Destination Universe should not be confused with Destination: Universe!.
| Destination Universe | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Material Issue |
| Cover: | Destination Universe.jpg |
| Released: | 1992 |
| Studio: | Short Order Recorder |
| Genre: | Power pop |
| Length: | 42:55 |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Producer: | Jeff Murphy, Material Issue |
| Prev Title: | International Pop Overthrow |
| Prev Year: | 1991 |
| Next Title: | Freak City Soundtrack |
| Next Year: | 1994 |
Destination Universe is the second studio album by the American band Material Issue, released on Mercury Records in 1992.[1] [2] "What Girls Want" made the top ten on Billboards Modern Rock Tracks chart.[3] The band promoted the album with a "Pop Against Recession Tour".[4]
Recorded at Short Order Recorder, in Zion, Illinois, the album was produced by Jeff Murphy and the band.[5] [6] Material Issue had more time and money to spend on the production.[7] The album cover is a photo of a vintage Schwinn, purchased in Calumet City.[8]
Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Think of this music as a sort of landlocked ’90s Merseybeat, and trust in Ellison’s expertise in the mechanics that made that original Liverpool stuff so memorable: pocketsful of melodies, bursting guitars, and the unspoken belief that these are the things that make life worth living." Trouser Press concluded that the album "suffers from a serious lack of strong tunes."[6]
Rolling Stone deemed it "not exactly a wildly original piece of work, but it's full of memorable pop-rock tracks."[9] The Indianapolis Star determined that, "with rough Hollies vocals and keen grasp of styles that they heard as kids, Material Issue drives its own vehicle—but it's always cruising for girls."
All songs written by Jim Ellison