Isolation Drills
Isolation Drills | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Guided by Voices | ||||
Released | April 10, 2001 | |||
Recorded | 2000 | |||
Length | 47:12 | |||
Label | TVT | |||
Producer | Rob Schnapf | |||
Guided by Voices chronology | ||||
|
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 83/100[1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
The Boston Phoenix | [3] |
Los Angeles Times | [4] |
Pitchfork | 7.0/10[5] |
Rolling Stone | [6] |
Spin | 7/10[7] |
Isolation Drills is the 12th studio album by American indie rock band Guided by Voices. It was their second and final LP released under TVT Records and their second to feature a major rock producer in Rob Schnapf. The album was also their first to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 168.[8] The album notably features instrumental contributions from Elliott Smith and David Sulzer. Previous longtime band member Tobin Sprout also returned as a guest and contributed with playing piano. While Jim MacPherson plays drums on the album, his replacement Jon McCann is featured in the cover photos, as MacPherson had left the band immediately after the recording to focus on his home life.
Reception
Isolation Drills is currently the highest rating album on the aggregate review website Metacritic of their submitted studio albums.[9]
Accolades
"Glad Girls" was nominated for the High Times "Pot Song of the Year" award.[10] "Chasing Heather Crazy" was named the 319th best song of the decade by Pitchfork.[11] In 2014, the album was ranked number 92 on PopMatters' list of the Best Albums of the '00s.[12]
Appearance in popular culture
- "Skills Like This" was featured on the ESPN Ultimate X Soundtrack compilation album.
Track listing
All songs written by Robert Pollard.
- "Fair Touching" – 3:07
- "Skills Like This" – 2:47
- "Chasing Heather Crazy" – 2:53
- "Frostman" – 0:55
- "Twilight Campfighter" – 3:07
- "Sister I Need Wine" – 1:40
- "Want One?" – 1:48
- "The Enemy" – 4:53
- "Unspirited" – 2:25
- "Glad Girls" – 3:49
- "Run Wild" – 3:48
- "Pivotal Film" – 3:10
- "How's My Drinking?" – 2:38
- "The Brides Have Hit Glass" – 2:51
- "Fine to See You" – 3:16
- "Privately" – 4:05
Title
The opening of "The Enemy" is an excerpt of "Broadcastor House," a track from the 1994 Clown Prince of the Menthol Trailer EP, which may come from the fact that "Broadcastor House" was the initial working title of the album.
Personnel
Guided by Voices
- Robert Pollard – lead vocals, guitar
- Doug Gillard – lead guitar
- Nate Farley – rhythm guitar
- Tim Tobias – bass
- Jim Macpherson – drums
Additional musicians
- David Soldier – string arrangements, violin
- Tobin Sprout – piano
- Elliott Smith – piano
- Marlene Rice – violin
Technical
- Rob Schnapf – mixing, producer
- Doug Boehm – engineer, mixing
- Julian Joyce – mixing
- John Shough – engineer
- Greg Di Gesu – assistant engineer
- Don Tyler – mastering
References
- ^ "Reviews for Isolation Drills by Guided by Voices". Metacritic. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ Deming, Mark. "Isolation Drills – Guided by Voices". AllMusic. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ Ashare, Matt (April 26 – May 2, 2001). "Guided by Voices: Isolation Drills (TVT)". The Boston Phoenix. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ Bronson, Kevin (April 29, 2001). "Guided By Voices, 'Isolation Drills,' TVT". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ LeMay, Matt (March 31, 2001). "Guided By Voices: Isolation Drills". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ Kot, Greg (March 5, 2001). "Isolation Drills : Guided By Voices". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ LePage, Matt (June 2001). "Guided by Voices: Isolation Drills". Spin. 17 (6): 152–53. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ "Artist Chart History - Guided by Voices". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
- ^ "GUIDED BY VOICES' SCORES". Metacritic. 2017.
- ^ "Guided By Voices with the Bloodthirsty Lovers". IndyWeekly.com. 2002-04-10. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
- ^ "Pitchfork: Staff Lists: The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 500-201". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
- ^ "The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s: 100-81 | PopMatters". Archived from the original on 2014-10-08.
- v
- t
- e
- Robert Pollard
- Doug Gillard
- Mark Shue
- Bobby Bare Jr.
