Pitchfork

Just as people can't imagine rock music without the Beatles, one can't help but wonder what alternative and grunge would sound like had there never been a Pixies. Having damn near invented the soft, acoustic verse followed by the exploding, distorted chorus that grungers so favored, the Pixies were the inventors of a craft. They wrote the book on alternative.

Death to the Pixies' first of two discs is a collection of some of the Pixies' best-loved and best-known songs, and it spans their career, from their 1987 debut Surfer Rosa to their 1991 wave goodbye, Trompe le Monde. It also acts as a "greatest hits" of sorts, as every Pixies song you've ever heard on commercial alternative radio ("Here Comes Your Man", "Gigantic", "Monkey Gone to Heaven", etc.) are all here. Disc two serves as a decent collection of live performances.

Listening to Death to the Pixies is a bit depressing. It reminds you that you're getting pretty old. Remember that summer in college spent listening to nothing but Doolittle? Makes you a little nostalgic for the good old days. But take solace in this: we oldsters have an advantage on these new college kids-- what the fuck do they have to listen to that even comes close to the genius of the Pixies?