As someone else here said, the best dozen tracks on here would have made a brilliant album, but there's such a sameness about the rest that finding them is quite an effort, and if you're a long time fan it's hard not to feel just a bit disillusioned.

As on Honeycomb, a couple of these songs stand somewhere near his best stuff - Elijah is brilliant and passionate, In the Time of my Ruin is perky and pretty rocking - and if there were more like this I could probably learn to accept that the Frank Black who made Solid Gold, All My Ghosts, and Czar is gone, that he'll never make another record as exciting and consistent as Teenager of the Year. The more world-weary Frank of Selkie Bride, I Burn Today, This Old Heartache and Seven Days is still a brilliant and unique artist.

But too often on Fastman Raiderman I'm having to give Frank's songs and his vocals the benefit of the doubt. You have to listen so hard for that edge, the humour, the personality that's always made his records stand apart. For me, over two CDs, this is just too colourless, and though it KILLS me to say it, if I didn't love so much of his earlier output I'm not sure if I'd listen to much of this twice.

You still need to buy this record, but keep TOTY handy for some light relief when it all gets too much.

While others pine away for the Pixies, I really miss the Catholics (the four-piece lineup of McCaffrey on bass, Boutier on drums, Workman (later Gilbert) on lead and Black. The first Catholics album is one of my favorite rock records ever and I was fortunate enough to have seen Frank Black and the Catholics a number of times from 1998 - 2001 (including the best show that I have ever seen - July, 1999 at the Lucky Dog in Worcester, Mass.). There is nothing on "Fast Man, Raider Man" that even begins to approach "Solid Gold" or "I Gotta Move" from the first Catholics disc. I really do not mind that Black has moved on to different styles of music. I just cannot rectify that this is the same songwriter that penned the earlier songs and performs in such a bland fashion. Even when Black was off (as on a few cuts of "Pistolero") he was still an innovative rocker. The leftover cuts that fill "Oddballs" are all more interesting than the `roots-Americana' sounds that Black seems to have adopted at present. There is an awful lot of music like this out there right now, and Black's take on it is not all that unique. Unfortunately, Black has been heading in this direction since the turn of the century. "Dog in the Sand" is certainly superior to "Fast Man, Raider Man," but this was the beginning of the current slide. "Devil's Workshop," "Black Letter Days," and "Show Me Your Tears" are all but forgotten already. I was thrilled to see the reunited Pixies twice on their recent tour and am very happy for them, but Black should be aiming higher than a tired version of Kris Kristofferson mixed with Bobby Bare.

It's no wonder he looks like he's hiding on the cover. I've stuck w/ Frank throughout his entire post-Pixies career, suffering the occasional growing pains and relishing in his melodic flashes of brilliance. But I'm afraid I'm finally walking the plank off the good ship Francis. It's not even the genre that's turning me off--I have no problem w/ Americana. What's bugging me is the utter lack of anything original here, and if it's one thing we could always rely on Frank for, it was originality. This is just two discs of complete tedium, where our cherubic butterball does nothing but go through the motions, supported by an absurd number of studio session legends. I should have noticed the storm clouds on the horizon w/ the release of Honeycomb, but what redeemed that record is that if I were to concentrate right now I could probably hum 3 or 4 of the songs; w/ Fast Man, no matter how hard I try, recalling any melodies is a near fruitless endeavor. C'mon lunchbox, reunite the Catholics and get back to rocking--puhleeze.

Part of me wishes that Frank Black had condensed this 2 disc album into 1 really great album, but it's still, on the whole, a really great CD. You'll fall in love with these songs.

I am a bit obsessive about Frank Black [ever since his Larry Norman cover version] but honest about the vairable quality of some of his efforts. Yet, this double album does rate among the best of his work. It sounds good, it grows on you - even if you come from Pittsburgh. It is not Pixies. It is different. It is great and intelligent music.