Frank Black

小簡介
1993年，F(xiàn)rank Black解散了The Pixies樂團(tuán)并實(shí)施了他的單飛計(jì)劃，截止到目前，他分別以個(gè)人的名義或與The Catholics合作的形式發(fā)行了十三張專輯（不包括現(xiàn)場及精選），音樂雖已無The Pixies時(shí)期引領(lǐng)時(shí)代的領(lǐng)袖氣質(zhì)，但他屢屢將傳統(tǒng)搖滾樂煥然一新的創(chuàng)作，還是贏得了一大批搖滾死粉的歡心。只不過，與當(dāng)年的風(fēng)光相比，F(xiàn)rank Black更多的還是成為了一名草根精英、平民英雄（這大概也是因?yàn)槿鄙貸oey的緣故吧），雖無煙花如此那般的燦爛，但畢竟也算是音樂不停就發(fā)光不止。
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Inverting his stage name from Black Francis to Frank Black, the former Pixies lead singer/songwriter embarked on a solo career after he broke up the band in early 1993; actually, he began recording his solo album before he told the band the news. Working with former Pere Ubu member Eric Drew Feldman, Black occasionally heads into the ferocious post-punk guitar territory that marked such landmark albums as Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, but more frequently he plays up his considerably underrated melodic side. His self-titled 1993 debut album was an adventurous sketchbook of pop styles ranging from surf rock to heavy metal, from Beatlesque pop to new wave. Blacks second album, 1994s Teenager of the Year, was a sprawling and diverse album that amplified all the best points of Frank Black. Although it received favorable reviews and had an alternative radio hit with Headache, it slipped off the charts two weeks after its release. Black parted ways with Elektra and 4AD in early 1995, signing a new record contract with American in the U.S. and Sony in Europe. Black released his first album for American and Sony, the hard-rocking Cult of Ray, in January 1996.
The Cult of Ray hardly found the wide audience Black had hoped for, selling considerably less than his two previous efforts. Early in 1997, American was forced to close briefly as they straightened out their financial problems. Black was lost in the shuffle. He had recorded an album with the Catholics — essentially just a renamed version of his Cult of Ray supporting band — but was unable to release it due to Americans problems. Eventually, he wrangled himself free from both American and Sony. Early in 1998, he signed with Play It Again Sam in England, and he released Frank Black and the Catholics that spring. He was left without an American record contract until spinART picked up the album for release in the U.S. in August. Pistolero followed in 1999. Dog in the Sand was issued two years later. In 2002, Black returned with two albums, the ambitious Black Letter Days and The Devils Workshop, a more laid-back effort. Show Me Your Tears, which was inspired by Blacks therapy sessions, followed a year later.
Black returned to prominence in 2004 with a Pixies reunion, a project that included North American tours that spring and fall; an appearance at the Coachella festival; dates in Europe and the U.K. that summer, including a performance at the T in the Park festival; Pixies, a DVD retrospective; a new best-of collection, Wave of Mutilation: The Best of Pixies; and last but not least, the possibility of a new Pixies album. That fall, Frank Black Francis, a double-disc set of early Pixies demos and reinterpretations of Pixies songs by Black and the Two Pale Boys, arrived in the midst of all this activity. The Pixies reunion tour continued into 2005; that summer, Black released Honeycomb, a collection of songs recorded in Nashville, TN, featuring performances by session greats such as Spooner Oldham, Reggie Young, Anton Fig, and Steve Cropper. He reunited with this crew and added a host of other guest stars for 2006s sprawling double album Fast Man Raider Man, which he supported with a string of dates opening for Foo Fighters.