Do the Collapse

Guided by Voices | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 3, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 3, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tvt
• ASIN: B00000JLI5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,342 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #90 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative

Track Listings

1. Teenage FBI

2. Zoo Pie

3. Things I Will Keep

4. Hold On Hope

5. In Stitches

6. Dragons Awake!

7. Surgical Focus

8. Optical Hopscotch

9. Mushroom Art

10. Much Better Mr. Buckles

11. Wormhole

12. Strumpet Eye

13. Liquid Indian

14. Wrecking Now

15. Picture Me Big Time

16. An Unmarketed Product

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Any doubts about Ric Ocasek producing Guided by Voices' latest record are swiftly put to rest within the first few seconds of "Teenage FBI," the brilliant opening track on Do the Collapse. As new-wavish keyboards snake around Robert Pollard's nasal vocal delivery it's apparent that GBV have always been, among many other things, a great new-wave band and that Ocasek, the one-time crown prince of new-wave techno geeks, is a natural fit. Do the Collapse is GBV's most polished effort yet, although the slick production doesn't sabotage GBV's lo-fi, garage aesthetics. The songs virtually leap out at the listener with typical spontaneity and the hooks still come early and often. This time out Pollard has surrounded himself with a loose aggregate of musicians including the Breeders' Jim Macpherson on drums and guitarist Doug Gillard, a holdover from 1997's Mag Earwhig! The lineup does an exceptional job fusing all of their disparate influences with a consistency not seen on previous GBV releases. Every song here is a gem; there are echoes of Syd Barrett on "Dragons Awake" and "Wormhole," the Who (circa A Quick One) are recalled on "Much Better Mr. Buckles" and "An Unmarketed Product," and the record's most astounding track, "Liquid Indian," finds GBV channeling a myriad of unlikely '70s sources and mingling them with their own sensibilities to create something all their own. The beauty of Do the Collapse is GBV's ability to seamlessly stitch together the best of '60s British garage pop, '70s prog-rock, '80s new wave, and '90s indie rock to create their own personal history of rock & roll. --Paul Ducey

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars How can you not love this? November 27, 1999

By Patrick F Clifford

Format:Audio CD

I have been a Guided By Voices fan for about 6 years now and still am struck about how tenaciously Bob Pollard's melodies stick in my brain. When I bought this album, I put it on at work and hit replay without telling anyone and let it play all day. The next day, the Garth Brooks and Skynyrd fans were all humming "Liquid Indian" and "Hold on Hope" without realising that they were betraying their country inclinations. That's what is so amazing about his songwriting: Bob Pollard has a way a slicing through the ordinary and mundane (read: commercial), to let the obscenely hummable shine through. The glossy sheen thrown on this record doesn't get in the way of that aesthetic. It's amazingly easy to ignore the Cars-like keyboards and beefed up guitars. This isn't really as over-produced as other long-time GBV fans let on. The fact that Bob can write a hook better than anyone else out right now isn't lost in this immediately apppealing work. Yeah, "Bee Thousand" is a a more cohesive, complete work, but if what you need is the major label sheen and completeness, this is a good place to start. If this were 1982, Guided By Voices would be opening for The Who, not The Clash. A great date album if you were trying to impress someone who is moderately in the know. If s/he is really hip, put "Bee Thousand" on. If trying to impress someone when your "in-the-know" isn't the point, this one will have him/her remembering something about the night, even if it isn't you.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars sincerity + irony = gbv November 29, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

I've read through most of the negative reviews below with interest. They seem to be written by either a) outraged lo-fi fans who want GBV to keep doing pretty much the same thing forever and b) GBV virgins who obviously wanted something a bit, er, straighter. Well ... don't listen to them. This is a brilliant album.

Mr. Pollard continues to pilfer licks and effects from every known pop music style of the last 35 years and make songs that seem eerily familiar yet completely new. Like tearing a phone book into scraps, throwing them into the air and having them turn into a bird.

The polished production on the album only means that you can hear every little detail on a boom box now. I don't care whether he continues to use Ocasek or not. The songs continue to be beautiful and evocative.

It should be noted that these songs are not supposed to make perfect sense all the time. They mean something to Mr. Pollard and they mean something to me. There might be some overlap, but that would just be icing on the cake. I only need to walk around humming "Liquid Indian" to bring back that wonderful swirling feeling of an exceptional acid trip from 15 years back. Dragons awake, indeed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars don't listen to the haters! July 22, 2006

By scot lade

Format:Audio CD

how could any album with teenage FBI, things i will keep, surgical focus, liquid indian, mushroom art and an unmarketable product suck? answer: it can't and it doesn't. yes, ric ocesek produced it and it is slick and pollard tried his hand at writing a hit song (the power ballad hold on hope), this is a really good album. forget alien lanes and listen with new ears. for my money, this is the third best GbV album (after bee thousand and alien lanes.) unduly critized by so-called fans. your venom probably cost pollard his only chance at actually making some real money. all the joy he brought to the world and this is how he was thanked...by his own people. shame on you all. your true colors came out in 2000. so what did you move on to, anyway? built to spill or modest mouse?

ignore most of these reviews and enjoy!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Staggering Masterpiece July 23, 2001

By John D. Pride

Format:Audio CD

Many of GBV's fans were so jolted by Ric Ocasek's wonderful hi-fi production on this CD that they failed to notice what a landmark work it really is. For legions of us long time Robert Pollard worshippers, a chance to see them live was also an opportunity to see what all of those great songs really sounded like, and returning to the often-distracting lo-fi recordings of these gems kinda made some of us wonder what GBV would sound like if the recordings weren't so muffled. Well, our wish has finally been granted with "Do The Collapse", not that the production's the only thing that makes this record one of only two records to reside on my Top Ten of All Time list. This is a staggering effort, with more fully realized beauties than one GBV or Robert Pollard collection has ever offered before. Besides the unforgettable catchiness of "Teenage FBI", "Surgical Focus" and "Mushroom Art", Pollard serves up a true rock and roll classic in the brilliant "Picture Me Big Time", which contains as moving a lyric as has ever graced a melody. Thanks again, Bob, and keep 'em coming.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars it's ok, but... December 6, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

it really isn't as good as the other albums. all the stars on this page have been earned by the back catalogue and the live performances. it sounds like bob hasn't listened to the white album for years. he used to invent new forms of melody; now he recycles his own and other people's. his lyrics used to be weirdly involving; now they seem really impersonal, like the words have been picked out of some lotto machine. listen to chicken blows next to wrecking now or tractor rape chain next to surgical focus. there's no comparison. he's losing it, and it's sad. but gbv are still one of the top ten bands of all time.