Universal Truths and Cycles

Universal Truths and Cycles is the 13th studio album by American indie rock band Guided by Voices. After releasing their previous two albums on TVT Records, Guided by Voices returned to Matador Records.

Universal Truths and Cycles
Studio album by Guided by Voices
Released	June 18, 2002
Recorded	2001
Genre	Indie rock
Length	46:25
Label	Matador
Producer	Todd Tobias Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices chronology
Isolation Drills (2001) Universal Truths and Cycles (2002) Earthquake Glue (2003)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Dusted Magazine	[2]
Pitchfork Media	7.6/10 [3]
Popmatters	favorable [4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
The A.V. Club	favorable [6]

This was the highest charting Guided by Voices album at the time of release. It peaked at #160 on the Billboard Top 200, #10 on the Independent Albums list, and in the best chart performance of their career, #3 on the Top Heatseekers chart .

Track listing

All songs written by Robert Pollard.

Side A

1. "Wire Greyhounds" – 0:35
2. "Skin Parade" – 2:57
3. "Zap" – 1:14
4. "Christian Animation Torch Carriers" – 3:54
5. "Cheyenne" – 2:58
6. "The Weeping Bogeyman" – 1:35
7. "Back to the Lake" – 2:33
8. "Love 1" – 0:54
9. "Storm Vibrations" – 4:59
10. "Factory of Raw Essentials" – 1:25

Side B

11. "Everywhere with Helicopter" – 2:36
12. "Pretty Bombs" – 3:06
13. "Eureka Signs" – 3:06
14. "Wings of Thorn" – 2:10
15. "Car Language" – 4:44
16. "From a Voice Plantation" – 2:06
17. "The Ids Are Alright" – 1:10
18. "Universal Truths and Cycles" – 2:19
19. "Father Sgt. Christmas Card" – 2:04

In the media

• In the television series The IT Crowd episode Red Door, Roy hides stolen computer equipment under a Universal Truths and Cycles T-shirt. There is a poster of the same on a wall in Roy and Maurice's office.
• In the television series The Wire Nick Sobotka has a Universal Truths and Cycles poster on his wall.
• Guided by Voices performed "Everywhere With Helicopter" live on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn on June 17, 2002.

Personnel

Most of the credits do not give specific instruments played by each individual, but rather list performers who appeared on the release in any capacity.^[7][8]

Guided by Voices

• Robert Pollard
• Doug Gillard
• Tim Tobias
• Nate Farley

Additional musicians

• Scott Bennett – cello
• John McCann – drums
• Chris Slusarenko – piano (track 7)
• Chris George – cello
• Steve Berson – cello
• Suellen Ogier – effects
• Asha Mevlana – viola, strings
• Helen Yee – violin

Technical

• Todd Tobias – production
• Scott Bennett – assistant engineer