• Record Label: Matador
  • Release Date: Aug 19, 2003
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. 100
    Their best album since 1996's brilliant Under the Bushes, Under the Stars.
  2. If Earthquake Glue isn't a masterpiece, it's as close as this band can be expected to get, and is the rare Guided By Voices effort that's imaginative enough for longtime loyalists and tight enough for dabblers at the same time.
  3. Magnet
    90
    Aside from a few fleeting moments of watery prog and lumpen rock, the album's 15 songs have a slow-growing charm and understated grace, something that gradually becomes powerful in its own right. [#60, p.102]
  4. While it delivers the triumphant rock 'n' roll thrills and oddball incantations promised by the GBV "brand", the most surprising thing about Earthquake Glue is that, at a point in his career when his inventiveness really should be waning (along with his libido and his prostate), Robert Pollard's creative spark seems brighter than ever.
  5. This is what makes Earthquake Glue such a startling arrival. You don’t simply listen to it out of obligation, but instead because you are compelled to return to it, again and again.
  6. Earthquake Glue meets any GBV album that isn't named Bee Thousand or Alien Lanes.
  7. Earthquake Glue nonetheless contains the band's best work since the energized Isolation Drills and edges out last year's Universal Truths And Cycles in the memorable hooks department.
  8. The band functions as a unit, informing the songs with a structure and a fully realized design that has sometimes been lacking in past albums.
  9. Overall, it's another great GBV album that continues to spotlight the Pollard's staggering work of genius.
  10. Mojo
    80
    Earthquake Glue sees a return to the satisfyingly stylistic cohesion of 2001's Isolation Drills, ... while retaining the impressionistic aural fug that's so key to the band's appeal. [Sep 2003, p.98]
  11. Steeped in big rock history, steadfastly tenacious, perversely, refreshingly uncool, Bob Pollard has written a fine collection of songs, for the most part, and his band, in their execution, have matched him every step of the way.
  12. 'Earthquake Glue' once again posits Pollard as purveyor of stupidly breezy tunes.
  13. Alternative Press
    70
    The songs are getting samey. [Sep 2003, p.102]
  14. Guided By Voices albums have become predictable, a shocking end for a group defined by its surprise delights.
  15. Uncut
    60
    Strange, though, that we yearned for Pollard to treat his songs properly when he tossed them off as lo-fi sketches, but now they arrive as crafted, completed stadium anthems, that faint whiff of underachievement remains. [Sep 2003, p.102]
  16. Blender
    60
    The offhand charm isn't enough. [Sep 2003, p.123]
  17. Under The Radar
    60
    Pollard has evolved into college-rock comfort food of little consequence. [#5, p.106]
  18. Q Magazine
    60
    A familiar bag of tricks. [Sep 2003, p.101]
  19. Spin
    58
    Hazy, almost-there stadium anthems that don't quite fill the stadium. [Sep 2003, p.115]
  20. Filter
    46
    The best song is track 13, "Apology in Advance." It is still not that good. [#6, p.86]
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Negative: 1 out of 22
  1. Apr 6, 2018
    8
    Great album, virtually every song on this release is very good. A vast improvement from the last album Universal Truths and Cycles, perfectingGreat album, virtually every song on this release is very good. A vast improvement from the last album Universal Truths and Cycles, perfecting a production that will please classic fans and mainstream listeners alike with a pleasing assortment of songs. Full Review »
  2. Nov 18, 2012
    1
    It pains me to say, being that Robert Pollard is one of my favorite songwriters, that this is the weakest album in the Guided By Voices andIt pains me to say, being that Robert Pollard is one of my favorite songwriters, that this is the weakest album in the Guided By Voices and Robert Pollard solo canon. Apart from the stellar Best of Jill Hives, there are but only a handful of melodies that are memorable and most of the album is buried under thick, compressed, muddy production. I recognize that a lot of critics and fans alike have overwhelmingly praised the album, however it continually disappoints whenever I give it a spin. Full Review »
  3. bellet
    Mar 13, 2004
    10
    great