Customer Reviews

Universal Truths and Cycles

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you want to rock like you haven't rocked since 1973, GBV is for you. If you like your songs short, not-so-sweet, and to the point, GBV is for you. If you enjoy concerts where the band drink like fish and the lead singer poses like a strange Roger Daltrey/Robert Plant/Bon Scott hybrid, GBV is for you.

With lots of GBV stuff, it's hit-or-miss, but not here. From the opening rocker "Wire Greyhounds" to the closing sing-along "Father Sgt. Christmas Card," Robert Pollard and the crew deliver the goods in prime 1960s British Invasion fashion. Other standouts (and already GBV classics) include "Christian Animation Torch Carriers," "Cheyenne," "Eureka Signs," and "The Ids are Alright."

If you are a fan of: the Kinks, the Who, the Beatles, the Hollies, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Zombies, etc.: BUY THIS ALBUM! You won't be sorry. And while you're at it, buy the earlier GBV stuff, too. Just throw that money around. Pollard and Co. will toast you with a Miller Lite at their next sloshy show.

Critics have been writing that this album is a "return" to the greatness of Alien Lanes, Bee Thousand era GbV but that would be an oversimplification....Because this collection of songs moves the band forward in many different ways.Yes, there's the short songs peppered through this album ala Alien Lanes...But Pollard has totally mastered the art of writing a short yet complete song like Wire Greyhounds :36 the opener on Universal Truths.Yes there are many of these brief mid-fi jewels(Zap,Love 1,The Weeping Bogeyman,Factory of Raw Essentials,The Ids are Alright)and they are the glue that flows this album so perfectly.But what I truly love about this album are the prog rock songs.These four songs are standouts: Christian Animation Torch Carriers,Storm Vibrations,Pretty Bombs & Car Language.Christian Animation Torch Carriers & Storm Vibrations are beautiful songs that build with soaring & crashing melodies.Pretty Bombs uses brilliantly twisted instrumentation from a string quartet to push the envelope of experimentation.Car Language also pushes the envelope with nifty little sound effects....guitars beeping like car horns but not in an obvious way, kind of swirling through the song for you discover for yourself..Again GENIUS.Yes and there are the singles those catchy songs that Pollard writes so effortlessly.There are 3 standouts, Cheyenne(pristine Pollard vocals & phrasing)Everywhere with Helicopter(infectious rocker)Back to the Lake(another beauty)The remaining songs a little harder to catagorize but they are just as good, Skin Parade( a bit of a stomper),The Whoish Wings of Thorn,Eureka Signs, From a Voice Plantation...and the perfect album closer,Father Sargent Christmas Card.This self produced album has it all;it brings all together in form, flow & production & it pushes the artistic envelope in all the right places.Buy it now!

Bob has a way of taking all that has been done before and filtering it down to the best elements. This album is diverse and glorious. One of GBV's most consistent offerings, it also offers flashes of the brilliance we all love from Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes, etc. A real plus here is the spontaneity of mid-90's GBV coupled with a reasonable level of fidelity. Wire Greyhounds, Skin Parade, Storm Vibrations, Everywhere With Helicopter, Eureka Signs, and Cheyenne are all instantly enjoyable. Most of the others will creep up on you the way Bee Thousand did after 7 or 8 listens. Bob is without question the greatest songwriter of the last decade assuming "great" is defined by the sheer number of outstanding rock songs written over the period. Long live Bob Pollard.

I first saw GBV, 13 years ago at the Canal Street Tavern in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Words can't describe how continually awestruck I am with the music Bob Pollard and the rest of his band mates are able to put out. Folks, Pollard is in his 40's and he is still able to create music that a 20 year old can listen to and associate with. Few people have that kind of talent. In fact, it's about time someone that has alot of media power gives this guy the respect he completely deserves by calling him the best song writer in rock and roll. I cannot think of one person that has written and performed such young feeling songs for such a long period of time and never sway to the bland pop, ungeniune side of rock music. Not one.

This album is no exception to the norm for Pollard and the rest of GBV. It's poetic, rockin, understandable, yet complex and rebellious. Pollard's songwriting is anything but simple and it shows on U.T.C. Give it up for a band that doesn't break down it's uniqueness just to sell a few more records.

This band and this album is not for the pop-rock/alternative listening audience. You all probably are too pretentious to really appreciate music like this.

Here's to hoping these guys can carry on this torch for many years to come and hopefully get the attention they deserve.

Lo-fi, hi-fi, producer, self-prodused...who cares? The music should be judged as that, and this album is some of their finest work! It's rare that a band gets better with time, not degrades. GBV are in fct like wine. These songs will grow, just listen to them more than once, or SEE THEM LIVE!
These guys, when it's all said and done will be one of the most influential bands of all time, they are everything rock n roll was and should be again.

If you're a fan, you probably love this by now, if not, this is as good as any of theirs to start with. This album, at the end of the day will rank up there with their best...

