Monde the trompe before you click on this link to return to the main Pixies page... Trompe Le MOONDDEEEEEE Overall Album Score: 9.8 out of 10 Well, they finally did it. The Pixies went far above and beyond what they had been doing with their already-impressive earlier albums and released this absolute STUNNER!!!! The album features the same that the band had done before, except there's more of it, and it's done better. Black Francis had never been better with his singing, the songwriting had never been stronger, and the instrument playing is absolutely EXCITING. I really got a high from listening to this album. That hardly ever happens ... specifically when we're talking about heavy rock stuff. This isn't even ugly music. This was the same year Nirvana released their bookmark Nevermind. Pixies are the ones who are currently known for predating and being the foremost inspiration to Nirvana ... and I'm a bit surprised at how not-grunge this album sounds. ... Sure, it's got stark similarities (like its edginess and loudness), but it's not UGLY. I usually like to call grunge an ugly but still awesome form of rock music. This music might be LOUD and USE A LOT OF ELECTRIC GUITARS, but it's never really ugly. ... So, for whatever reason, this doesn't strike me as being grunge. But it probably is grunge. Hmm. (Don't worry, folks, I really am a mental case.) All I can say now is it's a complete shame that the band broke up after this point. It's also a shame that the album was under-appreciated in its day. Sure, Nevermind is a great album, but Trompe Le Monde is even greater. Overall Album Score: 9.8 out of 10 (This is certainly among the most essential albums of the 90s. It's too bad the Pixies folded after releasing this absolutely stunning gem.) Average Song Score: 9.5 (There were 9.5's and 10's across the board (with only a few exceptions)! These songs are very impressive, indeed!) Album Tilt: 10 (I don't think I'll ever again run across an album as loud, vigorous, and awesome as this gem.) Artist Rating: 10 (Not only is this album loud and exciting, it was COMPLETELY creative in the artistic realm. How more awesome could it possibly be? Full marks, baby!) Track Reviews Trompe Le Monde 10/10 This song is merely minute-and-forty-seven seconds of AWESOME! It has that loud, edgy feel that made Pixies songs so COOL. Plus, it has a pretty good melody. So Good Melody + Raucous and Awesome Instrument Playing = Pretty Dang Solid Pixies Song! ... Mmmmmm! Planet of Sound 9.5/10 Even when the Pixies decide they want to rap (sort of), they still sound awesome! This song is so violent and EVIL, and it's still very well played, that it's just AWESOME. This is an experience, I'll tell ya. Most death metal bands can't even remotely approach this one in quality. This is so great! Alec Eiffel 10/10 My gosh! This is another verrrry edgy and verrrry loud song. The energy of this one can get anyone excited. ... This only proves to me why the Pixies are considered one of the greatest bands that ever existed ... and grunge was a great genre when it started out! You never would have thought that dabbling in random grunge artists from the 90s. This song is not only LOUD, it is creative and artistically valid. Sad Punk 10/10 Black Francis must be the king of screaming. I would love to see this band live in concert just to hear him scream in person! ... This song has two parts. The screaming part, and then there's a slower, more melodic part (but still LOUD and ENERGETIC). This is another song that I'd pretty much call perfect. Head On 9.5/10 Oh myyyyyyyyy!! Another stupendous song!! I love the melody and (as always) it is played exceptionally well. The only reason I'm not giving this the full 10 is that it isn't quite as creative-sounding as some of the previous songs ... given that, it's as fun as all the previous songs! More awesomeness!! And that guy really is a great screamer/singer. You'll have to hear him to see what I mean. U-Mass 9.5/10 COWBELL!!!!! ... If you can't think of anything better for your song, then add some COWBELL!!!!! ...... Anyway, the bad thing about this song is that it doesn't sound quite as sonically amazing as the previous tracks. But it's still a really good song! I love the singing and the instrument-playing didn't get lazier in the slightest. And, as I said earlier, the cowbell is cool. The end of the song is even better than the first with more SCREAMING and some really COOL guitars. Holy crap! This album's a total gem!! Palace of the Brine 10/10 Oh man!!!!! This is a really short song (just a little more than a minute and a half) and it sure does make its presence! The melody is very good and the instrumentation is great, too. Also, it sounds unique and creative! I love it!!! Wooooo!!! Letter to Memphis 9/10 Hmmm... THIS SONG IS STILL TOTALLY EXCELLENT!!!! For some reason or another, I'm not quite as impressed with this one compared to a bunch of the other songs on here, but ... THIS SONG IS STILL TOTALLY EXCELLENT!!!!! Black Francis doesn't really scream on this song ... he just sings ... and he's a great singer, too. I don't think I was appreciative of that guy on the earlier Pixies album. Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons 9.5/10 Gggggggg! More goodness from the Pixies! ... I love the nice rhythm (that's almost *calm*, if you can even remotely believe that). It's still a pretty threatening-sounding song ... and the chorus will probably make your soul soaaaaar! Space (I Believe In) 9.5/10 DDDDDDDUDE!!!!! This has an awesome groove of an early rap song (and there's even some slow rapping on here). The groove is really neat!! And then ... there's more sounds on the song! And those sounds are awesome, too!! This is another great Pixies song. I couldn't be more excited about this whole thing. Subbacultcha 9/10 Now this song is my idea of rap music! ... Not that that's a bad thing. This is still a very good, and very threatening-sounding song. It has tons of spirit and it is played EXCEPTIONALLY well! I love the bass-line. Distance Equals Rate Times Time 8/10 Ohhhhhhh... this song isn't that impressive. It's just loud and it's not that interesting. That's only comparatively speaking, of course! It's still a good song! Lovely Day 9/10 This one starts out sounding like an old Who song! ... That's a good thing to be sure. ... This is an odd song for the album, because not only does it reminisce of a Who song, it has a sort of party-time atmosphere ... and, barring that all in mind, it still has room to also sound like a Pixies song! Yay!! Motorway to Roswell 10/10 Oh wow! Now this song has a GOOOOOOOOOOD melody. Perhaps this is the best melody from the entire album! ... It doesn't feature any of Black Francis's screaming or LOOOOOUDDDDDD electric guitar playing, but I'd wager to say that this is the best actual *song* on the album. Yeah. This is my pick as the best song. But only barely. The Navajo Know 10/10 Ooooh, now this song just sounds BIZARRE!!! Maybe I'll have to call this song the best track from the album, too. ... I had might as well lump it together with "Motorway to Roswell." Whenever I talked about creative instrumentation in previous places in the album, none of them are as creative as this little gem! It sounds crazy ... and it doesn't even have that death-metal feel. I'm not a person who normally gets kicks from death metal, so I'd say making a CRAZY song was a good thing! ... This was a great album! Everyone must own it. Seriously. Trompe your monde comments de.

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He has a headache in his stomach.