Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Trompe le Monde
1991 studio album by Pixies From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Trompe le Monde is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on September 23, 1991[2] on 4AD in the United Kingdom and on September 24, 1991, on Elektra Records in the United States. Recorded in Burbank, California, Paris and London, the album was produced by Gil Norton, and was the Pixies' final studio album before their break-up two years later. Additionally, it was the band’s last album to feature founding bassist Kim Deal.
Remove ads
Composition
"Head On" is a cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain track. It was released as a single and reached number 6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S.
"U-Mass" is a song about the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where Black Francis met Joey Santiago before dropping out to form Pixies. In a 2001 interview, Santiago recalled that the original guitar riff was written while they were still enrolled at the school.[3]
Remove ads
Artwork and packaging
The album name comes from the title of the first track, "Trompe le Monde", a French phrase (pronounced [tʁɔ̃p lə mɔ̃d]) meaning "Fool the World".[4] Unlike previous albums, the title of the album comes from the name of a song (rather than a song lyric), and is a play on the French phrase "Trompe-l'œil", a painting technique in which the painter fools the viewer into thinking objects presented are real, and also "trompe la mort", which means "daredevil" in French. On some versions of the CD, the title is erroneously printed as Tromp le Monde on the disc itself.[citation needed]
Remove ads
Critical reception
Michael Bonner of Lime Lizard described Trompe le Monde as "one of the best albums that you may very well ever hear" and "a strong contender for best album of the 20th century".[13]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic writer Heather Phares noted the reduced role of Kim Deal, calling it "essentially Black Francis' solo debut".[4] Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger named Trompe le Monde his ninth favorite album of the 1990s, describing it as "clean-lined sci-fi popmetal, perpetually underrated."[14]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Black Francis, except where noted.
Remove ads
Personnel
Pixies
- Black Francis – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Kim Deal – bass guitar, vocals
- David Lovering – drums
- Joey Santiago – lead guitar
Additional musicians
- Eric Drew Feldman – keyboards, synthetics
- Jef Feldman – tabla, doumbek ("Space (I Believe in)", "Lovely Day")
Technical
- Gil Norton – producer
- Steven Haigler – engineer
- Andrew Ballard – assistant engineer
- John McDonnell – assistant engineer
- Ken Gardner – assistant engineer
- Scott Blockland – assistant engineer
- Philipe Tousche – assistant engineer
- Vaughan Oliver / v23 – art direction, design
- Chris Bigg – design assistance
- Paul McMenamin – design assistance
- Simon Larbalestier – photography
- Steven Appleby – artwork (rockets)
- TPP Ltd. London – typesetting
Remove ads
Charts
Remove ads
Certifications and sales
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads