Artist bio

Guided By Voices is the primary vehicle for Dayton, Ohio-based rocksmith Robert Pollard, and has proved one of the most tireless, exciting rock bands of its time.

Pollard, a former elementary school teacher, formed the group in 1985 around a group of Dayton musicians and friends, including frequent collaborator Tobin Sprout. Their first four albums didn't cross many radar screens, but 1992's excellent Propeller earned the group a modicum of national recognition, with such musical notaries as Kim Deal and Thurston Moore naming themselves fans.

Two years later, the group's second breakthrough came with Bee Thousand, a home-crafted epic, classic rock and roll album that exploded the group's popularity and almost overnight, instituting GBV as "the" quintessential indie rock band. The group signed a big record deal with Matador, and then proceeded to make their next album at home and keep the money. Smart guys, these Ohians.

But rock aspirations got the better of them. The group began experimenting with "real studios" and fleshing out their songs into full-on rockers and such in the late '90s. Pollard solidified his role as the band's driver in 1997, after Sprout left and Pollard kicked out the rest of the members, hiring indie rockers Cobra Verde as their replacements. CV guitarist Doug Gillard stayed on as Pollard's favorite post-Sprout sideman thereafter, while other members came and went and stayed and left, the most volatile seat being on the drum riser.

And last we heard, Pollard and his merry band of mischief-makers were still swilling Bud Light and rocking long into the night at a club near you. Get up slowly, and tear yourself away from your computer. You might be able to get there in time to catch set closer "My Valuable Hunting Knife>Baba O'Riley".

Albums by this artist

Half-Smiles Of The Decomposed (2004)

Human Amusements At Hourly Rates (2003)

Universal Truths And Cycles (2002)

Isolation Drills (2001)

Suitcase (2000)

Do The Collapse (1999)

Mag Earwhig! (1997)

Bulldog Skin 7" (1997)

Tonics and Twisted Chasters (1997)

Sunfish Holy Breakfast (1996)

Under The Bushes, Under The Stars (Recommended) (1996)

Alien Lanes (Recommended) (1996)

Bee Thousand (Recommended) (1994)

Crying Your Knife Away (1994)

The Grand Hour (1993)

Propeller (Recommended) (1992)

Concerts

March 18, 2002
The Dublin Pub, Dayton, Ohio

December 30, 2001
Apollo Theatre, New York

Features

Guided By Voices History: Part II: 1994-1999
Published October 31, 2005

Guided by Voices History: Part III: 1999-2004
Published October 31, 2005

Guided By Voices History: Part I: 1983-1994
Published October 30, 2005

GBV: A Eulogy: Or, Pollards We Have Known
Published December 30, 2004

NATN's Wholly Subjective Top 100 GBV Songs Of All Time:
Published December 30, 2004

The Top 100 Songs Thingy: Um, The Second Half.
Published December 30, 2004

Interviews

Doug Gillard
October 23, 2003

Rock Of Ages
March 27, 2001

GBV: A Eulogy

Or, Pollards We Have Known

» NATN STAFF | |

The band dressed all in black. It was April 24, 2004, a rainy Saturday evening in New York, and Robert Pollard, one of the most prolific songwriters rock and roll has known, stood onstage at the Bowery Ballroom and announced that his band Guided By Voices would cease to exist at the end of 2004.

And so it would come to pass, that one of Nude As The News' favorite groups chose to cross into the ether and consign itself to history. Last Friday's blowout show at Chicago's Metro was ostensibly their last.

Yes, we know that Mr. Pollard plans to continue making music, and building upon his enormous discography. But the move, while largely symbolic, does signify the end of an era. And far be it from us to pass up such an opportunity.

So if you're reading this site and don't own a Guided By Voices album, we advise you rectify this transgression immediately. The rest of you, please dust off your turntable, crack open a Bud Light (or the beverage of your choice), and raise a flag along with us as we celebrate one of the finest rock bands of our time.

First, let's travel with longtime staff writer Mark T.R. Donohue, aka Western Homes, to check out his record collection and discover the secrets of Guided By Voices obsession and how Pollard and co. came to reverse accepted economic theory.

Next, step into our archives to check out a bevy of reviews from throughout the band's career -- from classic albums to four-track EPs -- as well as a couple of alcohol-soaked concert reviews and the transcript of a memorable afternoon associate editor Jonathan Cohen shared with Pollard back in 2001. More recently, director Troy Carpenter chatted with Doug Gillard before the homestretch of the group's Electrifying Conclusion tour.

And if you haven't been enlightened, you certainly don’t want to miss dear old DJ Thom Thomas' unique presentation of Guided By Voices Trivee.

You still with us? Good. Time now to flip on that fourth Suitcase disc and join NATN on a long, strange trip through the esteemed GBV catalog. This is a project we've been kicking around for a while, but it always seemed to slip away when we looked up and there was another new album of delicious pie to factor in. Now that Bob has decreed Half-Smiles Of The Decomposed the final GBV album, let's take a look back through...

The Top 100 GBV Songs Of All Time

NATN STAFF | We thank you for your patience. Reward yourself today!