Earthquake Glue is not very good

[King Shit]

Am I the only person alive who thinks this might be the band's worst release ever?
Where are the songs? I admire Bob for branching out and I'm certainly the last guy on earth to want the guy to stand still artistically, but the heart of GBV is still the songs and there are only a few good songs on Earthquake Glue - Best of Jill Hives, Main Street Wizards and My Kind of Soldier come to mind.
You can find more memorable tunes on any Fading Captain Series release, at least up until the last few.
I would put the Airport 5 releases, Lexo and the Leapers and Speak Kindly all ahead of Earthquake Glue in the GBV canon.
An Airport 5 throwaway like In the Brain is better than anything on Earthquake Glue.
Is it possible the well has run dry?

[R.Wilder]

I have a CD-R of "Earthquake Glue" and have been enjoying it. After the blistering rock attack that GBV provided The New Intersection in Grand Rapids, I've been listening to nothing but Uncle Bob projects ---tons of old GBV, Fading Captains plus "Earthquake Glue," which I think rocks out. I've been grooving on all the material, even "Do The Collapse" which I've never been able to listen to in it's entirety before. The sound quality of the "Earthquake Glue" CD-R isn't terrific and I'm reserving final judgement for the official release.

[bmmello]

Earthquake Glue is awesome.

[portablefire]

well first off, the FIRST Airport 5 cd kicks ass but gimme a break. In The Brain, is certainly not better than Secret Star. That song is as good as anything bob's ever written.

This is far from their worst album ... there are, however 4 songs on it i skip over. Songs that i wish instead were Society Dome, Captain Black, etc.

It's all my opinion i know – but there is something called an EDITOR and bob could use one.

If anyone senses that the "Power of Suck" is coming into play i would submit bob still – unlike 99% of the other songwriters on earth – writes 20 really good songs a year – that, in fact, the well has NOT run dry ... HOWEVER, i do think the good songs are being spread out over too many increasingly questionable FCS side projects and what-not with a couple good to great songs on each. I'm more worried about those (especially those of the postal rock and kareoke vein) than i am about these last 3 gbv records – which, though UTBUTS or ALIEN LANES they are not – are still damn good records.

then there's the fact that Bob has written so many fucking songs that he's making a conscious effort to try and not repeat himself ... which – for better or for worse – has been leading him away from pop rock type stuff more and more.

4 or 5 people i know gave up on GBV at Do The Collapse and never came back into the fold ... they would argue everything since then has been bad.

However, those people don't spend much too much time on this board ... so i'm sure everyone will jump all over you for starting this thread.

[DonkeyRock]

I agree. I think part of the problem with EG is the sound. It is very hazy and causes the songs to blend together. I'm hoping the final release will not sound like this

[cungar]

Originally posted by King Shit
An Airport 5 throwaway like In the Brain is better than anything on Earthquake Glue.

I would have taken this post seriously until this statement. That's just ridiculous. There is a level of polish to the songs on Earthquake Glue that may put off some of the faithful, but it is undeniable that there are some very well written songs on the CD. If you prefer the Airport 5 sound to this, you probably got off the GBV train 4 or 5 CD's ago because Bob's been heading in this direction for a while.

[King Shit]

actually, I loved Isolation Drills and UTAC as much as Alien Lanes and Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

I love songs like Twilight Campfighter and Storm Vibrations as much as Echoes Myron and Redmen and Their Wives

it's just that other than a handful of songs, I just don't care for this record

[newspearmint]

i 've yet to hear glue, but from what i'm picking up from this board i'm almost sure i'll love it.
the 'has the well run dry' rumination is among the most poorly thought out i've encountered yet. the well is wet and deep. even if one doesn't like some of the fading captain releases (and i like almost all of the ones i got, except for the circus devils), in the 'golden age', there were no side projects. Now, there is still the gbv album per year, plus e.ps, plus everything else. Brilliant gems gleem throughout. I think the last 2 gbv records compare song vs song well against either beethouseand, alien lanes and under the bushes. what the new albums don't have (not yet) is the associated memories that hieghten the status of the mid 90-s era. But thats fine by me.

[cungar]

Originally posted by King Shit
it's just that other than a handful of songs, I just don't care for this record

That's cool. I'm not criticizing your right to have a negative opinion of the record, it's just that comparing it to Airport 5 which most people believe to be average FCS stuff made it sound like you were over exagerrating. I hope Earthquake Glue grows on you because I think it's really solid.

[Radamez]

I thought UTAC was really weak as an album, although it had great individual songs. It just didn't hold together enough for me.
I think Earthquake Glue's best songs aren't as good as UTAC's best songs, but as an album, it absolutely puts UTAC to shame. I can sort of, in theory, see what people mean when they say this is a weak release. But then I actually put EG on and it's just the good old pure GBV gratification that I'm used to.

[King Shit]

goddamit, I'm really starting to love the mother-fucker

[R.Wilder]

See! See how you are! Just keep listening, King baby...

[kingshit]

Hey Everyone:
Heard through the grapevine that another person with the moniker "Kingshit" had posted a comment on here that EQG is not very good. I just wanted to state, on the record, that this Kingshit (a.k.a. the one who runs the www.guidedbyrobertpollard.com website) does not agree. I am still in the process of ranking the most recent proper GbV albums, but have already decided that I like EQG better the DTC or ID. The jury is still out on a comparison between it an UT&C, but if I cross that line, I will be prepared to state that EQG may be the best GbV album since UTBUTS. Just wanted to go on record stating that so there is no confusion about my feelings about the album. Right now my favorite songs on the album are: My Kind of Soldier, I'll Replace You With Machines, Useless Inventions, The Best of Jill Hives, Mix Up The Satellites, Main Street Wizards, A Trophy Mule in Particular, Secret Star and Of Mites and Men. I know, I know, that's almost the entire album, but this is such a great release. I actually think that this album should silence those who feel the well has run dry. To the other King Shit, I recommend that you give it a few more listens. It took me about ten passes before I realized how great this album is.
Kingshit
www.guidedbyrobertpollard.com

[largeheartedboy]

I agree, King Shit, your take on the album is similar to mine. I've listened to it a couple of times, and nothing stands out as either very good or very bad, and the production makes everything seem too similar. This is good in ways, there are no songs that immediately make me wince (like "Cheyenne" or "Want One"), but nothing makes me pogo in the living room or want to grab the lyric sheet and sing along.

[cungar]

Cheyenne makes you wince? I love that song. Want One makes me wince.

[cle-rat]

It's funny, "The King and Caroline" and "Redmen and Their Wives" make me wince, but I see folks mention them as their favorites over and over. Oh well -- de gustibus non disputandum est.

[King Shit]

Originally posted by kingshit
[B]Hey Everyone:
Heard through the grapevine that another person with the moniker "Kingshit" had posted a comment on here Sorry, didn't know about your ID. I will now retire my King Shit and come up with something else (is Golden Boys taken)?

[curly]

I have to agree with the original kingshit. It took me about a dozen listens (some unconsciously as background music) before it clicked and I was singing along to almost every song. My initial reaction was "it's long and boring and all sounds the same." Essentially, I was wrong. Most of the songs are 3:00 or less. They're just so "full" for lack of a better term that they sound longer than that. There are some great melodies in this record, and it's actually much less prog than some make it out to be. My only wince-worthy song would be apologize in advance.

[curly]

Originally posted by cle-rat
It's funny, "The King and Caroline" and "Redmen and Their Wives" make me wince, but I see folks mention them as their favorites over and over. Oh well -- de gustibus non disputandum est.

Cle-rat, what's wrong with you?!?! (just kidding...) Much Better Mr. Buckles makes me wince.

[cungar]

Should we start a new thread "Wince-worthy GBV songs"? I'll throw in The Ugly Vision and the Waved out trio of Showbiz Opera Walrus - Pick Seeds from My Skull and Second Step Next Language.

[portablefire]

how 'bout Wished I Was A Giant – the most poorly recorded great song in the history of music.

[Jason]

I hate "Radio Show (Trust the Wizard)". I'm indifferent to plenty of Pollard songs, but I think that's the only one I actively dislike.

[cungar]

Oh come on, even Bob admits he's released boat loads of substandard material.

[curly]

Subatomic Rain--WINCE