outtakes and demos. I will have to think about my ranking for a week, and i will post it here. THANKS Scot !!!! (You always do your homework, i give you an A as always!)

Nice video and list! I would place more of there lo fi stuff higher (like Vampires on Titus is definitely number 2 for me haha) but that's just cause i like that kind of music more! But yeah under the bushes under the stars is also top 5 for me, it's such an amazing record. What's funny is that like a month after you posted this they released another new album (Tremblers and Goggles by Rank) and now Alex Bell is now one of my favorite songs by them (it's super proggy too I think). I think I heard somewhere in an interview with Bob that he's planning on just focusing on doing one album for the next year !

The greatest rock band of all time!! Been listening to Bobby for over 25 years! (Been listening to a lot of other great bands/song writers too), but in all honestly, Bobby is the best!

I got to hand it to you, you achieved a near-impossible task. Not only have you listened to every single album, but also put them into a well-thought-out order. That's pretty amazing. While I disagree on two rankings - I think Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia should be ranked a lot higher and Universal Truths And Cycles is my favorite (blasphemy!) - I'm going to utilize your list in approaching the reunion-onwards albums. Thank you so very much!

It’d be awesome if you did a top 20 of all the side projects and solo records. Great video man, Propeller is way too low but I appreciate your love for Collapse (even if it’s ranked a bit too high 😂)…that Collapse tour was absolutely bonkers and ridiculously awesome. Surprised he made it out alive .

great video! GBV RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! such an amazing body of work that pollard has created through the last 40 years. also i love how your video is only 5 months old but it's out of date, i once owned the "new" Guided by Voices album for a whole three weeks before the new one came out!!!! (this comment will be out of date next week)

Hey Scott. Wow! You are a fan and lucky that you got everything that was ever done and then some. Welcome to always being a fan. I am a big fan of Guided By Voices and Robert Pollard, Don't have all the albums and all of that but a handful of 16 or something I do have. I grew up in Dayton. And me and this good friend of mine who is associated friend of his and I have known for very long time me and this friend I grew up with, had met and visited Bob on occasions driving around and visited him in the neighborhood. I went to about 3-4 shows to see Guided By Voices and each time were fantastic and had pics taken of me and Bob and Bob and my friend and I have of a couple of signed autographs too on some sheets of paper along with few other members at the time too, I have those, So ever since Bob has considered me a good old friend, And I have lost touch with him for some long while but never the less. I need to catch up some day again. On Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia there's a song called Radio Show(Trust The Wizard). And at the time it is somewhat in reference to me while at the time I did do some volunteer guest appearances on a local area college radio station with the host of the shows. Just me that volunteer guest at the station. And after which that me and this long time friend earlier we had been doing some music together at with me singing and writing songs and him on guitar and I would be doing guitar for songs I had written and the friend shared his songs along he had wrote as well. I came up with song Wizard Radio. Me and my friend collaborated for few years. Then I ever since have wrote songs sang played guitar and done some keyboard instrumentals on my own . My friend plays stuff on his own as well. We still have always stayed in touch. Music is in the family also I might add being a brother. Anyway there was where I well know Bob, as he well knows me jon the wizard.. A name that in different variations started with someone I jammed this other guy I knew with also calling me a wizard for my writing of lyrics in so back in the late 80s so there you go. GBV great band and Bob Pollard a great guy and a good friend too. Cheers.🎶 Btw saw The Breeders in 2019.

Great vid. Have to say, I would agree with your top-5 (and overall your top-10). Glad to see "Do The Collapse" so high on the listing -- it gets too much stick from fans, and I will never understand it, since the songs on it are so damn PERFECT (right now) !! :) Also glad to see a fellow-fan stump for "Mag Earwhig", a really stunning killer LP imo. I haven't bought/heard "Space Gun" yet, sounds like I have to jump on that pronto. Cheers!

This was fun! I love Half Smiles-fantastic, moving songs and it totally feels like a “last album” in the best way. I agree that Mirrored Aztec is super across the board… and I *love* Crystal Nuns Cathedral. It’s got sharp songwriting, with a nice consistency across the board. I think it’s a good one to hand off to someone who’s interested in checking them out. Isolation Drills is my other go-to for that reason-great songwriting, super production, excellent playing. Do the Collapse… That was “new” when I started listening to GBV and I’ve always liked the songs… I’d still place Iso Drills over it, but that’s me. Cheers!

Bob has a prog influence in his music, and I think it's endearing how he tries to capture the feeling of early Genesis or Yes with simple arpeggios and fakebook chords . Call it "barre chord prog" I guess.

