Guided by Voices

October 15, 2005
For rock critics, Ohioan indie rockers Guided by Voices (GBV) are a dream. Their career is the classic underdog-makes-good story: a ragtag bunch of mid-thirties schoolteachers and journeymen give rock stardom one more try -and succeed! To recount this journey, screenwriter, former "SPIN" editor, and erstwhile GBV bassist Greer puckishly begins with the series of 2004 gigs that marked the end of GBV. From there, he ducks and dives through 20 years, with plenty of rambling interjections and conversational off-ramps along the way. Greer is understandably focused on songwriting engine/frontman Robert Pollard, the lone constant in GBV, but there are plenty of band members and confederates carrying their narrative weight, including critic Richard Meltzer and Who guitarist Pete Townshend. It's a story of friendship, drinking, music, and how you don't have to leave home to become a star. This first biography of the band will be pleasingly familiar to readers of Jimmy McDonough's labor of love, "Shakey: Neil Young's Biography". Warmly recommended for all libraries." -Matthew Moyer, Jacksonville P.L., FL"

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2005
Greer's celebration of Guided by Voices (and, therefore, of all things Robert Pollard) is an admirer's sincere, cocoonish labor of love, committed to telling how Pollard/GBV "came to be considered by some one of the truly great artists of our time." The keenness of Greer's interest ensures a detailed retelling of GBV history, from its start as a Dayton, Ohio, garage band (Pollard was then a fourth-grade teacher). Musicians have come and gone, but besides inspiring an impressive list of other acts, GBV has endured as one of the longest-running nineties indie-rock aggregations. Mainstream acceptance has been elusive, but reading Greer makes one think that overwhelming success could destroy the band's particular appeal. Of course, not a lot of discouraging words appear here, but those interested in maverick performers who fashion careers by persevering at rootsy, highly idiosyncratic music may consider the Pollard/GBV story hard to beat, especially when told as enthusiastically as Greer tells it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)