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billgoodman
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Netherlands
6214 Posts |
 Posted - 12/08/2004 : 00:55:25
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I'm more of a catholics fan and don't know why people go bezerk about this record
I'll have to listen to it again I guess
Although it seems obvious that Frank's best songs are on this record I think
that 22 songs were maybe a bit too much,
I love the begining and the end, not too fond of the middle
 "I joined the cult of Jon Tiven/Bye!" |
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langdonboom
= Cult of Ray =
USA
260 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 08:23:54
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This album just seems to be straight from Frank's heart, and mind in equal amounts. Not that his other stuff isn't but this one is so pure, so complex, and so SUBTLE (it doesn't immediately scream "ORIGINAL" in your face with snazzy rhetorical stylistic flourishes, though there are some) that the whole is way more than the sum of its parts.
Masterpiece, indeed!
Alienation confers freedom. Obscurity will keep you pure. Pray that you won’t be discovered young, so that you won’t be tempted to sell out early, or won’t be seduced by celebrity.
--THE PATH OF THE ARTIST |
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adda flea
- FB Fan -
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 12:04:00
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| Its catchy and seems more positive, both lyrically and musically, than most other Frank albums. It never makes me sad, and overall I think its quite celebratory. |
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comatose22
- FB Fan -
11 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 20:06:18
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| I like its' flow from start to finish. To be able to come up with so many creatively different songs and to mesh them together in such a fluent matter, it's genius. God I love this music. |
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Superabounder
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1041 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 21:24:28
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| I wonder if some people are thrown off by the look of the artwork on the front of the cd. Like maybe it is not cool because it shows Frank in perhaps not his best look. I mean the crown looks good and all, but...you know what I am saying. I know that I was a little embarrassed to show that cover to friends who did not know about the Pixies or Frank. Just me being shallow. Back to the music, the guitar riffs and layers on this album have always blown me away because virtually each one achieves a perfection after repeated listenings. I could never fathom how they chose what to play and when, and how they nailed each song so well. I know a few of the songs have some goofy aspects to them, I don't know, like the name Fiddle Riddle or things like that, but after repeatedly listening to them all, even the slightly goofy ones sound good. Also, the different sounds and types of guitar are limitless on the album, from raw distortion to perfectly textured acoustic, to delayed, volume pedal choir-like sounds, to resonating clean electric sounds. Effin' amazing for anyone who plays guitar. I wish I had the vocabulary to properly describe what I hear, but Frank's phrasing in his singing also was spot on and fun to sing along with as I would listen in the car. I used to pine for another TOTY after COR came out, but I guess you just have to be glad that Frank has always changed things around and kept things interesting both for him and us. |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2004 : 16:19:18
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I kind of think the goofiness was part of what drew me to the album in the first place, although it was the general coolness of the music that's kept it a favorite of mine for so long.
"Signature quotes are so lame." --Nathan |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2004 : 03:12:25
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This album sees Frank still in the 'quirky' stage.
How fun are his songs when they're just about random shit?
I am one of those Superabounder who had a huge camp Frank as a poster on their wall. It was big I tells ya!
Ha! another reason why TOTY is so great. The poster was bloody massive! |
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ELoRPS
- FB Fan -
Canada
20 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 08:07:33
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There is no need to "Convince" you fo anything concerning the album if it isn't in your bloodstream already.
It's a 22 track OPUS, with such variety and production value, let alone the song quality, that EACH song can stand on it's own.
It is by far the best album of the 90's that totally existed under the radar, and perhaps that is why it remained the integral piece of work it remains to be.
No hype, no being overplayed to the point of boredom. It's a gem for those who hear it for the first time, and an inspiration to those who are making their own music influenced by the art of the heavy that Frank put forth here.
The first self titled album is incredible in itself as well. Each song is solid.
I wonder if it has anything to do with Santiago being around for them? Not sure,..
But TOTY is in the deck as we speak. I dusted it off last week, and it hasn't moved since.
