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the swimmer
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1602 Posts |
 Posted - 11/05/2002 : 20:53:43
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In a fist fight.... no just kidding.
Do you find yourself drawn more to FB&TC, or the Pixies material?
Personally, FB&TC's output is WAY more appealing to me. Sure, I grew up and my mind grew out listening to the Pixies...
driving down 65 back to home from being downtown, listening to "IS SHE WEIRD" on WRVU Nashville, and the song stabbed me in the heart it was so GOOD. That was one of the most powerful connections with music I ever had, screaming "IS SHE WEIRD, IS SHE WHITE, IS SHE PROMISED TO THE NIGHT, AND HER HEAD HAS NO ROOM " along with THAT VOICE.
But really, with each release, in chronological order (with the exception of, and yes, I am sorry, CULT OF RAY) each one tops the last.
I remember, and this was before the devotion I have now for the man's music, that the first FRANK BLACK solo album was the best 13 bucks I ever spent on a cd. ALL quality songs that just kicked my ass. The drum hit in LOS ANGELES made me have a small heart attack. I think this album was the start of the devotion.
Frank Black and the Catholics : After the dissapointment I felt with COR, when I first heard this, I thought, oh no, here we go again. He's really lost it.
Stupid me.
By the 3rd listen, it was if a atom bomb exploded in my head. I GOT IT. This is ROCK AND ROLL. THIS IS GUITARS AND BASS AND DRUMS AND GUYS SLUGGING IT OUT AND CAPTURING IT WITH NO EDITS AND FANCY FUCKING SCHMANCY STUDIO TRICKS. NO ONE CAN TOUCH THESE GUYS.
It was at THIS POINT, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.
FB&TC's stuff is a full meal. As a songwriter, Charles Thompson went from using Tinker Toys to building great fucking Pyramids. His songs are so solid and strong.
This is the reason I love the current stuff even better than the 3 Frank Black solo albums, (FB, TOTY and COR). Those were cartoony, I think, compared to Devil's Workshop and Black Letter Days.
They are a fucking hard working band. They can play the pants off ANYONE and they are ready to go or record at a moments notice. They are like a crack, special forces of Music!!! Ha ha....no one can FUCK with them and I for one am glad I live in a time I can witness it.
There you go. Discuss.
"Winter blows through my coat"
the what four http://www.mp3.com/phelan |
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Mike Rutherford
- FB Fan -
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 11/05/2002 : 22:03:18
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FB & TCs beat out the Pixies with not so much as even a whimper. BLDs & DW destroy anything that the Pixies ever did. They also happen to be my favorite FB albums.
An album that I would love to hear: Frank Black (acoustic/vocals), Dave Phillips (pedal steel) and wonderkid Lyle Workman (second guitar)...those 3 playing purely stripped down, bare bones material. I think that it would sound fucking amazing. |
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Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 00:06:24
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It depends on my mood...i think they're both different beasts and each have an appropriate place.
If i could only have one or the other, it would be FB&tC material. A bit more variety, which i quite like.
- Dave |
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CoolMint
- FB Fan -
40 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 01:48:48
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Awwwwwwww!
I don't like this question.
The Pixies meant much to me when I was a young man.
I destroyed the roof of my car the day I heard the Dolittle tape for the first time (danced upon it).
FB & TC mean something different to me, but I enjoy it just as muck.
But, to tell you the truth, I listen to FB stuff much more than Pixies at this point.
Watch them live, check outt 666 as an opening song, full blast!!!!
It's better than the Pixies ever were live, and it's only the first song in the setlist.
The GOP you ask me?
Trailer park Dickensian miscreants, retro-twisted denizens of evolutionīs back waters and cul-de-sacs.
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bazza
* Dog in the Sand *
Ireland
1439 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 02:33:27
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i still love the pixies ... but i would never have found frank black if i didnt listen to them - so i owe them a huge debt. doolittle is still one of my fave albums.
cheers
i wash maself with a raaaag on a stick.
huhhhhhhhhhh! |
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 12:11:08
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| This question is like what's better, apples or apples...in my eyes, FB&TC is just as good as The Pixies...they're both equally powerful and great in their own ways. Therefore, when I list my favorite bands, I always list FB&TC together with The Pixies. They're both Charles Thompson's bands...he wrote/writes songs for both, it's just the natural progression and evolution that every song writer goes through. I could see The Pixies playing "How You Went So Far." Same songwriter, different bands...both great. |
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CaptainMaximus
- FB Fan -
126 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 14:03:47
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| BLD or DW better than Doolittle or Surfer Rosa? Come on...But I agree with the stance of: why compare? I consider the Pixies and FB totally different entities, and it's been a while since I've thought of Frank Black as "the former Black Francis." And this from a guy who's been listening since 1989. He's never lost me as a fan and he never will, and though I think his output his just as interesting and exciting now as it ever was, I consider Doolittle and Surfer Rosa classics; BLD and DW are just damn fine albums, which is enough. Does FB have his classic/s? Sure: Teenager of the Year, to name one. |
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BrendanT
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
907 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 14:10:13
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All I can say is that if it was not for the Pixies I might never had been turned on to bands such as Nirvana, Velvet Underground, Mose Allison etc.... But on the other hand if it were not for Frank Black and the Catholics I would not have been turned on to different and more abstract genres of music. No matter where you draw the line, it all comes from the same evolving mind but I would have to say FB&C's only because I tend to live for the present.
