Making the major label leap after Surfer Rosa blew minds around the world could have been dicey in the late 80s pre-Nevermind climate of alt rock success, but Doolittle became just as remarkable a landmark, with the Pixies finding a new balance of weird catchiness and plenty of off-on noise. Kim Deal’s vocals add excellent contrast to Black Francis’s on the singles “Here Comes Your Man” and “Monkey Gone To Heaven,” while the opening roar of “Debaser,” their famed celebration of Luis Buñuel’s surrealist landmark Un Chien Andalou, was an all time great.

– Ned Raggett