I’m going for the journey!!! I’ll update my ranking as I progress but so far this is what I’ve got: 3. Sandbox (truly mediocre, but I liked that reference to the Beatles’ “little child”) 2. Devil Between My Toes 1. Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

Nice to see some GBV love on youtube. With so much material it’s always gonna be many variations when people pick their favorites. My top9 would be: 9. Earthquake Glue (a fine work and their greatest album in the new millenium. Standout tracks here are My Kind Of Soldier, I’ll Replace you With Machines, Useless Inventions, Jill Hives and Dead Cloud) 8. Do The Collapse (This one has divided many over the years. Old school GBV fans find it way to produced which I can agree on, but still it is a great album. The problem is just that some tracks are quite uninteresting, those that will live on in my memory are Teenage FBI, Wormhole and Wrecking Now) 7. Devil between my toes (their most underrated album that has many many great tunes as Old Battery, Discussing Wallace Chambers, Cyclops, Hey Hey Spaceman, Hanks Little Fingers, Dog’s Out and Captain’s Dead. Yeah it’s bloody fantastic) 6. Mag Earwhig! (This one is where Bob wanted to change this up and teamed up with Cobra Verde. The guitars are rougher but it still smells old school GBV, ME! Are filled with bangers like I Am A Tree, Bulldog Skin, Bomb In The Beehive and Mute Superstar but also just softer amazing tracks such as Not Behind The Fighter Jet, Jane Of the Waking Universe and Sad If I Lost It) 5. Vampire On Titus (Lo-fi anyone? This is without a doubt their dirtiest album of all time. This one is not very radiofriendly but wow what a fine work it is. Tracks like Jar Of Cardinals, World Of Fun, #2 In The Model Home Series and Donkey School are really strong but we also have ”Wished I Was A Giant”, Expecting Brainchild (possibly my fav gbv track), Gleemer and Non-Absorbing that all belong in their greatest track section) 4. Under the bushes, Under the Stars (Now we start reaching another level of greatness. These remaining albums are easier to pick your least favorite tracks rather than the best. But ofcourse i’ll name the highlights here aswell. What about Ironmen Rally Song, Ghosts of a Different Dream, Acorns & Orioles, Underwater Explosions, Man Called Aerodynamics and Cut-Out Witch) 3. Propeller (Masterpiece! This was meant to be their final album so Bob collected the best shit he got. Tracks included in my ”best of gbv”: Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox, Weedking, Quality Of Armor, Unleashed!and Exit Flagger) 2. Bee Thousand (Even better masterpiece. This one put GBV on the Lo-fi map forever and for that we all thank you Bob. Getting hard to just name a few tracks so i’ll just say that the weakest track here is Her Psychology Today) 1. Aliens Lanes (Ah yes finally no1. GBVs finest work and this belongs in my top10 of all time. This albums just flows perfectly for me. The variations of catchy, short acoustic and bombastic hits here blows me away everytime. Bob and Tobin just smashed it out of the park here. It’s beautful, it’s weird and it is just fantastic)

Just started getting into GBV and I love your energy man!

Glad to see Universal Truths and Cycles so high up in the list. Absolutely great album.

I don't know why I watched this but I'm glad I did! The more recent material is far more touch-and-go than the "pre-reunion" stuff, and you've pointed out where to go first. Of course any prog fan that actually knows how to ROCK will love GBV. You are on spot, man (though I'm still with the crowd that doesn't like _Do the Collapse_ quite as much!).

If you claimed that any other musician had written 15,000 or more songs it would be laughably hyperbolic and an obvious exaggeration, but with Bob Pollard it's actually fucking true.

Great video - thanks for taking the time!

How did I miss this video. Great video. Amazing band.

Briliant!!! Could you do more videos ranking pollards solo and side projects? Would love to watch that. Great list! Thanks man!

I’m jealous of that RP “normal happiness” LP! That is one fantastic album, I still listen to it once a week since it came out in 2006

Pretty awesome presentation!! Super glad i saw them at the 4/20 show on the space gun tour, was gonna try and see them at the cats cradle and it didnt work out hope i can catch the show in mass this fall. Super grateful i learned about them from Emil Amos on his podcast he has a super funny story about listening to bee thousand on mushrooms when it came out and thinking the album is being slowly pitch shifted

Thought you were pretty annoying at first but when you got to warp and woof i changed my mind, good energy for my favorite band of all time

Their two studio albums from this year (Crystal Nuns and Tremblers) are incredible.

