Stereo Review


Guided By Voices
Universal Truths and Cycles
Matador Records

Music: 4 1/2 (out of 5) stars
CD: 4 stars

The past few CDs from Guided by Voices were full of terrific songs and killer guitar sounds - Isolation Drills was downright Who-like - but some fans quibbled that the recording quality and the songs were just too normal. So this time, it's the best of both worlds, combining the polished writing of recent GBV with the freewheeling cut-and-paste album structure of the Alien Lanes era. Opening with the best 36-second rock anthem ever written, UTC is a beautiful mess of hooks, quirks, arena muscle, and underlying heart - one of this insanely prolific band's best.