The Bob Pollard featured in full deific glory on Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes could nearly have out-Who'd The Who, if given a chance. But we all know what came in their wake: Bob lost the magic, and "The Captain" entered stage left. Most people attribute that sudden decline in quality to the departing of cohort Tobin Sprout, who had been with Pollard for a good long time and is theorized to have been the only member of Bob's ever-revolving backing band with the balls to veto Pollard's duds. Pollard himself, it's suspected, can hardly tell the difference between his "My Valuable Hunting Knife"s and his "A Big Fan of the Pigpen"s, which might explain why this disc is actually better than Universal Truths and Cycles.

But it's always darkest before the release of Universal Truths and Cycles, sports fans, and the wealth of excellent material surrounding those sessions proves that Pollard's legendary ability to trip over solid gold wasn't dead, just sleeping. Not only did the album assuage some growing doubts, but its spillover now threatens to momentarily redeem even the hilarious tragedy of the Fading Captain series. The Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippet collects the odds-and-ends left on the cutting room floor in the aftermath of UT&C;, and dare I say, Bob hasn't sounded this much like his old self since "Jane of the Waking Universe". Why these tracks were left off Universal Truths in favor of obvious filler like "Skin Parade" and "The Ids are Alright" is beyond me.

A few of these tracks have already sniffed daylight before (four, to be exact, as b-sides for the four seven-inches released as Universal Truths singles), and no doubt, someone, somewhere, is already grumbling that they're "no 'Echoes Myron'". Which is fine-- it's not like I'm innocent of this kind of indie codgerism-- but it's a bit like saying, "Mother Theresa was okay, but you know, she's no God or anything." Of course nothing on Pipe Dreams hits on that level. But there's no doubt that Pollard's recent material is on par with some of his pre-TVT stuff, particularly the better moments of Mag Earwhig!, and even certain highlights of Under the Bushes, Under the Stars.

This disc is evidence that Pollard has finally, gracefully adjusted to GBV's post-Sprout period. The arena rock tendencies of recent work are softened, and soaring, anthemic choruses are largely neglected in favor of rhythmic stompalongs. But aside from the consistency and digestability of these ten tracks, what makes Pipe Dreams a stronger record than Universal Truths and Cycles is the album's composition-- this being an "odds and sods" compilation, none of it quite coheres. This disjointed nature is Pipe Dreams' greatest strength, and not coincidentally, that of GBV's best work.

As I see it, one of the primary failings of the band's recent material-- including much of Universal Truths-- is a relative homogeneity that causes otherwise quality songs to bleed together into a mush of chiming guitars and cigarette-stained vocals. That never, ever happens on Pipe Dreams, where each track is clear and distinct from the one that comes before. As a companion piece to Universal Truths, it's easy to see where each cut fits into the larger picture, but the total effect of this record is far closer to that of early GBV classics, where bizarre, half-assed tracks like "Yours to Keep" and "Kicker of Elves" achieved a weirdly compelling power simply through proximity to plain great pop songs.

Some of the great pop songs included here are the bite-sized "Stronger Lizards" and "For Liberty", which both build to sublime crescendos of power and emotion before fading away less than a minute later. These tracks bear the mark of some of GBV's best work, in that you're left wanting more, despite the knowledge that what you just heard was an autonomous unit of songcrafting excellence. These morsels, however, merely set the table for the superlative "Dig Through My Window" and the closer "Beg for a Wheelbarrow." The former is a laidback pop reflection replete with key changes and a subtle orchestral backing, while the massive three-minute closer "Beg for a Wheelbarrow" has Pollard shouting, "Dig a deeper hole/ And then you'll feel better," over a climax of searing guitars and mounting drum fills. Pipe Dream's crown jewels are such a return to form that I almost imagined Tobin Sprout's voice among their backing choruses.

This, of course, is the rare collection in a Fading Captain series which has been-- and will undoubtedly continue to be-- incredibly patchy. Still, this disc implies nothing if not potential for more of the stunning songcraft Pollard built his good name on. Bob still has "it", to my amazement, and some to spare.

-Eric Carr, October 16th, 2002