RE:SCORE - Guided By Voices: Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft: DISC ONE (2000)

TOTAL SCORE: 48, AVG: 1.92

Parsing through the Suitcase releases is a lot of work, but luckily I did most of that already in my original post for the 1st disc of Suitcase 1, so please refer to that for details. The first disc of Suitcase includes the amazing Bunco Men, but just recently a new and slicker version of Bunco Men has appeared on Guided By Voices' 2020 album Mirrored Aztec. The most annoying thing about the song was the incredibly low volume it is recording at which makes it tough to include on playlists or whatnot, so I'm going to start using the Mirrored Aztec version from now on...

RE:SCORE - Guided By Voices: Dayton, Ohio - 19 Something and 5 (2000)

TOTAL SCORE: 8, AVG: 2.00

I generally do not rank live versions of songs, but the live version of Dayton, Ohio - 19 Something and 5 on this EP almost sounds like an alternate studio take given how it was recorded. There are things to like about both the version on Tonics & Twisted Chasers and here that they can stand separately. In original post I mostly discussed the differences between the two versions, and ultimately took a pass on the other three songs on the EP...

RE:SCORE - Guided By Voices: Hold on Hope EP (2000)

TOTAL SCORE: 37, AVG: 3.70

My copy of the Hold on Hope EP does not include Perfect this Time (see my original post), but since some copies of the EP do include that song, I'll include and write about it here in my re:score. Even without Perfect this Time I called Hold on Hope my favorite EP, and said it was like a scaled back version of Do the Collapse and more in line with the GBV that we always knew, while still moving forward in a finer production style...

Guided By Voices: B-Sides 2011 - 2014

TOTAL SCORE: 61, AVG: 2.01

The classic lineup of GBV put together over 20 singles for the six albums released between 2011 and 2014, and combined generated 30 b-sides that were released. Instead of going through them one by one, I decided to treat the b-sides of the era as a single entry. Though most of the singles included non-album tracks, there were a couple that included only tracks that appeared on the upcoming record, so those are not covered here...

Guided By Voices: Down by the Racetrack (2013)

TOTAL SCORE: 11, AVG: 1.83

One of the cornerstones of the classic era GBV is all the extra content available through EP's during the 90's. For the most part the EP's were quirky side-quests to the relevant album's main quest, and they helped define the legacy of GBV in a big way. Chasing down those hard to find EP's and hearing the odd gem among the oddities is a GBV right of passage. For the classic reunited era most of that extra content is covered in the 20+ singles released between 2011 and 2014, but we did get one EP during that time as well...

RE:SCORE - Robert Pollard with Doug Gillard: Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department (1999)

TOTAL SCORE: 51, AVG: 3.40

I still remember getting this album and reviewing it for the first time. I had trouble finding it, yet I knew that it was highly regarded by GBV fans, and often remarked as one of the best non-GBV releases (if not the best). I totally get why that is, as both Gillard and Pollard are firing on all cylinders on Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department. If Do the Collapse left you scratching your head, then maybe Speak Kindly is the ultimate representation of GBV for 1999...

RE:SCORE - Nightwalker: In Shop We Build Electrical Chairs - Professional Music By Nightwalker 1984-93 (1999)

TOTAL SCORE: 9, AVG: 0.82

I originally wrote that Nightwalker was for diehards only, and consists of odd nuggets from Robert Pollard and his music buddies. Unlike a Circus Devils release, where the oddness is a more up and front feature (and far more polished), Nightwalker comes off as more like the unfinished recordings of folks just sort of fooling around...

RE:SCORE - Lexo and the Leapers: Ask Them (1999)

TOTAL SCORE: 26, AVG: 4.33

When I originally wrote about this album, drummer Jay Madewell corrected me when I noted that Lexo and the Leapers spun their own version of Fair Touching, noting that this is actually the original version. Though Fair Touching would eventually be a big song for GBV on Isolation Drills, it isn't in the top three of this amazing EP from Robert Pollard, Gate Bonham, Tere Lerma, and Jay Madewell...

