Customer Reviews

Blow By Blow

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been a professional guitarist and music teacher for over two and a half decades. I listen to guitar music day in and day out, ranging in style from Luis de Milan (1536) to Leo Brouwer and Alan Holdsworth. It isn't difficult to observe that almost all music that has survived the test of time has had something valid to say: some of it expresses well the particular fashion/taste of the period; some successfully pushes the existing musical boundaries; and some is just uniquely personal to its creator.

As a musician Jeff Beck belongs mostly within the last of the preceding three groups. Examination of his output suggests it would be hard to argue that he created any new genre, but whenever he experimented in a new field he always sounded unmistakably true to his own unique musical identity. I also believe that a creative performing musician can receive no greater compliment.

The hallmark of Beck's style is melodic fearlessness. This boldness sets him apart musically from perhaps 'superior' technical and 'harmonically informed' peers, especially those of the so-called 'improvisational' based jazz scene. Beck's playing is instantly recognisable and is almost devoid of cliche. Jeff Beck only ever sounds like Jeff Beck. On the occassion that he ever employs a tired phrase of (say) Chuck Berry's, it is in such a manner or in such a place as to turn it on its head or throw new light upon it.

To those wondering whether to add this CD to their collection I recommend that you bear in mind Duke Ellington's words - "There are only two kinds of music: good music and bad music", because this CD belongs unquestionably to the first category. All instrumental, it contains a variety of styles - including ballad, reggae, funk, and rock - read the other reviews for the details. And finally, please don't ever pretend to have any inkling of what Jeff Beck is about, or what he is capable of, without being familiar with this particular album.

The first album someone interested in hearing Jeff Beck's musical genious should get (yes, pass up any greatest hits or best of selections). It's funk, fusion, jazz - with healthy doses of rock and blues. The great thing about the band on this album is that they're all very good at their respective instruments. Of course we all know that Beck is going to be great, but it's surprising when fellow band members can equal the equivalent of his talent on their own instruments. This is, in my opinion, Beck's best album - and in saying that I mean one that showcases his versatility and intelligent playing. All these songs sound like jams, but they don't have the rawness or 'rough areas' of jams - wow.

Few people have used the guitar as voice so effectively as Jeff Beck. And few recordings in any genre have so beautifully melded guitar with instrumentation. Although Blow By Blow has weak and dated moments, its standout tracks are so startling that I keep referring back to it as a kind of touch-point...to my own past, to an eternal expectation of how really transcendant great music can be. Three tracks have not dated, will never date: "Because We've Ended as Lovers", "Scatterbrain" and "Diamond Dust". Each has a distinctive, difficult, complicated mood. Lovers weeps. Scatterbrain has a manic, brilliant energy and wonderful interplay with a lush, erotic backing string arrangement. But my favorite Jeff Beck song will always be Diamond Dust. Its mood is brooding, edgy, and yet elegiac. The opening bars introduce an uneasy melody against a counterpoint of piano. From there the melody twists around, punctuated by electric piano and the faint, brilliantly arranged strings. It builds and fades, sometimes bright, sometimes aching, and when it ends, you feel as if you need to think a while, maybe take a walk. It's one of the most complicated and beautiful songs in modern music and it amazes and hurts me that some people will die never having heard it.

Jeff Beck's fusion forays aren't for everyone. But there is no denying his musicianship, nor his intimate virtuosity with mood and subtle coloring. This recording has been on my shelves for twenty-five years and, God willing, it will be there for another fifty.

I bought this recently on the strength of reviews here having never heard it before, though I have had Beck Ola and Truth since they came out as LPs, and have personally seen the Jeff Beck band in performance with lead singer Rod Stewart. I was not disappointed. This is a truly wonderful and totally original album of instrumental jazz rock fusion that really succeeds in carrying it off.

I have been a bit disappointed in some guitar albums I have listened to recently. For example, Santana's Caravanserai has way too much aimless noodling, displaying the weakness of the rock star who doesn't quite have whatever it is that you need to do jazz, and Roy Rogers' Slideways shows you what happens when you have an instrumentalist who is not really a composer.