Your best review.

Solid list! Thanks for sharing.

the black watch love you, scott!

Just getting into these guys after listening to Alien Lanes on repeat for last 2 years. Amazing stuff. I've listened to a bunch of stuff now, and Under The Bushes might be my favourite! If you read this, what did you think of the 3 albums they put out last year?

My top 5 in any order: Bee Thousand, Propeller, Vampire on Titus, Alien lanes, and Same place the fly got smashed. Favorite release: no question, KING SHIT & THE GOLDEN BOYS!!! Nice ranking nonetheless.

14:36 - Top Ten starts here

rewatching, spot on those 2 last ones of the 2nd "classic" line up period "cool planet" and before that "English Little League" - Probably both in my bottom of the list !! Good rewatch ! Thanks Scot !!

Welp. It's been a year since you made this. Gotta be another 20 albums. Time to redo the list. Lol. I love the it is them cover so much. Mark shue FTW! Shocked you didn't mention electronic windows to nowhere. As a prog guy I get your choices with crystal nuns etc but I'd never put space gun in the top 10. I might put earthman blues in there. I love how you've got nothing negative to say. Just how much you love it all.

Top 2: Universal truths and Cycles Under the bushes, Under the Stars Someone described Robert Pollard Perfectly when they wrote: He writes songs like we eat potato chips.

First off, this is *a* really cool thing you did here. But, I think English Little League belongs waaaay higher. Birds is one of the most rockin songs ever. And, Send to Celeste is great too... in addition to the songs you named. Oh, yeah and what about Islands (She Talks In Rainbows)? And, yes I heard your critique of Sprout's songs overall on this album, but I think you could easily swap places with Styles We Paid For (maybe even substitute it for your #11 choice) and not affect this list at all. Maybe we like different style Guided By Voices songs, you and I? But, I think the only decent song on Styles we Paid For is In Calculus Stratagem (and it ends waaaay too soon.) Anyway, thanks and it is so much fun to try and order something as dense as the GBV catalog. Wait, one more thing. You wouldn't split the money with your band:(?? This is what makes so many "band leaders" such dicks. They wouldn't be anything without the support they get from the people bringing their ideas to life. Be better- lol edit: I left out the article a in bold:)

Earthman Blues is my fave #1. Beauty countdown man! 🍻

Great list, I mostly agree. I personally think where they are these days is their most proggy.

This dude rules. But ya gotta count Tonics & Twisted Chasers, my man!

I definitely agree Bee Thousand and Alien lanes are their best two records. Hardcore UFOs, Hot Freaks, and I am a Scientist were the songs that made me realize just how great GBV is.

Biographer Seahorse from English Little League gives me chills

Now do your top 25 non GBV Pollard albums!

yeah my eyes popped outta my head when i saw the signature

Well, now you have to do a ranking of all Non GBV Robert Pollard albums

Scot!! Love them!!!

the 4 P's!

Very enjoyable watch!

UTBUTS is truly a great album

Robert Pollard does also list Selling England By The Pound in his all time top LPs

Getting into the Pollardverse is a daunting task on paper (unless you go through a completionist phase ;) ) and you're gonna dig through a Lot of dross and incompletes and demos, but if you took just two of your favorite tracks from each release the sum would rival Any other band's catalogue in size, scope, and excellence. And remember - they got their start Long before Bee Thousand; it's just that no one noticed yet. My Valuable Hunting Knife is a great biography if you want to get to know the roots and the times, and there are countless good EPs, several of which I see in the background here. Bob hasn't stopped moving forward in 40 years so why should we?

Sandbox???? Damn! It's fucking awesome!!

Cool. Finally some good wholesome entertainment up in here. I like to say every GBV is the best. I mean Jar of Cardinals/Gold Star for Robot Boy/Metal Mothers, isn't it a little bit like splitting hairs? What's your top 3 records of all time? Quantity, quality & relevancy what more can there be?

DAYTON!!! DAYTON!!! DAYTON!!! I have met Robert Pollard. I live a few minutes away from him!

Never thought of them as "prog" but I don't care either. You should talk about the music you like on your channel! I have Bee Thousand and I never really realised how much stuf they had. I might have to check out some of these other records.

you should do pollards solo albums

I think this is pretty accurate amongst GBV fans. I would’ve placed Under the Bushes at number one. Nobody’s perfect. Fun times!

