''Superman Was A Rocker'' is the ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

from singer-songwriter

Robert Pollard Robert Ellsworth Pollard Jr. (born October 31, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter who is the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices. In addition to his work with Guided by Voices, he continues to have a prol ...

. It was released on January 29, 2008. ''Superman Was a Rocker'' marks the first LP released by Pollard's Happy Jack Rock Records label . It differs from Pollard's past solo albums in that it is very

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

in comparison to his more polished releases.

Background

The album was created by adding vocals to previously unused instrumentals, spanning nearly three decades of dormant recordings. The track "Back to the Farm" opens with a radio conversation supposedly between Guided by Voices band members and a southern speaking critic of their music. Many of the GBV band members appear on the recording as a result of the extended periods of the work. According to the Rockathon Music website:

"Robert Pollard's Superman Was A Rocker is a return to old ways for Bob. This mini-album (13 songs, 30 minutes) finds Bob using recording methods that he hasn't engaged in since the old GBV days." "Bob recently poured through a bunch of old cassette tapes of his and found some great instrumentals that he either wrote or co-wrote, and never used. He decided to go into the studio and put vocals (and melodies!) over them."

Track listing

#"Another Man's Blood" #"Go Down First" #"Back to the Farm" (instrumental) #"Substitute Heaven" #"Prince Alphabet" #"You Drove the Snake Crazy" #"Surveillance" #"Fascination Attempt" #"Love Your Spaceman" #"Jumping" #"St. Leroy" #"Peacock" #"More Hot Dogs Please"

Personnel

* Robert Pollard - Vocals, guitar, piano, producer * Jim Pollard - Bass, drums, guitar, *

Tobin Sprout Tobin Sprout (born April 28, 1955) is an American visual artist, musician, songwriter, and children's author. He is best known as a former member of the indie rock band Guided by Voices. He served as a secondary major songwriter and guitarist o ...

- Drums *

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...

- Bass, guitar * John Bert Dodson - Drum machine, guitar

Other/production

* Kevin March - Engineer, various Instruments * Todd Tobias - Audio Engineer, Producer, Vocal Engineer

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Robert Pollard albums