Surfer Rosa (album) by Pixies

From Timestarter 05/30/2020 01:21

Fav. Tracks: Bone Machine, Gigantic, Where Is My Mind?, Oh My Golly!, Vamos.

From splashfoop 05/18/2020 13:32

A masterpiece. Very superior to Doolittle imo (although less accesible). Where is my mind? is not even one of the greatest songs here.

From Montpejo 04/19/2020 17:41

Highlights:

Where Is My Mind?
Gigantic
Bone Machine
River Euphrates
Break My Body
Cactus
Brick Is Red

Nirvana's In Utero was probably the first album I ever loved, so when I heard there was a Pixies album produced by Steve Albini, I was very excited to hear this album. I was not disappointed. Though the songwriting is not as concise as Doolittle, the aggression and production more than make up for it. The obvious standout track on here is obviously Where Is My Mind? But the rest of the album is by no means bad. Strong recommend if you like any sort of alt rock.

still blows my mind.

Highly influential. Can't imagine my life without this record in my iPod. I like it even more than doolittle

From Cargusbralem 08/16/2019 02:36

From reading other comments I understand that maybe this album had a groundbreaking level of aggression for its time, but to me it's one great track (Where is My Mind) surrounded by a bunch of very unpleasant songs. Doolittle is aggressive too but its songs are way more enjoyable.

From Brad1770 06/30/2019 07:12

On this site I have roughly 280 different adored and treasured albums appearing on my various year charts as well as a few custom charts , every album cherished , every album meaningfully added and obsessed over. But there is one album that stands above them all , the numero uno best of the best if you will. Its the iconic and legendary 'Surfer Rosa' by the Pixies made entirely for the princely some of $9'000 !

It's got the perfect balance between macho and cool sexy female sheikh with the frantic half-spoken, half-screeched vocals of Black Francis, plus Deal's breathy harmonies

Space

Lots of Space

When I think of this album that's one of the first things that comes to mind. Albini's master class engineering this album cannot be understated. His creativity in setting up microphones all over the studio as well as recording in a bathroom and hallway for this album is pure genius

It's got weird ass dark lyrics that are unlike anything that came before it and probably since: "Bone Machine" is overtly sexual , "Break My Body" references incestuous relationships with a mother , "Broken Face" more incest and inbreeding , "Gigantic" sex in the 50's between a black man and white woman , "Cactus" about putting fluids on a dress to please a lover plus the word P-I-X-I-E-S spelt out about half way through, "Oh My Golly" about sexual dalliances and impotence , "Vamos" masturbation , "I'm Amazed" suicide , "Brick Is Red" death

"I like the fact that none of us are rock'n'roll-type people. We're truly naive , so it's very pure. There's not a lot of thought." (Black Francis March 1988)

Amen to that

Its such an incredibly original album

Derivative of absolutely nothing musically - Black liked Iggy Pop and Talking Heads , Joey liked The Velvet Underground and that was about it. What they were doing as a band was like a bolt of blue from another planet at the time , 100% theirs and uniquely special

The Spanish (a result of Black's exchange program period in Puerto Rico) spliced with English is pure gold , as are the snippets of conversation sprinkled throughout

I really can't imagine music or art getting any better than this album and 31 years since it crashed into my world its still as perfect now as it was back then

32 minutes of utter . . .

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100/100
N

Very raw! A very cohesive album. Not as commericial as Doolittle but some cacthy songs are on this record as well

Another legendary record for 1988 that mostly lives up to its reputation. Stacked with catchy songs and surprising instrumentation/production techniques.