- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Alternative PressThe band have gelled into Pollard's best yet, and it's their brief forays into prog-rock complexity that make the record stand out within the GBV catalog. [Jul 2002, p.82]
-
Fans might finally have a proper companion to the arena-in-my-closet-rock of '95's Alien Lanes.
-
Universal Truths and Cycles has got something for everyone who's ever liked Guided By Voices even a little.
-
You remember Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Mag Earwhig! ? Well, those days are here again.
-
MagnetAmong the lot lie some stone-cold Pollard classics. [#55, p.76]
-
MojoUniversal Truths is not as raw overall as GBV's earliest efforts, but it seems much closer to their wonderfully chaotic live sound than the last couple of records have. [July 2002, p.104]
-
Is much, much better than a record made by chronically drunk middle-aged men has any right to be.
-
GBV have made a record that should please any fan still listening.
-
While it doesn't recapture the magic of the Sprout-era Guided by Voices records, Universal Truths and Cycles marks the return of some of the most sorely missed qualities of early Guided by Voices: strong vocal melodies and refreshingly atypical song structures.
-
Universal Truths and Cycles is not only Guided By Voices strongest record in some time, it is also the best rock record this year.
-
GBV are self-produced once again and simultaneously looser and sharper as a result.
-
SpinOf course it's nothing new, but Guided by Voices' precision messes are their own reward. [Aug 2002, p.110]
-
No more fancy studios, no more high priced producers; this is truly GBV as nature intended -- reckless, hook-laden and drunk as hell.
-
When Pollard is at his best, as he often is here, it's the rest of the world that sounds out of step.