Customer Reviews

Blow Up

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Television had a brief three year run that left a legacy of one of the most brillant debut albums in rock history ("Marquee Moon") an adequate follow up ("Adventure") a brillant 1975 45 only "Little Johnny Jewel" and for those of us who saw them live memories of a great live act. This album "The blow-up" has been floating around since 1979 in at least four diffent forms. While this album is one of the better documents of a Television concert it has always sufferred from a poor mix and fair to poor sound. Having said that this verson should be considered strongly for purchase by any serious Televison fan who does not own the prior versions or for guitar freaks.

My original interest in this album stems form the fact that I saw the final show at The Bottom Line of Televisions' farewell 1978 tour. Suffice it to say it was the greatest live show I have ever seen. Therefore I have always searched with limited success for a great document of this tour. The original version was a 1979 bootleg on Arrow records which contains half of the current CD. The next three versons an ROIR tape and two CD's have all been the same and sound the same. In fact all three mislabel the opening cut "The BLow-Up" when in fact it is a cover of The Thirteenth Floor Elevators' "Fire Engine".

Now to this version. It contains 13 songs recorded as best I can tell from at least differnt 1978 concerts with "all tracks selected by Tom Verlaine". Disk two has far better sound which is lucky because it opens with the absolute highlight of the package and most Television concerts an amazing 15 minutes of "little Jonny Jewel" which is not on either of the two Television Cds. The two guitar breaks should convince most that Verlaine is a world class guitarist. Other highlights include a cover of "Satisfaction" which contrary to the Amazon review is not ordinary. Listen carefuly to the first solo which is Lloyd. Live he would do un-worldly things with his guitar strings on this the final encore. Other highlights from the first poorer sounding disk include a first rate cover of "Knockin on Heavens Door" and a fine version of "Aint that Nothin' form "Adventure". Note to all. Do not give up when you hear the sound on the opening cut. It gets better as the CD goes on.

Someday Electra will correctly re-master the first two cd's and perhaps even mix and clean up this live album. Maybe even collect an anthology of "LJJ",the early Neon Boys 45, the Eno produced demo tapes, the two cd,s and the many unrelleased tracks including "Double Exposure". Until then this CD "The blow up" as imperfect as it is, is all we have to document one of the most original and exciting live bands ever.

This is simply one of the greatest recorded live performances I've ever heard and I spend a good deal of my life listening to live music in person and on CD.

The downer is that the sound quality is pretty poor in spots, but does get better on some tracks. Consequently, listening to this on headphones definitely beats listening to it in your car. In short, the sound quality will annoy you at times, but if you listen carefully, I believe you'll find it well worth it.

On "The Blow-Up" you hear a band that is literally fearless. It's a bit like watching four incredibly gifted artists sprint back and forth on a tightrope. Not only is the collective performance incredible, but Verlaine's material ranks with the finest in rock history. Yes, the guitars are awesome, but the rhythm section of Fred Smith and Billy Ficca is equally incredible.

Buy Marquee Moon first (everyone should own a copy of that), but get this too to hear what Television were capable of live.

If you can find a copy, I'd also highly recommend Television - Live At The Old Waldorf: San Francisco, 6/29/78. This disc is a much shorter show, but it was professionally recorded and the sound quality is top notch. The performance is excellent, but perhaps not quite as incendiary as on "The Blow-Up."

Sadly, Rhino Handmade only issued 5,000 copies of "Live At the Old Waldorf," so you'll have to do some hunting on Ebay, etc. However, if you love great rock and roll, it's worth the trouble and expense.

If you havent heard Television and want to learn the origins of todays and tomorrows rock, than buy this record. Everyone seems to only mention Tom Verlaines work, but its the virtuosity of the guitar interplay that occurs between Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine (2 geniuses of the guitar) that make this band extraordinary (and Tom Verlains haunting vocals).

I am amazed by their last studio effort in '92 which almost surpasses Marquee Moon and Adventure. I saw them live in '92 at Roseland in NYC and was amazed how fresh and new this band still sounded. No other band compares. Kudo's to Bono for mentioning Television and Patti Smith as their main influences during this years rock and roll hall of fame. I wish other bands would admit their ideas were borrowed if not stolen from these legendary bands and composers.

Catch them while you can and buy their albums!

The first Television album is all tension and restraint -- beautiful guitars slashing at each other over Verlaine's wavery voice and a thumping rhythm section. "Marquee Moon" is the sound of a world class garage band, and one of the great guitar bands of all rock music playing majestic music, nearly losing control at each curve, but catching themselves before they fell apart.

This album strays at every opportunity. It's loud and indulgent. The playing is sometimes ridiculously sloppy, but when the band gets it right, as with the 15 minutes of "Little Johnny Jewel," it's as breathtaking as anything on "Marquee Moon."

I still prefer the studio versions of every song on this album to the live ones, but this is the perfect companion to "Marquee Moon." Even though the album was recorded after "Marquee Moon" was released, it works well as a backdrop for that album. Compared to the insane experimentation here, the solo on the studio version of "Marquee Moon" sounds tame and structured. The full-blown feakout of "Friction" is compressed into a tight single in the studio.

Which isn't to say the album doesn't stand on its own. As a double live album with low quality sound, it doesn't have much going for it in principle, but the guitars are fantastic. Very raw, very loud, and a lot of fun. Any fan of rock music owes it to themselves to buy "Marquee Moon" first (THAT'S the essential album), but this works well for those of us who can't get enough of a good thing.

