Guided by Voices Albums (19)
'Live from Austin TX'
Release Date 5/15/2007
Tracks 30
Label New West
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What The Critics Say
Given Robert Pollard's skewed but enthusiastic embrace of rock classicism (evidenced by his shared obsession with the Beatles and the Who), it's surprising that Guided by Voices never got around to releasing that staple of rock & roll traditionalists, the double live album (beyond giving their blessings to a couple of authorized semi-bootlegs, Jellyfish Reflector and Crying Your Knife Away). But two years after Pollard retired Guided by Voices, the band finally gets the twin-disc concert document treatment with Live from Austin, TX, which preserves the 30-song set GBV played during a November 2004 taping of the PBS series Austin City Limits on their farewell tour. While the DVD Guided by Voices: The Electrifying Conclusion offers a writ-large record of GBV's last days (taped during the band's marathon final gig), this more compact offering serves a similar function -- while not the definitive word on a live Guided by Voices gig, it captures their many strengths and occasional weaknesses very well indeed. While Guided by Voices lost a bit of their semi-pro charm in their last years, as a live act they were near the peak of their abilities when they set out on their final road trip, and the band sounds little short of remarkable during this set; Doug Gillard and Nate Farley's guitars channel the melodic glory of Pollard's songs through the thunder of a stack of amps as bassist Chris Slusarenko and drummer Kevin March drive these songs like Mario Andretti. The set list for this show jumps back and forth through the Guided by Voices time line, and nearly everything sounds like a winner as these musicians spin gold from their leader's singular pop hooks. And as for Robert Pollard, he was clearly allowed to drink as much beer as he wanted during the course of the taping, and over the course of 88 minutes he gets progressively sloppier, and while there's no arguing he was giving the crowd his all during this concert, his devolution from the confident frontman shouting "Say it! Learn it! Know it!" as his fans shout "Gee! Bee! Vee!" at the outset to the mush-mouthed guy who can barely pronounce the words to "Echoes Myron" at the end of the night is either amusing or a little sad depending on your perspective (though Pollard's drinking was also an integral part of GBV's live show for years). Live from Austin, TX is Guided by Voices presented warts and all, and if the band's shortcoming are sometimes audible, their great music also rings out loud and clear and it's a valuable addition to their recorded legacy. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Half Smiles of the Decomposed'
Release Date 8/24/2004
Tracks 14
Label Matador
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What The Critics Say
Ever since they first burst into the consciousness of indie rock fans across our great nation in 1994 with Bee Thousand, Guided by Voices seemed like one of those bands that was always going to be there for us, letting loose with a steady stream of albums, singles, EPs, live shows, and side projects that even devoted fans had trouble keeping up with. But in April of 2004, GBV commandant Robert Pollard announced that the band would be calling it quits at the end of that year, and that Half Smiles of the Decomposed would be their last album. Given its status as GBV's sort-of-official recorded farewell, Half Smiles of the Decomposed carries significantly more psychic weight than previous albums from the group, so it's a bit surprising that the results hardly equal a "typical" Guided by Voices CD. Comprised of a mere 14 songs in 42 minutes, half of which are over three minutes in length, Half Smiles of the Decomposed is a final departure from GBV's tradition of compact pop masterpieces, and while the production (by occasional keyboard player Todd Tobias) doesn't approach the slickness of Do the Collapse or Isolation Drills, this may be the polished and attentive "indie" album Pollard and GBV have ever made. And the songs appear to be reaching for an epic quality that goes beyond their length; Pollard's way with a melody is very much in evidence, but rather than going for simple blissful hookiness, this set approximates a homegrown version of the big-screen sweep of, say, The Who on Who's Next or Mott the Hoople on Mott. But even though Half Smiles of the Decomposed sounds great, the band plays with impressive skill, and it represents one of Pollard's most successful attempts to balance his lo-fi musical impulses against the demands of proper record production, it lacks the ineffable fire and energy that has always set their best work apart. In short, Half Smiles takes Guided by Voices to the edge of their musical possibilities, but instead of leading them to a final glorious victory, it just seems to stop at the end of the road. But then again, maybe this is really just where Robert Pollard picks up a ride to his next destination. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
