Frank Black

(1993)

Los Angeles
I Heard Ramona Sing
Hang On To Your Ego
Fu Manchu
Places Named After Numbers
Czar
Old Black Dawning
Ten Percenter
Brackish Boy
Two Spaces
Tossed (Instrumental Version)
Parry the Wind High, Low
Adda Lee
Every Time I Go Around Here
Don't Ya Rile 'Em

Good stuff. I like just about every song.

Guitarist Joey Santiago, also formerly of the Pixies, plays on most of the tracks.

John Linnell of They Might Be Giants is one of the sax players on "Tossed".

Teenager of the Year

(1994)

[album cover]

Whatever Happened to Pong?
Thassalocracy
Abstract Plain
Calistan
The Vanishing Spies
Speedy Marie
Headache
Sir Rockaby
Freedom Rock
Two Reelers
Fiddle Riddle
Ole' Mulholland
Fazer Eyes
I Could Stay Here Forever
The Hostess with the Mostest
Superabound
Big Red
Space Is Gonna Do Me Good
White Noise Maker
Pure Denizen of the Citizens' Band
Bad, Wicked World
Pie in the Sky

Kind of hit-and-miss for me. The first seven are great, but only a few of the rest are better than tolerable. It's not that they're bad, but I've heard them more than enough times, which still isn't very many.

Joey Santiago is back for a few tracks.

The Cult of Ray

(1995)

[album cover]

The Marsist
Men in Black
Punk Rock City
You Ain't Me
Jesus Was Right
I Don't Want To Hurt You
Mosh, Don't Pass the Guy
Kicked in the Taco
The Creature Crawling
The Adventure and the Resolution
Dance War
The Cult of Ray
The Last Stand of Shazeb Andleeb

I basically like this one, but it must not have sold well, as it seems to be either out of print or not very widely available at all.

The drumming is frustratingly simple on many of the tracks. I keep waiting for a fill or even an extra little bit of oomph, but it never comes.

Fortunately, "Mosh" doesn't suffer from the drumming problem. That one's fun.

The Ray of the title is Ray Bradbury.

Frank Black and the Catholics

(1998)

All My Ghosts
Back to Rome
Do You Feel Bad About It?
Dog Gone
I Gotta Move
I Need Peace
King and Queen of Siam
Six-Sixty-Six
Solid Gold
Steak 'n' Sabre
Suffering
The Man Who Was Too Loud

I had trouble getting into this at first, and it sat for about three years after the first couple times I listened to it. Now it's one of my favourite albums by anyone. I like all the songs, but my favourites are 1, 4, and 8-10.

"Well, I'm ready to die—I can't take any more, and I'm sick of his lies and his tricks!"

Back to the CD rack

	Los Angeles I Heard Ramona Sing Hang On To Your Ego Fu Manchu Places Named After Numbers Czar Old Black Dawning Ten Percenter Brackish Boy Two Spaces Tossed (Instrumental Version) Parry the Wind High, Low Adda Lee Every Time I Go Around Here Don't Ya Rile 'Em	Good stuff. I like just about every song. Guitarist Joey Santiago, also formerly of the Pixies, plays on most of the tracks. John Linnell of They Might Be Giants is one of the sax players on "Tossed".
Teenager of the Year (1994)
	Whatever Happened to Pong? Thassalocracy Abstract Plain Calistan The Vanishing Spies Speedy Marie Headache Sir Rockaby Freedom Rock Two Reelers Fiddle Riddle Ole' Mulholland Fazer Eyes I Could Stay Here Forever The Hostess with the Mostest Superabound Big Red Space Is Gonna Do Me Good White Noise Maker Pure Denizen of the Citizens' Band Bad, Wicked World Pie in the Sky	Kind of hit-and-miss for me. The first seven are great, but only a few of the rest are better than tolerable. It's not that they're bad, but I've heard them more than enough times, which still isn't very many. Joey Santiago is back for a few tracks.
The Cult of Ray (1995)
	The Marsist Men in Black Punk Rock City You Ain't Me Jesus Was Right I Don't Want To Hurt You Mosh, Don't Pass the Guy Kicked in the Taco The Creature Crawling The Adventure and the Resolution Dance War The Cult of Ray The Last Stand of Shazeb Andleeb	I basically like this one, but it must not have sold well, as it seems to be either out of print or not very widely available at all. The drumming is frustratingly simple on many of the tracks. I keep waiting for a fill or even an extra little bit of oomph, but it never comes. Fortunately, "Mosh" doesn't suffer from the drumming problem. That one's fun. The Ray of the title is Ray Bradbury.
Frank Black and the Catholics (1998)
	All My Ghosts Back to Rome Do You Feel Bad About It? Dog Gone I Gotta Move I Need Peace King and Queen of Siam Six-Sixty-Six Solid Gold Steak 'n' Sabre Suffering The Man Who Was Too Loud	I had trouble getting into this at first, and it sat for about three years after the first couple times I listened to it. Now it's one of my favourite albums by anyone. I like all the songs, but my favourites are 1, 4, and 8-10. "Well, I'm ready to die—I can't take any more, and I'm sick of his lies and his tricks!"