Over the past month, I have experienced a new appreciation for the work of Frank Black. If you guys dropped out of the picture circa Teenager of the Year, you are really missing a lot of amazing (and amazingly consistent) work. Some highlights since then:The Cult of Ray
This album has the most ferocious energy of any FB solo release. Highlights include 'Punk Rock City', 'You Ain't Me', and the epic, crawly, gorgeous 'The Last Stand of Shazeb Andleeb' (or something like that). This album was in ridiculously high rotation for over a year for me. Makes me feel good about the kind of rock and roll I like. Oh yeah, when I saw this tour, I realized that Lyle Workman and Rich Gilbert are two of the greatest unsung guitar-maestros ever.
Frank Black and the Catholics
Should be called Melody Masterpiece. 'All My Ghosts', 'I Don't Want to Hurt You', and especially 'Dog Gone' are all songs that focus less on the extraterrestrial motifs of the first three solo albums and more on personal matters. 'The Man Who Was Too Loud' is a lovely tribute to Johnathan Richman. This album also marked the beginning of FB's recording live to 2 track in the studio- no overdubs, just kick ass performances.
Pistolero
I'm a little less enthusiastic about this one, but great live-in-the-studio performances all over the place and great riffs and arrangements.
Any of you clowns into these albums? I'll cover Dog in the Sand, Devil's Workshop, Black Letter Days, and Honeycomb in a future post. Please discuss the genius of FB in the 'Comment' section.
2 comments:
Somehow I missed The Cult of Ray, but it was YOU, sir, who hipped me to Frank Black and the Catholics, and it was all I listened to for a solid month. J'ACCUSE!
I also felt that the follow-up to that thick slab of audio goodness was a let-down. FBatC had me at Hola, but Pistolero never grabbed me, mainly because it wasn't as accessible. To my ear, Mr. Black has his melodious songs and his cacophonous songs, and Pistolero had too many of the latter, if memory serves.
Anyway, I patiently await Part 2 ...
I concur.
Jay suggested the Catholics disc and I jumped up and down for awhile about it, but Pistolero had me shuffling my feet. I don't think I've heard any of his other albums (wteo the hippopotamusly named FB, and 'Teenager,' which is one of my all-time fav-o-rite covers).
Remember those...covers?
Bring on Part 2. And Jay, anything you can do on the ftp would be helpful.
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