many will disagree, but i maintain this is the best pixies album of them all. the raw energy of surfer rosa and the pop sensibilities of doolittle bled together and were polished off with just a hint of the production sheen of trompe le monde to create the perfect hybrid of the pixies' strengths and artistic virtues. songs like 'velouria', 'all over the world', and 'dig for fire' are stylized masterpieces of song--the ethereal loftiness of pixies imagery and sound shooting through space with blazes of fiery instrumentation and other-worldly spirits. at the core of it all is a the quantum singularity of 'punk.' in attitude, theme and presentation, this album spectacularly bridges the gap between our world and the pixies galaxy.