Pixies
Doolittle
1989
No. of Voters 30 Score 2026.83
Rank in AM 3000 54
Rank in 2011 Poll 13
Top Fans BleuPanda (2), Maschine Man (3), Michel (4), SJner (6), Jackson (9), DaveC (9), Luvulong (10)
There are some cult classics that could have been hits, and then there are albums like “Doolittle.” Released 25 years ago today, the sophomore effort from wily Boston space cadets Pixies was never going to shift major units, and the fact that it spent two weeks at No. 98 on the Billboard 200 is some kind of miracle. Sweet and melodic in spots, absolutely brutal in others, it’s the cryptic record about death and god that Black Flag and the Ventures might make should they ever find themselves on the same interstellar pleasure cruise. It’s brilliant, and it’s not for everyone. But in the pre-Nirvana alternative rock world of 1989, the album was heralded as a landmark -- a release that inspired and ultimately helped pave the way for a slew of bands that would become arena-filling, chart-topping megastars in the mid-'90s.
One guy who famously dug it was Kurt Cobain, and as Nirvana fans well know, the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic shifts found all over “Doolittle” set the template for much of “Nevermind.”
By Kenneth Partridge in Billboard, April 18, 2014
Number 22
Prince
Purple Rain
1984
No. of Voters 28 Score 2028.17
Rank in AM 3000 43
Rank in 2011 Poll 27
Top Fans Stone37 (1), Rocky Racoon (6), Sonofsamiam (7), Henrik (9)
For those who’d conveniently forgotten that brown-skinned men named Ike Turner, Chuck Berry and Little Richard pioneered rock, Purple Rain was a reminder… But Prince was the more wide-ranging in his style. On the successful “When Doves Cry”—a strange and stark track without a bassline—Prince talked psychological smack to a former flame who just left him “standing alone in a world that’s so cold” on Purple Rain’s first single. He was in the process of propelling himself from cult status to the reigning rock star of the moment.
Suddenly, folks who only listened to nothing but the radio were asking, “Have you ever heard of this Prince guy? He’s pretty good.” Still, unlike punk rockers who bitterly complain whenever their favorite artists become successful, Prince fans were more than happy to share their idol and his brilliant Black noise. It didn’t matter that he would no longer be our private joy, because we wanted the world to embrace his genius too.
By Michael A. Gonzalez in Ebony, June, 2014