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 Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.[3] The band promoted the album with a "Pop Against Recession Tour".[4]
Production
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."[10]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."[12]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."[11]
