Guided By Voices - Same Place The Fly Got Smashed (1990)

Likely their darkest album, Same Place the Fly Got Smashed is another solid effort that takes the form of a tragic rock opera about a doomed, midwestern alcoholic. While the joylessness of this concept wears a bit thin over the course of the 13 tracks, the songwriting is compelling enough to make it fly. Punk rave-ups ("The Hard Way" and "Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge") and accoustic strummers ("When She Turns 50" and "How Loft I Am?") are equally capable in the evocation of the emotions of guilt, hopelessness, and forgotten innocence that pervade the album.