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For a guy whose individual records can be so willfully fragmented, Frank Black's solo career has run in a straight line. In the beginning, he sounded like someone who'd just broken up Pixies, and his first two solo albums- Teenager of the Year, in particular- are nearly on par with his work in the band. Then, Black settled into a sort of quirky classic rock phase with the Catholics, and has now spent the last several years in reflection, revisiting the Pixies with a reunion of the band itself and with his own solo re-examination of songs he made with the band on the two-disc set Frank Black Francis. These past few years, which also saw Black trying his hand at the singer-songwriter game in Memphis, aren't accounted for on 93-03, which covers the first nine albums of his solo career (plus a bonus live disc recorded last year that touches on some recent material). While the Pixies have been anthologized nearly to death, there's never been a solo Black survey before this, and it seems like a good time to take a peek back at the years between his times with the Pixies, because the straight line he's drawn so far feels like it has to branch off in a new direction from here.
The 22 studio tracks gathered on 93-03 (there's one new one from his forthcoming Bluefinger album, too) are arranged in simple chronological fashion, which makes his gradual migration from out-on-a-limb to the roots of the rock family tree seem improbably smooth. But it also underscores how much more interesting his youthful ADHD delivery was when compared to his present-day trad-rock performances: Where Teenager of the Year was wildly unpredictable, showcasing Black skipping from one far-out genre to the next, Dog in the Sand and Black Letter Days crawled with familiar rock tropes and felt oddly wooden.
It's no accident that Teenager is represented here by five tracks while the following four albums are covered in just six. Track selection could've gone about a dozen different ways, since Black has no real hits apart from 'Los Angeles' and the blissfully anthemic 'Headache'. The songs off his stranger early albums play mostly to the middle, focusing on oddball rock tunes like 'Ten Percenter', '(I Want to Live on an) Abstract Plain', and the immortal 'Freedom Rock'. However, opener 'Los Angeles' is about as out-there as this compilation gets musically, with its faux-metal riffage and doom-stricken keyboard bridge. There are a lot of solid tracks strewn through the disc after 'Freedom Song' wraps up the early phase.
'You Ain't Me' and 'Men in Black', from 1996's disappointing Cult of Ray, are stronger than I remember ('Men in Black', for what it's worth, was originally a Teenager B-side), but the Catholics years are mixed to say the least. 'All My Ghosts', from 1998's Frank Black & the Catholics, and Pistolero's 'Bad Harmony' both possess the manic energy that serves Black best, and the latter in particular is a great example of Black thriving in a pretty traditional rock setting. Dog in the Sand's 'Hermaphroditos', though it sometimes feels like Frank Black trying to live up to being old weird Black Francis, is nevertheless greatly entertaining, with its squeezed-out chorus and freaked-out verses. Still, some songs are leaden: 'I Gotta Move' has an awkward call-and-response chorus; 'Velvety', from 2002's Devil's Workshop, is as close to outright bland as Black gets; and 'Manitoba' is a ballad with horns and slide guitar that points the way toward Fast Man Raider Man, with a melody that isn't especially suited to Black's voice. The new song, 'Threshold Apprehension', sounds like it may have been inspired by the Pixies reunion- it's punkier and spazzier than anything he's done in years, coming off almost like a reaction to his mellow Memphis sessions. Black bleats and squawks his way through it like he might have in 1989, but the sonic character of its dry, straightforward production is closer to what we've grown used to in his work with the Catholics. 93-03 does serve as a nice overview of Black's first eleven years as a musical bachelor, and anyone listening for the first time should be able to get a strong sense of whether the album each track is drawn from might be worth pursuing further.
Still, Teenager of the Year remains the first stop on any tour of Frank Black's solo career, especially for those seeking something closer to his original Pixies flair.
A sprawling double album, Frank Black's Teenager of the Year builds on the clever, carefully crafted pop he forged on his solo debut and moves even farther away from the Pixies' sound. It feels like the album Black wanted to make since Bossanova: 'Whatever Happened to Pong?' And 'Thalassocracy' are a one-two blast of energetic fun, but the tight songwriting and detailed arrangements on the strummy 'Headache' and gentle, piano-driven 'Sir Rockaby' are more interesting. Despite its 22-song length, most of Teenager of the Year's tracks are keepers; the first nine rank among Black's catchiest songs with or without the Pixies. 'I Want to Live on an Abstract Plain' and 'The Vanishing Spies' mix sweet straightforward melodies with spacy keyboards, and Black delivers a creative love song in 'Speedy Marie'; the first letter of each line in the song's second half spells out his girlfriend's name. The driving, anthemic 'Freedom Rock' is one of the album's more ambitious tracks, along with the catchy, educational 'Ole Mulholland,' a musical history lesson about William Mulholland, the developer and planner of Los Angeles' municipal water system.