RE:SCORE - Robert Pollard: Kid Marine (1999)

TOTAL SCORE: 36, AVG: 2.40

I wasn't the biggest fan of Kid Marine back in '06 and I still feel that the album was an overall drop in quality from Not In My Airforce and Waved Out. I've heard that Kid Marine was meant as a working class concept album and there is a cohesive theme throughout, but there is also a blandness that may or may not be on purpose given that theme. As with most Pollard releases there are standout moments, such as the wonderful Far-Out Crops or the last part of Town of Mirrors...

Guided By Voices: Plugs for the Program (1999)

TOTAL SCORE: 7, AVG: 3.50

Sucker of Pistol City is a good enough song that fans will want to have access to it, but finding a copy of Plugs for the Program can be a challenge given its limited release. This is one that I actually don't have access to so I'm relying on what is available on YouTube, which is both Sucker of Pistol City and the demo of Picture Me Big Time...

RE:SCORE - Guided By Voices: Do the Collapse (1999)

TOTAL SCORE: 54, AVG: 3.38

Re-reading my original post for Do the Collapse, my feelings about the album haven't really changed. It is a good album that gives us a glimpse of another world where GBV had major-label backing and the production wizardry of the late Ric Ocasek. 1999 saw some great songs from Pollard (and his collaboration with Gillard), and part of the problem of Do the Collapse for me, is that the songs chosen for the album just aren't a great representation of GBV, even if decent on their own merit... 

Guided By Voices: Cool Planet (2014)

TOTAL SCORE: 57, AVG: 3.17

With a small change to the lineup (drummer Kevin March replacing Kevin Fennell), the final album of this era of the classic lineup re-visited doesn't stray too far from what we've already seen, but after an inconsistent start, becomes arguably the finest album of the reunion. If Cool Planet was supposed to represent and respect the past of classic rock musicians, I feel it has hit its mark, and Sprout contributes some of his best tunes yet on an album where he truly earns equal billing...

RE:SCORE - Robert Pollard: Waved Out (1998)

TOTAL SCORE: 52, AVG: 3.47

One of the commenters of my original post noted that they enjoyed listening to Waved Out while driving late at night, as the album matched the mood so well. Listening to Waved Out while putting together this updated rating, I was amazed by how well everything just fit together. In fact, if there are two songs that are out of place, they are the amazing Make Use and Subspace Biographies...

Guided By Voices: Wish in One Hand... (1997)

TOTAL SCORE: 9, AVG: 3.00

The Wish in One Hand EP contains an older version of Teenage FBI, prior to it being a more polished single from 1999's Do the Collapse. Recorded with Jim Pollard, Nick Shuld, and Kevin Fennell, Robert Pollard was "between bands" at this time. What I find most interesting when listening to this early version of Teenage FBI is just how much the DNA of Do the Collapse was truly Pollard's...

RE:SCORE: Guided By Voices: Hardcore UFOs: Demons & Painkillers (2003)

TOTAL SCORE: 115, AVG: 3.48

I think chronologically, this is the right time to cover the rest of the Demons & Painkillers collection from the 2003 boxset Hardcore UFOs. You can read my original entry for it here, and I have already re:scored some of it (Motor Away, Tigerbomb,  The Official Ironmen Rally Song, Under the Bushes Under the Stars Bonus Tracks, and Plantations of Pale Pink). Remaining are the Mag Earwhig! era singles and bonus tracks, and other songs released on various compilations from around '96 - '99...

RE:SCORE - Guided By Voices: Mag Earwhig! (1997)

TOTAL SCORE: 76, AVG: 3.62

When I first wrote about Mag Earwhig! I noted that it  might be the best introduction to Guided By Voices. It is a transition record that is truly mid-fi being pressed by the lo-fi stylings of the classic lineup and the Doug Gillard featured lineup that would last until the "final" album in 2004 and mostly feature a more hi-fidelity recording quality. In my opinion Mag Earwhig! is so good that it should be in any conversation about the greatest GBV album of all time...