Search - Guided By Voices :: Earthquake Glue

Lets look at it on its own merits!!!!!

09/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"all these comparisons with other albums..gbv fans all have their favorites but how would one describe this record to someone that does not know gbv? that is the question no? after all we're all going to buy it...
to me the sound on this album has a lot of who with a sprinkling equal parts rush and the beatles....its definetly a ROCK or RAWK album rather than a pop album.... the first side (i have the lp) or first 8 songs are a bit lighter and poppier than the second side which is heavier and more prog like...the two catchy singles are really something: "my kind of soldier" and "the best of jill hives" and are propelled by nice bass action..."my kind of soldier" was recorded last and added to the record and its production seems a bit brighter .... this is not a lo fi record by any means... but it does have its lo fi moments as the recording of a middle school band playing some horns at the beginning of "my son, my secretary and my country" (i think this is a really great touch btw...that song along with jill hives most harks back to the so called classic gbv sound.. but gbv has moved on in the past few years.. and what they give us here is the best rock record i've heard so far this year... be cautioned that like all gbv records this requires repeated listenings... the first time may be unerwhelming as it takes a while to get past the density of the sound (again , except for jill hives , the title track and the second song).. ..the doug gilliard lead guitar is very prominent and means the bass can seem a bit buried.. this is what separates it from alien lanes where greg demos' bass was more up front and often drove the melody (ie, as we go up we go down).... if you enjoy playing the air guitar you'll dig this record..try it on "useless inventions"... as things stand i think this is the best official gbv record since under the bushes, under the stars... the lyrics at first may skirt by you but as usual with guided by beers you begin to pick up parts here and there and this allows you to imagine what the song is bout.. which i think is one of the nice things about gbv.. that they allow the listener to interact.... after listening to this record a bunch i still could not tell you what its about save to say that there is social/political commentary going on.. there's a line i like "stock markets tumbling, rock markets crumbling"...... there are the usual mentions of satellites and space imagery.. "of mites and men" the closing track closes the album in typical ROCKing gbv fashion... lastly, i saw them live at live on penn a few weeks ago and they kicked it performing these songs live..so they can back it up.... there are some beautiful lead guitar touches on "beat your wings" and "of mites and men".. good guitar tone...
anyways, i'm strongly recommending this album.. if you have the patience to listen to it a few times you will like this.."

Time to get over the Bee Thousand days

crash1015 | Chandler, AZ United States | 09/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When compared to the norm of music of the day, anything that Robert Pollard and GBV put out are way and above better. All of the GBV ctalog are pretty much 5 star recordings and this one is no different. This is sort of a return to the mid 90's sound (of course cleaned up) with some new prog sounds in it.
Not only do I love this disc I have not been able to get it out of my car stereo for over a week now. Catchy tunes abound (My Kind of Soldier, The best of Jill Hives, Useless Inventions, and my favorite Main Street Wizards)and the band is awesome on this one, most notably the bass playing of Tim Tobias. Doug and Nate are tight as always.
The problem I have is with these people who just won't let go of the Bee Thousand days or even the new generation of the HiFi GBV fans (Do the Collapse or Isolation Drills). Earthquake Glue (especially) and UTAC are a couple of the best GBV recordings period. The charm of the early GBV can never be recaptured but the songs the Bob writes now are as strong and probably more inventive. And as I like the HiFi recordings also they sounded a bit to forced to make a big record instead of just letting it go naturally, they are still good.Earthquake Glue rocks and everyone knows it. SO lowfi snobs need to get over it and the hifi crowd needs to learn what GBV was all about to begin with, but hey that's my opinion."

Long Live GBV

M. Acquisto | Sacramento, CA | 01/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Earthquake Glue" took about a year for me to get into. As a long time GBV fan, I initially didn't like this at all, I should know by now, as a lot of Robert Pollard's music takes time to give rewards. I kept wanting it to sound like "Isolation Drills" or "Alien Lanes", but once I listened to it for what it is, not what I wanted it to be, I loved it. So many brilliant songs here, like "Mix Up The Satelite", "Useless Inventions", "Beat Your Wings","Dead Cloud", "My Kind of Soldier" and "Dirty Water"...these tunes are really fresh and exciting. Don't expect "Glad Girls" or "Echoes Myron" part 2, though-this is Robert Pollard evolving and moving forward, a nice contrast to the prevoius album, "Universal Truths And Cycles". The arrangements and moods are really fascinating, maybe a little downbeat, but also uplifting in places. Of course, amazing lyrics here and every song paints a colorful picture. Listen to this at home at high volume, and be open minded about it...The drumming of Kevin March is awesome, well done. Another classic in the GBV library.

-Mike A."