TOTAL SCORE: 12, AVG: 3.00
Using my new scoring method (Details can be found here), I wanted to tackle my previous entries for the Boston Spaceships before covering the final two albums that I have yet to cover. When I first reviewed this 4 song EP I compared it heavily with The Takeovers' Little Green Onion Man EP, since both seemed to offer something a bit different from what was appearing on the albums...
TOTAL SCORE: 48, AVG: 3.00
Using my new scoring method (Details can be found here), I wanted to tackle my previous entries for the Boston Spaceships before covering the final two albums that I have yet to cover. In the same year that the Boston Spaceships release the amazing Planets Are Blasted, they also put out this solid 3rd album. Though it doesn't reach the greatness of Planets Are Blasted, I think overall it is still a better effort than their rookie effort, Brown Submarine...
TOTAL SCORE: 56, AVG: 4.00
Using my new scoring method (Details can be found here), I wanted to tackle my previous entries for the Boston Spaceships before covering the final two albums that I have yet to cover. Planets Are Blasted is a masterpiece and a must-have for anyone interested in Pollard or GBV. There is not a single miss on the album, and over half of the album is made up of top notch hits...
TOTAL SCORE: 43, AVG: 3.07
Using my new scoring method (Details can be found here), I wanted to tackle my previous entries for the Boston Spaceships before covering the final two albums that I have yet to cover. In my original review I noted how exciting this was for GBV fans since this could have been the start of a new flagship band for Robert Pollard. We now know that this wouldn't be the case as Boston Spaceships would eventually bow out after five amazing records and the Guided By Voices name (and members) would eventually come back. That being said, Boston Spaceships is without a doubt the best ever side-project of Pollard's and it all started out with the wonderful Brown Submarine...
Starting today I have moved away from the previous review method where a song is either chosen for my ultimate GBV playlist or not, to a method where every song will get 0 to 6 points based on the scale below:
- Among Bob's Best: These are the hits, and the cream of the crop! (6 points)
- Gems: Great songs that belong on any GBV-related playlist (5 points)
- Almost-Gems: The best of the rest. (4 points)
- They're Good: Not a gem, but it probably is a gem to somebody. I would still like to hear it once in a while. (3 points)
- They're OK: Not likely to make a playlist, but it isn't a bad song by any means. (2 points)
- Could Live Without: Not a toss-off, but I can get by without hearing it ever again. (1 points)
- Toss-Offs & Throwaways: There is usually a couple of these on an album. (0 points)
The album will then get two scores: a total score that simply adds up the points, and an average score that equals the total score divided by the number songs on the album...
TOTAL SCORE: 48, AVG: 3.43
Using my new scoring method (read about it in my first Re-Score article), I thought it only made sense to get Half Smiles of the Decomposed out of the way. In my original review nearly 10 years ago the context for my review was how this was the last GBV album ever. We have since then had the original lineup come back for six new albums between 2012 to 2014, a solo-effort Pollard GBV album, and a reuniting with Doug Gillard for three GBV-labeled albums (Space Gun is still unreleased as of this). That is 10 new Guided By Voices albums since the first reunion in 2012, eight years after Half Smiles of the Decomposed! ...
TOTAL SCORE: 56, AVG: 2.67
I recently made a GBV-related playlist on Google Play Music that was about 900 songs, where I simply chose any song that I liked at least a little bit. As I listen to the playlist (which is awesome by the way) I've definitely noticed that there is a big difference between songs I like, and songs that I really like, and that I was going about this whole project the wrong way. Sort of. This blog was going to end up generating that 900 song playlist, and even though there is a purpose to have that playlist, I now think it is important to categorize the songs into different levels of awesome...
