Alien Lanes (CD - 1995)

Unknown Contributor Roles: Jim Greer; Pete Jamison; Jim Pollard; Kevin Fennell; Greg Demos.

It's surprising what a difference it makes when a musician knows someone will actually be hearing his work. After 1994's charmingly sloppy Bee Thousand gained Guided By Voices a nationwide cult following (instead of the local cult following they were accustomed to), 1995's Alien Lanes found Robert Pollard and his partners in hard pop cleaning up their act a bit. For the most part, Alien Lanes isn't radically different from Bee Thousand -- it was primarily recorded on a four-track cassette machine (and sounds like it), and Guided By Voices was still a garage band with more in the way of inspiration than chops. But the musicians have put a bit more care and focus into their performance on this set; the playing is tighter and sharper, and the band plays toward their strengths, pushing their occasional sloppiness into a harder, more rock-oriented direction. And if Pollard and Tobin Sprout were still obsessed with tiny fragments of pop song wonderment, they also rounded up a more consistent collection of them; there aren't quite as many obvious masterpieces as on Bee Thousand, but also fewer obvious mistakes, and the sequencing gives the album a more consistent flow than before. Pollard also made genuine inroads into more lyrically cognizant material (though don't fret, "Auditorium" and "Blimps Go 90" are as cryptic as ever), and "Watch Me Jumpstart," "Striped White Jets," and "Motor Away" are simply superb pop/rock songs. (Sprout also gets a few shining moments on "A Good Flying Bird" and "Straw Dogs.") Both Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes sound like they were made by a band of inspired amateurs with great ideas; the difference is that Alien Lanes suggests that Guided By Voices wanted to prove that they could turn pro some day. ~ Mark Deming

It ain't easy keeping up with Guided By Voices, who are averaging an album every nine months as they hit their stride. And that's not to mention all the EPs and 7-inch singles they toss out in between. By the time you get to the next paragraph, they'll probably have finished another one.

Their records sound like it, too, with tape hiss and questionable notes intruding on songs that often seem unfinished and almost never exceed 2 minutes. But that's the price you pay for GBV's ridiculously bountiful pop talent; bandleader Robert Pollard's head is crammed with hooks, and he's always rushing ahead as if he can't wait to get to the next one. Where BEE THOUSAND was full of instantly catchy Beatles and Hollies hooks, ALIEN LANES has more of a '70s hard-rock mood, with two-minute blasts of muscularly melodic rock crashing into one-minute (and less) bits of arena-rock balladry and miscellaneous weirdness. It'll take a few listens before it all sinks in. "Motor Away" edits the simultaneous leaving and longing of Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" down to two glorious minutes. It's one of several songs here that pare anthemic rock hooks and roaring guitars down to their pop essence.

"Big Chief Chinese Restaurant," on the other hand, is one of those overture-like ballads with which hard-rock bands used to awe arena crowds, complete with a guitar lead that nods to Guns N' Roses. Being Guided By Voices, though, the lead goes as quick as it comes, the whole thing fades out before a minute is up, and another blast of Beatlesque hard-rock comes crashing in. minimize