What a killer ranking ! I love GBV.. looking for the best of the 5 newest LP's..what do you think ? Cheers Man !! JT

Goood Review I really like this band , normally when I really like a band, I to go the shows , download / buy the records and in many cases try the whole discography. Hahahaha when it comes to listening to Guided By Voices albums, where do you start from ? ? ? The first albums I bought were Under The Bushes Under The Stars ( 1996 ) / Alien Lanes ( 1995 ) / Mag Earwhig! ( 1997 ) Isolation Drills ( 2001 ) and Half Smiles Of The Decomposed ( 2004 ) then I managed to download the rest up to Let's Go Eat the Factory ( 2012 ). I am till to try Robert Pollard's solo stuff. Considering I have other bands to go through their discography as well. The problem with Robert Pollard and his Guided By Voice , they make far too much music in a unusual short period of time. I grew up with Vinyl and K7 tapes, but I am done with vinyls and CDs, I don't have the budget and the space. MP3 suits me because I can listen to music when I am out and about and skateboarding or cycling. I highly love checking, appreciating bands art covers. My favourite Guide By Voices Art covers are: Under The Bushes Under The Stars / Half Smiles Of The Decomposed / The Bears For Lunch / Motivational Jumpsuit / Zeppelin Over China / Isolation Drills. It's really hard to keep up with this band albums releases. I don't think they sleep, I think they keep making music 24 hours a day. It feels as if they can release one album one per month.

Rating English Little League beneath Class Clown Spots UFO got my hackles up.

Spot on order apart from AL should be #1

Your energy is unreal.. prerecording are you off screen just railing down lines like its 1979, in the studio with Fleetwood Mac recording Tusk.

I am so fucking happy with your placement of Do the Collapse. I swear it's Pitchfork brain syndrome that causes idiots to write it off.

Alien Lanes might be #1, but some days I think it's Bee Thousand

Propeller 🤘😑

impressive

Saw them in Philly twice. Opened up for cheap trick.

I quite like Cool Planet. Males of wormwood mars, Cream of lung, bad love is easy to do, the no doubters, authoritarian zoo, etc

Correction: Pollard has written over 2000 songs and more

Yay a Do the Collapse fan!

I guess I wouldn't put Do the Collapse quite that high ..... but it is great. And the lack of love that it gets from some GBV fans doesn't make any sense to me. Just listen to the songs! Undeniable.

There's three incarnations of GBV: 1987 until 2004 - 2012 until 2014 - 2016 until the Present I have zero love for that 2nd one. Six albums and barely a memorable melody across all of those songs. Have enjoyed most of the 2016 albums onward except the first two...August is pale compared to Heaven and Honest is just Pollard anyway.

So much word salad yum yum

How about a Spritiualized ranking?

"The Who Vs Porky Pig"

How do you spell heaven should be much higher also its not a reunion album. Great review tho.

How Do You Spell Heaven at 31??? Hmmm.... definitely disagree with that one. Pretty good list though

Same Place should be in the top 10! Also, Mirrored Aztec over VAMPIRE and HALF SMILES? To each his own!

No musical perspective baffles me more than the disdain for Sandbox.

Pollard's lyrics not making sense? Why does that not surprise me? 😅

Pretty good assessment except Earthquake Glue, Universal truths and Do the Collapse should be near the bottom with Sandbox.. 99 to 2004 was GBV's blandest era.

I always confuse them with the Dandy Warhols...no particular reason...probably just a alt-music defiance...lol

Same Place the Fly Got Smashed should be top 5.

Four month later and you’ve already got three more albums to rank 😂

alien lanes? what fucking ever.

GBV, my all time favorite band. No question about the first 2 places, but I am honestly not sure about your really strange mixture of their early 90's to the later reunion effort... How can you even compare a mediocre album like Crystal Nuns Cathedral or space gun to the pure brilliance of Devil Between My Toes, or Propeller? Which BTW have their 2 most distinct "Prog" songs ever (Mesh Gear Fox & Weed King). Really strange. Seriously? For me personally, everything after Mag Earwhig is like a different band almost. Anyways, it's your choices. I accept that. Just strange. Peace man. In Bob we Trust.

Come on dude Sandbox is far from their weakest record especially when you got underrated gems like Everyday, Long Distance Man, A Visit to the Creep Doctor, etc.

Propeller at 8?! The TVT records both in the top 5?!?! Ludicrous. You definitely found GBV much later. Nobody I know who's been listening since at least Propeller would ever agree with that. Those TVT albums were straight up disappointments when they came out according to myself and most people I knew at the time. LoFi early/mid 90's GBV was the band at it's most inspired; their height without question. Down hill from there.