PIXIES Poll: The best track on Doolittle

curious what these 'no way is doolittle their worst album' ppl think is the actual worst pixies album.

trompe le monde

sb

I couldn't handle Bossanova back when I bought it and I haven't given it a second chance. My Pixies album ranking:

1. Trompe le Monde
2. Surfer Rosa
3. Doolittle
4. Come On Pilgrim
5. Bossanova

pixies 87-89 >>>>>>> bossanova/trompe le monde

am with ship & charlie here, except that I think Trompe might be worse...Doolittle imo is the classic whole-is-less-than-the-sum-of-its-parts album; I like a ton of the songs, and feel overwhelmed when I try to rank them, but there's something about the context--the pacing, or maybe Gil Norton's production--that makes them sound impossibly stiff and pretentious, like some gallery exhibit for Black Francis's abstract song-sculptures.

Whereas, Surfer Rosa's audio-verite production makes that album sound like rock music as a form is undergoing some wrenching transformation as we're listening...

naw u crazy

1. Surfer Rosa
2. Trompe Le Monde
3. Doolittle
4. Bossanova

Come On Pilgrim≥Surfer>Doolittle>Bossanova>Trompe Le Monde

curious what these 'no way is doolittle their worst album' ppl think is the actual worst pixies album.

That's a trap. There is no 'worst' Pixies album.

except for Bossanova

Bossanova is filler-riddled, but totally owns

Bossanova gets my vote as well. But only so far as it's not quite as good as the others, I still love it.

.Doolittle imo is the classic whole-is-less-than-the-sum-of-its-parts album

This is key. All of those songs are so great, but they don't hang together very well. They all feel like they're sort of neatly placed on shelves, whereas Trompe le Monde they all feel like they're in orbit around one another, related to some extent.

That is the exact opposite of how I hear Doolittle, which is basically an ebb-and-flow album to me.

1. Bossanova
2. Trompe Le Monde
3. Doolittle
4. Come on Pilgrim
5. Surfer Rosa

I've pretty much accepted that my opinions on the pixies are totally out of step with everyone else, but would like to know which songs on Bossanova are thought to be filler.

I have to check the Big Orange SPIN Book for Eric Weisbard's suggested running order; he also complained that the sequencing was a problem.

xp I'm with you on the 4 + 5.

Filler:

"Ana"
"Blown Away"
"Hang Wire"

No, maybe, yeah.

^rong as hell (xp)

Ana and Blown Away are two of my favorites on the album...

All Over the World, Hang Wire, Stormy Weather, Is she Weird & Hang Wire are sometimes awesome, sometimes wearying

can maybe see the case for blown away and hang wire, but i love both of them, ana is great

"sometimes-awesome, sometimes-wearying" refers to Hang Wire and Is She Weird...

the first Hang Wire was meant to be Down to the Well, which I actually like a lot but more in its Purple Tape form, with the odd Kim Deal background chant & stuff...

the highlights on trompe le monde are better, but bossanova's consistency is why it's my favoite.

Bossanova version is way fiercer but Deal's weird chik-aa-oom makes the song imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJMClWeApI

Bossanova also the album that gave me a real appreciation for surf music

I'm absolutely baffled that "Hey" would be the #1 choice on an album with both "Debaser" and "Tame", let alone the other usual well-known hits. I had to actually listen to the album again to remember how "Hey" even went. Insanity.

Also WTF, I was sure that it was already Proven by Science™ that Bossanova was the worst Pixies album.

I had to double-check to see if I was the lone vote for "Silver", lol

(I wasn't; I voted "Dead")

I know I voted them "Surfer Rosa > Trompe Le Monde > Doolittle > Bossanova", but realistically 'Bossanova' is the only album of theirs I can level any sort of criticism at. The other three are just ranked in terms of which one I'm more likely to choose if I'm going to listen to this band.

The problem I have with 'Bossanova' is mainly down to the song sequencing, the album is quite strong for me until after 'Dig For Fire' and then all of a sudden dips very noticeably, IMO, with only 'The Happening' really standing out. Although, having said that, 'All Over The World' with its extended outro feels more like a penultimate track than a 'track seven'. There's nothing wrong with stuff like 'Down To The Well', 'Blown Away' or 'Hang Wire', but sequencing them together with the low-point (for me) of the album, 'Stormy Weather', just weakens those songs for me. As it stands at the moment, as a front-to-back listen, it's more a 4/5 for me than the 4.5/5 that AMG rates it as.

^ agree with this - kinda feel the same way about Surfer Rosa as well, it dips pretty markedly after Cactus.

Wow, Hang Wire and Stormy Weather are a couple of my favorites from Bossanova.

Trompe le Monde > Surfer Rosa > Doolittle > Bossanova

btw I know it's an EP and therefore doesn't count here but I really love Come On Pilgrim and maybe even more so than any of the actual albums. Maybe.

morelike trompe le merde amirite :D

I can't believe how wrong you are on that, man. You usually have such good taste! ;)

i basically think of come on pilgrim as their debut album. it's officially a "mini LP" not an EP right? whatever that means. Seems a couple songs too long to be an EP anyway.

the whole "doolittle" is their worst album thing is mystifying to me. though I don't know what i'd pick as their worst, I guess.

I remember at the time it came out, Bossanova came across to me like a Pixies album for people who didn't really like the band

Bossanova was orginally conceived as a Black Francis solo album wasn't it? Or am I making that up.

tbh i havent listened to a pixies album as a whole in years theyre def a trax band for me trompe is just the one the fewest tracks i like (xp to enbb)

it's officially a "mini LP" not an EP right? whatever that means

Yeah, I guess. idk what that means either though. Whatever it is, it sure is good.

Lamp - that makes sense. I think that its place as my fave probably owes a lot to the circumstances under which I first heard it and really fond memories of that time in my life.

Caribou is definitely an ace way to begin a recording career amirite!

trompe le monde was my first pixies album, making it a rare instance in which my first is not my favorite.

i don't remember what i voted for four years ago, but i'd vote for 'gouge away' now.

(when did polls start on ilx?)

I remember at the time it came out, Bossanova came across to me like a Pixies album for people who didn't really like the band

― dense macabre (DJP), Wednesday, November 9, 2011 11:40 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

lol this might explain my weird Pixies challops; Bossanova was the first album of theirs I'd heard.

(also lamp otm abt Pixies being a traxx band)(cept for Surfer Rosa)

also Johnny Fever OTM about Caribou

Hmm. I can't get on board with the whole 'Doolittle is the worst album' thing either. For me, 'Surfer Rosa', 'Doolittle' and 'Trompe Le Monde' are equally great. Just that in the general scheme of things 'Doolittle' tends to get more praise than 'Trompe Le Monde' does. I couldn't really say any one of those albums is better than the other, even if I am more likely to listen to 'Surfer Rosa' and 'Trompe Le Monde' over 'Doolittle'.

Trompe is the best-sequenced Pixies album. It hits you with a burst of short, fast tunes out of the gate, changes it up a bit in the middle, and then closes strong. I think it works better as an album-listening experience rather than as an assortment of individual tracks.

the only single I like from Trompe is U-Mass

didn't we have this conversation like 3 weeks ago?

pixies rule, my feelings are best summed up thusly:
caribooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

The title track of 'Trompe Le Monde' is one of my favourite Pixies songs ever. Custom-built for air drumming, that one.

pixies rule, my feelings are best summed up thusly:
caribooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

― the MMMM cult (La Lechera), Wednesday, November 9, 2011 4:51 PM (37 seconds ago) Bookmark

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-PEEEEEEEEEEENNTTTT!!!!!