From a Compound Eye
From a Compound Eye | ||||
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Studio album by Robert Pollard | ||||
Released | January 24, 2006 | |||
Genre | Indie rock | |||
Label | Merge | |||
Producer | Todd Tobias | |||
Robert Pollard chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Mojo | |
The Onion | link |
Pitchfork | (7.1/10) link |
Spin | link |
Transform Online | link |
From a Compound Eye is the fifth solo studio album by American musician Robert Pollard, released in 2006. Though Pollard had already released several albums under his own name, this album, being the first released after the 2004 dissolution of his longtime vehicle Guided by Voices, was considered to be the official commencement of his solo career.
For the album, Pollard drew on his backlog of unreleased material, as well as newly composed songs. Rather than record with the band setup typical of GbV recordings, Pollard recorded basic guitar and vocal tracks within a matter of days, and left instrumental work to be overdubbed almost entirely by collaborator Todd Tobias who produced the last few GbV LPs. Clarifying the title, Pollard described the album as "Massive...Epic...it's all over the place and sees in all directions at once"[1]
It was the first Robert Pollard solo release to chart on any Billboard chart, peaking at No. 38 on the Heatseekers chart and No. 41 on the Top Independent Albums chart.[2]
Track listing
- "Gold" – 3:02
- "Field Jacket Blues" – 1:49
- "Dancing Girls and Dancing Men" – 2:38
- "A Flowering Orphan" – 1:50
- "The Right Thing" – 4:36
- "U.S. Mustard Company" – 2:52
- "The Numbered Head" – 5:10
- "I'm a Widow" – 3:37
- "Fresh Threats, Salad Shooters and Zip Guns" – 1:51
- "Kick Me and Cancel" – 2:08
- "Other Dogs Remain" – 2:41
- "Kensington Cradle" – 1:52
- "Love Is Stronger Than Witchcraft" – 4:12
- "Hammer in Your Eyes" – 1:42
- "50 Year Old Baby" – 2:13
- "I Surround You Naked" – 2:41
- "Cock of the Rainbow" – 1:43
- "Conqueror of the Moon" – 5:04
- "Blessed in an Open Head" – 2:55
- "A Boy in Motion" – 1:37
- "Denied" - 2:39
- "Lightshow" – 2:29
- "I'm a Strong Lion" – 1:08
- "Payment for the Babies" – 2:03
- "Kingdom Without" – 2:29
- "Recovering" – 3:28
References
- 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)