
Rate it!
Avg: 3.5 (17 ratings)
- Date Released: January 30, 1996
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Alternative
- Label: Cooking Vinyl / IODA
-
They Say...
Frank Black has never had a problem with being weird. He practically pioneered mixing bizarre lyrics about science fiction, sex and religion with loud guitars when he led the Pixies to the outer limits of pop music in the '80s. So maybe it's in keeping that The Cult of Ray, his third solo album since the Pixies' implosion in 1993, is his weirdest yet. It's truly a strange record for Black -- it flirts with the ordinary, something he's never had a relationship with before. While there's still flashes of Black's normal eccentricity on songs like "The Marsist," "Men In Black" and "The Creature Crawling," for the most part The Cult of Ray is subdued and stripped-down where previous solo albums like Frank Black and Teenager of the Year sound liberated in their wide-band weirdness. There's three songs about moshing, of all things, on The Cult of Ray: "Mosh, Don't Pass the Guy," "Dance War" and "Kicked in the Taco," all of which have the same tired-sounding chugging punk guitars that lesser artists have made their bread and butter for years. And, oddly enough, there's an honest-to-goodness, straightforward love song called "I Don't Want To Hurt You (Every Single Time)" which sounds watered-down and forced compared to some of the unique and personal love songs he's created over the years with the Pixies and on his own. While The Cult of Ray certainly isn't a disaster of an album, it's certainly a disappointment. Black's die-hard fans might be confused with his new direction, and it's easy to see why: Black himself seems confused with which way to go with this album. More of a progression than a regression, The Cult of Ray begs for some of Black's good old regular freakiness.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 13 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 13 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
13 Total Tracks, 41:08 Total Length
Loading...

![]()
Playlists If you like Frank Black, check out these member playlists
Credits
- Frank Black - Guitar // Frank Black - Guitar // Frank Black - Guitar // Frank Black - Guitar // Frank Black - Vocals // Frank Black - Vocals // Frank Black - Vocals // Frank Black - Vocals // Frank Black - Producer // Frank Black - Producer // Frank Black - Producer // Frank Black - Producer // Frank Black - Main Performer // Frank Black - Main Performer // Frank Black - Main Performer // Frank Black - Main Performer // Jim Champagne - Assistant Engineer // Bob Ludwig - Mastering // Andy MacPherson - Mixing // Nick Vincent - Bass // Nick Vincent - Drums // Lyle Workman - Guitar // Billy Bowers - Assistant Engineer // Spot Boutier - Drums // Greg Fidelman - Assistant Engineer // Eddie Miller - Assistant Engineer // Mike Baumgartner - Assistant Engineer // Matt Yelton - Vocals (Background) // Matt Yelton - Engineer // Scott Boutier - Drums // Ian MacPherson - Assistant Engineer
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.


Post Album to Facebook
