Customer Reviews

Mag Earwhig!

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is definitely the most overlooked GBV album, and I can't get over how well it holds together as a whole. Although the preceding _Under the Bushes_ has perhaps more "standout" tracks, _Mag Earwhig_ is a more complete album and sounds less cobbled-together. This is probably the GBV album I'd point someone to after the indispensable "Bee Thousand", "Alien Lanes", and "Isolation Drills". _Mag Earwhig_ is packed with tunes that gradually come out and wrap around your brain, like all classic GBV albums.

Although "Alien Lanes" to me captures their sound best, "Mag Earwhig!" is the perfect balance of their lo-fi and hi-fi sound.
The songs range from short and fast to long and well composed.
In my opinion this is their finest, but it's all subjective, just if you are new, get this one as a first, that way you can travel from "Bee Thousand" to sat "Isolation Drills" without being shocked.
But alone on this albums merits, GBV really shine.

Every GBV fan has a different opinion over this album, and for that matter everything GBV has ever done. My opinion: this is the MOST WELL-ROUNDED ALBUM THEY HAVE DONE THUS FAR.

Not to down-play any other album they have made so far, but this one contains every element of their career. Examples: Lo-fi recordings AND hi-fi recordings next to each other, snippet songs intertwined with well-rounded completed pieces, etc.

Furthermore, the songwriting is peak here. Just to pick a few:

SAD IF I LOST IT is impossible to imagine on any album before this one; a definite break-through for GBV.

LEARNING TO HUNT - the first blatant romance song to appear on a GBV record; another break-through which would serve them on future albums.

I AM A TREE, MUTE SUPERSTAR, PORTABLE MEN'S SOCIETY - cleverly crafted, as well as perfectly executed. The drive in these songs makes them perfect for highway driving and mosh pits alike.

MAG EARWHIG, OLD GRUNT, CHOKING TARA - 3 songs that you definitely will not "get" the first time you listen to them, but will grow on you with further listening; being "snippets" (songs under 1:30 and feel like drafts), these would have fit well on the ALIEN LANES album, but thankfully were held onto for this collection.

THE FINEST JOKE..., JANE OF THE WAKING UNIVERSE, BOMB IN THE BEE-HIVE, KNOCK EM FLYIN' - classic GBV. Period. These would have fit on any album, but after a few listens you begin to believe they were saved for just the right occasion.

All in all, every song on this album is perfectly unique and the results are that the songs never get old. You wouldn't want another second to any of the shorter songs, and if you edited the longer ones they would feel incomplete.

If you are new to GBV, I reccommend this album first. Then, pick up UNDER THE BUSHES..., BEE THOUSAND, and UNIVERSAL TRUTHS. If you are a longtime fan and don't own this yet, shame on you. Stop what you are doing. Put one in your check-out cart.

I may be missing something, but I don't see why this one isn't more broadly considered a gbv classic. It's got hooks galore and plenty of wet-cement-basement acoustics that ought to please the faithful. There's an assortment of stand-out tracks here, including "Jane of the Expanding Universe" and "Not Behind the Fighter Jets." Gritty and dynamic, coming at you from a lost planet.

I totally agree with one reviewer. He said that most true GBV fans are a little dissappointed, but critics are generally pleased with this record. The critics are right on this one. Mr. Pollard took a risk with going with a totally different back up band, but it did juice things up a bit. Just listen to it more than a hand full of times, it will grow on you.

Plenty of Guided by Voices fans have always liked the lo-fi trendsetters just the way they are, but many of us have held out hope that they'd eventually develop some, well, competence. We've gotten our wish. 1996's marvelous "Under the Bushes Under the Stars" sounded as though it was recorded in an honest-to-God studio, as opposed to a bathroom. And "Mag Earwhig!" not only does away with the loud tape hiss but adds instrumental prowess: Cobra Verde, the local band that backs Dayton, Ohio, songwriter Robert Pollard here (longtime sidekick Tobin Sprout is mostly missing) can really play. "Mag Earwhig!" is loaded with wildly catchy melodies and interesting guitar-pop arrangements, and Pollard transforms delirious non sequiturs into genuine lyrics. "Bulldog Skin" sounds like a college-radio hit, and "Jane of the Waking Universe" has the catchiest one-line chorus you've heard in a while. There may be 21 tracks on "Mag Earwhig!," but most are actual *songs*, as opposed to the fragments that litter 1995's "Alien Lanes"-though some of these pieces still feel incomplete; it's a little frustrating when the pounding "Not Behind the Fighter Jet" fades out at 2:10 rather than actually finishing, and a few tracks clearly are rough drafts. But it's OK-we wouldn't want GbV to resemble any other band.

I still can't figure out why GBV fans don't love this album like a first-born child. It's just brilliant. The addition of Doug Gillard on guitar adds a new dimension of musicianship to this band. Once just masters of the pop hook, Bob Pollard and co. have proven that drunken hicks can produce some of the most cutting-edge, artistic music around. So there.

I'll never understand why so many Guided by Voices fans dismiss this album. In fact, I think "Mag Earwhig!" is rivaled only by "Under the Bushes Under the Stars" in the GBV canon.

It's got the best production on any GBV album, seamlessly mixing the clean professionalism of Cobra Verde with some tasty lo-fi nuggets. "I am a Tree," "Little Lines," and "Bomb in the Bee-Hive" bring the invigorating hard rock, while "Sad If I Lost It," "Jane of the Waking Universe," and "Choking Tara" feature some of Robert Pollard's most achingly beautiful melodies. And the title track keeps things refreshingly weird.

I could keep naming highlights, or you could just look up at the full tracklist. Basically, "Mag Earwhig!" showcases everything great about the band in 21 melodic, powerful, memorable songs. Yeah, it's troubling that Pollard fired several longstanding bandmembers before making this album, but who can argue with the results?

Guided by Voices newcomers, start here!

As this was the first GbV CD I purchased, I didn't know anything about their backstory or Cobra Verde or any of that stuff. I just happened to pick this up, based on some review or something. It is a fantastic CD, and a pretty decent introduction to the band.

Now, I own nearly every Guided by Voices CD released, and several vinyl releases, EPs, boxed sets, and singles, all thanks to Mag Earwhig! I believe it is pretty fair to say that this CD has started a serious obsession that has affected me quite a big deal. Hooray!

This album is loaded with emotionally charged tunes that cover all kinds of musical territory. It's one of the most satisfying GBV albums I've heard and it stands completely on its own. There's a point in this record, somewhere around "Learning To Hunt", where I get lost in the dream, every single time.