Zeppelin Over China

Zeppelin over China is the 27th studio album by American indie rock group Guided by Voices. It was released on February 1, 2019 on the Rockathon Records label and was recorded at Magic Door in New Jersey, Serious Business Records in New York and Stillwater Lodge in Dayton, Ohio. The double album received mixed to favorable reviews from critics scoring 65 out 100 on aggregate website Metacritic and four out five stars on AllMusic, with several critics commenting on the positive output of the band's current lineup. Composition A double album, though not the band's first, Zeppelin over China sees Guided by Voices covering genres that include indie rock and progressive rock while still maintaining the familiar melodic influences over the course of 32 songs. Commenting on these and other genres touched on by the band during the course of the album, Alex Wisgard of The Line of Best Fit said, "The opening stretch alone offers babbling, sinewy post-punk, dreamy jangle pop and an ominous dirge in quick succession, while other stretches yield delicate filigrees of chamber pop, lysergic behemoths and heavy slabs of concrete rock." All songs were written by front man Robert Pollard and, typically, few exceed the three minute mark. Several tracks feature string and horn arrangements composed by guitarist Doug Gillard who AllMusic described as "a guitar player with the chops and good taste to make the most of the melodies." The album was mixed, mastered and produced by GbV collaborator Travis Harrison. Release Zeppelin over China was released on February 1, 2019, 25 years after the release of one of the band's most critically acclaimed albums, Bee Thousand and 11 months after the release of their previous album, Space Gun. Pollard stated in an interview with Gothamists Ben Yakas that some leftover songs from the Space Gun sessions were used on this album. In the build-up to the album's release and as part of a marketing strategy for the band's next album titled Warp and Woof the band released four vinyl-only limited edition 7-inch EPs. These were titled Winecork Stonehenge, 100 Dougs, Umlaut over the Özone and 1901 Acid Rock and combined make up the material for Warp and Woof.