Tuesday, December 01, 2020

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

TOTAL SCORE: 50, AVG: 2.00

Again please see my original post for Disc 2 on Suitcase since I am not going to rehash all the detail on this re:score post. For me, the stand-out track on Disc 2 of Suitcase is still Supermarket the Moon, which holds a place among the dark and slow (or ballad-like) songs in the GBV catalog. Similar to James Riot, Shrine to the Dynamic Years is another Do the Collapse era outtake that just screams for an updated studio take so fans can really enjoy it without the middling recording...

    The version of Ha Ha Man on this disc is amazing, and far better than the one on Tonics & Twisted Chasers, and The Fool Ticket is still a great slower and hauntingly beautiful song. Also, I don't think I noticed that Our Value of Luxury has the words "earmarked for collision" before (later a song title on Let it Beard).

    Songs that have grown on me over the years include Sing It Out and Bug House.  To be clear, it is the first version of Bug House that I really like, and not so much the second version that is sharing the track. Conversely Messenger has lost some of its luster, but so has most songs from that early era for me.

    Here is the updated ranking:

    Among Bob's Best
    -- none

    Gems
    26 Supermarket the Moon

    Almost Gems
    28 Ha Ha Man
    39 The Fool Ticket

    They're Good
    29 Our Value of Luxury
    30 Bug House [2 versions]
    32 Shrine To The Dynamic Years (Athens Time Change Riots)
    37 Sing It Out
    38 Messenger

    They're OK
    33 On Short Wave
    35 Tobacco's Last Stand
    43 Blue Gil
    48 I'm Cold
    49 Damn Good Mr. Jam
    50 In Walked the Moon

    Could Live Without
    27 Hold on to Yesterday
    31 Rainbow Billy
    34 I Can See it in Your Eyes
    36 Shifting Swift Is A Lift
    40 Mallard Smoke
    41 Mr. McCaslin Will Sell No More Flowers
    42 Shit Midas
    44 Invest in British Steel
    45 Spinning Around
    46 Let's Go! (To War)

    Toss-Offs & Throwaways
    47 Grasshopper Rap

    Given the scoring above, the album would get 50 points total (and an average of 2.00). 

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