Hurray!
Not that I've said anything here to convince you at all, but if you have ask, you may never know Sir,..:( Sorry. Your loss.
Cheers
"Some people like cupcakes better,..I for one care less for them!" |
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hWolsky
= Cult of Ray =
France
696 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 12:05:33
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I bought it in 1995. I played it random the first time. I danced (sort of) all along the album. I had never moved my body that way. I was 15. It hurt for 3 days. It was good. Each time I play it I want to move. Muscle memory someone would say...
HW |
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n/a
deleted
4109 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 12:56:32
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Why did you moved to Belize, I had some friends that were there and they say that one day they will be there forever...
i've never done good things
i've never done bad things
i never did anything out of the blue
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hWolsky
= Cult of Ray =
France
696 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 15:01:41
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I "moved" there for I had no idea where it is located...
SS |
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dogjones
- FB Fan -
USA
142 Posts |
Posted - 12/16/2004 : 03:02:18
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why is it so well recieved?
well damn...lemmie see...1994...you got grunge moving into its death era where things are about to go "punk" a while with the greenday/offspring thing...you got boys2men and ace of bass on the commercial radio with cheryl crow and the cranberries...it was a weird world where alternative and mainstream made strange bedfellows, and a lot of it didnt deserve a second of airtime
then you get this dude, mr black, who puts out an album that's just straight up pop/rock...and its good...its not over the top or gimick filled. fresh... it sure took the edge off shoving NIN and Oasis down everyone's throat. |
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dogjones
- FB Fan -
USA
142 Posts |
Posted - 12/16/2004 : 03:16:45
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| as an aside, and someone in his late teens when pixies-to-FB happened...TOTY brought a lot of friends of mine who didnt like the 1st album back into the fold enough to give that 1st album another spin. most all took a new appreciation for tracks they dismissed a year+ earlier. go figure. |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 12/16/2004 : 09:56:43
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quote:
Originally posted by dogjones
TOTY brought a lot of friends of mine who didnt like the 1st album back into the fold enough to give that 1st album another spin. most all took a new appreciation for tracks they dismissed a year+ earlier. go figure.
You so right dogjones. TOTY has the power to do that amongst other things.
But it slightly confuses, but i'm biased, why people can like TOTY and not FB with songs such as L.A, Parry The Wind, Ten Percenter and Don't Ya Rile em, to name but a few for their audio pleasure. Is it because FB seems more commerial and softer compared to the punkish more quirky Teenager?
I'm biased and like a broken record aren't I?
Back to the old shit, sorry guys, but Noel Gallagher rates Kurt and mentions him as a legend, how the fuck can he say that unless he hasn't heard of Frank Black. Weird. Not really, he writes Oasis songs, not a decent influence in sight. Beatles my ass. |
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Fissionignition
- FB Fan -
USA
16 Posts |
Posted - 12/16/2004 : 18:42:27
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I think that one of the main reasons why TOTY is so good is the melodies - they are beautiful, catchy melodies that lodge themselves in our brains. Frank, in my opinion, is up there with Ray Davies, Brian Wilson and other greats when it comes to songwriting & catchy melodies.
Speedy Marie is one of many signs of greatness found in TOTY - that song still blows me away, everytime. Nobody but Frank could write a song like that! |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2004 : 12:38:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Fissionignition
Frank, in my opinion, is up there with Ray Davies, Brian Wilson and other greats when it comes to songwriting & catchy melodies.
Oh yeah, no doubt about it. I see no faults, even though I don't go looking. Sometimes you can hear a band, and yep they got the sound but those lyrics ain't half naff. Frank has it all. Teenager is just one big hook.
quote:
Speedy Marie is one of many signs of greatness found in TOTY
Two Reelers too.
Hmmm, Fiddle Riddle and Big Red if anybody after signs of greatness. And for the record, lets change that now to signs of genius.
Or take it from the beginning, Pong!
