Hail to the '80s

Few will challenge the notion that the Pixies' third release, 1989's Doolittle, is their masterpiece. Its greatness thrives on a meticulously produced balance of exacting potency and livid urgency, ersatz ear candy and sonic rotgut, heavenly harmony and untold chaos. It's as if everything the Pixies did before Doolittle laid the groundwork for that album's existence, and everything after it was doomed to languish in its shadow. Doolittle's barbed beauty is well represented on Death with "Here Comes Your Man," "Debaser," "Wave of Mutilation," "Gouge Away" and "This Monkey's Gone to Heaven." On the last, the Pixies pretty much mustered all the ill feelings they could manage without sounding completely toxic, sugar-coating it all with a gorgeous sing-along chorus perfect for the radio.

Seeing as the five songs from Doolittle comprise almost a third of Death's first disc, newcomers might wonder if the rest of Death to the Pixies is worth mulling over. That will depend on whether you prefer spending another 12 songs listening in as the group struggled to find new and different ways to feed its devotion to surf music and power pop through punk's hard-core melody shredder. And remember: You'll also have to endure more of the discomfiting juxtaposition of Deal's little-girl vocals and Black's head-splitting screams. Certainly, though, there are less interesting ways to spend your time.

Whatever your ultimate take on the bands above, their best music proves that the '80s had more to say than most Billy Idol videos let on. Still, as label archivists begin to dig up far lamer links in the nostalgia chain, even the best memories won't guard against exposure to the inevitable Paul Young anthology. Don't say we didn't warn you.