Frank Black Teenager of the Year (30th Anniversary Tour Edition) 45rpm 2LP (Gold Vinyl)

To celebrate Frank Black's landmark solo album, Teenager of the Year, turning 30 comes a special vinyl pressing to accompany a tour of North America plus Paris and London where Frank and original band will be performing the album in its entirety.

Recorded amid a rich songwriting vein, just as the Pixies had been placed on hold, Frank Black's ambitious 22-track album Teenager of the Year came out in May 1994, just one year after his fantastic self-titled solo debut. Recorded with scene legend Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, Pere Ubu, The Residents) and featuring the single "Headache," Teenager of the Year is seen by many as his greatest solo work, subsequently appearing in both Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s poll and the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book.

For its 30th anniversary, Frank Black and original band are heading out in January 2025 on a 14-date tour of North America, Paris and London where they'll be performing Teenager of the Year from start to finish each night. To complement, 4AD are releasing a special vinyl tour edition of the album, with Kevin Vanbergen having expertly remastered the album from its original analogue studio tapes. Sounding as essential as ever, the limited 30th Anniversary Tour Edition has been cut at 45 rpm for optimum playback and is being pressed on double gold vinyl. It also comes in a gatefold sleeve that includes liner notes by both Frank Black and producer Eric Drew Feldman.

Though his later albums took a sparer, simpler approach, Teenager of the Year's ambition and quirkiness begin Black's evolution into a cult artist who makes the music he wants to, regardless of whether or not it's fashionable.

Teenager Of The Year feels like a lost Pixies album in the way Ram feels like a lost Beatles album. It's colossal, it teems with innovation. It's as discombobulating and in many ways as impenetrable as anything the great man has ever done, and all the better for it. Indie Cindy might be a welcome return (well I think it is) but seek this out again or seek it out for the first time – because it might just be the highwater mark.