Universal Truths and Cycles [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Australian exclusive version of their 2002 album features the bonus track 'The Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippit'. 2002.

Tracks:

Wire Greyhounds
Skin Parade
Zap
Christian Animation Torch Carriers
Cheyenne
The Weeping Bogeyman
Back To The Lake
Love 1
Storm Vibrations
Factory Of Raw Essentials
Everywhere With Helicopter
Pretty Bombs
Eureka Signs
Wings Of Thorn
Car Language
From A Voice Plantation
Th Ids Are Alright
Universal Truths And Cycles
Father Sgt. Christmas Card

Amazon.com

Everybody knows they should be right up there with the Pixies and Pavement. But seeing as how Guided by Voices are still slogging away in crammed studios and beer-stained dives, no one is willing to decree them certifiable underground rock gods just yet. When the time comes, however, here is more evidence for frontman-mastermind Robert Pollard's case. Universal Truths and Cycles is at points frustrating, gorgeous, catatonic, uplifting, uncertain, and, yes, even translucent. It feels like the entire history of psych-punk--with rich references to the Beatles, XTC, the Modern Lovers, Wire, and Three O'Clock--distilled into 46 of the most invigorating minutes of your life. Glorious songs like "Skin Parade" and "Wings of Thorn" not only see the band on form after a brief, perhaps misjudged, dalliance with the mainstream, but sounding like they are ready to rewrite the entire history of rock & roll. Staggering. --Aidin Vaziri

Album Description

Follow-up to the 2001 album Isolation Drills, this album features 19 glittering pop melodies. In a return to self-production, the band recorded in a variety of different studios, on different media, on 8-track and 24-track. The result is more akin to their earlier albums combined with the efficiency of execution and musicianship of the more recent recordings. digipak. 2002. Matador.

Customer Reviews:

The complete picture.......2007-02-10

The best cd of GBV phase two .... Probably (I know I'm out on a limb here) the best cd of their whole career. Universal Truths and Cycles is the complete GBV picture: arranged songs/fragments, lo-fi/hi-fi, crystal clear/obscure, soft edged songs/full on rockers. Doug Gillard is crazy good. Pollard's song writing is in peak form - great lyrics and melodies. The sound is clear and clean (but not "produced").
The Amazon editorial reviews sum it up very well. This cd has it all.
I'm a big fan of GBV - I have most of their cds, saw them live many times. GBV were an important band. Universal Truths and Cycles is the best and perfect place to start if you're new to Guided By Voices.

My introduction.......2006-11-16

After reading references to GBV in Dennis Cooper novels, I finally bought a GBV CD. I got this one when it was brand-new, and I loved loved loved it. I thought GBV might be a British band, lol. Okay, so I was late getting into the band, but I've made up for it since. I saw them live three times and own a dozen of their CDs, and a couple of Bob's solo stuff. This isn't my favorite CD of GBV, but it's in the top three. It certainly has a crop of my favorite songs, like Helicopter and Back to the Lake and Cheyenne. Unfortunately, everything that came after this CD is rather undistinguished.

something's amiss.......2006-07-23

universal truths and cycles, guided by voices thirteenth album, has the best of intentions. all it lacks is color. every GbV record has a flavor all its own. not this one. as a return to his lo-fi roots (sort of), pollard and company deny it the opportunity to exist on its own terms. no doubt this is a very good record, and much better than what was to follow, it just doesn't feel organic. that said, pretty bombs is the bomb! a great song. and there are others: back to the lake, skin parade. the machine that was guided by voices was just losing inerta.

