Frank Black - Frank Black Francis

Genre rock Publisher spinART Records External Links Official Website

While The Pixies make their return to the current music scene without releasing hardly any new material, Frank Black has released a two-disc set of Pixies covers that reflects the polarity of raw and produced tracks. This set wasn't printed in an attempt to gain new fans - the only fans who will find pleasure in this album are those that have already found genius in The Pixies' material; so if you haven't heard any of The Pixies' albums before this moment, stop reading here and go get yourself a best of compilation and start from there. The first disc in this set was recorded in Gary Smith's apartment in Allston, MA on a tape recorder with only Frank Black, his acoustic guitar, and a little bit of reverb. The second disc contains tracks produced by the "Two Pale Boys," Keith Moline and Andy Diagram. Frank Black warns in the liner notes that he was "messing with the gospel" but that he's satisfied with the results. Pixies fans take notice - Black wasn't exaggerating at all.

The first disc is raw, naked, and provides an honest look at Frank Black's musicianship and songwriting skills. It isn't often that an artist releases such intimate tracks of themselves - even though it took him over fifteen years to get it released. Throughout the tracks you can hear Black muttering about what he wants certain songs to sound like, where he wants other instruments to come in, and other song structure specifics that proves he had big plans for himself before the Pixies even began. The sound quality of the recording is impressive considering it was recorded on a cassette; it's bright and sharp while Black's vocals blend beautifully with his acoustic guitar. This disc features raw tracks such as, "The Holiday Song", "Caribou", and "Boom Chickaboom".

The second disc provides listeners with an understanding of how much power production has over the outcome of a given song. If misused, production can turn a great song into a headache. If used properly it can turn a great song into a hit. Most of the tracks will be considered butchered by most diehard fans even though there are definitely several that are interesting and well-done. "Caribou" features soothing synthesizers, panning shakers, horns, and just enough reverb to carry Black's falsetto to create a track that is nothing like the original, but far better then the average remix. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" is an example of how to kill a track. The song is filled with horns, annoying oscillating synthesizers, and it strangely ends with static noise. "The Holiday Song" utilizes up-tempo horns while a pleasing, short trumpet riff carries the song to the end.

While some may be put off by the second disc, both discs are worth listening to - even if you agree that Black did "mess with the gospel." If you don't like the new tracks, you can still listen to Pixies albums to hear the sound you're looking for - the damage Black has done to some of these tracks is not permanent and just a part of evolving music. If musicians didn't "mess with the gospel" we'd still be listening to music from the Catholic Church - free of dissonance, tritones, and all those other evil things that have created music as we hear it today. To be angry about Black's reinterpretation of his own songs is just juvenile.