Here. Fast. Quirky. Frank. Flawless. Gone. Next track...Thalassocracy. Wow!
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rocknfire
- FB Fan -
USA
121 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2007 : 09:35:55
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it just is. it's wavy and full of color.
cause space between the oddballs is so very looooooooooooong. |
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TRANSMARINE
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
2002 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2007 : 11:25:15
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Superabound. You gotta love the Superabound. And that's an order.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
His name is Dalton. He's got a degree in philosophy.
-bRIAN |
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blip
- FB Fan -
29 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2007 : 12:54:19
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wonder if i should move to the islands of Pheonix in 2016.
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IceCream
= Quote Accumulator =
USA
1850 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2007 : 15:38:45
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quote:
Originally posted by blipangel
As a guitar player, I remember sitting down with TOTY and trying to figure out some of the tunes. There are no "easy" riffs laying about haphazardly on TOTY- the whole thing was really thoroughly thought out.
Exactly. And there are no easy lyrics either. |
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Grotesque
= Cult of Ray =
France
777 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2007 : 16:19:19
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quote:
Originally posted by IceCream
quote:
Originally posted by blipangel
As a guitar player, I remember sitting down with TOTY and trying to figure out some of the tunes. There are no "easy" riffs laying about haphazardly on TOTY- the whole thing was really thoroughly thought out.
Exactly. And there are no easy lyrics either.
I think that "uneasy lyrics and riffs" thing is the key to FB's music.
He doesnt write songs like "No Fun", he needs some sofistication.
That's why the catholics dont really make it as a straight rock band.
Any band like the Hives can copy the Stooges, not Frank Black. He just cant. He needs something more, and that's not anymore that primitive rock'n'roll. As a songwriter, he's much more of the Post Punk New Wave style (Bowie being the godfather of that style ):
raw but allways twisted and sophisticated. |
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johnnyribcage
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1301 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2007 : 15:55:32
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It's just an uninhibited explosion of creativity by my favorite artist. It sounds like all the stops are pulled all the way through. I will admit that the production and some of the keyboards make it sound a little dated, but I regularly listen to 50's-80's music, and even earlier, so dated is not so bad to me. Albums are a time and place and mindframe [of the artist] as much as they are anything else. In my opinion, no other album by Charles Thompson, under any name, is so balls-out in displaying his blatent joy for songwriting and album construction.
Given all that, it may sound strange or even hypocritical that I would say this, but it's not even my fav of his or his various bands. I won't bother with what is or why in this thread.
TOTY ultimatly, shows just how far pop rock song structures can be stretched in a contemporary format. Think Sgt Peppers. Not the Beatles best (again in my opinion), but certianly the album that showed a new level to everyone else at the time. TOTY didn't have that impact by any means, but it serves that purpose. I still listen to it often and I always break it out if I meet someone who is worth introducing Frank Black to. Maybe I'm out of the loop, but nothing else from that era of rock exploits the limits of pop rock like TOTY.
I love this part... Yeah, we did it! |
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Blackhead
- FB Fan -
28 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2007 : 18:03:15
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TOTY Rating: A mixed bag (but worth your while)
Parts of Teenager gave me that "gouge-away" frantic Beatles-Mania type of feeling. Songs like Whatever Happened to Pong? Thelassocracy, Speedy Marie, Superabound, and Pie in the Sky had me in hysterics and I count them as some of the best. Songs like Sir Rockaby, Freedom Rock, Ole Mulholland, and Fiddle Riddle basically confused and bored me (a response to music is subjective, so no comments from the peanut gallery about the word "bored" please. he he he ;) The rest of the songs were all very good and solid. For continuity's sake, I actually prefer FB or SMYT and feel TOTY could have used some editing... then again, that's what playlists on iTunes are for.  |
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OLDMANOTY
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
469 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2007 : 00:30:53
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quote:
Originally posted by johnnyribcage
I will admit that the production and some of the keyboards make it sound a little dated
I love this part... Yeah, we did it!