- Kevin March
- Tobin Sprout
- Mitch Mitchell
- Greg Demos
- Kevin Fennell
- Jim Macpherson
- James Greer
- Devil Between My Toes (1987)
- Sandbox (1987)
- Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia (1989)
- Same Place the Fly Got Smashed (1990)
- Propeller (1992)
- Vampire on Titus (1993)
- Bee Thousand (1994)
- Alien Lanes (1995)
- Under the Bushes Under the Stars (1996)
- Tonics & Twisted Chasers (1996)
- Mag Earwhig! (1997)
- Do the Collapse (1999)
- Isolation Drills (2001)
- Universal Truths and Cycles (2002)
- Earthquake Glue (2003)
- Half Smiles of the Decomposed (2004)
- Let's Go Eat the Factory (2012)
- Class Clown Spots a UFO (2012)
- The Bears for Lunch (2012)
- English Little League (2013)
- Motivational Jumpsuit (2014)
- Cool Planet (2014)
- Please Be Honest (2016)
- August by Cake (2017)
- How Do You Spell Heaven (2017)
- Space Gun (2018)
- Zeppelin Over China (2019)
- Warp and Woof (2019)
- Sweating the Plague (2019)
- Surrender Your Poppy Field (2020)
- Mirrored Aztec (2020)
- Styles We Paid For (2020)
- Earth Man Blues (2021)
- It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! (2021)
- Crystal Nuns Cathedral (2022)
- Tremblers and Goggles by Rank (2022)
- La La Land (2023)
- Welshpool Frillies (2023)
- Nowhere to Go but Up (2023)
- Strut of Kings (2024)
- Forever Since Breakfast (1986)
- The Grand Hour (1993)
- Static Airplane Jive (1993)
- Get Out of My Stations (1994)
- Fast Japanese Spin Cycle (1994)
- Clown Prince of the Menthol Trailer (1994)
- I Am a Scientist (1994)
- Tigerbomb (1995)
- Sunfish Holy Breakfast (1996)
- Plantations of Pale Pink (1996)
- Wish in One Hand… (1997)
- Plugs for the Program (1999)
- Hold on Hope (2000)
- Dayton, Ohio–19 Something and 5 (2000)
- Daredevil Stamp Collector (2001)
- The Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippet (2002)
- Down by the Racetrack (2013)
- Wine Cork Stonehenge (2018)
- 100 Dougs (2018)
- 1901 Acid Rock (2019)
- Umlaut Over the Ozone (2019)
- Live from Austin, TX (2007)
- The Best of Guided by Voices: Human Amusements at Hourly Rates (2003)
- Crickets: Best of the Fading Captain Series 1999–2007 (2007)
- Scalping the Guru (2022)
- Box (1995)
- Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft (2000)
- Hardcore UFOs: Revelations, Epiphanies and Fast Food in the Western Hemisphere (2003)
- Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow (2005)
- Suitcase 3: Up We Go Now (2009)
- Suitcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won the War (2015)
solo albums
- Not in My Airforce (1996)
- Waved Out (1998)
- Kid Marine (1999)
- Motel of Fools (2003)
- Fiction Man (2004)
- Relaxation of the Asshole (2005)
- From a Compound Eye (2006)
- Normal Happiness (2006)
- Silverfish Trivia (2007)
- Standard Gargoyle Decisions (2007)
- Coast to Coast Carpet of Love (2007)
- Superman Was a Rocker (2008)
- Weatherman and Skin Goddess (2008)
- Robert Pollard Is Off to Business (2008)
- The Crawling Distance (2009)
- Elephant Jokes (2009)
- We All Got Out of the Army (2010)
- Moses on a Snail (2010)
- Space City Kicks (2011)
- Lord of the Birdcage (2011)
- Mouseman Cloud (2012)
- Jack Sells the Cow (2012)
- Honey Locust Honky Tonk (2013)
- Blazing Gentlemen (2013)
- Faulty Superheroes (2015)
- Of Course You Are (2016)
- Carnival Boy (1996)
- Moonflower Plastic (1997)
- Let's Welcome the Circus People (1999)
- Lost Planets & Phantom Voices (2003)
- The Bluebirds of Happiness Tried to Land on My Shoulder (2010)
- The Universe & Me (2017)
- Tower in the Fountain of Sparks (2001)
- Life Starts Here (2002)
- Brown Submarine (2008)
- The Planets are Blasted (2009)
- Zero to 99 (2009)
- Our Cubehouse Still Rocks (2010)
- Let It Beard (2011)
Doug Gillard albums
- Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department (1999)
- Mist King Urth (2003)
- Waving at the Astronauts (2011)
- In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music by Nightwalker 1984–1993 (1999)
- Big Trouble (2000)
- Choreographed Man of War (2001)
- Calling Zero (2002)
- Blues and Boogie Shoes (2006)
- Ringworm Interiors (2001)
- The Harold Pig Memorial (2002)
- Pinball Mars (2004)
- Five (2005)
- Sgt. Disco (2007)
- Ataxia (2008)
- Gringo (2009)
- Mother Skinny (2010)
- Capsized! (2011)
- When Machines Attack (2013)
- My Mind Has Seen the White Trick (2013)
- Escape (2014)
- Stomping Grounds (2015)
- Laughs Last (2017)