Turns on iTunes and shuffles...
My lord, iTunes is really bringing out the hammers early on...
Pixies - Doolittle
April 18, 1989
Another great album. Well actually great doesn't even begin to describe it. This one would have to go into the greatest of all time category and I would say most music critics agree. I can't imagine someone listening to this and not liking it. It was recorded over 22 years ago yet you could pass it off as being released yesterday. Whether it is film, video games or music, many people use "timeless" to describe the truly great achievements.
I have only been listening to the Pixies for just over four years now and I am glad they were brought into my life when they were. The music somehow seemed to fit in very well with my mind during my college and post-college years. I feel like I wouldn't have appreciated it in quite the same manner if I had found this as a young teenager, but who really knows.
As for the actual music, I would have to say this is the best of "alternative" rock while being something much bigger and greater at the same time. The album has an amazing blend of extremely energetic rock and some more accessible pop-type songs, all of which are great. From beginning to end, each song is unique and great, not many albums are this consistently good over 15 tracks. The mood changes many times capturing both the dark and lighter sides of things, a very unique experience in itself. "Dead" and "I Bleed" bring a dissonant, eery sound while "Here Comes Your Man" and "La Love You" bring a fun, poppy feel. Most of the other songs are somewhere in between and "Crackity Jones" is pretty much unlike anything I have ever heard.
The songwriting itself is ingenious, it is not just your simple power-chord bonanza like many bands of the "genre". It blends so many things from all over the place (rock, blues, punk, etc etc) that it would be pointless for me to even try to describe it. The most impressive thing about this is that it all comes together into SOLID, ~3 minute songs that pretty much anyone could listen to and hopefully appreciate. Another thing to note is the vocal work. Frank Black is all over the place (in a good way) with great melodies, screams, shrieks, strange noises and whatever, just great. Kim Deal is as good as it gets at backing vocals/harmonies, she plays a fairly big overall role and it really works beautifully.
One memory this album really brings to me is the fact that I took a class with Don Levine at UMass Amherst before I knew "Debaser" was actually about that class. I remember watching "Un Chien Andalou" and him saying that his class is the subject of a rock song, awesome. This also makes me remember when the Pixies opened their set in Boston with the entire movie.
This album is already a "classic" to me. The first few months I had it, I could not stop listening. I still throw it on a lot when I get the chance. It will certainly be one that sticks with me forever. Besides just being extremely easy to listen to and consistently awesome from beginning to end, it really is an ingenious blend of musical styles. It is one of those albums that feels so natural that you cannot even imagine it being written, it is almost as if it just happened. This recording is a true, timeless classic.
***** (Without a doubt one of the all time greatest)
I really could put all of the tracks on the Ultimate Playlist but I just can't, here are my choices: (I feel bad leaving any out)
Tame
Here Comes Your Man
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Mr. Grieves
Crackity Jones
There Goes My Gun
Hey
Gouge Away
(The 7 left out songs are better than 99.99999% of other recordings by other artists).
Obviously this didn't end up being a quick one, the whole hour was taken by this one album, deservedly.
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