Pixies - Pixies

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Music reviews of Pixies

Music Review: A worthy supplement
Rating: 4 Stars

To be honest, a hefty slice of the three supplementary studio albums consists of versions of album songs that are nearly identical in approach/arrangement to those familiar versions and therefore are rarely a big revelation. However, every one of these supplements has a great deal to offer the devoted Pixies fan. The most important one is no doubt the b-sides collection, as it offers lots of songs you won't hear elsewhere in any form.

The next one to buy is this one. If, like me, you think the band was at its best in the 87-89 period (the first three albums), you will particularly enjoy this set of outtakes from "Come On Pilgrim," which is tight, smart, fractured original recipe Pixies. I assert, without qualification, that if half a dozen of these recordings had been used to expand "COP" to full-length album size, it would have been an even finer release. (I'm baffled by the choice to release a mini-album given the quality of the outtakes.)

Three songs ("Broken Face," "Break My Body," "I'm Amazed") fall into the better-left-for-later category, and they were. The countrified "Build High" is more interesting/superior to the later b-side version. "Down to the Well" easily trumps the much later album version, and I also find this early "Subbacultcha" superior. The band simply had a more diverse and imaginative approach to arranging and pacing songs in 87 than in 90-91, by which time these songs had been flattened out by years of live performance. This "In Heaven" is a much cleaner, subtler, and effective version than the BBC version, which loses the stark dynamics in more thrash and scream. The otherwise unknown song, "Rock a My Soul" is, as another reviewer said, "vintage Pixies." And lastly, this very different, pretty arrangement of "Here Comes Your Man" makes it impossible to choose between it and the album version.

Others have suggested that the sound is demo-y. I don't hear it. These songs were recorded with the rest of COP, they are clearly finished, and if anything they are richer sounding that COP due to 15 years of advances in mastering for cd. If you're a fan, you won't be disappointed.

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