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Amazon.co.uk Review
When they first hit the underground scene with this debut album, the Pixies were like an exotic drink that hid its sweetness behind a ferocious bite. The album's production is like a crude explosion: every strum and clang comes down with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. English and Spanish lyrics collide as singer Black Francis (later Frank Black) shouts in a hoarse monotone and Mrs. John Murphy (later Kim Deal of the Breeders) backs him up with throaty wails. Yet somehow the clash of these bruising titans makes for tracks that print indelibly upon your consciousness--once let in. Kurt Cobain is their most famous student. He grafted the Pixies' time-honoured craft of the big bang theory onto Nirvana's biggest hits. (You start with a quiet verse and then explode for catharsis in the chorus--evidenced best here with "I've Been Fired".) The Pixies themselves have served quietly, attaining post-punk godfather status not by tooting their own horns but through the praise of a steady stream of genuflecting admirers whose word of mouth continues to increase the band's deserved critical standing. --Rob O'Connor
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
There's little doubting the importance of The Pixies in shaping independant rock in the early nineties. Into the musical void between the punk of Husker Due et al and the shoe-gazing of indie introverts stepped Black Francis and his colleagues. Come On Pilgrim made anyone hearing it for the first time gasp. It was a new sound - screaming and melodious, forward looking and also nostalgic. Capable, at a turn, of changing from ear-wrenching power to strange, acoustic tones ('Vamos') or straightforward punk and roll ('Nimrod's Son'), the album set the standard for all non-mainstream bands. The Pixies shone briefly but very brightly in their short time together and Come on Pilgrim set out their stall. The mixture that made up the Pixies catalogue really shouldn't work - surf city, horror films, latino imagery, science fiction, pulp fiction - but the fact that it not only works but fits together so perfectly is the reason why the Pixies were so highly regarded. Throughout the album, Santiago's guitar whines alongside Frances' vocal imagery while Kim Deal backs-up with pure, simple melody and a swinging, bouncing bass. How did they write this stuff? Not for the faint-hearted in moral sensibilities ('La Isla de Encanta') or for those looking for Sunday tea-time tunes, Come On Pilgrim will change your list of favourite albums.
Format:Audio CD
This album is fantastic!I am a big Nirvana fan and found out about the Pixies through them. I was told they were good so I went out and bought "C'mon Pilgrim" hoping that I'd like it. By the first listen I was captured by its raw excellence and kept on listening to it. Eagerly, I wanted to buy more albums of the Pixies and soon this band became one of my favorites. The best song would have to be 'Caribou', it's difficult to capture the true talent of this band in words. Each song is different and insatiable. If you like rock music a lot, I definately suggest buying this album and giving them a try. You won't regret it!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
36 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
The EP That Started It All
14 July 2001
Format:Audio CD
A strange band from Mass. records a demo, eight songs from the demo are released as the Come On Pilgrim EP, and rock is changed forever. Uncomprimising, harsh, and brilliant, Come On Pilgrim is early Pixies at its best. The EP never feels to short, and not one song is filler. Featured here is the original version of "Vamos," which is better than the version on Surfer Rosa in my opinion, the haunting "Caribou," and the Pixies' classic "The Holiday Song." The Pixies' mix of pop sensibilities with harsh, loud guitars and very odd lyrics still sounds fresh and innovative to this day. Every Pixies fan needs this.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
hard to be objective
29 Oct 1998
Format:Audio CD
It was over eleven years ago when I first heard these tracks somewhere in England. It is difficult to be objective about a collection that suddenly opened your eyes to the next decade of rock. This was so DIFFERENT then, and it still blows away most of the well-produced "punk" we hear today. The Pixies never claimed to be "punk," indeed, they prove to be something so completely unique. So I back away from my reverance, and I try to review this thing. The EP has a form to it, and is best listened to in one fell swoop. "Caribou" starts off with a heroic, stunted groove that eventually explodes into Black Francis' screams to "Repent! Repent!" Then "Vamos" creeps in with a quick step and offsets genteel, preppy life with searing guitar noise from Joey Santiago. Everything flows along quite deliberately, almost as if designed as an album itself. Then "Holiday" hits you with a hard pop gem with a subject matter paralleling The Who's "Pictures of Lily," except with a incestual twist. In retrospect, I guess it really doesn't matter what order the songs are in...this simply captures The Pixies at their freshest (there is a shrillness in Black Francis' young voice that you can't hear anywhere else). The frightening thing about this is that, while roughly produced and largely accomplished on consumer-par audio gear, there is nothing awkward or stilted about these tracks. On "Come On Pilgrim" The Pixies sound like they knew what they were doing from the get-go.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Remastered?
24 Aug 2003
Format:Audio CD
This is a great CD. The Pixies were a watershed band and this EP lays the blueprint for everything they were to do later. But a word of warning for those expecting improved sound on this reissue: to my ears, this 2003 re-release sounds exactly the same as the previous version. Either the previous master was used, or it might as well have been. Buy whatever version is cheapest, but don't purchase this again if you already own it.
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