2. Last Splash (1993)
3. Title TK (2002)
4. Mountain Battles (2008)
Pod
Released May 28, 1990, Length 30:35, Label 4AD/ Elektra
1.Glorious 3:23
2.Doe 2:06
3.Happiness Is a Warm Gun 2:46
4.Oh! 2:27
5.Hellbound 2:21
6.When I Was a Painter 3:24
7.Fortunately Gone 1:44
8.Iris 3:29
9.Opened 2:28
10.Only in 3's 1:56
11.Lime House 1:45
12.Metal Man 2:46
Pod is the debut album by the American alternative rock band The Breeders, released on the independent record label 4AD in May 1990. Engineered by Steve Albini, Pod was recorded at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Steve Albini has stated that it is the one album on which he felt he got both the best sound for a band, and the best performance from a band. It has been credited by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain as being one of the most influential albums of his life. According to Cobain, "it’s an epic that will never let you forget your ex-girlfriend."
Background
Following Kim Deal's critically acclaimed work in the Pixies, she wanted to write songs, something she rarely got to do in the Pixies. As a result Deal put The Breeders together. The band signed to the Pixies' label and released Pod in 1990. Since Pod and the Pixies break-up, the band has released three more albums, including the minor commercial hit, 1993's Last Splash.
The Breeders wanted to re-record the demo tape for a general release. 4AD gave the band a $11,000 budget and recruited Steve Albini, who had worked with Deal on the Pixies' 1988 album Surfer Rosa, to record in Edinburgh, Scotland for two weeks in December 1989.
Pod's sound has been seen by critics as an amalgam of the Pixies' and the Throwing Muses' music; a combination of elliptical punk, angular pop, shattered tempos and screeching dynamics. The album features a wide range of musical styles; from the poppy "Fortunately Gone" to the hard rock of "Hellbound".
Release and reception
Pod was released on May 28, 1990 by 4AD in the UK. (In the USA, it was originally released on 4AD/Rough Trade, and then in 1992 by 4AD/Elektra Records.) Although the album did not chart in the U.S., it was a minor hit in the UK, peaking at #22 on the UK Albums Chart.
The album did, nevertheless, receive much acclaim from mainstream critics; The New York Times' Karen Schoemer wrote: "The angular melodies, shattered tempos and screeching dynamics recall elements of each of the women's full-time bands, but Pod has a smart, innovative edge all its own." Heather Phares of Allmusic hailed the album as "a vibrantly creative debut," and praised its "creative songwriting, immediate production...and clever arrangements." Phares compared Pod favorably to the Pixies' Bossanova and the Throwing Muses' Hunkpapa; Deal and Donelly's respective bands' releases at that time.Rolling Stone magazine, in their profile of The Breeders, called the album "hazy and creepily erotic...[Pod was] just what college radio had been waiting for."
The praise, however, was not unequivocal; The Village Voice's Robert Christgau derided the album, calling it an "art project", implying that The Breeders didn't "[sound] like a band." In his book The Rough Guide to Rock, Peter Buckley downplays comparisons with the Pixies, suggesting the album is "far too plodding for that." In The A to X of Alternative Music, Steve Taylor says, "Deal's songs [on Pod] are not of the same quality as her Pixies work."
In a 1992 interview with Melody Maker, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain named Pod as one of the records that influenced his life: "It’s an epic that will never let you forget your ex-girlfriend." Subsequently, in August 1993, after the release of their second album Last Splash, the Breeders were invited to open for Nirvana at several venues in Europe. In July 1995, in their tenth anniversary issue,Alternative Press ranked Pod number 39 of the "Top 99 of '85-'95", a list of the best albums released during the magazine's years in print. In July 2007, in a chat forum interview, Pod's engineer Steve Albini revealed that he considered the album to be amongst his best works.
In 2003, Pitchfork Media listed the album at #81 on their list of The Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.
