Robert Pollard And Doug Gillard: Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department (1999)

When I was first getting into GBV, and researching what order to buy their related albums, Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department was often mentioned as one of the best non-GBV releases, if not the best. In particular, the song Pop Zeus kept showing up on various best-of lists by GBV fans. It turned out to be one of my later purchases simply due to the fact that I tried finding it in Canada first (and not for some ridiculous price), and then ended up picking it up from Luna. Is it all its cracked up to be? Did it live up to the hype? The short answer is yes. Is Pop Zeus an awesome track? Once again, the answer is yes. Is it Pollard's best non-GBV album? Well, no. I do not believe it reaches the greatness of either Not In My Airforce or Waved Out (not to mention that Lexo and the Leapers album which is climbing my personal charts after every listen), though it still rocks hard and deserves respect in the GBV world, as it is full of songs begging to be played for a stadium crowd...