Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Frank at his very best., 9 Oct 2001
By A Customer
A brilliant album, combining much of what has been great about Frank Black's songwriting right back to "Surfer Rosa". Although, like the rest of his solo material, lacking the urgency which was so apparent with the Pixies this album still marks a return to a far cleaner, rocking sound than the more complicated "Teenager of the year" whilst still retaining an overriding sense of invention and intelligence. Stand out tracks are "Men In Black", one of those songs which just makes you glad to be alive so that you can listen to it, and "The last stand of Shazeb Andleeb" a melodic, dreamy ending to the album. All in all, only "Pistolero" can match this from Frank's solo cannon.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Avoid, 6 April 2005
To begin with I would like to emphasise how much of a fan I am of all of Frank Black's work, everything the man touches turns to gold, from Come on Pilgrim to Show me your tears...except Cult of Ray.
I am basically writing this review to save you from wasting your hard earned cash, this is a poor album, full of easily forgettable songs. The album is poorly produced, plodding and has none of the classic Black magic which has graced all of his other releases. Cult of Ray contains a couple of good songs - notably Men in Black and Last stand of Shazeb Andleeb - but most of them I can't even remember. This is not through lack of effort however, i listened to this album over and over but could never fall in love with it.
In my opinion EVERY other album which Frank Black has produced is a work of genius, I'm just saying that everybody is entitled to a slip up, and this is Black's.
My advice would be to save your money for Black's eagerly awaited next album Honeycomb which i trust will be a classic. But then again what do I know, I'm not a genius like Frank Black.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dinnerplate Specials/ The Shape of Cucumber..., 16 Jan 2005
By A Customer
This is definitely an under-rated LP. It's considered one of Frank Black's weaker efforts, but despite intial impressions to the contrary, it's a rough-hewn gem with some great cuts. The opener The Marsist is pretty underwhelming, but then Men in Black, one his best solo songs, bursts into life, Vintage punk-pop, with great lyrics about those bug-eyed chaps from outer space. Then comes Punk Rock City, an impressively sleazy slice of glam-rock. Some of the tracks on here could be accused of being below-par- But on tracks like Jesus Was Right and You Ain't Me, The Artist Formerly Known as Francis manages to wrest real quality from what would otherwise be formulaic garage-rock in lesser hands. Even Dance War, which is probably the scrappiest track, has a certain charm which is inimitably Frank Black. In addition to the stripped-down, straight-ahead rock on the album, I Don't Want to Hurt You Every Single time is an impressive AOR ballad. There's also a pretty cool spaced-out instrumental, and the superb closer The Last Stand of Shazeb Andleeb recalls Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons, from the mighty Trompe Le Monde. This album definitely deserves more credit-it's not as good as Teenager or Dog in the Sand, but pretty solid all the same.
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