Guided By Voices Isolation Drills CD

The first 10,000 copies of ISOLATION DRILLS provide exclusive access to GBVs bootleg website featuring unreleased tracks, live footage and a photo gallery.
This is an Enhanced audio CD which contains regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Guided By Voices: Robert Pollard, Doug Gillard, Nate Farley, Tim Tobias, Jim MacPherson.
Additional personnel: Elliot Smith (piano, organ); Tobin Sprout (piano); Todd Tobias (sound effects).
The Soldier String Quartet: Marlene Rice, Dave Soldier (violin); Ron Lawrence (viola); Arianne Lallemand (cello).
Recorded at Loho Studios, New York, New York.
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel: Robert Pollard (vocals, guitar); Doug Gillard (guitar); Marlene Rice, David Soldier (violin); Ron Lawrence (viola); Elliott Smith, Tobin Sprout (piano); Jim MacPherson (drums).
Audio Mixers: Doug Boehm; Julian Joyce; Rob Schnapf.
Recording information: Cro-Magnon Studios, Dayton, OH; Loho Studios, New York, NY.
Unknown Contributor Role: Soldier String Quartet.
Guided by Voices fans who embraced them as the saviors of lo-fi pop after discovering such four-track-in-a-basement masterpieces as Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes had better learn to live with the fact those days are gone for good -- the high-gloss production of 1999's Do the Collapse made it clear that GBV topkick Robert Pollard wanted his band to compete in rock's big leagues, and Isolation Drills only confirms that notion, sounding even more polished and precise than its precursor. However, if you loved GBV for their songs rather than their sometimes-charming sloppiness, then you'll be glad to hear that Pollard and Company have never used professionalism to better advantage than they do here. While Ric Ocasek's production on Do the Collapse was sympathetic, he clearly favored the pop side of the band's personality at the expense of their muscle (most clearly evidenced by the pseudo-new wave keyboard patches). But with Rob Schnapf behind the controls, Isolation Drills sounds like the real rock album GBV have always wanted to make; Pollard's hooky-but-rollicking melodies pay audible tribute to his great love for mid-'70s rock throughout, while Doug Gillard and Nate Farley's guitars finally crunch as much as they chime, making the band's rock moves as credible as their pop gestures ("Glad Girls" and "Chasing Heather Crazy" even finding them managing both at the same time, to superb effect). And Guided by Voices has never made an album this consistently strong from start to finish; with the possible exception of "Frostman" (which appears to have been processed to sound like it was recorded on four track), every song here matters, with Pollard's vocals at the top of their form (it helps that most of his lyrics actually make sense for a change -- sounds like Bob's been having relationship problems again) and the band sounds tight, forceful, and emphatic throughout. God knows if the indie rock audience will ever forgive him for such obvious craft, but the side of Pollard's personality that thought touring with Cheap Trick was a great idea finally gets the album he's been waiting for with Isolation Drills. ~ Mark Deming
ISOLATION DRILLS is another melodic, inspired addition to the Guided By Voices catalog. Produced by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith), band leader Robert Pollard's latest collection of songs blends the lo-fi production values of previous albums with a newfound adoption of big studio aesthetics.
Discarding the strings of 1999's DO THE COLLAPSE, ISOLATION DRILLS is a more straightforward rock affair, relying on Pollard's puzzling, inventive lyrics to transcend traditional sonic landscapes. Ex-Cobra Verde guitarist Doug Gillard's punchy hooks provide the perfect backdrop for Pollard's verbal shenanigans, most notably on the album's first single, "Chasing Heather Crazy," a prime example of the instantly catchy melodies that have maRolling Stone (3/29/01, p.63) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Finds the balance between frazzled serendipity and melodic luster that has long eluded them....making the case more persuasively than ever that these indie-pop godfathers should matter to more than just loyalists..."
Spin (6/01, pp.152-3) - 7 out of 10 - "...Shamelessly charming, even bashfully moving....Pollard reveals sentiments more earned and earthbound than anything before..."
Magnet (12-1/02, p.56) - Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2001".
Magnet (4-5/01, p.75) - "...One of the band's best....reconciling Pollard's idiosyncrasies with the track-to-track consistency great rock albums demand..."
CMJ (3/26/01, p.4) - "...Brilliant....it may be less esoteric and winkingly absurdist, but he's a markedly more openly honest songwriter....striking a fine balance between arena-rock and indie jangle..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.131) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[B]oasting some of Robert Pollard's most polished and sober pop."