Doolittle, then Surfer Rosa.
Odd that Bossanova’s been mentioned so few times, though. I mean, it does have the Best Pixies Song Ever, Velouria.
Sorry, Velouria is 2nd. Wave of Mutilation is officially the Best Pixies Song Ever.
There is a Pixies’ compilation out that is outstanding, though I would agree with Doolittle first.
Also agree with the Throwing Muses and Breeders recommendation. Last Splash is one of my favorite albums of all time.
Then, on to Belly!
And hey, where is Debaser? Why hasn’t he checked in?
There are very few bands that in my mind truly matter, as in the world would be different if they hadn’t existed. And they are one of them. I’ll add that I think the Clash and the Replacements are two other bands that also had that inescapable influence on modern music.
The Pixies are all good, though they do ride the edge of my tolerance for being screamed at sometimes. When they’re on, though, which is most of the time, they are awesome.
I started with Trompe le Monde and so I love it and count it as a favorite. I think it’s got a great feel to it.
Sorry to hijack this thread, but I disagree. By far their best album was their first, * Throwing Muses *, now found on the supremo excellent compilation * In a Doghouse *. The only albums worth anything as far as I know are the ones with Tanya Donnelly–after she left, the Kristin Hersh solo albums are better than the post-Tanya Throwing Muses put-out. * The Real Ramona * really is great, but sometimes (just * sometimes *) can get a tad boring or feel overproduced, which never happened on the first few albums, or, indeed, any of the material on * In a Doghouse *.
** Anyway, back to the Pixies! ** 
I loved the first Throwing Muses album but it was all downhill from there. The highest compliment I can pay to any of the others was that The Real Ramona was mostly listenable.
Re: Throwing Muses - Agreed that first was far and away the best. I don’t think the rest were all junk, as most of them had a decent song or two. But they are pretty uneven IMHO.
I also may be the only person in existence who thinks the Breeders’ title TK pretty much sucks - The critics seem to have mostly loved it. But I do like Pod and Last Splash A LOT.
- Tamerlane
Sorry to be the wet-blanket here, but I’ve never liked the Pixies. My wife really likes them, though; she dragged me to a concert at First Avenue in Minneapolis which they were headlining.
It was an interesting evening; four bands were to open for them and then they were to come out and play a long set in celebration of a new album (or something like that). Anyway, it was years ago and all I can remember from the evening was how boring the Pixies were and how great one of the little opening bands was … some obscure little band called, “Blind Melon”
I love the Pixies…I saw them twice,once was horrible(1989 they opened for Love & Rockets and the Cure at Giants Stadium<theee worst place to see bands like that),once was incredible…(1989 at City Gardens in Trenton NJ…there were about 50 people there and they played for 2 hours…)
[nitpick]That version has been available since at least 1989. I got a copy of it back then, only to have it swiped by a girlfriend (along with a Warren Zevon disc that I listened to once before it was the victim of the heist). I got a new copy years later but had to live through the cheap-ass college years off the tape I made of it. Bitch.[/nitpick]
Anyhow, starting off with Doolittle or the afore-mentioned disc(s) is probably the best place to start, although it’s downhill from there. The less Kim Deal was involved in the music, the more it became just another college-rock band sound, even if it was better than most of the rest.
City Gardens!!! I miss City Gardens! Almost every show I saw as a kid was there. I haven’t been there since 1992 I think but I here it is a dance club now 
Anywho as far as The Pixies I would agree that Surfer Rosa is my favorite. Both the song writing and production of the album make me excited about The Pixies everytime I listen to it. Any Pixies is good though. In roder I would say the order of best to not as good is:
- Surfer Rosa
- Come on Pilgrim
- Doolittle
- Bossanova
- Trompe Le Monde
I saw them in Nashville on their last tour. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen!
To the OP: basically, you can’t go wrong with any Pixies album.
FTR: I liked Trompe le Monde better than Bossa Nova.
Is that the regular “Wave” or the UK Surf version that was on the soundtrack of “Pump Up The Volume”?
Definitely godlike.
My ranking:
- Doolittle
- Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim
(or maybe 2 then 1… both classic albums) - Trompe le Monde
- Bossanova
best song? pretty much all of them but especially Monkey’s Gone to Heaven, Gigantic, Debaser, U-Mass (it’s educational!), Isla de Encanta and of course:
“This is a song about a superhero…”
Wow, I’ve had Trompe for years and years and never actually expanded my collection of The Pixies. I do love Trompe but this thread makes me wonder why I never expanded my collection… hmm.
I’ve never seen such consistent recommendations here before. 10 out of 10 Helens agree: The Pixies do rock. 
I recently saw a very good Pixies tribute band called Wave of Mutilation… now I don’t usually go in for tribute acts, but these people were really good. Since I can’t see the actual Pixies any more, it is nice to be able to cough up $5 and see the music performed well in some small smokey bar. Here’s a review.
There you go, Snooooopy, reading my mind. The Pump Up the Volume soundtrack is one of my favorites - introduced me to the Pixies, Bad Brains, Henry Rollins, Sonic Youth… thank goodness for my crush on Christian Slater.
But I actually like the regular Wave better.
The version on the “Pump up the Volume” soundtrack is much slower and in my opinion, the inferior version to Doolittle’s.
Superdrag also covers that song on the '99 tribute to the Pixies called “Where is my Mind: A Tribute to the Pixies”. That has artists like Weezer, Local H, Reel Big Fish and more doing 'em up.
While I agree they are indeed a good band, I have found some of the music isn’t standing up too well lately. I popped in a couple of discs a while back and it just didn’t hit me anymore. Kinda sounded like kid stuff. Eh, maybe I’m just gettin old, but it didn’t move like it used to.
Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.
Doolittle first IMHO.
Incidentally I got a cd single with 3 extra songs on it that rocked and were like a hidden treasure- unfortunately my blinding addiction to meth skewed my priorities and hocked it for cash- can’t remember the names of the songs only maybe a couple of lines ( no pun intended)