Line #19 Music/GuidedByVoices


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guided_by_voices_1319631024_crop_550x369.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: The "classic" line-up[[note]]L-to-R: Kevin Fennell, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, James Greer, Robert Pollard [[/note]]]]
3
4	-->''I write a whole page of great titles, I have to give them personalities and write songs for them.''
5	-->Robert Pollard
6
7	Guided By Voices are an [[ArchivePanic insanely prolific]] AlternativeRock band from Dayton, Ohio, active from 1983-2004, 2010-2014 and 2016 to the present.
8
9	The band was formed by guitarist/vocalist Robert Pollard, and mostly featured a large cast of other band members, chiefly because of Pollard's habit of recording with whoever was on hand or announcing the band's breakup and assembling a new lineup shortly afterwards. The classic lineup of the band consisted of founding members Pollard and guitarist Mitch Mitchell, with guitarist Tobin Sprout, bassist Greg Demos and drummer Kevin Fennell. This lineup was in place from 1986 to 1997, and then again from 2010 to 2014.
10
11	GBV's first release was the EP ''Forever Since Breakfast'' in 1986, which [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness was recorded in a professional studio and had a harmony-laden folk-rock sound not far removed from]] Music/{{REM}}. However, the EP sank without a trace, and Pollard grew to regret it, deriding it as "sterile". From next year's ''Devil Between My Toes'' on, GBV became a purely studio band (to accommodate Pollard's day job as a teacher), and gained its SignatureStyle: [[MinisculeRocking short songs]] written at [[ArchivePanic a blindingly fast pace]] recorded in a lo-fi manner (usually to a Portasound 4-track), and drawing influences from what Pollard called "the four P's": PunkRock, {{Pop}}, PsychedelicRock and ProgressiveRock (PostPunk, [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion Pthe Pbritish Pinvasion]] and [[GarageRock Pgarage Rock]] also provided an influence). The material released during this period tended to only circulate among friends and family members.
12
13	After years of attracting little in the way of recognition outside of Dayton, the band decided to split after releasing their 1992 album ''Propeller'', which they considered to be their finest work to date. However, the album turned out be their breakthrough in the indie rock world despite its limited release of 500 copies. It gained the band an increasingly large fandom (which included bands like Music/SonicYouth and Music/TheBreeders) and they decided to remain together. Now becoming increasingly known and having a steady lineup that included guitarists Tobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell (no, not [[Music/JimiHendrix that one]]), bassist Greg Demos and drummer Kevin Fennell, GBV released its landmark album ''Bee Thousand'' in 1994.
14
15	''Bee Thousand'', like ''Propeller'' before it, was planned to be the group's final album, as Pollard planned to focus on his day job as an elementary school teacher after its release. However, that would once again not be the case. Consisting of both new songs and archival recordings, ''Bee Thousand'' was critically acclaimed and became the band's biggest album to date. With the help of the single "I Am a Scientist", it also turned them from a somewhat-known entity into one of the biggest American indie rock groups of the 1990s. Once again, the plans for Guided by Voices to break up were put on hold and the group signed to the influential indie label Matador. The follow-ups ''Alien Lanes'' and ''Under the Bushes, Under the Stars'' were similarly well-received.
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17	The Pollard-Sprout-Mitchell-Demos-Fennell lineup soon disintegrated due to the pressures of touring. A new lineup was assembled from the members of Cleveland glam rock band Cobra Verde, with the result being the RockOpera ''Mag Earwhig!''. However, Pollard dismissed this lineup as well, and brought together a new one, which included a returning Demos and Music/TheBreeders alumni Jim [=MacPherson=] and Nate Farley. The band then moved to TVT Records and recorded ''Do the Collapse'' with [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]]. The album's slicker, more radio-friendly sound caused a big TheyChangedItNowItSucks reaction among the fanbase, one which was also present but to a lesser extent on its followup ''Isolation Drills''. Failing to attract major success, GBV left TVT in 2002 and returned to their usual sound with ''Universal Truths and Cycles''.
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19	After ''Half-Smiles of the Decomposed'''s release, Pollard announced the disbanding of GBV, saying "This feels like the last album for Guided by Voices. I've always said that when I make a record that I'm totally satisfied with as befitting a final album, then that will be it. And this is it." A final live tour followed.
20
21	The band's "classic" Pollard-Sprout-Mitchell-Demos-Fennell lineup announced a reunion in 2010, and true to their prolific reputation they released ''six albums'' between 2012 and 2014 before breaking up once more. They announced another reunion in 2016 with a lineup that initially consisted of Kevin March in his third stint for GBV on drums, plus newcomers Bobby Bare Jr. (the son of CountryMusic legend Bobby Bare) and Nick Mitchell (no relation to Mitch) on guitars and Mark Shue on bass, before Mitchell was replaced by long-serving post-classic era guitarist Doug Gillard. The reunion included a tour and a new album, ''Please Be Honest''. The band remains prolific, releasing up to three albums a year since 2017.
