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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
For completists only, July 12, 2002
The Pixies have now released almost as many records post break up as they have when they were together, with each subsequent release catering more and more to the die-hard Pixies fan. The Purple Tape, as this record will surely be referred to as, is definately a fun bonus to any Pixies fan.To start, the sound quality is much better than I had expected, as I had anticipated a fuzzy demo sound, but these tracks are mastered quite nicely. Secondly, each track, with exception to Rock a My Soul, had been released later (for those who don't know, the Purple Tape are the tracks recorded for but not included on Come On Pilgrim) and it is great fun on how much a track evolved over the years, particularly with Here Comes Your Man and Subbacultcha. In my opinion, the song that sounds best on this album as opposed to its official release is Build High, which is much cleaner than its B-side version. To those unfamiliar with the Pixies, however, should not get this record. Start with Come On Pilgrim or Doolittle instead, as those albums best illustrate what the Pixies are capable of. (Don't get Death to the Pixies either,, because whoever picked the "greatest hits" for disc one left off way too many of their best material.) If you consider yourself a big Pixies fan, on the other hand, I would highly recommend purchasing this record.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Really short, but interesting to see how the songs developed, September 16, 2002
How a song developed into its current form is often an interesting study. By showing earlier versions of several Pixies songs, this album lets us do just that. Here, you can hear a version of "Subbacultcha" that includes a line later adapted for use in "Distance Equals Rate Times Time," a primitive "Here Comes Your Man," and no-frills takes on "Broken Face" and "I'm Amazed." There's also "Rock A My Soul," a great unreleased song that bears some resemblance to "Levitate Me." I'd say the problem here is the short length. It's only about 20 minutes long, yet for some reason it is being billed as an album, rather than an EP, which means it could be seen as a little pricy for the small amount you get. Overall, I would say this is worth it for Pixies fans who have some interest in how songs sounded prior to the polished album versions. It is not, however, a good introduction to the band. Listen to the albums first, then, if you like them, you can get this.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A worthy supplement, August 31, 2002
This is the fourth release designed to supplement the Pixies' original five albums. "Death to the Pixies" (2 cds), while otherwise an album-derived sampler, includes the single version of "Gigantic" and a 21 song live disc. "Pixies at the BBC" provides 15 studio unique recordings of album, single, b-side, and otherwise unrecorded songs. "The Complete B-Sides" is just that -- 21 recordings (2 of them live) that appeared on singles but not on albums.To be honest, a hefty slice of the three supplementary studio albums consists of versions of album songs that are nearly identical in approach/arrangement to those familiar versions and therefore are rarely a big revelation. However, every one of these supplements has a great deal to offer the devoted Pixies fan. The most important one is no doubt the b-sides collection, as it offers lots of songs you won't hear elsewhere in any form. The next one to buy is this one. If, like me, you think the band was at its best in the 87-89 period (the first three albums), you will particularly enjoy this set of outtakes from "Come On Pilgrim," which is tight, smart, fractured original recipe Pixies. I assert, without qualification, that if half a dozen of these recordings had been used to expand "COP" to full-length album size, it would have been an even finer release. (I'm baffled by the choice to release a mini-album given the quality of the outtakes.) Three songs ("Broken Face," "Break My Body," "I'm Amazed") fall into the better-left-for-later category, and they were. The countrified "Build High" is more interesting/superior to the later b-side version. "Down to the Well" easily trumps the much later album version, and I also find this early "Subbacultcha" superior. The band simply had a more diverse and imaginative approach to arranging and pacing songs in 87 than in 90-91, by which time these songs had been flattened out by years of live performance. This "In Heaven" is a much cleaner, subtler, and effective version than the BBC version, which loses the stark dynamics in more thrash and scream. The otherwise unknown song, "Rock a My Soul" is, as another reviewer said, "vintage Pixies." And lastly, this very different, pretty arrangement of "Here Comes Your Man" makes it impossible to choose between it and the album version. Others have suggested that the sound is demo-y. I don't hear it. These songs were recorded with the rest of COP, they are clearly finished, and if anything they are richer sounding that COP due to 15 years of advances in mastering for cd. If you're a fan, you won't be disappointed.
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