Surfer Rosa

Pixies | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 4ad / Ada
• ASIN: B00008YJH5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (189 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,028 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Bone Machine

2. Break My Body

3. Something Against You

4. Broken Face

5. Gigantic

6. River Euphrates

7. Where Is My Mind?

8. Cactus

9. Tony's Theme

10. Oh My Golly

11. You Fucking Die! I Said... [Hidden Track]

12. Vamos

13. I'm Amazed

14. Brick Is Red

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Before the Breeders and Frank Black, there was this Boston quartet, playing hardcore's rush and terseness against the acoustic grit and the minor-key flourish of Latin pop. Their first full-length album is their starkest, harsh and trebly, with the drums right in your face, and songs edited to eliminate any note that's not absolutely necessary. Singer Black Francis yelping away about destroyed bodies and the river Euphrates, alternately acting cryptic and crazed. Kim Deal, then calling herself "Mrs. John Murphy," contributes the highlight, "Gigantic," a creepy anthem about childhood voyeurism. The playing is snarly and tricky but unfailingly tuneful, and the hooks come out of nowhere, hiding behind the noise, and bite down hard. --Douglas Wolk

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

132 of 144 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best albums ever made April 8, 2000

By "the_ninja"

Format:Audio CD

The Pixies "Surfer Rosa" is an amazing experience. This 1988 album is a superb mix of brilliant songwriting, insane lyrics, abrasive guitars and stunning melody. Many of the songs are brutal, with heavily distorted guitars and strange lyrics about incest and injury, yet they are often quite catchy and melodic. This single album influenced more bands than any other album of the late 80s. But none of them can ever even hope of making something even half as brilliant as Surfer Rosa.

The first song, "Bone Machine" is a classic. It's the quintessential Pixies song. Also, listen to it and you'll realize how much they influenced Nirvana. "Break My Body" and "Something Against You" are fast and furious, "Broken Face" is one the best Pixies songs. "Gigantic" is haunting and beautiful, with thunderous guitars and drums swirling around Kim Deal's lone bass and beautiful voice. "River Euphrates" is all about melody, and it is excellent.

"Where is my Mind?" is the climax of the album, and possibly the best song made in the 80s. It is chillingly beautiful and unforgettable. If you haven't heard it, it's the song used over the credits at the end of Fight Club (great movie). "Cactus" is different, and "Tony's Theme" rocks. Although the last four songs don't seem quite as focused, they are still excellent.

To close, Surfer Rosa is one of those timeless, brilliant rock albums that everyone should own. What are you waiting for?

43 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely deranged. In a good way. February 7, 2003

By Shotgun Method

Format:Audio CD

Ah, the Pixies. What can I say about them that hasn't been said before? About 3 years before Kurt Cobain released Nevermind, the Pixies were hard at work perfecting their brand of twisted Beach Boys-meets-Sonic Youth-meets-Lou Reed-meets-Ramones indie rock.

Surfer Rosa is their hardest and rawest album--Steve Albini produced this one and it shows. Black Francis is even more psychotic than in Doolittle, ranting and screaming about incest and broken bodies in his bilingual vocals. Bassist Kim Deal contributes some beautiful backup vocals and a Pixies classic, the creepy Gigantic. Joey Santiago continues to prove himself as the most underrated lead guitarist ever, and David Lovering's percussion is...well..kinda there. It all amounts to a catchy, disturbing, and very unique recording that hasn't aged a day.

Amazing songs abound. The one-two punch of Bone Machine and Break My Body pretty much set the tone and it just gets better from there. River Euphrates and Where Is My Mind? are both among my personal Top 10 Pixies songs and the latter follows on the heels of the former. It's a slice of heaven. The rest of the album right up to the almost-instrumental closer Brick Is Red holds up to this high standard.

You want/need an introduction to the Pixies, and the origins of the modern alternative movement? Buy this and Doolittle right NOW.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Teen Heaven May 11, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

Ahhh nostalgia. The Pixies were the "College/Alternative" poster children of the late 80's, early 90's. Powered by the frenzied and always amusing lyrics of Black Francis as well as the alluring voice of bassist Kim Deal (The Breeders, etc.), the Pixies started making it big with the single "Monkey Gone to Heaven" off of 1989's "Doolittle." However, "Surfer Rosa" (which includes the debut EP "Come on Pilgrim") represents their earliest and most loveable work. While more money was spent producing later albums, "Surfer Rosa" stands on its own, less filtered, more raw, capturing the Pixes at a time when they were just beginning to coalesce as a band that "owned" its sound. For many Pixies fans this album is their greatest accomplishment.