About
Begun as a side project to singer/lyricist Robert Pollard's teaching career, Guided By Voices' brief, lo-fi bursts of pop brilliance came to the attention of Scat Records only after Pollard's friends secretly distributed a demo. Since then it's been a Cinderella story: Pollard and a revolving group of backup musicians have tirelessly peddled their arty, sophisticated anthems across the US and elsewhere, releasing over a dozen full length LPs and receiving a growing chorus of critical acclaim. Twelve years after the appearance of their first locally released cassette (and six years after their much heralded Bee Thousand) it was finally, in Pollard's words, "time to get paid." Do the Collapse, produced by the Cars' Ric Ocasek, found the band as sharp and poignant as ever, but more pristinely recorded and finally ready for the stadium. In 2002, fans saw the release of the '70s rock-oriented Isolation Drills. Its highlights were "Glad Girls" and "Chasing Heather Crazy," but this record signaled the end of their association with TVT records. The next year found them heading back to Matador Records, resulting in three more studio albums, Hardcore UFOs, a box set that included unreleased rarities, and a more traditional greatest hits collection titled Human Amusements at Hourly Rates. In 2004, the jangling, near-perfect Half Smiles of the Decomposed ended their 21 years on a high note. Robert Pollard stated that when he released a recording that was befitting his standards for a final album, well, then that would be the final album for Guided by Voices. They finished up 2004 with a farewell tour; their last live performance was on New Year's Eve in Chicago. However, Pollard continues on with his endless stream of musical ideas as a solo artist with the same enthusiasm and frenzied output. His first post-GBV solo release in 2006 was a double-disc set containing 26 songs. Also in the works, more Guided by Voices re-issues. In keeping with the "no rhyme nor reason" theme, most are available only on vinyl.
- Michele K-Tel
