Doolittle

Doolittle is easily the Pixies best album and one of the best alternative albums of all time. This album has one of the most eclectic assortment of tracks I've ever heard on an album. From the audio assault of the opener "Debaser" to the infectious pop of "Here Comes Your Man." From the dreamy "La La Love You" to the foreboding "Silver", this album has it all. Mood whiplash is present throughout the album, often within the same song. "Tame" goes from a tranquil yet unnerving level 1 during the verses to an apocalyptic level 10 during the choruses. The variety of sounds on this album is staggering. The band members' instrumental work is not the most virtuosic, but it doesn't have to be. It's competent in a way that perfectly suits the simple yet well constructed songs. Frank Black's and Joey Santiago's guitar work can be raw and distorted with a clear noise rock influence, and it can be melodic with almost Beatles like song writing. Kim Deal's murky bass work seems to bridge the gap between post-punk and grunge, while David Lovering's tight drumming drives the songs forward in a simple yet effective manner. It's clear the band was a profound influence on the grunge era. Kurt Cobain even said "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was just an attempt to emulate the Pixies. While Nirvana certainly wasn't a rip off, I don't think that band would have existed without the Pixies. Few bands have been this influential.

Awesome album, love classic Pixies. The only, quite minor, complaint about the vinyl itself is that the hole in the middle of the record is smaller than normal, and I kind of have to jiggle the record into place when I play it. I expect that to correct itself the more I play the record, but it does still require me to manhandle the vinyl more than would ever be my preference.

The CD came in great condition!

I recently heard about the Pixies being on tour in my home town and unfortunately missed them (nov 2009). As a substitute I watched the Pixies documentary film Pixies - loudQUIETloud: A Film about The Pixies . It made me remember how much I loved the Pixies music and caused me to update my library with this CD. These guys are musicians par excellence. This and Bossanova, IMHO, are their two best albums. This is when they were at their creative best. If you like other Pixies songs and don't have this, you've got to get it. Almost all other alternative rock pales in comparison. Kurt Cobain even publicly stated that Nirvanna's biggest hit "smells like teen spirit" was a blatant knock-off of the Pixies style. Not to say that wasn't a good song... Now, in general, you don't listen to the Pixies for insightful or clever lyrics. It's the music that matters. As one other reviewer points out, the Pixies are a band in which the sum of the parts FAR exceeds the individuals. I don't know why, as each member of the band has incredible mastery over their instrument and a unique style that is totally their own. Any one of the band members, it seems to me, could elevate a typical band to must-hear. Now, multiply that by four for each of Frank Black, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal, and David Lovering, and you've got the alternative rock dream team. The Pixies, like no other band I've heard before or since, know how to build a song that is at the same time angry and beautiful. Harmonious and melodic, yet punk angry with screaming vocals and wailing guitars and driving percussion. On this album, they are at their best in using their instruments to capture the angst, anger, frustration and energy that alternative rock represents, while also layering beautiful melodies and harmonies. The result is just...musical! And, as if those beautiful melodies are not enough, they thwart any attempts to categorize them as a loud angry alternative rock band by interspersing a few incredibly catchy melodic feel-good pop songs. Now, I'm not 18 anymore (thank goodness!), but I've got to say that when I'm working out hard, this album captures the gamut of my feelings perfectly. This album should be in the library of any serious alternative rock fan.

A+

Love this album

In these days of digital remastering of older releases- where the remastered sound often suffers over the top digital brick wall compression (the "loudness war"), its great to find a modern remaster sounding genuinely better & clearer than the original. The only other recent remasters I know of where this is true is of the new Beatles 2009 ones. The difference is that this is alternative rock/ pop genre and also its one of the only bands where the increased sonic clarity and punch is thanks to the fantastic job the sound engineers have done from the original tapes and the SACD release format. Its a shame no other alternative bands (other than NIN) have been blessed with this process... but here's hoping for Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana, and Midnight Oil (not that these original CD releases sound bad). The loudness war makes me sick to the point I almost have to take my laptop into my record store to see how overly compressed and ruined many modern releases are before I decide whether I'll hand over any money for them (no wonder CD sales are rapidly declining). However with alternative rock on SACD I know I'll always get the best possible sound hands down! The Pixies were a great band, and Doolittle a brilliant album that still sounds fresh as ever. Turn it up on your SACD player and relive it as never before! My only gripe is the packaging- a cardboard digipack type thingy with the disc in a miniture felt sleeve- I suppose some artist thought this would be classy but its a pain in the ass. Its also oddly oversize so it doesn't fit at all with my other CDs- I had to cut it down to fit in a standard Jewel case. Looking forward to Surfa Rosa next.

聴いていると音が揺れるので、再生中に見てみるとレコードのアームが左右に揺れている。しかしセンターの穴がずれているわけではなく、そもそものカッティングがセンターからずれているようで、聴いていて酔ってくるような音でしたので、初めてアマゾンで返品手続きをしました。 今回購入のものはチェコ製造の盤でした。 チェコではアナログ盤の製造が盛んなようですが、品質はどうなのでしょう。 音楽は最高なので、このアルバムに低評価はつけたくないので、アルバムは星5、品質は星1です💦

The remastered stereo version is superb. As for 5.1: the quality is good but personally I prefer stereo for music.

If you don't have this, but it. If you do, you'll probably already know this is possibly the zenith of one of the best bands in history. The pixies inspired everyone in their time, from nirvana to David Bowie. Personally I think surfer Rosa was the best album but this is an essential part of any true believers collection choom. Need a time machine back to the nineties

Llegó a tiempo, bien empacado y es un excelente disco

An unexpected bonus at the end of this year is the release of the Pixies Doolittle on Hi rez blu ray format, an album re-released with no particular anniversary having been released originally in 1989. I picked this up for nostalgic purposes as much as the fact that is in surround. First thing to report is that the disc comes with both 5.1 surround and original stereo mixes, and while I will probably only listen to the stereo mix once it does sound great, it’s the 5.1 that makes this disc fantastic. I know people have been disappointed with past pixies surround, this time the mix is truly discrete and has plenty of oomph with good and not gimmicky use of the surround field, songs such as Monkey really do stand out. The menu is fuss free with the disc authored to start with DTS MA but with hot buttons so you don’t need a screen to listen play the album if you want LPCM press yellow for instance.