Once again, I am forced to wonder not only how Robert Pollard writes so many songs, but how most of them are really really good. A friend of mine who is also a huge GbV fan likens Bob to Elvis Costello, in that "he's just damn good, and that's all there is to it". I listened to this CD several times before reading any reviews. My initial reaction was that it reminded me of earlier GbV albums. With each successive listen it became apparent that this record is truly special. Every song is solid. I know Bob has been accused of "filler", but he has his reasons (I like to think he's tweaking the people who are apt to complain about it). Anyway, there's nothing like that going on here. This is good, solid rock music, fresh yet familiar. It's top drawer both lyrically and musically. Again, Bob has masterfully chosen his lineup, most notably Doug Gillard, a fantastic guitarist and consummate professional. This album is further proof that the focus of Robert Pollard's songwriting remains pure, his vision distinct. I think GbV fans will recognize that this album is a standout, distilling everything you like about the band in 19 generous tracks. New listeners should pick up Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes first, although I'm tempted to recommend this as an entry point because it seems to embody the essence of classic GbV quite well. My recommendation is to buy everything you can get your hands on. Oh, and for the record, Michael Jackson is the king (for those of you who need a king).

Okay, so considering a new Pollard/GBV album comes out about 5 times a year (no, really) after awhile you start really comparing each new album with the ones immediately before it. Strangely, you usually get a brilliant or a bad one, although that's not the case here. This album is neither as great as the underappreciated 'Isolation Drills,' 'Coreographed Man of War' or 'Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department' but it also is not as maudlin as 'Do the Collapse' or the Airport 5 albums. That places it more in the category of 'Kid Marine,' a competent and well executed album displaying lots of talent yet lacking that certain something that puts Pollard's best work over the top. I find at the end of several listens that only a few tracks, like "Skin Parade," "Zap" and "From a Voice Plantation" really stick out. The rest sound like pretty standard fair that will sound great live but doesn't stand out. Still, one that the fans will want to pick up and a great driving disc. I just can't imagine it being what I reach for when I want a GBV disc. Oh well, I'm sure there will be a new one out shortly. Next!

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.

While certainly praised by critics and real people alike, I still get a vibe that this is an underrated GBV album. Perhaps some were disappointed because it was touted as a return to the old sound. It's not that, for sure. But I think thats a good thing personally.

Song for song, this album is a pretty darn great. There is some groovy stuff here for sure. "Everywhere with Helecopter", "Cheyenne" and "Back to the Lake" rank high in my personal 'Uncle Bobby's best' list. I also really dig "Father Sgt. Christmas Card", which has that old Bowie thing going on that Pollard does from time to time. ("Striped White Jets" from ALIEN LANES and "Sad if I Lost It" from MAG EARWHIG! are two other examples which come to mind).

But wait, theres more! The epics (by Pollard standards) "Storm Vibrations", "Car Language" and "Christian Animation Torch Barriers" are great. Although admittedly, it took a few listens for the latter to fully sink in. "Eureka Signs" is a jammin rocker (descriptions like these are not goofy in my world) and tell me "Wings of Thorns" couldn't be a Who classic....Theres even more then that. I'm sure "Pretty Bombs" has been mentioned many times in these reviews. Deservedly so. "Wire Greyhounds" is like being hit in the face by a pop-rock brick. "Skin Parade", "Zap", "From a Voice Plantation", the title track....You get the picture. This album is a winner!...Be sure to check out THE PIPE DREAMS OF INSTANT PRINCE WHIPPET too. Those songs were written at this time and everyone of them is groovy.

I've been a GBV fan for many years, since at least 1994/95, and I have most of their records -- and that's saying something! I don't even know how many side projects and dalliances Bob Pollard has been involved with, but if you add GBV's studio albums with them the number of CDs he's released must number more than 100. While some might find Guided By Voices' more obscure offerings challenging (an understatement!), "Universal Truths And Cycles" is one of their best, if not their best of all time (as I think).

For myself, the centerpiece of the album is "Storm Vibrations". This aching, ambiguous song about a tortured relationship ebbs and flows with the band as the rich tremolo tones of Doug Gillard's guitar alternately quaver and thunder to the refrain of "Does it hurt you / to love I mean?" It's a powerful piece, expressing the pain, the joy and the confusion of being close to your own "angel baby monkey girl." It's all wrapped in a lovely haze of fuzzy guitars and achingly beautiful melody. GBV broke up last year, but having seen the band four times, I can tell you that this was one of their live staples, and I get nostalgic when I hear this one... and besides it was the soundtrack to a really bad fight with my girlfriend and I can't help but get a tear most times I hear it.

"Back To The Lake" is a another great song, with a loping groove and some more excellent guitar work from Gillard... not "lead" per se, or "rhythm" guitar either, but somewhere in-between. Most old school GBV fans prefer the pre-Gillard era, when Toby Sprout wrote about a quarter of the tunes. In my opinion, though the Sprout era had plenty of great moments, Gillard was a better fit for the band since he joined around 1997, and Bob must have thought so too as he was on every record from "Mag Earwhig!" onward.

Bob Pollard's lyrics never cease to amaze me, and though they might seem vague and tossed off to some people, a closer listening reveals a flair for absurdity and sheer love for wordplay, in addition to being very poignant and biting when Bob feels like being direct. How else can you explain a tune called e "Christian Animation Torch Carriers" (another highlight!), or "Father Sargeant Christmas Card"?

If you are a novice to the surreal and insanely hooky world of Guided By Voices, "Universal Truths And Cycles" is a great place to start. Many of the band's more obscure EP's and side projects are extremely Lo-Fi and tossed off, and though I happen get plenty of enjoyment from them, most listeners would probably press the Disc Skip button. But this is undeniably one of the best rock albums PERIOD of the last 20 years, and deserves a listen by anybody who believes, as I do, that well-played, loud guitars and inventive songs trump image and artifice. Word!