22
23	!! '''Discography:'''
24	* ''Devil Between My Toes'' (1987)
25	* ''Sandbox'' (1987)
26	* ''Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia'' (1989)
27	* ''Same Place the Fly Got Smashed'' (1990)
28	* ''Propeller'' (1992)
29	* ''Vampire on Titus'' (1993)
30	* ''Bee Thousand'' (1994)
31	* ''Alien Lanes'' (1995)
32	* ''Under the Bushes Under the Stars'' (1996)
33	* ''Tonics & Twisted Chasers'' (1996)
34	* ''Mag Earwhig!'' (1997)
35	* ''Do the Collapse'' (1999)
36	* ''Isolation Drills'' (2001)
37	* ''Universal Truths and Cycles'' (2002)
38	* ''Earthquake Glue'' (2003)
39	* ''Half Smiles of the Decomposed'' (2004)
40	* ''Let's Go Eat the Factory'' (2012)
41	* ''Class Clown Spots A UFO'' (2012)
42	* ''The Bears for Lunch'' (2012)
43	* ''English Little League'' (2013)
44	* ''Motivational Jumpsuit'' (2014)
45	* ''Cool Planet'' (2014)
46	* ''Please Be Honest'' (2016)
47	* ''August by Cake'' (2017)
48	* ''How Do You Spell Heaven'' (2017)
49	* ''Space Gun'' (2018)
50	* ''Zeppelin Over China'' (2019)
51	* ''Warp & Woof'' (2019)
52	* ''Sweating the Plague'' (2019)
53	* ''Surrender Your Poppy Field'' (2020)
54	* ''Mirrored Aztec'' (2020)
55	* ''Styles We Paid For'' (2020)
56	* ''Earth Man Blues'' (2021)
57	* ''It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them!'' (2021)
58	* ''Crystal Nuns Cathedral'' (2022)
59	* ''Tremblers And Goggles By Rank'' (2022)
60	* ''La La Land'' (2023)
61	* ''Welshpool Frillies'' (2023)
62
63	----
64	!Guided By Voices provide examples of the following tropes:
65	* TheAlcoholic: Most bandmembers, Pollard especially. They started out as a bar band, and had a reputation for boozing it up while playing concerts.
66	** The only album they ever recorded sober was ''Do the Collapse'', and that was only because Ric Ocasek didn't let them drink while recording.
67	* AppropriatedAppellation: ''Vampire On Titus'' is supposedly a reference to Bob Pollard himself: He was living on a street called Titus Avenue and overheard someone disparaging him as "the vampire on Titus".
68	* BadassBoast: Bob Pollard: "My brother's a better guitar player than Music/JoanJett!"
69	** "Our worst song is better than Music/{{Weezer}}'s best song!"
70	* EarlybirdCameo: "Back to Saturn X" from ''Propeller'' is a patchwork of song fragments named after the proposed album that was scrapped in favor of ''Propeller''. These were all eventually released, mostly as non-LP tracks, but "Chicken Blows" appeared on ''Alien Lanes'' and a very different "Buzzards and Dreadful Crows" and radically reworked "Clean It Up" ("Tractor Rape Chain") appeared on ''Bee Thousand''. That version of the former ''Bee Thousand'' track was later released on ''Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft (2000)'' and a faster version of "Clean It Up", still barely recognizable as its ''Bee Thousand'' counterpart, was released on ''Suitcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won the War (2015).
71	* EpicRocking: While this obviously isn't the case on record, they've been known to perform extended versions of "Secret Star" and "Lethargy" live.
72	** A part of one such extended "Lethargy" can be heard on ''Suitcase 4'' as "Hey You Know Me".
73	* EverythingIsAnInstrument
74	** The beat in "My Valuable Hunting Knife" is Bob banging a metal trash can lid.
75	** The flute sound in "Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory" is Jimmy blowing into a mic stand.
76	* {{Foil}}: Tobin Sprout served as this for Pollard.
77	* IAmTheBand: Robert Pollard.
78	** On the 2012-4 albums, most of Toby's tracks take this trope literally.
79	** 2016's ''Please Be Honest'' is also literally this trope, as it was written and recorded entirely by Pollard.
80	* {{Intentionally Awkward Title}}s: Some of them. Just try explaining to a non-GBV fan that one of their best songs is called "Tractor Rape Chain".
81	* MinisculeRocking: Many of their songs are in the 1-2 minute range.
82	** The "Cash Rivers and the Sinners" side project consists mostly songs under a minute long.
83	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Devil Between My Toes'', ''Do the Collapse'', ''Universal Truths and Cycles''.
84	* RecycledLyrics: Bob does this a lot, and not just with Guided By Voices.
85	** ''Alien Lanes'' and ''Bee Thousand'' are both songs from the Grand Hour EP, and ''Under The Bushes Under The Stars'' is a lyric from "Planet's Own Brand".
86	* SelfBackingVocalist: Bob and Tobin both do this quite a bit.
87	* SpellingSong: "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" from ''Propeller'' starts with the famous "G-B-V! G-B-V!" chant that would become a concert mainstay.
88	* StepUpToTheMic:
89	** Doug Gillard, Bobby Bare Jr., Mark Shue, and Kevin March all sing lead on ''August By Cake''.
90	** Jim Greer wrote, sang and played everything on "Trendspotter Acrobat" from the ''Sunfish Holy Breakfast'' EP.
91	* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: Their main philosophy, but they aren't shy about taking influences from more complicated genres.
92	* {{Unperson}}: Pollard seems to consider drummer Kevin Fennell one. [[DisproportionateRetribution Simply for trying, and failing to sell a drum kit on eBay.]]
93	* WordSaladLyrics: Easier to count what isn't word salady!

Context Music / GuidedByVoices