Teenager's beginning is so consistent, it's not surprising that its second half isn't quite as essential, but it's still interesting. The spacy, ska-tinged 'Fiddle Riddle,' the cryptic 'Superabound,' and the sprightly final track 'Pie in the Sky' - which sounds strangely like a punk version of Gary U.S. Bonds' hit 'A Quarter to Three' - all add to the album's individuality. Even less-developed songs like 'Fazer Eyes' and 'The Hostest with the Mostest' are still worthwhile. Though his later albums took a sparer, simpler approach, Teenager of the Year's ambition and quirkiness begin Black's evolution into a cult artist who makes the music he wants to, regardless of whether or not it's fashionable. Heather Phares.
Review Summary: Freedom Rock Indeed The pixies are often regarded as one of the best and most influential American bands of all time, why is this' Well it’s mainly due to main man Black Francis’s incredible song writing skills. He mixed the Beatles with raging punk to get a fascinating blend of melodic bliss. For example, “Something against you” (From the Pixies first album, Surfer Rosa) contains shrieking guitars and screaming vocals yet there was something so beautiful and fresh behind all the clutter and mess that you just couldn’t ignore. Despite all this, the Pixies broke up in 1993 and Black Francis changed his name to Frank Black. He began a solo career, hoping to separate himself from his prestigious past. His first self tilted album was well received but many pixies fans shied away from Franks new tunes; however this was a big mistake as he was soon to release his masterpiece, “Teenager of the year”. Teenager of the year is Frank Black's statement to the world that he can write whatever he wants songs like “Freedom rock” change mood and rhythm a zillion times, whereas “Big Red” is a blatant pop song with an infectious chorus.
His lyrics often reference the universe and the solar system “Space is gonna do me good”, “Pie in the sky”, these lyrics create a beautiful contrast to the often simple instrumentation. If I was asked to describe “Teenager of the year” in one word then it would be freedom.
His songs on this album show untamed creative freedom where you can just tell he’s having as much fun as he can writing these tunes. The diversity and playfulness on the album is brilliant, it has fast rock songs “Thalassocracy”, country-ish mid tempo ballads like “Abstract Plain” and straight up weird songs like “Fiddle Riddle”. The sheer amount of songs and variety can be daunting at first but the more you listen to the album the more you can see Franks vision for an album that covers different aspects of music, rather than just rock or punk. Of course there are going to be comparisons to the Pixies but a lot of the songs on this album would have been out of place on the Pixies albums, for example the rockabilly ballad “Sir Rockaby” is a millions miles away from the Pixies more straightforward rock sound. What I will say is that this album is different from the Pixies work, and it’s up to personal opinion to say which is better, but hey that’s what sites like this are for (Breaking the fourth wall!). This is the part of the review where I was going to talk about the more negative points of the album but I can’t really think of any bad songs, just songs that aren’t as good as the rest. However even though the songs themselves are good, the album at times just fails to rock hard enough and it may leave you wanting more of the punk aggression that was in Franks earlier work with the pixies.
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Frank took a softer yet more diverse and dynamic approach for this album that with time you will learn to appreciate but whether you enjoy this sort of music or not I think you have to respect Frank Blacks attempt at making music he likes rather than what the thousands of pixies fans wanted him to make, sure he could have re-written “Debaser” a hundred times but Frank is having too much fun creating the music that he wants to create and dressing up all girly for album covers.
Frank Black Teenager Of The Year
A sprawling double album, 's builds on the clever, carefully crafted pop he forged on his solo debut and moves even farther away from the ' sound. It feels like the album wanted to make since: 'Whatever Happened to Pong?'
Frank Black
And 'Thalassocracy' are a one-two blast of energetic fun, but the tight songwriting and detailed arrangements on the strummy 'Headache' and gentle, piano-driven 'Sir Rockaby' are more interesting. Despite its 22-song length, most of 's tracks are keepers; the first nine rank among 's catchiest songs with or without the. 'I Want to Live on an Abstract Plain' and 'The Vanishing Spies' mix sweet straightforward melodies with spacy keyboards, and delivers a creative love song in 'Speedy Marie'; the first letter of each line in the song's second half spells out his girlfriend's name. The driving, anthemic 'Freedom Rock' is one of the album's more ambitious tracks, along with the catchy, educational 'Ole Mulholland,' a musical history lesson about William Mulholland, the developer and planner of Los Angeles' municipal water system.
's beginning is so consistent, it's not surprising that its second half isn't quite as essential, but it's still interesting. The spacy, ska-tinged 'Fiddle Riddle,' the cryptic 'Superabound,' and the sprightly final track 'Pie in the Sky' - which sounds strangely like a punk version of ' hit 'A Quarter to Three' - all add to the album's individuality.
Even less-developed songs like 'Fazer Eyes' and 'The Hostest with the Mostest' are still worthwhile. Though his later albums took a sparer, simpler approach, 's ambition and quirkiness begin 's evolution into a cult artist who makes the music he wants to, regardless of whether or not it's fashionable.
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