hardwood floor

Fair Touching - "good mellow pop rock sound"

Skills like these - "upbeat pop-rock, smooth vocals"

Chasing Heather Crazy - "Cool, medium beat, guitar, pop"

takes me back to my college radio days ... yeah, you'd get little blurbs on the jacket about a handful of supposedly radio-friendly tracks

btw, it's "skills like this," not "these" ... and don't think i'd call fair touching mellow! check out the lexo & the leapers version sometime, definitely more raw and nasty

Man I love this CD, probably their most accessible?

yeah, definitely their most accessible ... lot of hardcore classic era GBV fans see this as a negative, but i love isolation drills

nothing better than the enemy live with tim & nate

wow!

i did not know about this

would love to hear some details

this would be an all-timer for me

i think 1991 wins / loses

because bad music in the 70s you could listen to and not be repulsed

you could laugh at how bad it was while you were singing along in the car

that stuff from 1991 ... i mean, nauseating

And it has not even made a single best of decade list (except my list of course)...

yeah, that's just ridiculous

it's every bit as good as alien lanes, bee thousand and under the bushes

i mean ... recovering.

hope magnet does a best of the decade list, because it'll be well stocked with bob product

anybody notice last night on letterman ... when they went to break after he told the story about the extortion attempt on him, the band played shakedown street?

ok, so kanye west put out three records this decade better than anything robert pollard released

suuuuuure

This post cracked me up. For the record, I have moved on to Half Smiles and From a Compound Eye. Thanks for the advice. I feel a violent obsession coming on....

ya know, i started out trying to be concise, but it just got away from me

the man's catalogue is astonishing. he literally has 500 songs that are better than virtually every band's best song. just random unknown B sides from obscure fanzine 45s and stuff. you check it out and it's freaking Titus & Strident Wet Nurse or something and it rules. it's just endless

bob is the jesus of my religion

To me, if you don't like FACE then you don't like Pollard. It's everything that's great about his music.

there are days i think From a Compound Eye is the best thing he's ever done

just a mighty mighty piece of work. i get overwhelmed just trying to comprehend how great it is.

nice to hear, thanks

i haven't seen them or heard new stuff in eons but always dug 'em and planning to see the philly show next month

this is it has spawned so much shit that it's hard to like anymore.

so you're saying that because so many lame bands have tried to sound like the strokes the record shouldn't be rated as high as it is?

sept. 20, 1970, acoustic set never fails to blow my mind

fillmore east

I am totally digging lurking in this thread. I am a relatively new GBV convert, which is to say that I've got Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes..., and Earthquake Glue. I guess I've got a lot to look forward to.

that's a great start ... three absolute classics and one record that a lot of people are lukewarm on but i love (earthquake glue)

if i were you, i'd move next to isolation drills, universal truths and cycles, half smiles of the decomposed by GBV, and then ask them (lexo and the leapers), choreographed man of war (robert pollard and his soft rock renegades [it AIN'T soft rock though, trust me]), not in my air force (bob solo), from a compound eye (bob solo) and zero to 99 (boston spaceships)

after that, you can start exploring the early GBV records (sandbox, same place the fly got smashed, devil between my toes, forever since breakfast, self-inflicted aerial nostalgia), the early classics (vampire on titus and propeller), and then the rest of the GBV catalogue (do the collapse, mag earwhig), then start on the rest of the solo stuff (motel of fools, waved out, kid marine, etc.), then start working on the side projects (airport 5, moping swans, psycho & the birds, takeovers, lifeguards, etc.) and the EPs (sunfish holy breakfast, get out of my stations, wish in one hand, crown prince of the menthol trailer, static airplane jive, i am a scientist, pipe dreams of instant prince whippet, etc.) ... then you can start digesting the mighty 100-track suitcase box sets (#3 comes out soon) ... then it's on to the uneven but occasionally great post-GBV solo stuff ... and then there are literally hundreds or unreleased tracks, fan comps, demos, live shows ... tobin's stuff .. gillard's stuff ...

it never ends

robert pollard is the greatest songwriter who ever lived

Wow. That's quite the impressive gig list. The Electrifying Conclusion ?? Sweet.

