Mag Earwhig Music Cd

Guided By Voices - Mag Earwhig

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Mag Earwhig!      Artist : Guided by Voices      List Price : $11.98 USD        Your Price : $11.98 USD      ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 1997-05-20      Studio : Matador      Label : Matador      Avg. Customer Rating : (27 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for Mag Earwhig      One For The Long Haul      Rating:      Like others, I found Track 1, "Can't Hear The Revolution" a bit off-putting, at first. "Sad If I Lost It" is full of sadness and wonder here (and even more poignant opening the shows of the final GBV tour), a simple melody with a swirling, dreamy arrangement. The next track, "I Am A Tree", written by Cobra Verde-cum GBV lead guitarist Doug Gillard, announces his accession to the band with a stinging dual guitar attack, followed by Dave Swanson's martial drumming and Bob Pollard's successful attempt at extending his vocal range that pays off big-time throughout the rest of this joyous song. Pollard re-sets the mood with the poetic "The Old Grunt" before the swinging midtempo rocker "Bulldog Skin" swaggers in. Two songs later is "I Am Produced", a meditation on Pollard's hesitant move to more professional side players and more studio polish, despite his protestations that lo-fi wasn't a statement for early GBV but a necessity. "Not Behind The Fighter Jet" is as straightforward an anti-war song as you will probably ever get from Bob, with eerily prescient lyrics ("who's gonna beat them in their own backyard?"), starts with again an insistent marching beat, and rocks to a conclusion that is drowned out by fighter-jet noises. "Choking Tara" is a pop gem, Pollard elected to use a "lo-fi" version on the cd, which shows off the melody, but you really have to search out the "Creamy Version" he rejected, found on Matador's compilation "Everything Is Nice", or on the GBV retrospective "Hardcore UFOs". "Hollow Cheek" segues into an uncharacteristically epic "Portable Men's Society", which builds Swanson's disciplined thwacking and Don Depew's bass onto a chilly synth riff that carries the rather abstruse lyrics to a satisfying conclusion. "Little Lines" announces itself as a down-rocker (much as it's appearance in the live set in 2003 announced the arrival of final GBV bassist Chris Slusarenko)that would have been average on a lo-fi production but which really benefits from a bit of polish to offset the grit."Learning To Hunt" is a song about love, fear, and loss, semi-acoustic and dreamy. "The Finest Joke Is Upon Us" is a raw, menacing downtempo number that jars the listener loose in time to appreciate "Now To War", a beautiful melody undergirding a lyric about intimate interpersonal conflict (the electric version, found elsewhere, has more of an externalized conflict aspect that is more literal and much more raw),and the Lennonesque "Jane Of The Waking Universe", a pop masterpiece love song rendered in pitch-perfect Mid-Fi. Pollard rounds out this marathon set (which after a few listens has a hazy but discernible concept or mood to it, that of an insect observer of humankind glorious and petty), with a couple of uptempo numbers ("Mute Superstar", "Bomb In The Bee-Hive") where the Verde boys drive the melody. As I said this one is a long-term grower, those who have dismissed it in the past may find a few surprise gems, as well as some retro-clues as to what we now know was in store for the next few albums.     Customer Reviews for Mag Earwhig Cd      Overlooked and Underrated      Rating:      "Mag Earwhig!" is that last album that Bob Pollard recorded with the "classic" Dayton lineup, though most of the record was recorded with his new band. The songs on "Mag Earwhig!" range from full-studio rockers that would feel right at home on "Under The Bushes, Under The Stars" to short, low-fi pieces similiar to "Alien Lanes". Most of "Mag Earwhig!" is the best produced record Guided By Voices ever released, sounding bigger, fuller, and more professional than its predecessors, but less syrupy and over-produced than GBV's next two efforts. Bob's new band is much more capable than his Dayton drinking pals, allowing Guided By Voices to record songs that wouldn't have been possible before. Perhaps my only lament is that Tobin Sprout sings no songs on this album, though he did co-write several and sings a memorable back-up vocal on the outstanding "Jane of the Waking Universe". Highlights include "Sad If I Lost It", "I Am a Tree" (written by new guitarist, Doug Gillard), "Not Behind The Fighter Jet" (my personal favorite), "Little Lines", and "Mute Superstar". Editorial Reviews for Mag Earwhig Audio Cd      Amazon.com      When the subject of Guided by Voices arose in a rock chatroom, someone remarked, "They're practically classic rock these days." I'm sure nothing would please GBV prime mover Robert Pollard more. A common misconception is that today's musician is hung up on "breaking new ground," seeking that untapped vein that will keep him or her munching at the trough of plenty for the next three or four records. It would be far closer to the truth to say that most folk trying to earn a living the indie rock way ("Send for our training video today!") are looking merely for an uncrowded train car to which they can quietly hitch their cabooses. Pollard makes no secret of the fact that he's a musical archivist, more interested in rekindling rock history's divine moments than in keeping his finger on the erratic, racing pulse of today's youthful consumer--inevitably leading to a glut of corporate-coated, disposable bands like Collective Soul, Bush, and Silverchair. The first two tracks on Mag Earwhig seem intent on clearing the record while updating us on Pollard's personal musings. "Can't Hear The Revolution," the first cut, somewhat distances Pollard and the so-called "lo-fi" movement, a nebulous assemblage of DIY homeboys with four-track recorders that he certainly helped to establish credibly (and will never completely abandon). "Sad If I Lost It" is a song about music making as both obsession and salvation, which explains why Pollard puts out as much of his endless catalog of tunes as possible; instead of waiting out the peaks and valleys of a long career, he'd rather unload the whole bundle while his creative engine is still in racing fettle. Many of the GBV faithful are up in arms over Pollard's decision to drop his long-standing backup band, which included Toby Sprout and Mitch Mitchell on guitars as well as drummer Kevin Fennell. While he continues to record and compose with Sprout (and his brother Jim Pollard), Cleveland's Cobra Verde have stepped in as Pollard's new rock & roll wrecking crew. The additional muscle and skill these fellows wield is evident on big anthem rockers like "I Am A Tree" (written by Cobra Verde guitarist Doug Gillard), "Not Behind the Fighter Jets" and "Jane of the Waking Universe." These three numbers along with the first single "Bulldog Skin" (a song about his love of British pop music) indicate Pollard's return to his '70s trash and treasure, incorporating the can't-miss, ringing power-pop coils of catchy ancestors like Badfinger, Big Star, Dwight Twilley, and the Raspberries. The best example of Cobra Verde's noisy eclecticism bonding with Pollard's pop horse sense comes on the 1:23-minute gem, "Mute Superstar," which starts out like an early Wire guitar cruncher, then opens a sunny window for some Beatles psychedelia. He gathers those lovely acoustic ballad bits abundantly about him, the finest being "I Am Produced," a quickie about putting your life on record, and the wistfully McCartney-like "Now To War." In the end, most critics judge any new Guided by Voices product by its ratio of heavenly pop to Pollard's noodly abstractions, and so Mag Earwhig keeps up with past masterpieces like Bee Thousand and Propellor. Yet there is more afoot here than ear candy, as Pollard breaks in a talented new supporting cast while traveling back to the clarity of times when popular music didn't suck. The present musical climate dominated by unbearably bland bands and useless electronica, Pollard's journey through the past is a blast of forward thinking. --John Chandler