Search - Guided By Voices :: Live from Austin, TX

Huge Fan...Huge disapointment. Pollard too drunk!

paulsubpopman | 09/04/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I am a huge fan of this band and have all of their cd's but this live document could've been much much better. At times Pollard is way too drunk and yea yea yea I know thats part of his persona but cmon pal, you sounded like an obnoxious drunk frat boy on Kareoke night. If this was supposed to be a farewell performance and gift to the fans...treat us with respect and keep your booze in check until after the lights go down!"

Do not start here if you are on the fence about GBV

Daniel E. Fox | Phoenix, AZ | 06/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This live album is a fan's dream...one great song after another. However, not surprisingly, Pollard gets progressively more drunk towards the end of the show, culminating in an absolutely horrible version of "Glad Girls" (although you could certainly argue that it was intentionally horrible!). Having said that, man there are some great songs on here and it's nice to have live versions for once. I saw the Austin City Limits show on t.v. but this has much more material on it. Now, as the title of my review suggests, if you are a newbie or if you are undecided about whether Pollard is a genius or just a low-fi hack, this is definitely NOT the place to start. There is the "greatest hits" CD which I think has some pretty representative choices on it (even if it is all over the map, again not surprisingly for GBV). I would start there, and get this CD much further---once you've been converted! (By the way, I used to be in the camp that thinks that Pollard writes two or three good songs per album and a whole bunch of crap...I have come to realize that his hit to miss ratio is MUCH better than that and he is not overrated, by any means. I am really enjoying this live album and glad they put it out.....)"

Thanks to Pollard or whoever for releasing this.

epsteinsmutha | At the bottom of Juan Epstein's excuse note | 05/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't normally watch Austin City Limits (always seem to catch it when it's a rerun of Cowboy Junkies, Lyle Lovett or Stevie Ray Vaughn darn the luck), but I stopped one Saturday night to see this band on there doing this song "Glad Girls." Turns out it was a longtime "heard of but heard nothing by" band, Guided By Voices. Picked up the album it was on, but it didn't come close to this live version (apparently their shows are legendary for Rob Pollard drinking his weight in alcohol) So I'm glad this is finally out on CD. I've come to love the rest of their songs and feel a right schmuck for not getting into the band during its lifetime.



Signed,

epsteinsmutha"