Straddling the Line of Cult and Pop Culture.......2006-06-02

One universal truth is that Guided By Voices make one hell of a lot of music. Another universal truth is that when it comes to quality, it varies like crazy. As for cycles, it seems as though GBV had played out their `low-fi' stage until it became as much a burden as a means of identity. Eventually, they moved more and more toward the mainstream, causing some old fans to grumble, and some new fans to run screaming when they heard how the band used to sound. Ever the populist (?), frontman Robert Pollard stayed the course, remaining true to his own songwriting methods, while altering bandmembers and production styles in search of the blend that would make everybody happy.
Well, is everybody happy? Universal Truths and Cycles is the closest that Guided By Voices has yet come to straddling the ever so fine line between cult and pop culture. All claims from older fans who feel that Pollard and co. have sold out is simply sour grapes, or a severe case of misunderstanding the band they purport to have once loved. As far as material and songwriting, Robert Pollard has not changed one iota from the first GBV album nearly twenty years ago until now. Nearly every song still sounds as though it were composed in the time it took to play it, with subsequent arrangements and lyrical adjustments providing the only means of tampering with his spontaneous creativity. Few people in the known universe could claim to have written half as many songs as Pollard. Granted, a little bit of self-editing would be nice, but this is the way he has always operated. It hasn't changed. Every now and then, he happens upon something glorious, like the Beatle-esque melody of the title song, or the creepy genius of "Skin Parade." Elsewhere, he spits out "Cheyenne" and "Back to the Lake", sounding like forgotten top 40 pop songs from another generation.
Robert Pollard has figured out a way to appease his muse by releasing albums by the dozen, all under various aliases. Some are great. Some suck wind. His work with the Tobias brothers (producer Todd and bassist Tim are on this record) are among his best collaborators. If you think he sold out, then go ahead and buy the double album Acid Ranch - "Some of the Magic Syrup was Preserved". It consists of abandoned tracks recorded in his bedroom, back in the day. It also sucks monkey banana. Pollard is as musically prolific as a human being can be. Is he consistent? Hell, no. But has he sold out? It's ridiculous to even suggest it. B+ Tom Ryan

The new old sound redux? .......2005-07-18

Let's start off by saying this is not the place to start. I think that it is a good album but not without a solid knowledge of the band. And as it is a return to their mid-period label, Matador, this should not come as surprise. Quite simply this is a more intimate version of their TVT releases through Mag Earwhig with a dash of Alien Lanes. I mean this is where the band polished their haiku song fragments to a sheen that has not been met(unless "half smiles" is really amazing. Have not bought it 'cuz I'm in denial). "Zap","Factory of Raw Essentials", and "Love 1" are clearly desendent to the "Alien Lane" snippets and Mag Earwhig vignettes but much more concise and focused. (Jeez, if you want more of that sort of thing take a look at "Waved Out" or "Kid Marine", two Pollard solo works, which reflect the evolution of this style of song. GBV may not have created it but surely perfected it.) Yes, it has two later period GBV rock tracks like "Helicopter" and "Lake" but, it also has small screen epics like "Christian Animation Torch Carriers", "Pretty Bombs", "Storm Vibrations", and "Eureka Signs" which are as much about "Red Men and Their Wives" as they are about "Unspirited". A great record from a band that is as essential to Indie as Pavement, CVB, OR Sonic Youth. And let me give a kudos to the band that backs Bob. Doug is a guitar god and a rhythm section (various musicians I am just not going to list) that gives this the grounding that essential to a music that splits the difference between postpunk, prog, and psych.
Also of note this marks the increased prescense of Tim Tobias, who I am sure will be a crucial player in Pollard's post GBV output.(For a more outre experience look towards Circus Devils' "Harold Pig". Here Tobias and Pollard look to create a more Ohioian more psychedelic experience than GBV.)
Thanks to a band that created music which will not evaporate like so much vaporware that passes as music these days.

Average customer rating:

Universal Truths and Cycles
Guided by Voices
Manufacturer: Import [Generic]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00006CY6Y
Release Date: 2003-04-15

Tracks:

Wire Greyhounds
Skin Parade
Zap
Christian Animation Torch Carriers
Cheyenne
Weeping Bogeyman
Back to the Lake
Love 1
Storm Vibrations
Factory of Raw Essentials
Everywhere with Helicopter
Pretty Bombs
Eureka Signs
Wings of Thorn
Car Language
From a Voice Plantation
Ids Are Alright
Universal Truths and Cycles
Father Sgt. Christmas Card
Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippet [*]

Album Description

Australian exclusive version of their 2002 album features the bonus track 'The Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippit'. 2002.

Album Details

The Follow-up to the Hugely Successful "Room Service" Album, "Room Service 2" is Based on the Swinging 60's!

Average customer rating:

Universal Truths and Cycles
Guided by Voices
Manufacturer: Pony Canyon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Lo-Fi | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Alternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000677DY
Release Date: 2002-06-17

Tracks:

Wire Greyhounds
Skin Parade
Zap
Christian Animation Torch Carriers
Cheyenne
Weeping Bogeyman
Back to the Lake
Love 1
Storm Vibrations
Factory of Raw Essentials
Everywhere with Helicopter
Pretty Bombs
Eureka Signs
Wings of Thorn
Car Language
From a Voice Plantation
Ids Are Alright
Universal Truths and Cycles
Father Sgt. Christmas Card
Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippet [*]

Album Description

Japanese edition of 2002 album includes the bonus track 'The Pipe Dreams Of Instant Prince Whippit'.

Album Details

Japanese Release featuring a Bonus Track

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