''Superman Was A Rocker'' is the ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

from singer-songwriter

Robert Pollard Robert Ellsworth Pollard Jr. (born October 31, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the frontman and leader of indie rock band Guided by Voices, which he also the band’s only constant member. In addition to this, he has also rele ...

. 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 stylistic ch ...

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 Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted o ...

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 of ...

- 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 (mag ...

- 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