Trompe le Monde
1991 studio album by Pixies From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1991 studio album by Pixies From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trompe le Monde is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on September 23, 1991[1] 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 Pixies' final studio album before their break-up two years later. There would be no Pixies' albums of new material for 23 years after Trompe le Monde.
| Trompe le Monde | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 23, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 38:58 | |||
| Label | 4AD | |||
| Producer | Gil Norton | |||
| Pixies chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Trompe le Monde | ||||
| ||||
"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.[2]
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".[3] 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. On some versions of the CD, the title is erroneously printed as Tromp le Monde on the disc itself.[citation needed]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Blender | [1] |
| Chicago Tribune | [4] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[5] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [6] |
| NME | 7/10[7] |
| Pitchfork | 9.4/10[8] |
| Q | [9] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [10] |
| The Village Voice | A−[11] |
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".[12]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic writer Heather Phares noted the reduced role of Kim Deal, calling it "essentially Black Francis' solo debut".[3] 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."[13]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Trompe le Monde" | 1:48 | |
| 2. | "Planet of Sound" | 2:06 | |
| 3. | "Alec Eiffel" | 2:50 | |
| 4. | "The Sad Punk" | 3:00 | |
| 5. | "Head On" | Jim Reid, William Reid | 2:13 |
| 6. | "U-Mass" | 3:01 | |
| 7. | "Palace of the Brine" | 1:34 | |
| 8. | "Letter to Memphis" | 2:39 | |
| 9. | "Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons" | 2:48 | |
| 10. | "Space (I Believe In)" | 4:18 | |
| 11. | "Subbacultcha" | 2:09 | |
| 12. | "Distance Equals Rate Times Time" | 1:24 | |
| 13. | "Lovely Day" | 2:05 | |
| 14. | "Motorway to Roswell" | 4:43 | |
| 15. | "The Navajo Know" | 2:20 |
All tracks are written by Black Francis, except where noted
Pixies
Additional musicians
Technical
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] | 61 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] | 26 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] | 35 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] | 20 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] | 43 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[19] | 7 |
| US Billboard 200[20] | 92 |
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