The whole show must have sounded great live, but on this cd it reaches greatness only in parts. However,it is worth owning just for those transcendental moments alone. If you've already heard Television's two studio albums, and love the sound of an electric guitar, the 14+ minute version of Little Johnny Jewel will astound you. I didn't think it was humanly possible to do what I've heard here with a mere guitar or two. Since the original studio version of LJJ is very hard to find, and this is the best live version of the song available, well, need I say more? The other amazing moment on this 2-cd set is Television's version of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." This is the most exciting cover of that song I've ever heard, partly because Television make it sound as their own composition. The other songs are good to hear if you're a real fan, but most of them are marred by a poor recording quality. Coincedently, the two songs mentioned above, besides being superior performances, are also clearer in recording quality also, and are alone worth getting the 2-cd set. (Hint: try E-bay)

What a find! I've always _liked_ Television, but the studio records left me just a wee bit cold. This burns a hole in your spakers. Not just for previous fans. Art-rockers will no doubt like the studio stuff better, but rock-rockers will likely appreciate this more. I'm a bit of a tech-geek and I hate badly engineered records, but I find this eminently listenable. The sound is not necessarily full, but its reasonably crisp. It is a live reocrding after all, and sounds like it. But this should not keep anyone away. Yes, the shorter, quiter, more 'composed' songs like Venus do work better in the album versions. But most of the material here benefits from the looser, more energetic playing. One could say its more passionate, but that doesn't begin to describe it. These guys are playing like their lives are at stake. Even if disc one was a total waste, which it isn't, disc two would be worth more than the price of admission even WITHOUT 'Little Johnny Jewel", and that particular track is priceless. I think this is simply one of the great rock and documents ever, right up there with The Who Live at Leeds.

"Blow UP" an apt title for the exlosiveness of this live document. Around for Years as a "boot" (arrow) then cassette only (roir) Many different COVER PHOTOS same content. And what CONTENT !!! Many songs do "*sound better* on the LP/CDs" (Marque Moon, Adventure) BUT thats not the point.Point is Verlaine and Co. Played "looser" with "risk" and experimentation as a live unit. Recorded after two Brilliant (and polished) studio offerings this is Television RAW. Hell, I would pay the asking price simply for the 16- min live version of TV's First single "Little Johnny Jewell". Verlaine as madcap freak guitar genious !!! Think of the great solos Hendrix - Watchtower, Quine - betrayal, Fripp- "babys on fire"... and on... Then play "little Johnny Jewell" The atonalisms of Thelonious Monk, The Modal Phrasings, of latter day Coltrane, the quirkiness of Quine, Sharrok, and Ulmer..and so much more. As a Musician for 30+ years I still revisit the cathardic, anrgy, "in the zone", eyes rolled back beauty of Verlaine's solo's for wonderment and inspiration. Think of this...Thats ust track four disc two ! My God. While in my opinion the REST of "Blow - UP" falls short of "L.J.J." Ya gotta say "how the hell could it NOT?" The Rest of the (Discs (2)) songs are not "the cake that holds the icing" not by a long shot. Marquee Moon, Satisfaction, Heavens Door, Ai'nt that nothin', serve as further Havens for Verlaines Ugly-beauty-Guitar-angst. While Prove It, Foxhole, See No Evil, etc. showcase the BAND and thier intricate but "free-Loose" interplay. If you love guitar this is the record for you. i WOULD FURTHER tell how essential this CD is BUT ...writing this has me in a fit to PLAY the CD...

Okay, so the sound is raunchy. Not raunchy like the Stooges, trying to make a buck, or punks or ranters, wanting to get banned from the airwaves that they were never going to be on anyway. But raunchy like that last bootleg lp you bought just before the last needle on your stereo gave up the ghost and you decided to switch forever to 8-track. The first half dozen or so cuts, all recorded live in performance and all recorded to at least near-perfection on other CDs, sound distorted--okay, not beyond recognition, but if you put a seashell next to your ear and then stuck your head under water, would that still count as being able to hear the ocean? Nothing is in sync, the vocals, the drums, the guitars, and Verlaine's voice, which never matched the quality of his lyrics, which in turn seldom came close to the power of the music itself, is reminiscent of that cat in a hat on a hot tin roof. But by the time their cover of Knockin' on Heaven's Door--a remarkable effort, considering the lyrics are thrown away--comes around, they've calmed down enough so that they actually start making sense. Disc 2 brings us up to a fourteen minute version of Little Johnny Jewel that would be enough to knock your socks off, if it wasn't for an equally long Marquee Moon that knocks your socks off with your feet still in them. The eight minute version on the recording of the same name is--maybe--the most sublime piece of music to come out of the seventies. This longer, live version puts all the meat back onto the bones of my memories of nightclubbing days. By the time the band deconstructs Satisfaction to the point where you'll never--ever--want to listen to the original anymore, you should be a little rattled, a little rocked, and--if you've had your CD player up loud the way God and Tom Verlaine intended--a little deafer and happier as well.

Yes, it's historically important. But does it (this collection of recordings) hold up on its own as a valid musical experience?

Well, many of the tunes are inferior to the LP versions. BUT - the 15-minute "Little Johnnie Jewel" - WHOA! It's Television at their finest, and goes well beyond the original song. A massive groove and a massive performance. The versions of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Satisfaction" are suitably sloppy, and worth hearing also.

So, Television fans need a copy of this.

I've always heard that Television was an amazing live act that did a lot of improvisation. It's nice to be able to hear a bit of what they sounded like live since I've only heard the studio albums and never saw them. This CD gives a bit of an impression of what they must have been like live. Sometimes they seem spot on, sometimes seem to be struggling to meet the (enthusiastic) audience's expectations. Robert Christgau, in his Record Guide, expressed surprise and joy that a great live band managed to make good studio albums, and actually surpass their live act. For people who only know the studio albums, the live stuff is a bit of a comedown, but still worth hearing for fans. The sound quality is audible and fairly clean, but sounds like it was recorded with one mike in the middle of the stage.