Tuesday, November 03, 2020

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, TigerbombThe 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...

    For a mostly collection of b-sides it is amazing just how good Demons & Painkillers is. In many cases, there is a better version of a track found on one of the main albums, and there are hidden gems like Color of My Blade and Dodging Invisible Rays scattered around too. This collection holds together so well that it could go side-by-side with the albums from this era (around 1995 - 1997). It looks like the Hardcore UFOs box set is rare and hard to find without spending a lot of money these days, so it is hard to say it is worth tracking it down, but unfortunately it doesn't appear that everything on this disc is available on the streaming sites like YouTube Music. If you can find it though, I say go for it. Here is the updated ranking:

    Among Bob's Best
    01 Motor Away [7" Version]
    03 My Valuable Hunting Knife [7" Version]
    04 Game of Pricks [7" Version]

    Gems
    15 Postal Blowfish [New Version]
    27 Now To War [Electric Version]

    Almost Gems
    02 Color of My Blade
    07 Kiss Only The Important Ones
    08 Dodging Invisible Rays
    10 Why Did You Land?
    11 June Salutes You!
    13 He's The Uncle
    14 The Key Losers
    18 Systems Crash
    32 My Thoughts Are A Gas
    33 Running Off With The Fun City Girls
    35 Choking Tara [Creamy Version]

    They're Good
    09 Deaf Ears
    12 Delayed Reaction Brats
    20 The Who Vs. Porky Pig
    21 A Life In Finer Clothing
    22 The Worryin' Song
    24 Finks
    25 The Finest Joke Is Upon Us (*also on Mag Earwhig!)
    26 The Singing Razorblade
    30 (I'll Name You) The Flame That Cries
    31 The Ascended Master's Grogshop
    34 None Of Them Any Good

    They're OK
    06 Not Good for the Mechanism
    19 Catfood On The Earwig
    23 Subtle Gear Shifting
    28 Mannequin's Complaint (Wax Dummy Meltdown)

    Could Live Without
    05 Mice Feel Nice (In My Room)
    29 Do They Teach You The Chase?

    Toss-Offs & Throwaways
    -- none

    Not Included in Scoring
    16 Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Boy [Live]
    17 Some Drilling Implied [Live]

    Given the scoring above, the album would get 115 points total (and an average of 3.48). 

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