Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll
Dayton, Ohio's Guided By Voices--GbV, as they're known to their dedicated legion of fans--is Robert Pollard (along with a shifting line-up of coconspirators). Guided by Voices: A Brief History follows the fascinating story of leader Robert Pollard's twenty-one year evolution from unrecognized garage-rock genius to his discovery, at age thirty-six, by rock critics and fans. Critics--whose praise went so far as to hail him as "this millennium's William Shakespeare"--drew comparisons to everyone...
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Guided by Voices was one of the most popular indie-rock bands of the 1990s. Critics internationally have lauded the band’s brain trust, Robert Pollard, as a once-in-a-generation artist. Pollard has been compared by The New York Times to Mozart, Rossini, and Paul McCartney (in the same sentence) and everyone from P. J. Harvey, Radiohead, R.E.M., the Strokes, and U2 has sung his praises and cited his music as an influence. But it all started rather prosaically when Pollard, a fourth-grade teacher in his early thirties from Dayton, Ohio, began recording songs with drinking buddies in his basement. James Greer, an acclaimed music writer and former Spin editor, enjoys a unique advantage in having played in the band for two years. This personal connection grants him unparalleled insight and complete access to the workings of Pollard’s muse. Library Journal For rock critics, Ohioan indie rockers Guided by Voices (GBV) are a dream. Their career is the classic underdog-makes-good story: a ragtag bunch of mid-thirties schoolteachers and journeymen give rock stardom one more try-and succeed! To recount this journey, screenwriter, former SPIN editor, and erstwhile GBV bassist Greer puckishly begins with the series of 2004 gigs that marked the end of GBV. From there, he ducks and dives through 20 years, with plenty of rambling interjections and conversational off-ramps along the way. Greer is understandably focused on songwriting engine/frontman Robert Pollard, the lone constant in GBV, but there are plenty of band members and confederates carrying their narrative weight, including critic Richard Meltzer and Who guitarist Pete Townshend. It's a story of friendship, drinking, music, and how you don't have to leave home to become a star. This first biography of the band will be pleasingly familiar to readers of Jimmy McDonough's labor of love, Shakey: Neil Young's Biography. Warmly recommended for all libraries.-Matthew Moyer, Jacksonville P.L., FL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
\ Library JournalFor rock critics, Ohioan indie rockers Guided by Voices (GBV) are a dream. Their career is the classic underdog-makes-good story: a ragtag bunch of mid-thirties schoolteachers and journeymen give rock stardom one more try-and succeed! To recount this journey, screenwriter, former SPIN editor, and erstwhile GBV bassist Greer puckishly begins with the series of 2004 gigs that marked the end of GBV. From there, he ducks and dives through 20 years, with plenty of rambling interjections and conversational off-ramps along the way. Greer is understandably focused on songwriting engine/frontman Robert Pollard, the lone constant in GBV, but there are plenty of band members and confederates carrying their narrative weight, including critic Richard Meltzer and Who guitarist Pete Townshend. It's a story of friendship, drinking, music, and how you don't have to leave home to become a star. This first biography of the band will be pleasingly familiar to readers of Jimmy McDonough's labor of love, Shakey: Neil Young's Biography. Warmly recommended for all libraries.-Matthew Moyer, Jacksonville P.L., FL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \
