This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Alas, poor Guided By Voices. We hardly knew ye … aah, who am I kidding? If anything, sometimes it seems like we know GBV a little too well for our own good. And for our wallets.
Over the past 17 years, the unstoppably creative Robert Pollard and his ever-changing crew of homeboys and drinking buddies have almost put out enough product to stock their own store: 15 studio albums, dozens of singles and EPs and a trio of box sets. And let’s not forget the hundreds of live bootlegs and monthly solo albums that keep the faithful ponying up.
Well, the GBV bucks apparently stop here — Pollard claims Half Smiles Of The Decomposed is the band’s swan song. But if you’re expecting some giant blowout of a farewell party, forget it. On this fat-free 42-minute set, Bob stays on message and sticks pretty close to the middle of the road, matter-of-factly delivering another 14 strongly melodic tunes that spryly toe the line between British Invasion pop, indie-rock and ’60s prog — and feature plenty of his typically enigmatic lyrics, natch. The production follows suit, falling at the exact midpoint between the warm ’n’ fuzzy lo-fi immediacy of the band’s early work and the polished professionalism of their major-label discs.
The naysayers may accuse Pollard of playing it safe, but the faithful will likely think he played it just right. And while Half Smiles Of The Decomposed might not be the place to start with GBV, it’s as good a place as any to call it quits.
Well done, Bob. We’ll miss you — until next month’s comeback album, anyway.