I don't think it sounds dated, it's just a 13 year old recording that's crying out to be remastered. On my mp3 player it sounds muddy and I always have to turn the volume up. There seem to be so many bands/artists who are more obscure than Frank, yet their albums get re-released and remastered in 'deluxe' editions; surely there's a market for at least some of FB's albums to get this treatment, and particularly TOTY.
Godspeed |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2007 : 11:39:02
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| Even at the time, the keyboards were meant to be a little chessy and retro, in my opinion! |
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trobrianders
> Teenager of the Year <
Papua New Guinea
3302 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2007 : 13:29:12
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Why else would anyone muck around with a theremin. I don't mind it a little retro either. To me it sounds all stainless steel and formica. Like a metal cockroach checking out the kitchen. I'll stop now.
Oh, and it's unbelievably good.
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Ed is the hoo hoo |
Edited by - trobrianders on 05/24/2007 13:33:05 |
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johnnyribcage
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1301 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2007 : 14:01:15
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If you read the rest of my post you'll see I wasn't complaining.
I love this part... Yeah, we did it! |
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OLDMANOTY
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
469 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2007 : 01:03:39
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I did read the rest of your post, sorry didn't mean to take the quote out of context - just used it to make the point about re-mastering.
Godspeed |
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Jefrey
= Cult of Ray =
USA
918 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2007 : 02:25:46
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quote:
Originally posted by ELoRPS
It is by far the best album of the 90's that totally existed under the radar, and perhaps that is why it remained the integral piece of work it remains to be.
Totally under the radar? Don't know about that. I believe "Headache" is FB's biggest hit. It was played widely on radio. I don't recall any other song other than briefly "Men In Black" even making it to radio.
The album was critically acclaimed by both professional critics and fans alike when it came out.
Not to be mean, but I hardly think TOTY was "under the radar". It's not like it was a big secret or anything. At the time it was out, pretty much everyone I knew was listening to it.
== jeffamerica == |
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mikaelp75
- FB Fan -
131 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2007 : 02:56:28
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| The 2 Swedish reviews I read at the time both said it was indulgent and unlistenable and all Pixies fans should keep listening to the Breeders and stop hoping for Frank to do anything worthwhile. 1/10 and 3/10 were the ratings. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it several years later. Those ratings obviously crossed the line of subjectivity/personal taste into stupidity. Album of the year, at least. |
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orangemagic
- FB Fan -
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2007 : 06:17:55
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You guys are funny :)
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fbc
-= Modulator =-
United Kingdom
4903 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 04:33:02
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All Pixies fans keep listening to the Breeders?! I can see why. Kim has just carried on doing what CT did in that band. If it's not broken, don't fix it (big yawn!!!)
I love the Breeders, but again, I'd love to hear the style of Kim's songs before she met the man. He seems to have left such an indelible mark on her songwriting ever since.
Anyway, I've just popped my head into this little thread after a two year absence to say that 'Big Red' is still a (if not the) major sign of greatness.
The only disc in my car worth listening to at the mo is the promo 'Selections from TOTY'.
calistan
abstract plain
big red
speedy marie
headache
sir rockaby
superabound
fiddle riddle
i could stay here forever
the vanishing spies
space is gonna do me good |
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trobrianders
> Teenager of the Year <
Papua New Guinea
3302 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 12:40:53
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Big Red, inspired by the movie Silent Running, no?
Synopsis.
The lone crew member of a spaceship harbouring Earth's last nature reserves goes renegade when he is instructed to jettison his beloved forests and return home.
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Ed is the hoo hoo |
Edited by - trobrianders on 06/03/2007 12:42:47 |
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fbc
-= Modulator =-
United Kingdom
4903 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 13:25:34
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Something like that. Terraforming Mars
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stymie
= Cult of Ray =
385 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 16:00:04
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| Because we were younger and more reckless |
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Topic |
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Why is Teenager of the Year So Good?
