Do The Collapse

Performer: Guided by Voices
Artist: Ric Ocasek
Engineer: Mike Tocci; Ric Ocasek; Brian Sperber
Producer: Ric Ocasek
Distributor: TVT Records (Dist.)

Notes: Guided By Voices: Robert Pollard (vocals, guitar); Doug Gillard (guitar, keyboards, background vocals); Greg Demos (bass); Jim MacPherson (drums). Additional personnel: Ric Ocasek, Brian Sperber (keyboards). The Soldier String Quartet: Dave Soldier, Theresa Salomon (violin); Dylan Williams (viola); Ariane Lallemand (cello). Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York. Personnel: Doug Gillard (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Robert Pollard (vocals, guitar); Theresa Salomon, David Soldier (violin); Dylan Williams (viola); Ariane Lallemand (cello); Ric Ocasek, Brian Sperber (keyboards); Jim MacPherson (drums). Audio Mixers: Ric Ocasek; Brian Sperber. Recording information: Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY. Photographer: C. Taylor. Unknown Contributor Role: Soldier String Quartet. DO THE COLLAPSE blasts off with "Teenage FBI," a track that hardcore Guided By Voices fans will recognize from a 7-inch single released a few years earlier. It's one of the most emotionally direct songs that frontman Robert Pollard has ever recorded. There are several other heart-on-your-sleeve rockers here that sidestep Pollard's trademark lyrical weirdness. Produced by New Wave/weird-hair hero Ric Ocasek, DO THE COLLAPSE is the fullest and most produced GbV disc yet. Guitar tracks are doubled and sometimes pumped full of synthesizer steroids. These "big rock" songs are crunchy and rich sounding, and the band has never sounded more focused and intense. There are also more "songs" here than usual-oversized anthems rather than 45-second fragments. These are the great songs that have earned GbV legions of fans-and twice as many imitators.

Rolling Stone (9/2/99, pp.114-6) - 3 stars (out of 5) - "...an album of fully formed compositions produced in pristine digital sound....It's all a bit startling at first...but [Ric] Ocasek's polished power boost serves GBV well..." Spin (9/99, pp.185-6) - 6 out of 10 - "...in a bid for pop-radio airplay, [Pollard] has enlisted...a new rhythm section along with producer...Ric Ocasek....tarted-up songs that remain catchy as ever..." Entertainment Weekly (8/6/99, p.65) - "...lurches for the gold ring he used to flick beer caps through, abetting the higher fidelity and big guitars...with new wave synths, strings, and even bigger guitars. When the tunes are there, the footlights flatter..." - Rating: B Q (11/99, p.122) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...the rousing guitars, offbeat cleverness and involving songs...triumph to put this multi-layered grower high on any must-hear list." Alternative Press (9/99, p.96) - 4 out of 5 - "...A major step toward fulfilling GBV's big rock ambitions, DO THE COLLAPSE showcases less filler and more full-fledged inspiration than any of the band's previous albums..." CMJ (7/12/99, p.3) - "...GBV's 11th full-length is undisputedly the combo's most 'complete' album, both in terms of songwriting...and fidelity....GBV has managed to go 'mersh' without sacrificing any of its personality...or gleaming melodic strength." Mojo (Publisher) (1/00, p.31) - Ranked #17 in Mojo Magazine's "Best of 1999." Mojo (Publisher) (10/99, p.104) - "...surely the most consistent GBV platter yet....its immediacy should attract the kind of widespread attention Pollard so clearly deserves."

Led by former school teacher Robert Pollard, Dayton, OH's Guided By Voices pursued an aesthetic marked by structural brevity, lo-fi sound, bizarre lyrics, and a preference for early to mid-period Who and other primal pop-rock. Pollard continually shifted the group's lineup, with a new outfit backing him on nearly every record. On 1999's DO THE COLLAPSE, GBV polished its sound considerably, bringing in Ric Ocasek as a producer. GBV played their final show on New Year's Eve 2004, however Pollard continues to write and record as a solo artist and with various collaborators.

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