“Hold On Hope” from GBV’s “Do The Collapse” album,
was suppose to be the song that cracked the mainstream for GBV.
Sure I was hoping the band would be successful and huge,
but in hindsight,
I’m glad it didn’t happen, especially with this song.
I can just imagine,
I mention to someone how great Guided By Voices are,
and they say, “oh yeah I love “Hold On Hope.”
Unlike some, I don’t hate the song,
but it doesn’t represent the bands sound and shouldn’t be the song
people identify the band with.
It would be like hearing someone say they like “Radio Gaga” by Queen
or “Misunderstanding” by Genesis.
I hate that!
Some fans may have passed up on this ep because of “Hold On Hope,”
but there are some really great songs on this ep.
Though Rich Ocasek gets production credit,
it seems like only the title track was.
The rest of the songs don’t seem to have his “slick” production,
which is good.
“Tropical Robots” and “A Crick Uphill’ shows Bob at his most Beatleish,
“Underground Initiations”, “Avalanche Aminos”and “Fly Into Ashes”
is GBV at their Pop/Rock best.
“Idiot Princess” is a rerecording of “Reptilian Beauty Secrets”
from fan club release “Tonics And Twisted Chasers.”
All of the tracks on Hold On Hope ep, were also released
on Daredevil Stamp Collector - Do The Collapse B-Sides,
which was # 10 in the Fading Captain Series,
except the studio version of “Hold On Hope” is substituted
with a demo version of the song.
A Must for GBV fans! |