Strummer-man
I had me a vision! |
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Itchload
= Cult of Ray =
USA
891 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 15:34:29
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Man, the Pixies were super special to me. They blew my mind in every possible way...the bizarre lyrics, the artwork, the VOICE, singing like an angel then shrieking like a slaughtered animal...and the nostalgia value. Frank Black is just as good a songwriter now, he's the best songwriter of all time. The Catholics are a much better live band, I look forward to Catholics albums as much as I'm guessing I would have looked forward to the Pixies (got into them posthumously), but it really is apples and oranges. I am gonna have to say The Pixies by a smidge, but, they are my favorite band of all time, and probably always will be, so The Catholics kind of had a lot to surmount.
That being said, I think its great that so many people prefer The Catholics. I always find it much more satisfying to turn someone on the Frank Black or The Catholics stuff more than teh Pixies. I think some of it has to involve who you found first, because I have a friend who I made buy Dog in the Sand before knowing anything else, and he now loves the Catholics and Frank Black more than the Pixies (although he is a big fan of Doolittle) |
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the swimmer
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1602 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 16:59:35
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I really didn't mean to say Who is better? FB or the Pixies, rather, who are you listening to more of these days?
I wish sometimes that critics and the like when writing reviews could leave the Pixies in the past when discussing new FB material. I always have to skip the first, maybe 2 paragraphs of a Frank Black review so I don't have to read about how the Pxies got together and turned music on it's ear and birthed Kurt Cobain. We all know that's not true exactly. But it makes "ze critic" sound like he or she knows something when they repeat it a gajillion times.
The day I read a review that focuses only on FB & TC's output, without mentioning The Pixies, I will be suprised.
But seriously, I love The Pixies for what they were. I just find myself listening to the current output of Mr. Blackus a bit more.
"Winter blows through my coat"
the what four http://www.mp3.com/phelan |
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Itchload
= Cult of Ray =
USA
891 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2002 : 18:17:32
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Yes, I definitely agree that referring to the Pixies must end in reviews. Do Lou Reed reviews still refer to the Velvet Underground? I'm not sure, I haven't read many. Referring to the Pixies is just lazy journalism though, and the Kurt Cobain thing is soooo played out. I think if anything they should use the Kurt/Pixies connection in Nirvana reviews, to get Nirvana fans to like the Pixies, but vice versa is just redundant.
Refer back to the first Catholics albums maybe, to compare how he's changed a bit over the last 3 years, maaaybe slip in in how Teenager of the Year is a classic, if only because at that album's release it was highly underrated (i think we can safely say now that it's on the way to being a regarded classic by the music community), but the Pixies thing is just frusterating. Like Frank says, the Pixies weren't thaaat big, they were not nearly as commerically active as the Strokes and White Stripes are today, from reading these reviews you'd think the Pixies were one of the big Seattle bands that ruled the airwaves in the early 90's and Frank is some guy who sells tapes out of his van. The Pixies played to what? 1000 people? Frank plays to what? around 500? Not too shabby. |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2002 : 02:15:49
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As of late, I've been listening more to Frank Black and the Catholics. That's probably largely because they have relatively new albums out, though. After they've gotten a bit older, I'm sure I'll put the Pixies into more regular rotation.
As for comparisons, I got Teenager first, and then Frank's self-titled and Doolittle on the same day, so I didn't have the same notions that someone who might have been familiar with the Pixies before Frank went solo might have held. For me, they're both great. I'd have to admit that I think the best Pixies songs are better than the best Frank solo/Catholics songs ("Velouria" is just one of my favorite songs ever), but they're about equal on average. Frank has changed as a songwriter since leaving the Pixies, but he certainly hasn't gotten worse.
As for the critics, I'll have to agree with what's been said already. I mean, reviews of Frank just always seem kind of like this:
"The Pixies were an amazing band that changed the face of music, starting the grunge craze that spawned Nirvana. They were rock gods! Then they broke up, and I guess Black Francis did some solo stuff. Okay, that's my review....What? The album? Oh, yeah...I guess I'll think the new Frank Black album is okay, when I actually get around to listening to it. BUT NOT AS GOOD AS THE PIXIES!"
