Way back in the fall of 1997, Robert Pollard talked about building a monster
album packed with slickly produced car-rock tunes and loads of crunching
guitars.

The brains behind Dayton, Ohio's Guided By Voices was tired of watching the
also-rans pump out crap that would be accepted and praised by the masses. He
was tired of listening to the kids tell him that Green Day and Matchbox 20
and Weezer were cool while his endless stream of perfect pop tunes and
overpowering rock anthems weren't good enough because they were lo-fi. He
wanted a big name producer who could finally land Guided By Voices a spot on
the radio.

Welcome to the show, Mr. Pollard.

With former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, Pollard got the big-name producer he
wanted all along. With Do The Collapse, he got the huge rock record that
should garner Guided By Voices the widespread attention they've deserved for
years.

The near-flawless albums that GBV churned out during its years with Matador Records --
classics like 1994's Bee Thousand, 1995's Alien Lanes -- drew the praise of critics
but never pushed the band beyond its hardcore following.

Pollard's decision to have Ocasek produce Do The Collapse should change that.
Ocasek's involvement ensured one of the most dramatic transformations in
music history. It meant the charming, muted sound of GBV's previous efforts
was gone. It meant Pollard would have to curb his penchant for writing songs
with off-the-wall arrangements and elusive lyrics.

It meant this record was going to be produced, not tossed together on a
four-track recorder in the basement of ex-GBVer Tobin Sprout.
The album is rife with keyboards, strings, synthesizers and massive guitar
riffs. Pollard's vocals are way up front in the mix. Whether they're punchy,
straightforward rockers or churning mid-tempo blasts of guitar power, every
song reaches the two-minute barrier, an unheard of feat for the ATD-riddled
Pollard.

Pollard's band also figures heavily into the success of Do The Collapse.
Although the new group couldn't rock or drink with the old guys - Sprout,
Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell - if they tried, they're a more cohesive unit.
Guitarist Doug Gilliard (whose last GBV stint came on 1997's Mag Earwhig)
lays down the phat riffs he honed while playing in Cobra Verde, and former
Breeders drummer Jim MacPherson and long-time GBV bassist Greg Demos (who
won't be out on the band's upcoming tour) keep the beat.

And while Pollard tried to write more straight-ahead car-rock tunes for Do
The Collapse, he also may have stumbled onto some of his best stuff.
"Surgical Focus" is a throbbing, driving cut that yanks in the listener
behind MacPherson's perfectly placed drum rolls and a signature Gilliard
riff.

Pollard wrote "Teenage FBI" years ago, and a rough initial recording of the
song ended up on GBV's "Wish In One Hand" 7-inch. The Ocasek-produced update
of the song starts off with a droning keyboard-and-bass dance ripped out of
Trent Reznor's playbook. But then Ocasek lets the original set back in, as
the song leans onto the familiar three-chord shifts and hooks planted by
Pollard.

"Hold On Hope" is about as far from GBV's beer-drenched,
Who-meets-Wire-meets-early Genesis sound as it has ever been, but it could be
the track that sends the band down the path to stardom. It's a beautiful song
about faith and hope paced by an over-produced acoustic guitar strum that
culminates in a shower of strings.

It's a far cry from cool songs about kicking elves, jars of cardinals and
valuable hunting knives.

But maybe that's what Pollard and GBV needed to do to be accepted. Maybe they
were too cool. Maybe they needed to come out of their basements and spend
some time in a giant New York studio to earn their time in the sun.

And to earn their time on the radio. With Do The Collapse, Ocasek has
positioned a radio antenna on top of Pollard's beer-spouting, microphone-twirling
mountain of songwriting spunk, kick-ass hooks and whacked-out psychedelic
brain waves.

Long live rock.