Track Listing

1. Debaser
2. Tame
3. Wave of Mutilation
4. I Bleed
5. Here Comes Your Man
6. Dead
7. Monkey Gone to Heaven
8. Mr. Grieves
9. Crackity Jones
10. La Love You
11. No. 13 Baby
12. There Goes My Gun
13. Hey
14. Silver
15. Gouge Away

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8477 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
SACD/Hybrid 2008 version of the Pixies 1989 album, Doolittle. Pixies is led by Black Francis (AKA Charles Thompson), this Boston band reveled in the raw, loud energy of punk, but harnessed it in service of catchy melodies laced with bizarre lyrics. Doolittle, is widely considered to be one of the best alternative-rock albums ever, and their influence extends to a legion of artists, including PJ Harvey and Nirvana. After five records in five years, they were gone, splintering into the Breeders (led by bassist Kim Deal) and Francis's solo namesake, Frank Black. In 2004, however, the band reunited for some highly publicized performances. 15 tracks.

Amazon.com essential recording
Yeah, Kim Deal made a big splash of her own, and Frank Black is still holding his own. But as any Pixies fan will tell you, and as Doolittle suggests (like "ten million pounds of sludge" to the head), the Pixies rocked harder than the sum of their parts. They were masters of dynamics (check out "Monkey Gone to Heaven," or "Hey"), moving from quietly subdued to all-out head-banging and back before you could say "la la love you." Black Francis was one of the most unique vocal stylists of the '80s. His duets with bassist Deal, "I Bleed" and "Silver," work the way Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong worked together. And it's still staggering how much Joey Santiago, lead guitarist, could accomplish with one simple, single note. "Here Comes Your Man," by the way, is as straightforwardly poppy as the Pixies ever got, so enjoy it. --Dan Leone

Customer Reviews

The greatest album by the greatest band. No exaggeration.
The Pixies are one of the greatest bands ever, as innovative as Hendrix, the Beatles, and Dylan were in the '60s. Not only were they innovative and original, but so far ahead of their time that Rock is still catching up.

It's hard to write a review of a Pixies album without gushing over the band instead of the album, but there's more than enough praise for the band on this page, so I'll get right to the album. Doolittle is, quite simply, the Pixies best album. It is an absolute masterpiece. There is no filler whatsoever. It starts out with the incredibly catchy "Debaser", moves into "Tame", which moves so incredibly well between quiet whispers and screeching (but somehow melodic) vocals. And then there's "Wave of Mutilation", a wonderful bit of surf music reminiscent of the Beach Boys. And "I Bleed", a spectacular duet between the anguished voice of the lead singer, Frank Black, and the sickly-sweet crooning of Kim Deal, who went on to form the Breeders. Then there's the pop masterpiece, "Here Comes Your Man", the anxious "Dead", the powerful "Monkey Gone to Heaven", the disturbing "Mr. Grieves"... And that's only the first eight songs, out of fifteen incredible, unbelievable tracks. I could go on at great length about Doolittle, but it truly is indescribable. Borrow a copy from a friend if you're not sure, but somehow you must listen to this album. Once you do you'll never look at Rock & Roll the same way again.

SONICALLY YOURS
If the late 1980s had some really contrived, horrendous garbage some people called music, there were certainly the alternatives who displayed scorching guitars, interesting and unexpected arrangements, clever lyrics, and great albums. One band who exemplified this alternative was the Pixies, disbanding in the early 90s creating their own side projects, but not before creating a few brilliant records, Doolittle being the most brilliant of them all. The vocals of Black Francis coupled with the softer and distinctive voice of Kim Deal was purely delightful, with some truly exceptional and memorable songs like "Debaser", "Wave of Mutilation", "Here Comes Your Man" (which is quite melodic!), "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and several other remarkable songs. This is a solid, superb album which any serious music lover must have. It is a little unconventional and might take some getting used to, but it is infinitely worth it.

An almost impossibly good album
If asked what my favorite cut from this album is, I am very nearly at a loss. This disc is simply relentless, with one astonishingly polished, robust, inventive, glorious cut after another. We like to talk about albums that have no filler, but this is one of the few that justifies that description. If there is a critcism that could be made of this album, it is that it is too consistently brilliant to digest properly. By the way, if forced to chose a favorite cut, I might go with "Gouge Away," but I wouldn't go too far out of the way to defend my choice, and I might feel differently on a different day.

Black Francis aka Frank Black aka Charles Thompson (his real name) is the heart and soul of the band, writing all the songs and taking most of the lead vocals, in the performance of which he often literally screams out the lyrics. The man comes across as taut, angry, and more than a little manic. Though his singing and songs make this the classic it is, the rest of the quartet carries their load as well. Kim Deal adds some wonderful back up vocals throughout, and provides solid bass, never being simply a pretty face. David Lovering lays down solid beats throughout the album, crucial in a project that depends so strongly on powerful rhythms. And Joey Santiago plays great guitar on every song, providing an energy and texture that perfectly compliments Black's great songs.

I have a couple of friend's who don't like this disc, and I am powerless to explain this. This is one of those albums that, when fully digested, becomes part of one's emotional and musical furniture, a disc that I go back to again and again and again. And it remains as vital and as fresh sounding today as it did when I first discovered it fifteen years ago.