 

Yep, that's the guy. I believe my source was the Jim Greer book, Hunting Accidents...

 

On a completely unrelated note and not to compare -

Have you heard -

 

The Capstan Shafts

The Broadfield Marchers

That's cool we match up on 8 of 10.

 

I was at the Bimbo's show where the other Cobre Verde guitarist was playing air guitar cos he knew he was about to get fired. That was a weird one as well.

john petkovic? wasn't there a story about bob firing the entire band in australia? i thought the story was that petkovic was doing a radio interview down there and was asked what his favorite GBV song was and he said i am a tree to piss off bob (since it's doug's) ... so bob fired the cobra verde lineup (minus gillard, thank god) and the do the collapse lineup was born!

i believe these are the bob shows i've seen:

Sept. 5, 1999, Showplace, Buffalo

Jan. 13, 2000, Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia

Feb. 16, 2001, Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia

May 20, 2001, Trocadero, Philadelphia

Dec. 29, 2001, Trocadero, Philadelphia

April 11, 2002, Chameleon Club, Lancaster, Pa.

Aug. 9, 2002, Bowery Ballroom, New York

Aug. 10, 2002, Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia

Sept. 4, 2003, Bowery Ballroom, New York

Sept. 5, 2003, Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia

Nov. 11, 2003, Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia

April 22, 2004, Conduit, Trenton

Aug. 19, 2004, Pier 54, New York

Sept. 10, 2004, Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia

Oct. 23, 2004, Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland

Dec. 3, 2004, Bowery Ballroom, New York

Dec. 4, 2004, Bowery Ballroom, New York

Dec. 31, 2004-Jan. 1, 2005, Metro, Chicago

Pollard solo

Jan. 26, 2006, 40 Watt Club, Athens, Ga.

April 20, 2006, Bowery Ballroom, New York

April 22, 2006, Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia

Nov. 14, 2006, World Cafe, Philadelphia

Sept. 29, 2008, Johnny Brenda's (Boston Spaceships)

(oh, and couldn't agree more about No Island - top-10 post-GBV solo track for me)

I broke my list up into two groups :

 

Tier #1

 

bee thousand

alien lanes

mag earwig

under the bushes, under the stars

from a compound eye

isolation drills

half smiles of the decomposed

speak kindly of your volunteer fire dept

universal truth & cycles

zero to 99 (I know it's 'probably' too early to tell, but it's just so f'n good)

 

Tier #2

waved out

do the collapse

elephant jokes

not in my airforce

propeller

coast to coast carpet of love

earthquake glue

off to business

normal happiness

planets are blasted

 

 

I'd like to add 'No Island" from The Crawling Distance as one of Bob's best songs. Ever.

we have 8 of 10 the same on our top 10 lists ... and i could have easily included 0 to 99 but it's just a little too early. and i love speak kindly but it's not quite in my 10 top ... just a few duds on side 2 i thought (although seeing gbv do And My Unit Moved live was one of the stranger things i've ever experienced at a GBV or Bob show)

Is This It #5? Fuck yeah, fuck it.

dig it

never get tired of it

they nailed it

Maybe it's just my mindset but it just reminded me of AL, not saying that it's that good.

 

Anyone know when the Sub Pop 7" is coming out?

sub pop 7-inch in january

suitcase 3 (up we go now) coming in november

and in December: Tug Of War At The Faithful Center (All the Happy Jock Rock Records, Butler Stands for All of us and Headache Revolution B-sides + about 10-15 other previously unreleased songs, according to Rich T)

so pretty quiet next few months!

