''Normal Happiness'' is the sixth album by
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 ...
. Like its predecessor, it was recorded with Pollard on basic guitar and vocal tracks, with instrumental overdubs from producer
Todd Tobias
Todd Tobias (born 1967) is an American multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known for his work with Robert Pollard and his band Guided by Voices. Other projects include Circus Devils, Kramies, The Library Is On Fire, and musical th ...
. ''Normal Happiness'' debuted at No. 46 on the ''Billboard'' Top Independent Albums chart.
Pollard explained the writing process and the title of ''Normal Happiness'' in a Gothamist interview:
"I wrote a total of 47 songs and it just so happened that my favorite ones happened to be the poppier ones and that tone or attitude carried over into the recording process itself. I didn't feel the final product was overly "sappy" so I decided to call it "Normal Happiness". Not too heavy and not light
Working titles for the album were ''You Were Saying?'' and ''Gasoline Ragtime''.
The album received a 72/100 rating at
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
Metacritic
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Track listing
# "The Accidental Texas Who"
# "Whispering Whip"
# "Supernatural Car Lover"
# "Boxing About"
# "Serious Bird Woman (You Turn Me On)"
# "Get a Faceful"
# "Towers and Landslides"
# "I Feel Gone Again"
# "Gasoline Ragtime"
# "Rhoda Rhoda"
# "Give Up the Grape"
# "Pegasus Glue Factory"
# "Top of My Game"
# "Tomorrow Will Not Be Another Day"
# "Join the Eagles"
# "Full Sun (Dig the Slowness)"
References
{{Authority control
2006 albums
Robert Pollard albums