Search - Guided By Voices :: Propeller

"We conjure ghosts and then we feed them"

M. E Mattson | Uva Ursi | 03/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"GBV do indeed summon the ghosts of Big Rock's past, doing it at a time when maybe it wasn't so cool to recall old Gabriel-era Genesis, Floyd, and other fantastic dinosaurs. But though they do so with humor and a 4-track, they do it with love. But that's not all! You also get your favorites from the 60's--Kinks, Zombies, the Who are more of the voices guiding this merry band of melodic miscreants. The other reviews here make good references to the record's highlights. But if you consider yourself a GBV fan and you don't have this record, don't even THINK about buying something else. Propeller, Bee Thousand, and Alien Lanes are THE quintessential GBV records--and some of the best records of the last decade."

Long Live Rockathon!

G. Preston | Baltimore, MD United States | 02/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How anybody could say this is anything less than essential GBV is completely beyond me. This is EASILY the equal of both "Bee Thousand" and "Alien Lanes" and is actually more of a well-rounded album than either. Sure, there is a small handful of filler tunes, but they're more like "breathers" in between the adrenaline rush of Pollard's most effortless sounding melodies. You want rockers? Try "Large Hearted Boy", "Exit Flagger", "Quality Of Armor." Stoned arena rock anthems? Try "Over the Neptune" or "Circus World." Bizarro cut-and-paste experiments? Try "Back to Saturn X." Make no mistake, this is homemade and the sound is a bit claustrophobic, but taken as a whole it's an incredible artifact of DIY American underground rock. It's all here folks; the beloved early GBV at their grittiest, funniest, and strangest, spilling forth with unforgetable melodies and some of the best lyrics in the history of rock music. If you don't like this you must have honey in your ears, or something like that!"

Long Live Rockathon!!! GBV's 5'th album finally finds them

M. E Mattson | 07/28/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Strangely, Guided by Voices were NOT the overnight success that some thought they were in 93/94 with the releases of Vampire on Titus and Bee Thousand. In fact, they had been struggling around Dayton, Ohio since 1986 privately pressing albums of 1,000 copies or less to local (but increasing rabid) fans. Over these five albums GBV went from basically an R.E.M./Soft Boys tribute band (1987's Devil Between my Toes and Sandbox)to finally gaining some originality (1989's Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia) and eventually producing a terrificly somber "drinking" album (90's Same Place the Fly Got Smashed)that established them as artists to be reckoned with. Any with interest to explore these hit and miss releases (except Fly, which somebody should reissue)should try to find a copy of the deleted Box, which has all of these plus an album of mostly questionable outtakes called King Shit and the Golden Boys. Most of the world should start with Propeller. You know ! this is a whole new band the moment a faux crowd chants "GBV...GBV" at the start of the amazing "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" which is five and a half minutes of everything you ever liked about the seventies. The rest of the album just continues this high mark, with three should of been singles ("Quality of Armor", "Exit Flagger" and "Unleashed! the Large Hearted Boy")highlighting a host of terrific songs. The band only hits the dark realms of Fly on "Lethargy!" and "Some Drilling Implied" which are loud bass driven screamers. But then, most everything is loud (except the pretty "Red Gas Circle" and Tobin Sprout's first song, "14 Cheerleader Coldfront"), and the only things that DON'T work is the sound collage "Saturn X" and the strange "Over the Tundra". From here, GBV got signed by Scat, took over the hearts of critics, and ended up releasing some amazing r! ecords. But it was here that they came into full flourish,! and it should not be missed by anybody. Especially if you have a thing for power pop..."