I'm gonna have to agree with you guys. After spending some serious time with this, I am really digging it. Not to sound like one of the die hards, but it really does remind me of Alien Lanes. I don't know why, but it makes me want to listen to AL.

i don't really see any sort of comparison with alien lanes, which to me is on a completely different plane

this is a terrific record full of great songs

alien lanes and bee thousand are masterpieces, works of art that will be hailed in 100 years as absolute fucking genius on part with mozart and shakespeare

alien lanes and bee thousand might be the two greatest records ever made

it's too early, but this might eventually make my top 10 pollard releases, which right now would probably look like this:

1) Bee Thousand

2) Alien Lanes

3) Half Smiles of the Decomposed

4) From a Compound Eye

5) Universal Truths and Cycles

6) Isolation Drills

7) Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

8) Mag Earwhig!

9) Tower in the Fountain of Sparks

10) Not in my Air Force

your own special way is the most boring song genesis ever wrote

i know what i like is close

damn, this zero to 99 record is blowing me away

i may soon have to elevate it above From a Compound Eye and declare it my favorite post-GBV Pollard release

Banks, who's also releasing a remastered version of his 1979 solo album "A Curious Feeling

great record ... really, his only decent solo record

banks should be in the R&R hall of fame on the basis of his In the Cage solo alone

Here are just a few names: Bill Frisell, Emmylou Harris, Dave Alvin, Bon Jovi (hey, nobody's perfect), Beck, Willy Nelson, Louden Wainright III, Matthew Sweet, T-Bone Burnett, k.d. lang...these are just some of the people he recorded with in 2008.

what's wrong with working with bon jovi?

Wow, you don't hear these sentiments expressed everyday! (post-peter>peter era, darryl>steve). I've always preferred the '70-'75 years more than what came after, although Trick and Seconds are fantastic records. But I will defer to you HF because you have listened to a HELL of a lot more of the Post Gabriel than I have. Maybe we could hook up a trade sometime!

not saying i like the phil-era stuff more ... although i do think wind & wuthering and trick of the tail are terrific (and i think lamb is a little overrated). to me, trespass / nursery cryme / foxtrot / selling england is genesis at the peak of its powers.

but i just think that because of the way the band evolved and probably because of the way the technology evolved throughout the 1970s, the live shows were on another level musically on the late 1970s and early 1980s tours

amazing body of work they have

I love the coastline

Anyone else agree that the live Collins version of 'Cinema Show' on 'Seconds Out' is way better than the Gabriel studio original.

 

Not so much the vocal, but the long keyboard solo is just amazing - sonically so much betteer than the underwhelming (in comparison) studio recording.

i haven't listened to seconds out in probably a decade, but i do have about 150 live genesis shows, and i couldn't agree more with this statement

after gabriel left, cinema show really became a showpiece for the banks solo at the end, where on selling england, it's just kind of the quiet coda

genesis was never a better live band than 1978 and banks seemed to enjoy that without gabriel's theatrics, his playing became much more of a showpiece in the band

i didn't see genesis until 1974 and they were great, but the 1976 through 1980 tours were all just beyond what the band ever was before in terms of sound and performance. i love hackett but let's face it, darryl steurmer's chops blow away hackett. his playing on those late 1970s shows is astonishing.

i do have sheet music for the banks cinema show solo somewhere if anybody wants to try playing it at home! it's very challenging, although nowhere near the supper's ready 9/8 solo in complexity. banks' phrasings are otherworldly

Not sure if this has been mentioned in another thread but Genesis are finally up for nomination the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. They are up against the likes of KISS, Chili Peppers, the Hollies, the Stooges and LL Cool J (?). I'd be very surprised if they get in but it might help to bring the guys together in the public arena.

genesis should tell the "rock 'n' roll hall of fame" to go fuck itself

what a fraud that thing is

the red hot chili peppers? have they ever written a good song? and LL Cool J? seriously? he's got a bunch of songs better than Supper's Ready I'm sure...

i think it just blows away the first two spaceships records, but that's just me

and, yeah, those shipping charges are definitely wrong ...

will take a break from 0 to 99 and listen to mag earwhig on the way home from work tonight