You could say the same about Beck, but the difference here, I think, is that this album was produced by Sir George Martin (the Beatles producer) and seems to be superbly balanced and arranged. There are even some strings at some point, but it is all very tasteful.

Anyway, I'm not going to comment track by track, and all I'm going to say is that this is a superb album.

This CD blew me away 25 years ago, and still does today. Despite the number of 'guitar heroes' (whom all of which I admire very much) out there, 'Blow by Blow' was THE one to get the guitar-rock-fusion thing going.

This CD is FAR from dated - it has hooks, jumps, jams and all sorts of other stuff to put it ahead of the pack. Beck, already a 'classic guitarist', outdid himself on this one. The variety of tones and intensity on all the compositions are awesome. 'Freeway Jam' is a classic, as well as the mellow 'Cause we ended as Lovers' - just these 2 are worth price of admission. 'Scatterbrain' and the other gems on 'Side 1' displays Beck's ability to make his way around a guitar like no guitarist could...

This has to be one in your collection if you are a 'guitar-rock' fan (eg Satriani, Vai). Even if you are not, this CD would appeal to the non 'guitar-rock-music' fanatic...

This is one amazing fusion album that shouldn't go ignored by anyone claiming to appreciate guitar technique. I've heard faster guitarists 'shred' their way through song after song and CD after CD with the same blistering speed but this album puts Beck in a different catagory. One where technique and style take center stage. There isn't a single note on this album that doesn't show Jeff Beck to be an absolute virtuoso with the guitar. Cuz We've Ended as Lovers is so well done you can easily identify the guitar as being two people breaking up complete with all the emotional baggage that goes along with that scene. Easily one of the most overlooked guitar masterpieces of all time.

Now this here album was the turning point in my musical preferences. I grew up listening to delta blues and Chicago style electric blues. First heard Mr Beck on the "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" album by the Yardbirds and was immediately drawn to the wildly ecclectic influences of his playing. Far Eastern themes, loud explosive chords, lightning fast runs up and down the fretboard. He was like nothing I'd ever heard before. Blow by Blow is a landmark album in the history of not just rock but electric guitar in general. Beck reached new heights that would culminate with the follow-up, Wired. Jeff Beck may be the greatest electric guitarist of all time. Buy this album and find out for yourself.

Though BLOW BY BLOW had antecedents in the seminal heavy fusion of Coryell, Cobham, Larry Young's Spaceball, etc, for Jeff Beck this was a quantum leap forward in sound, an inspired mix of styles/genres that not only works, but single-handedly made the all-instrumental rock album, heavy on lead guitar, commercially viable. BLOW BY BLOW featured Beck out of his usual guise - noise merchant strangling his Strat - and his artistic restlessness leads him into subtler and more varied hues of playing on such diverse offerings as "You Know What I Mean" (jagged-edge funk), "Scatterbrain" (high-powered fusion) and "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" (permafrost blues), to cite only three. This opened the doors-of-perception of any number of guitar-hero acolytes at the time (quite a few journeys towards the inner mounting flame pitstopped at this album for refueling on the way), as well as cementing Beck firmly in the all-time Guitar Pantheon. People who don't know guitar players from Adam know who Jeff Beck is - at least partially, if not mostly, due to this terrific album. To some of us who bought this on vinyl Way Back When, BLOW BY BLOW's huge sales and high profile are hopeful signs that now and again, even if by accident, the public-at-large actually gets it.

If the public at large understood music such as this, they would refuse to have their intelligence further insulted by most of the drum-machined-copy-and-paste-it-get-rich-quick-excrement on the radio. As a musician myself, I'd give both my arms to write and record a song so endearing as "Diamond Dust" Thank you Mr. Beck for inspiring me to invest time in my guitar playing, throw out my drum machine and samples and make better music!

Jeff Beck's stunning comeback album following the BBA fiasco. This is a true high point in the history of rock guitar, solidifying his position, along with Jimi Hendrix, as the greatest guitarist of the rock era. No vocals, just well thought out songs that showcase Beck's fire, sensitivity, and incredible technique. Production by George Martin! Doesn't get any better than this.