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Apr 22, 2016While Please Be Honest can’t quite rank with the best of Guided By Voice’s output, it’s a solid, rewarding record that more than lives up to the band’s namesake.
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Apr 21, 2016Much of Please Be Honest is filled with mid-tempo material, but unlike his recent work, Pollard seems obsessed with guitar textures and vocal effects here, making Please Be Honest an intriguing success.
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MagnetAug 2, 2016If a smokestack tenor spewing a cloud of menagerie is your kind of daydream, the faulty superhero came through once again. [No. 132, p.51]
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Apr 21, 2016As a celebration of GbV's core virtues, Please Be Honest really does honor the sound of the band as much as the skills of its frontman and founder.
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Nov 3, 2016If fans approach this idiosyncratic half-hour listen like a Pollard solo work rather than band output, it assimilates a slightly disjointed but fascinating character study.
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Apr 21, 2016The songs on Please Be Honest are in keeping with the constant state of evolution and experimentation of most GBV albums. Which is to say, the songs are hit or miss.
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UncutApr 27, 2016There are some strong cuts but even Pollard, who appeared more energised on his recent solo LP Of Course You Are, sounds a little tired by the enterprise. [Jun 2016, p.74]
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Apr 21, 2016Please Be Honest certainly has its charms. But for the first time in Pollard’s career, Guided by Voices isn’t the main event--which, for the band’s legions of fans, is surely a loss.
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Apr 21, 2016Taken on its own, it’s a fine if not slightly disappointing work. But looked at within his prolific catalog, it paints a picture of a musician who will never stop experimenting and will likely continue to make music until he physically can’t anymore.
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Apr 27, 2016A few songs recall the off-the-cuff, askew rock 'n' roll they built their name on. Others, though, are barely listenable.
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Apr 25, 2016If you’re deeply invested in the Guided by Voices catalogue this record won’t disappoint you. You’re getting exactly what they’re selling. If there’s not much to the album past that point, well, that doesn’t have to matter so terribly.