For those who love the idea of Guided By Voices a bit more than the reality, it's sometimes hard not to be frustrated with Robert Pollard, a scattershot genius who is equally well-defined by both halves of that description. GBV leader Pollard is a startlingly gifted and prolific songwriter and musician, but he also displays either an inability or a disinterest in separating his wheat from his chaff, as anyone who has tried to plow through his relentless barrage of side projects has doubtless noticed. Which is why Earthquake Glue is such a pleasant surprise -- it may well be the most consistent and satisfying Guided By Voices album to date, and if its potent rock crunch is bettered by 2001's superb Isolation Drills, this comes close enough to make any fan pummel his air guitar with glee. While the sharper focus and tight set list of Earthquake Glue is impressive, just as important is how good Guided By Voices sounds as a band these days; while usually regarded as little more than Pollard's backing group, this edition of GBV has become tight, emphatic, and joyously powerful after several years on the road and in the studio, with the guitars of Doug Gillard and Nate Farley and the rhythm section of Tim Tobias and Kevin March giving the tunes all the smarts and twice the muscle their creator could have hoped for. And while Earthquake Glue lacks the clunky lo-fi ambience of Bee Thousand or Alien Lanes, these songs suggest Pollard and his collaborators have been able to take the spontaneity and adventure of those tracks and graft them into a better structured and more satisfying framework. If Earthquake Glue isn't a masterpiece, it's as close as this band can be expected to get, and is the rare Guided By Voices effort that's imaginative enough for longtime loyalists and tight enough for dabblers at the same time. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Universal Truths and Cycles'
Release Date 6/18/2002
Tracks 19
Label Matador
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What The Critics Say
After leaving the comfy indie confines of Matador Records for the corporate sponsorship of bigger indie TVT Records, Robert Pollard and his partners in Guided by Voices abandoned the sloppy production that had long been their hallmark and starting playing on the same field as the big boys, which offended purists but also resulted in one of the band's best albums, 2001's Isolation Drills, which boasted a clean but potent production by Rob Schnapf. In 2002, Guided by Voices and TVT parted ways, and GBV's return to Matador, Universal Truths and Cycles, sounds like a case of two steps forward, one step back. Produced by the band with Todd Tobias in their humble home state of Ohio, Universal Truths and Cycles lacks the high sheen of Do the Collapse and Isolation Drills, but it also reveals a much sharper focus and precise musical attack than anything this band released prior to Mag Earwhig!, and if the production has a rougher surface, Pollard's ambition has certainly grown, with a tighter sound, more details, and even a well-placed string section on a few cuts. However, Universal Truths and Cycles shows the band has lost touch with the most important thing outside producers brought to their TVT albums -- someone to help pick, choose, and sequence Robert Pollard's over-abundance of songs. While Pollard has, as usual, come up with a few great tunes here (most notably "Cheyenne," "Everywhere With Helicopter," and "Eureka Signs"), this album lacks the thematic coherence and unified impact of Isolation Drills. Universal Truths and Cycles proves that Robert Pollard and Guided by Voices have come a long, long way since Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, but it also suggests the old high school football star needs a good coach to play at the top of his game. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Guided by Voices fans who embraced them as the saviors of lo-fi pop after discovering such four-track-in-a-basement masterpieces as Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes had better learn to live with the fact those days are gone for good -- the high-gloss production of 1999's Do the Collapse made it clear that GBV topkick Robert Pollard wanted his band to compete in rock's big leagues, and Isolation Drills only confirms that notion, sounding even more polished and precise than its precursor. However, if you loved GBV for their songs rather than their sometimes-charming sloppiness, then you'll be glad to hear that Pollard and Company have never used professionalism to better advantage than they do here. While Ric Ocasek's production on Do the Collapse was sympathetic, he clearly favored the pop side of the band's personality at the expense of their muscle (most clearly evidenced by the pseudo-new wave keyboard patches). But with Rob Schnapf behind the controls, Isolation Drills sounds like the real rock album GBV have always wanted to make; Pollard's hooky-but-rollicking melodies pay audible tribute to his great love for mid-'70s rock throughout, while Doug Gillard and Nate Farley's guitars finally crunch as much as they chime, making the band's rock moves as credible as their pop gestures ("Glad Girls" and "Chasing Heather Crazy" even finding them managing both at the same time, to superb effect). And Guided by Voices has never made an album this consistently strong from start to finish; with the possible exception of "Frostman" (which appears to have been processed to sound like it was recorded on four track), every song here matters, with Pollard's vocals at the top of their form (it helps that most of his lyrics actually make sense for a change -- sounds like Bob's been having relationship problems again) and the band sounds tight, forceful, and emphatic throughout. God knows if the indie rock audience will ever forgive him for such obvious craft, but the side of Pollard's personality that thought touring with Cheap Trick was a great idea finally gets the album he's been waiting for with Isolation Drills. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
