Product Description

With a keen sense of the absurd, Black Francis's (now FrankBlack) Pixies were the consummate darlings of the music press--no surprise, with their refreshing mix of overblown guitars, discreet nods to the surreal and a vibrant grasp of pure pop that offered a luscious blow to the senses on execution. "Cecilia Ann" stood somewhere between spandex metal and Beach Blanket Bingo, while the deranged singalong of "Is She Weird" sat alongside the first single, "Velouria", underlining their ability to write timeless singles that filled the head and sent toes tapping incessantly out of time. A recent compilation confirmed their standing.

Track Listing

1. Cecilia Ann
2. Velouria
3. Is She Weird
4. All Over The World
5. Down To The Well
6. Blown Away
7. Stormy Weather
8. Rock Music
9. Allison
10. Ana
11. Dig For Fire
12. Happening
13. Hang Wire
14. Havalina

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3491 in Music
• Released on: 1993-12-31
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Opinion varies as to which seminal slab of the Pixies back-catalogue is the greatest. Those who think the perfect breakfast is a cup of black coffee and cigarette rate the earlier Surfer Rosa and Doolittle; whilst those who think breakfast should consist of cake prefer the laterBossanova and Trompe Le Monde. It's not as if the Pixies suddenly turned into the Bangles, though. Black Francis still yowls like a Second World War fought out entirely between battalions of cougars; and "Down To The Well" isn't anything other than extreme arse-kicking. But with the endlessly magnificent "Velouria" and as-hitty-as-the-Pixies-were-going-to-get hit single "Dig For Fire", the Pixies had learnt to use their heat and power to make crowns and coronets, not just cannon and shell. When Nirvana's Kurt Cobain wrote "Teen Spirit", he claimed he was "just trying to rip off a Pixies' song". These are the ones he was trying to rip off. --Caitlin Moran

Customer Reviews

Crossover classic
This album explores certain motifs, and the general feeling is that the paranormal is explored... UFOs, vampiric imagery, night-time scenes abound. It has often been called a Black Francis album more than a Kim Deal Album, and has definite "surf rock" influences, especially with the occasional use of clean guitar sound. Veloria, Is she Weird, Dig For Fire, The Happening are the highlights. It has a very nice interplay between loud and quiet, which seems almost deliberate but doesnt affect the listening pleasure of the album.

In my regard there are really three Pixies records, this being the third. Tromp Le Monde is quite substandard by comparison to the first three, and I would say this album signals the maturation of the band... before things started to go downhill.

Unmemorable
This is the weakest Pixies album. It's like smoking pot - time seems to drift by and you can't remember anything about it afterwards.

Takes a lot of listening to like
I think this album takes one hell of a lot of listening to appreciate. When I first bought it I thought is she weird, velouria, dig for fire and the happening were the only good songs. After about five or six listens I began to really appreciate the songs on this album and rank it as high as doolittle but for different reasons. Black Francis has been subtle this time and not done what people expect from him but challenges you to accept a different side of the pixes, a more softer, melodic side to them. And if you give this cd a chance You'll love it just as much as anything else they've done.