Customer Reviews

Come on Pilgrim

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A strange band from Mass. records a demo, eight songs from the demo are released as the Come On Pilgrim EP, and rock is changed forever. Uncomprimising, harsh, and brilliant, Come On Pilgrim is early Pixies at its best. The EP never feels to short, and not one song is filler. Featured here is the original version of "Vamos," which is better than the version on Surfer Rosa in my opinion, the haunting "Caribou," and the Pixies' classic "The Holiday Song." The Pixies' mix of pop sensibilities with harsh, loud guitars and very odd lyrics still sounds fresh and innovative to this day. Every Pixies fan needs this.

It was over eleven years ago when I first heard these tracks somewhere in England. It is difficult to be objective about a collection that suddenly opened your eyes to the next decade of rock. This was so DIFFERENT then, and it still blows away most of the well-produced "punk" we hear today. The Pixies never claimed to be "punk," indeed, they prove to be something so completely unique. So I back away from my reverance, and I try to review this thing. The EP has a form to it, and is best listened to in one fell swoop. "Caribou" starts off with a heroic, stunted groove that eventually explodes into Black Francis' screams to "Repent! Repent!" Then "Vamos" creeps in with a quick step and offsets genteel, preppy life with searing guitar noise from Joey Santiago. Everything flows along quite deliberately, almost as if designed as an album itself. Then "Holiday" hits you with a hard pop gem with a subject matter paralleling The Who's "Pictures of Lily," except with a incestual twist. In retrospect, I guess it really doesn't matter what order the songs are in...this simply captures The Pixies at their freshest (there is a shrillness in Black Francis' young voice that you can't hear anywhere else). The frightening thing about this is that, while roughly produced and largely accomplished on consumer-par audio gear, there is nothing awkward or stilted about these tracks. On "Come On Pilgrim" The Pixies sound like they knew what they were doing from the get-go.

This is a great CD. The Pixies were a watershed band and this EP lays the blueprint for everything they were to do later. But a word of warning for those expecting improved sound on this reissue: to my ears, this 2003 re-release sounds exactly the same as the previous version. Either the previous master was used, or it might as well have been. Buy whatever version is cheapest, but don't purchase this again if you already own it.

Nirvana was a great band, but damn, after hearing this baby you'll realize that The Pixies beat them to the punch by a few years. And they did it with a better sound, more creative music, more intriguing lyrics, and better discipline. Yes, even Frank Black's screaching screaming seems disciplined, if not in a terrifying way!

So, this EP does predate the whole "grunge/alternative" movement by a few years. I cant say much beyond "if you dont own it, go out and get it"...

This was the 4th Pixies disc i bought, it should have been the first. Very impressive stuff, i'd say it outshines most of their later work. For being their first release, not even full length and surely produced on a limited budget (you'd never know it by listening), it is quite and achievement.

'The Holiday Song' is ultracatchy yet still has the raw edge that makes you realize just how completely unoriginal most popular bands are today.

'Isle de encanta' is my other favorite. Intense and obtuse. But there isnt a single unworthy track on here... 20 minutes never sounded so good.

The only complaint I can possibly make about this album is that it is too short. 8 songs? Why did they have to tempt us so? This is the first major release by the pixies, and it gives us the opportunity to hear the pixies much as they sounded live; raw, a little sloppy, but also ingenious with their wordplay, song structures and guitar riffs. It lacks the sheen of their later albums produced by Gil Norton, but the empty spaces in their sound allows us to focus on the songwriting. This album will grab you, though you may wish to start with the more acsessable Doolittle if you haven't heard them before.

This album truly is The Shiznit, whatever the hell that means. I have the first 4 pixies CDs and this one is definitely my favourite. It's a work of genius, the vocals and guitar especially. Having 2 songs about incest on an album takes a certain sort of talent, but putting them back to back? My god, man! But that aside, the other songs have it good as well: catchy choruses (levitate me), twisted surf (ed is dead), spanish punk fuelled insanity (isla del encanta) and genuine beauty (caribou). Not forgetting the towering Vamos, full of crazed guitar squeaking and oddly creepy vocals. And of course that masterful "I've Been Tired" which has the best Pixies line I have yet encountered - asked of his biggest fear, Black Francis tells a flirt "losing my penis to a whore with disease... just kidding. Losing my life to a whore with disease." Try that in your local.

This is a short, but very satisfying and addictive set of songs from the Pixie's original demo tape. A must own, especially for fans of their early work.

The Pixies music is so tight it amazes me still. This album features some of their best work. I love the gentle wailing of Caribou and the weird biblical references of Nimrod's Son, but the kicker for this album is I've Been Tired. I can't escape the ways this album raises me. When I first heard this album I knew I had to hear it again and again. I wore out two copies of this on tape before I got it on CD. The later Pixies have a more finished sound but I prefer the raw energy of Pilgrim.

What can be said about the Pixies except that they are the quintessential indie band. Energetic compositions, disturbing lyrics, thrash guitar, and powerful hooks make them one of the most captivating bands ever. If you're bying this CD, you're probably already obsessed, like the rest of us.

Come on Pilgrim is the Pixies not at their harshest, but certainly their rawest. Black Francis' croons and yelps alongside Joey Santiago's random guitar musings and David Lovering's furious snare-pounding make this CD, along with Surfer Rosa, the Pixies' most energetic. This album is the Pixies stripped down, without all the studio perfection that makes the other albums more commerically viable. The songs still shine like polished jewels, among the better ones: Ed is Dead, I've Been Tired, Nimrod's Son, and Vamos.

Many people say to start of with Doolittle, but I say to start here, and follow the Pixies through the entire musical journey. If Come on Pilgrim, piques your interest, and it will, then ride the Wave of Mutilation all the way to the end. Have fun.

This ep didn't grab me at first. In fact it disturbed me. The screaming of "Repent!!" in Carabou scared me. Soon Ed is Dead and Levitate Me grabbed me as catchy punk pop songs. Then all the other songs started falling into place, and i realized this e.p. was brilliant and flawless. 20 minutes without one boring second. The word filler is not in the Pixies vocabulary