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  "title": "Top 40 '90s albums, #23: Guided by Voices — Bee Thousand",
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              "plaintext": "It’s a little funny, putting this Guided By Voices record immediately after a Dream Theater record. However, I did once compare GBV’s early ‘90s era music to Yes’s apex, so, uh, I don’t know. Maybe that says more about me than it does the music. (It was something like 15 years ago, and I think it was on Twitter.)"
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              "plaintext": "Anyway, this is such a good record. I can thank my friend Eric for really introducing me to Guided By Voices. He helped me work through the lo-fi sound, and it revealed some of the best pop songwriting of the era. Bee Thousand opens with “Hardcore UFOs,” a perfect introduction to the album’s sound. I could list my favorite songs on this album, but given the album has 20, I’d probably name 10. I’ll try to avoid just doing that, but a few stand out more than others: “Gold Star for Robot Boy” and “I Am a Scientist” are both top-tier Guided by Voices songs."
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              "plaintext": "It’s a little wild to me that this album released in 1994. Maybe it’s a product of the noisy production and the four-track machines they’re recording on, but there’s a quality here that doesn’t feel tethered to time. The song writing isn’t dense or pretentious, and it’s generally to the band’s benefit."
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              "plaintext": "There are some great tracks that come from later in the band’s career. 1999’s Do the Collapse has some highlights (“Teenage FBI” and “Hold on Hope” are two for which I have particularly soft spots), 2001’s Isolation Drills has “Glad Girls,” 2004’s Half Smiles of the Decomposed opens with “Everyone Thinks I’m a Raincloud (When I’m Not Looking)” — there’s good stuff around here. After that, your mileage may vary. They’re now releasing anywhere between 1 and 4 albums every year, and I just don’t care to try and keep up. There are probably some brilliant songs in there, but I really can’t be bothered to find them."
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              "plaintext": "In a sense, Bee Thousand also represents Alien Lanes on this list. I almost listed both of them, but honestly, I think I’ve talked (a little, at least) about the better of the two albums."
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  "description": "Guided By Voices at their lo-fi peak",
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