VINYL FORMAT. Back on LP! "Alien Lanes" found Robert Pollard and his partners in hard pop, cleaning up their act a bit. For the most part, "Alien Lanes" isn't radically different from "Bee Thousand" ? it was primarily recorded on a four-track cassette machine (and sounds like it), and Guided By Voices was still a garage band with more in the way of inspiration than chops. But the musicians have put a bit more care and focus into their performance on this set; the playing is tighter and sharper, and the band plays toward their strengths, pushing their occasional sloppiness into a harder, more rock-oriented direction. I love this record.