Adam Ranger: I prefer Surfer Rosa from the previous year. I think it showcases more who the Pixies were. However, Doolittle is a good album, and maybe brought the band to a wider audience. It's well made and has probably aged better than Smashing Pumpkins. If I'd owned a copy in the 90s and let it get under my skin I might appreciate it more but it's too dense to consume and appreciate in a couple of listens. I'm not going to score this week. As well as being adept at screaming and shouting, Francis also does a decent leer, employed to good effect here ( there are times when he sounds disturbingly like he might be some kind of serial killer!). His vocals end with his final intonations of " I'm in a state" (we hear ya Frankie baby) giving way to some delicious Santiago guitar work, a rare time he's allowed to really stretch out, underpinned by Deal's bass in an excellent denouement. The songs are okay and the album is quite short for a 15 song record; so it makes for a decent album, which I can now cross off my "to do" list. But is Doolittle essential? Sorry, not for me - but that is the beauty of this forum; we can sure different opinions and views.

Pixies - Doolittle (Vinyl, UK, 1989) For Sale | Discogs Pixies - Doolittle (Vinyl, UK, 1989) For Sale | Discogs

I'm really just joking around here, so people don't need to take any of these comments too seriously. I suspect there's at least a kernel of truth under it all though. I think it still is. Definitely the best album they ever made, although admittedly I haven't given anything released this century a chance. Definitely one of the bellwether albums of the coming alternative nation and still one that holds up to regular playing. Thirty years on, it's honestly a little hard for me to remember why it stood out from all the other albums at the time. Alex Hayes: Like some kind of aural equivalent of Helen of Troy, Doolittle by The Pixies really is the album that launched a thousand imitators. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of any of them. Or it. So this week I finally gave this album a spin, and to be honest I am still wondering what the hype was all about.

Notes

Philip Qvist: For years I have been reading articles from various music critics about how great Doolittle was, and how influential the Pixies were - and that this album should be on everybody's "must-hear" list. Pixies found a home with the 4AD label, a perfect fit. After the brilliance of Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa they took the surprising step of ditching the latter's producer, Steve Albini, when it came time to record their second long player, engaging the services of Gil Norton instead. The first fruit of this collaboration was, of course, the magnificent Doolittle.