2. Alien Lanes (1995)

I wonder how many bands started because of the five bass notes on “A Salty Salute,” the minute-and-a-half masterpiece that kicks off Alien Lanes. The bassline is as simple and elegant as any of Newton’s theorems, and of course that’s only the beginning of this 28-song epic battle between harmony and discord. In the end nobody wins but the listener. Meandering tracks like “(I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger” end awkwardly like an unanswered question, only to be immediately resolved by an exhilarating song like “Game Of Pricks.” Alien Lanes isn’t quite GBV’s best album, but none other had such a sophisticated flow and structure. Who knows, maybe it was just random luck that it all fits together so well. Either way, it just works.