Nathan
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2002 : 02:47:18
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| See Itchload's format for lazy journalists elsewhere |
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KingOfSiam
- FB LinkMaster -
USA
460 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2002 : 07:36:40
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| I cannot even believe this is a category on FRANK BLACK FORUM. C'mon guys we all know who the best is!! |
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frankblackphx
= Cult of Ray =
USA
287 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2002 : 11:07:38
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| I love them both but I listen to FB & C's much more. Maybe because it is newer material but there is just something about the way Frank has grown as a songwriter that really relates to me. I am also a huge Pixies fan but it is almost like I have grown up with Frank. I was a teeneager when he was in The Pixies and now I am married and a Father and relate to what he writes right now. Hope that makes sense. :) |
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BLT
> Teenager of the Year <
South Sandwich Islands
4204 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2002 : 19:57:24
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I'm in the same boat with frankblackphx in the above post. I'm a year younger than FB and have been listening to Pixies since just after Doolittle came out. In a way I feel like my tastes have kinda grown with Charles. But what really sets him apart for me is the fact that I'm a wannabe guitarist and playing along with his tunes absolutely blows me away. Anyone who revolves around chords like Bb and C#m so much without a capo is a f**king lunatic. I love that guy!
-Brian |
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freedom rocker
- FB Fan -
USA
88 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2002 : 17:21:53
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| Well, listening to the pixies is kind of like listening to the ramones. You don't listen to them as much as you used to because your tastes have changed, but you still know they rock. You know they had a big impact on the music out there today and the reasons your tastes are the way they are. |
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mdisanto
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1140 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2002 : 21:26:06
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well except i hate the ramones:) but i still enjoy the pixies, but i see what you mean atleast.
-miked |
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Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2002 : 23:08:06
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Wow..i wouldn't have thought someone could *hate* the Ramones..?
It's almost like saying you hate the Beatles.. No one hates the Beatles! |
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mdisanto
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1140 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2002 : 08:43:26
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haha nahi love the beatles, im listening to them now, i dont know i dont see it. they have nothing on the beatles. the beatles worst song is better then the ramones on their best day. i just dont understand whats good about them, im sorry haha.
-miked |
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Malax
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1340 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2002 : 10:40:58
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I'd like to say Pixies got me into proper rock etc etc. However they only play a part. I used to listen to Pop Mainstream Rock etc when I was younger until I was asked to download an album called Pinkerton for a friend. I listened to that and was blown away, one day another friend played me a bit of Surfer Rosa again I was blown away so much so I went out and bought the album that day. In turn I've got into a variety of bands, pavement, Husker Du and Frank Black.
It may sound like Im being off topic but if it wasn't for the Pixies I wouldn't have got into Frank and although I listen to Frank and love the majority of his stuff he never blew me away. I've always yeah this is a good album but he doesn't have an album that makes me go wow! These are the best band I've ever heard. I really do doubt anyone has.
As for the band that made Pinkerton, well we all know what happened after 96............ |
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Visiting Sasquatch
= Cult of Ray =
USA
451 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2002 : 11:34:23
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Weezer blew you away, but Frank Black failed to do so? I'm like your total opposite. The first Frank album I heard, Teenager of the Year, blew me away, and I was really curious as to what other music he has made. So I bought his entire catalogue, which consisted of only one other solo album, and all of the Pixies. I was amazed!
On the other hand, when I bought Weezer's first album, I sold it back to the second hand CD store that sold it to me. I'm not sure what happened after 96, did one of them get pregnant? |
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Malax
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1340 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2002 : 12:32:31
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Uh... No 94 they released the debut its good but its no Pinkerton (96) after that they dissapeared for 5 years and came back with a below average album and this year a standard rock album.
The thing with Pinkerton was I'd never heard music quite like it had I heard Frank before Weezer/Pixies who knows. |
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Mike Rutherford
- FB Fan -
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2002 : 13:10:24
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Husker Du did for me what the Pixies seem to have done for a lot of others. Not that I don't think that the Pixies were great and all, but I think Husker were just as influential, if not even more so in the long scope of things (hell, this is the band that influenced the Pixies a great great deal). I was listening to Husker ever since Zen Arcade was first released many years ago, so when the Pixies came out, it was not really anything "new" or "different" to my ears. Same goes for Nirvana...I know the Pixies influenced them and all, but for some reason my ears tend to hear more Husker Du in them..........
But in regards to FB & TCs, I like everything that they have done more than any Husker Du album, and that is saying A LOT. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm getting to be an old fucker, I dunno. And to compare Frank's solo work with any of Mould's or Grant's solo work post-Husker...there's just no comparison. Those guys seem to be ever decreasing in their quality while Frank just keeps getting better and better and better......
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