There are basically two schools of thought regarding Guided By Voices. One claims that the band are in their element with a four-track, turning out impressionist albums of fragmented, mini-pop songs reminiscent of Jon Anderson fronting REM. The other claims that they're a great pop band that has never made a great pop album because they're held back by their adherence to the four-track. Maybe GBV's frontman Robert Pollard is among the latter camp, since Do the Collapse is their first effort recorded in a full-fledged studio with a real producer, namely Ric Ocasek. Of course, the jump to professionalism could have happened simply because there was nowhere left for the band to go. Their amateurish, homemade guitar-pop was fascinating in 1994, when it broke out of the underground, but by 1999, it had become entirely too predictable thanks to an endless series of albums, singles, EPs and solo projects. Even hiring Cobra Verde as a backing band on Mag Earwhig! didn't really change things -- it was time for a shot at the big-time. As a matter of fact, Do the Collapse was even designed as their major-label debut, but the label passed on their option after hearing the finished result, so GBV headed over for TVT. It's hard not to blame the major label, actually, because Do the Collapse simply doesn't work. It's not that Ocasek's produciton is inappropriate or that the expanded length of the songs feel wrong, it's that Pollard is stuck in a rut. His songs follow familiar patterns and now that there have been so many of them, it's hard not to feel like they're all tossed off to a certain extent. No hooks gain hold, the imagery feels silly, there's no excitement or energy to the band's performances, which means the album feels exactly what any fan would fear from a GBV major-label release -- a puffed-up, inflated, overblown version of Alien Lanes. Ironically, it's clear that's not what Pollard or Ocasek wanted to do with Do the Collapse -- they wanted to cut GBV's Cheap Trick album -- but the band's strengths have deterioated so much, that's the only thing they were capable of cutting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
After Bee Thousand gave Guided By Voices a wider audience, it became evident that Robert Pollard saw himself as more than just the band's songwriter and frontman, and as his career ambitions grew, he became increasingly frustrated with the limitations of his band. Matters came to a head prior to the recording of Mag Earwhig! as Pollard broke ties with longtime guitarist and fellow songwriter Tobin Sprout and fired the rest of the group. While Pollard and Sprout soon buried the hatchet, Sprout opted not to stay on as a full-time member of the group, and Pollard was now Guided By Voices' uncontested leader. He hired Cleveland-based blues/garage rockers Cobra Verde as his backing band for the next GBV album, and Mag Earwhig! sounded a good bit different as a result; while there were a few stray four-track experiments with Sprout scattered about, most of the album had a solid, professional sheen, and Cobra Verde rock harder and sound tighter than any of the lineups Pollard had worked with in the past. Unfortunately, his songwriting wasn't quite up to his usual standards, which the new clarity of this album makes all the more evident. Pollard is incapable of making an album without a few fine songs, and "Bulldog Skin," "Sad If I Lost It," "Not Behind the Fighter Jet," and "Portable Men's Society" certainly fill the bill, but it may well be significant that Mag Earwhig!'s most exciting song, the joyous "I Am a Tree," was written by Cobra Verde's Doug Gillard. While there's plenty to enjoy here, Robert Pollard's next experiment in hi-fi record making, Do the Collapse, would prove to be much more successful. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Jellyfish Reflector'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 32
Label Jellyfish
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
While live records are often little more than a way for artists to fulfill their contract obligations, Guided By Voices' 1996 semi-bootleg release Jellyfish Reflector is as well played and powerful as any of the band's other work. Recorded at the Patio Club in Indianapolis, IN, Jellyfish Reflector is comprised of 30 songs, a relatively short set list considering the epic shows the Dayton, OH, act is known for. Drawn heavily from classic Guided By Voices records like Propellor, Under the Bushes Under the Stars, and Bee Thousand, Jellyfish Reflector finds Robert Pollard and an incarnation of Guided By Voices that includes Mitch Mitchell dishing out staples like "Game of Pricks," "Pimple Zoo," "Gold Star for Robot Boy," "Motor Away," and, of course, "Hot Freaks." By covering material from so many of the band's albums, Jellyfish Reflector serves as an excellent starting point for those new to the world of Guided By Voices. In true Guided By Voices fashion, frontman/pop genius/avid beer-drinker Robert Pollard can be heard becoming progressively intoxicated as the show wears on, with his speech slurring as he tries to introduce the song "Striped White Jets." Whereas live albums tend to be either over-produced and sterile, or noisy and unlistenable, Jellyfish Reflector is one of the most coherent and enjoyable records, live or otherwise, you'll likely ever encounter. ~ Karen E. Graves, All Music Guide