Last Splash
Released August 30, 1993, Length 39:38, Label 4AD/ Elektra
1.New Year 1:56
2.Cannonball 3:33
3.Invisible Man 2:48
4.No Aloha 2:07
5.Roi 4:11
6.Do You Love Me Now? 3:01
7.Flipside 1:59
8.I Just Wanna Get Along 1:44
9.Mad Lucas 4:36
10.Divine Hammer 2:41
11.S.O.S. 1:31
12.Hag 2:55
13.Saints 2:32
14.Drivin' on 9 3:22
15.Roi (Reprise) 0:42
Last Splash is the second album by indie rock band The Breeders, released August 1993. Originally formed as a side project for Pixies bassist Kim Deal, The Breeders quickly became her primary recording outlet.
Last Splash peaked at #33 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart. By June, 1994, the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA for shipment in excess of one million units.
The title of the album is taken from a lyric from its lead single, "Cannonball". The video for "Cannonball" was directed by Spike Jonze and Kim Gordon, while the video for "Divine Hammer" was directed by the same two and Richard Kern.
The song "Cannonball" has been used in many movie trailers, including South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Dude, Where's My Car?.
A looped guitar sample of "S.O.S." was used by the English electronic music band The Prodigy in their 1996 hit single "Firestarter". A sample from "I Just Wanna Get Along" was used in another one track by The Prodigy called "World's on Fire" (Invaders Must Die album).
In 2003, Pitchfork Media listed the album at #64 on their list of The Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.
Title TK
Released May 20, 2002, Length 37:55, Label 4AD
1.Little Fury 3:30
2.London Song 3:39
3.Off You 4:56
4.The She 4:01
5.Too Alive 2:46
6.Son of Three 2:09
7.Put on a Side 2:59
8.Full on Idle 2:37
9.Sinister Foxx 4:16
10.Forced to Drive 3:04
11.T and T 1:57
12.Huffer 2:09
Title TK is the third album from the American alternative rock band The Breeders. The album was released on May 20, 2002 by 4AD in the United Kingdom and distributed by Elektra records in the United States. Title TK was engineered by Steve Albini, who also engineered The Breeders' debut album Pod. The name of the album refers to placeholder text used in publishing.
Title TK peaked at #130 in the US and #51 in the UK. The band now contained just one of the original members, Kim Deal. All but two of the songs were solely written by Kim Deal; the exceptions were written by the Deal twins. The song "Full On Idle" was originally recorded by The Amps on the album Pacer and the song "Forced to Drive" was originally released on the Climbing the Sun 7" record from 1997.
Mountain Battles
Released April 7, 2008, Length 36:42, Label 4AD
1.Overglazed 2:15
2.Bang On 2:03
3.Night of Joy 3:26
4.We're Gonna Rise 3:53
5.German Studies 2:16
6.Spark 2:39
7.Istanbul 2:58
8.Walk It Off 2:46
9.Regalame Esta Noche 2:52
10.Here No More 2:39
11.No Way 2:33
12.It's the Love 2:28
13.Mountain Battles 3:54
14.German Demonstration 1:36 (iTunes bonus track)
Mountain Battles is the fourth album from the American alternative rock band The Breeders. The album was released on April 7, 2008 by 4AD in the United Kingdom and April 8, 2008 in the United States.
Kim and Kelley Deal can be seen writing and recording an early demo for "Walk it Off" in the Pixies reunion documentary loudQUIETloud. In December 2007, Pitchfork Media reported the first details about the album and its release, as well as a track listing. The album was gradually recorded in a number of different locales by engineers including Steve Albini, Erika Larson, Manny Nieto and Ben Mumphrey.
A song from the album, "We're Gonna Rise", was briefly available to listen to on the band's MySpace profile. It was then replaced with another song, "Bang On". Eventually, all of the songs from the album were made available on Myspace.
Mountain Battles entered the UK Album Chart at 46.
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