Pixies - Death To The Pixies

Death to the Pixies (1997) is a comprehensive, widely praised 2-CD retrospective (1987–1991) featuring a "best of" studio disc and a high-energy 1990 live concert. It is considered an excellent introduction to their influential indie rock sound, though some critics felt the studio track selection was random and the live disc was better suited for hardcore fans. Combines studio hits like "Debaser" and "Where Is My Mind?" with a 21-song live set from the Netherlands. Highly regarded as a definitive, if not perfectly curated, collection. The live disc is often cited as a standout, capturing the band's raw, chaotic energy. Ideal for new listeners, while the live album appeals to long-time fans. Overall, Death to the Pixies is a highly recommended, essential compilation for understanding the band's impact on alternative rock. 

Death to the Pixies probably doesn’t do adequate justice to the band that, in a mere four-year existence, lit the fuse which led to the alterna-explosion of the present decade and inspired dozens, nay hundreds, of like-minded bands (and those are just the ones the bass player formed). The first disc covers all the “hits,” including songs (like “Here Comes Your Man”) that really aren’t representative of the far-reaching mixture of mythopoesy, hi-fi-sci-fi, and screwball pop-punkisms that provided the template for the irony-enriched shambleaya that followed (mix “Gouge Away” with “Bone Machine,” add a pinch of “More Than a Feeling,” and you’ve got “Smells Like Teen Spirit”), and the second is a 1990 live recording from a band not known for its on-stage charisma and spontaneity (the one time I saw them, they played their set list in alphabetical order, which should tell you something).

It gives short shrift to their legendary first full-length, Surfer Rosa (the album that gave “recorder” Steve Albini a career between dissing former friends and taking forever to record his own damn records) and all but ignores their underappreciated kiss-off, Trompe Le Monde. There are no rarities or real surprises to speak of (though 4AD is said to be at work on an odds ‘n’ sods set – if they skip “Theme From the Nintendo Video Game ‘Narc’,” I’m suing Ivo) – the dedicated Black Francophile could probably cobble together a more penetrating collection by putting their five CDs in and hitting shuffle. This compilation’s saving grace: It’s the Pixies, dammit. Hearing their wall-eyed melangé of surf riffs, pop sniffles, end-of-the-world shrieks, and the cracked harmonies of Black Francis and Kim Deal (fave example: “Nimrod’s Son”) is always a treat no matter how unimaginatively arranged, every single song has at least one Bartlett’s-worthy sound byte (“You’re so pretty when you’re unfaithful to me!”), and if, for some idiotically occult reason, you’ve not supped at the Pixies’ slanted table, this is as good a place to tuck in as any.

Ripped to MP3

1. Cecilia Ann

2. Planet Of Sound

3. Tame

4. Here Comes Your Man

5. Debaser

6. Wave Of Mutilation

7. Dig For Fire

8. Caribou

9. Holiday Song

10. Nimrod's Son

11. U-Mass

12. Bone Machine

13. Gigantic

14. Where Is My Mind?

15. Velouria

16. Gouge Away

17. Monkey Gone To Heaven