'Under the Bushes Under the Stars'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 24
Label Matador
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
After firmly establishing themselves as America's most original and interesting band of part-time, over-30 garage rockers, Under the Bushes Under the Stars found Guided by Voices dipping their toes into something resembling professionalism. Leaving behind the homemade studio craft of their previous work, this album was recorded in a pair of actual recording studios, and the sessions boasted an outside producer (friend and temporary fellow Ohioan Kim Deal); while no one would mistake the results for the latest Bob Rock project, the set sounded more like a "real" record than anything GBV had attempted up to that time. The new edition of the band attempted to rise to the occasion, and though the performances lack the passion of Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes' finest moments, the stronger playing and cleaner production honors the pop sensibilities of Robert Pollard's songwriting. Pollard was also reaching for a better controlled style as a songwriter; Under the Bushes Under the Stars boats a mere 18 songs (as opposed to the 30 on Alien Lanes), and most sound like full fledged pop tunes, with fewer shards of musical fancy littering the way. While Pollard's tighter reign over the band and new sense of self-control made this album a more solid and consistent album than GBV had made in the past, it's also not as exciting as Alien Lanes; Pollard's songs lack a certain fire here (though "Man Called Aerodynamics," "Your Name Is Wild," and "The Official Ironmen Rally Song" sound just fine), and the band sounds more stifled than enthused by their new grasp of the material. There's plenty to enjoy here, but it also appeared to have caught Guided by Voices in a transitional stage; just how much they were changing would be revealed on their next two albums. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'King Shit and the Golden Boys'
Release Date 1/1/1995
Tracks 19
Label Scat
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What The Critics Say
Although the 19 songs that make up King Shit and the Golden Boys all hover around the two-minute mark, they manage to feel like full songs rather than simply incomplete snippets. It is this knack for pumping out basement pop gems in the space of only a minute or two that has become Robert Pollard's trademark. The fact that even his incomplete musical thoughts easily surpass the best work of many groups makes it all the more impressive. Though it has a bit of everything, the record favors springy Brit-pop, with prime tracks like "Crutch Came Slinking" even featuring layers of background "ooohs" and "aaaahs," a fairly elaborate bit of production for such a lo-fi outfit. The album's acoustic tracks are among the most stirring bits, as their straightforward execution makes it feel like you're catching bits of a secret tape you weren't meant to hear -- like eavesdropping on a show the musicians were playing just for themselves. Re-recorded for 1996's Under the Bushes Under the Stars, the now classic "Don't Stop Now" (starring Big Daddy the rooster) appears here in an early, bare-bones incarnation that may actually be more stunning than its cleaned-up redux. In fact, this disc's title is pulled from the track's lyrics: "We pulled into economy island/King Sh*t and the Golden Boys/Plenty more where we came from/Top of the line/Don't stop now." Stripped-down and truly minimalist, the beauty of "Don't Stop Now" (and the album as a whole) is that it proves that while many artists have bought into the fallacy that it is big studios or expensive guitars that make albums great, the truth of the matter is that a great song is a great song, and that will show through even if it's recorded on a cheapo tape deck with an open-air microphone on a guitar with a buzzing string. While there are several striking acoustic tracks (Pollard's "Please Freeze Me" and Tobin Sprout's "Crunch Pillow" shine through), there are some truly rocking numbers as well. The spastic live staple "Postal Blowfish" and chunky static riff of "Greenface" spring most readily to mind, though "Squirmish Frontal Room" ranks high as well -- not to mention the delightfully odd "Deathtrot and Warlock Riding a Rooster." Another highlight, the bliss pop of "We've Got Airplanes," sounds a bit like it may have been an early relative of "I Am a Scientist" and "Teenage F.B.I." King Shit is as engaging as most of GBV's proper albums, and that it is merely a collection of mismatched rarities and outtakes is truly astounding. Made up of material culled from Bee Thousand outtakes (worth the price of admission on their own) and chunks of the unreleased LPs Back to Saturn X and Learning to Hunt, this is an album that should go over especially well with those fans in love with the Bee Thousand/Alien Lanes incarnation of GBV and the makeshift sonic-collage approach of those records. ~ Karen E. Graves, All Music Guide
