Customer Reviews

Blow Your Face Out

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Blow Your Face Out" is in a league with only a handful of other live albums. Alongside The Allman Brothers' "At the Filmore East" and Cheap Trick's "At Budokan". All three of the records "Get it." Not a bad track in the bunch. Every song on "BYFO" is better than its original studio version.
Recorded in Boston and Detroit back in 1975, J. Geils was on, and I mean on. From the intro to Musta Got Lost to the pumped up version of Lookin' For A Love. Geils was having a ball on stage and it comes through loud and clear on this recording. Highly recomended!

The J. Geils Band is a cross between the sound of The Blues Brothers and George Thorogood & The Destroyers. There's J. Geils's guitars, Danny Klein's bass, Seth Justman's keyboards, Stephen Jo Bladd's percussion, Magic Dick's harps, and Peter Wolf's vocals. Speaking of Peter Wolf, he was a former DJ of the manic variety whos late-night raps found their way into his stage routine. Peter Wolf was a classic rapper, between songs, long before rap went mainstream. Woofuh Goofuh with the green teeth and all you Whammer Jammers out there. A J. Geils Band live show gave new meaning to Don't Stop Until You Drop!

Track 1, Southside Shuffle, is an intimate little number with a Wilson Pickett & Eddie Floyd hometown record feel to it.

Track 2, Back To Get Ya, is an R&B groove influenced by the sound of The Ohio Players. It's funky!

Track 3, Shoot Your Shot, was originally recorded by Jr. Walker & The All Stars in 1967.

Track 4, Musta Got Lost, was originally from Geils 1974 album Nightmares. It is preceded by a classic Peter Wolf Woofuh Goofuh rap.

Track 5, Where Did Our Love Go, is the classic Supremes (Diana Ross) #1 hit single from 1964.

Track 6, Truck Drivin' Man, has been recorded by dozens of country music artists. Peter Wolf was, besides a big blues and R&B fan, a big country music fan.

Track 7, Loveitis, is a straight-ahead rocker. Tonsillitis, bursitis, loveitis. Makes sense to me.

Tracks 8 & 9, Looking For Love was a Bobby Womack Top 10 R&B hit for The Valentinos that starts off as a slow intro before Geils blasts into (Ain't Nothin' But A) Houseparty.

Track 10, So Sharp, was a 1967 song from Dyke & The Blazers. When you need some juice to get loose, you listen to Dyke & Blazers, recommends Peter Wolf.

Track 11, Detroit Breakdown, is the classic J. Geils party song.

Track 12, Chimes, is sort of a mood song allowing some instrumental stretching for the guys.

Track 13, Sno-Cone, is a blues great Albert Collins jungle rhythm instrumental that Geils used to open their shows with back in the early days. It set the tone and let the audience know what was coming.

Track 14, Wait, is a lyrically silly little song influenced by Mose Allsion the jazz pianist.

Track 15, Raise Your Hand, is an Eddie Knock On Wood Floyd song that represents sort of a roots thing for the band.

Track 16, Start All Over, was originally written after this lady, that Peter was very close to, died in a tragic auto accident while the band was on the road. The lyrics changed as time went on, but the chorus was about trying to deal with the end of something and the beginning of something new.

Track 17, Give It To Me, was a reggae style song influenced by Bob Marley. It was a big hit until it got banned from the radio. They said the lyrics were too suggestive. That's hard to believe, because a few weeks later, Chuck Berry's "My Ding-A-Ling" came out and didn't get banned. In fact, it went to #1. It might have had something to do with the fact that, at the time, The J. Geils Band were the underdogs who were kicking and scratching and crawling their way to the top.

The J. Geils Band - BLOW YOUR FACE OUT . . .

. . . MADE LOUD TO PLAY LOUD!

Before there was "Centerfold" and MTV, there was a band from the East Coast that would have given James Brown a run for his money. I was always told that in concert was the only way to experience J.Geils, and this CD totally proves it. From the opening with Peter Wolf screamin "Gimme the key", until the "Stay"-era Bowieish funk stomp closing of "Give It To Me", these guys are on FIRE! This band was a force to be reckoned with. This is good-time party music that was probably at home in every frat house in the 70s, and still sounds great today. Just check out the last song, "Give It To Me", and see if I'm wrong. Organ grinder Seth Justman shines brightly on this set. You won't be disappointed if you like high-energy R&B.

Am I the only person who sees the incredible irony that, sadly, dogged the J. Geils Band?

Though they had a few modest hits over the years (like "Give it to Me", which is given a fiery workout on this disc), the band spent most of its career laboring in relative obscurity. That eventually changed, thanks to the more pop-oriented sound they adopted with "Love Stinks", "Angel in the Centerfold" and "Freeze Frame".

How then can nonsense like the Blues Brothers be explained? With the same formula the Geils band perfected years earlier - a devotion to classic rhythm and blues - those characters became media icons. In a better world the J. Geils Band would have gotten there first.

"Blow Your Face Out" is one of those live documents that shows just how good a band can be when, in front of a wild audience, they fire on all cylinders and deliver the goods. Kicking off with "Southside Shuffle", and running through a generous set list of fine originals and reverent covers, the J. Geils Band takes no prisoners on this collection.

J. Geils finally got the brass ring (albeit but with much fluffier material), but this disc showcases a band that could shake it without breaking it.

Recorded live in Detroit, Michigan at the Cobo Hall, and at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, "Blow Your Face Out" was the J. Geils Band's second live offering. It follows the success of 1972's "Full House" and it was released at a time when the band had reached a high level of popularity among fans for its incredible, fully- energetic live performances.

This album contains 17 songs and back when it was released on vinyl (remember records?), it was a two- record set. The songs on this album are mostly fun, funky, good times rock and roll with rhythm and blues influences on many songs. The R&B is strongest on songs like "Where did our Love Go" (Cover of the old Supremes hit single), "So Sharp", and others. But the most memorable songs on the album are "Musta Got Lost", a song known for its introductory speech by lead singer Peter Wolf; "Houseparty", and all- out rocker that explodes from start to finish; and "Give it to Me", a funky tune with an R&B groove.

This album does expereince an occasional low, and this fact prevents me from rating it higher. I don't care too much for the single "Truck Drivin' Man", with its country roots. "Sno- Cone" and "Back to get Ya" are also forgettable. They are average songs at best and they should have been left off the album.

Overall, though, "Blow Your Face Out" delivers as a live CD. The music is mostly fun and energetic. It may not have the all- out, in your face, shake- your- body- every- which- way feeling that made "Full House" so enjoyable, but it's still better than your average live CD and it makes a great addition to any music collection. It's a must for any die- hard J. Geils Band fan!

This is the second of three live albums the J. GEILS BAND put out. Each one they seem to go all out. BLOW YOUR FACE OUT is by far the best! It's a great cd to listen to when your cleaning the house. Or making love with a beautyfull woman. If you love to dance. you hade better,because this cd was made loud to be played loud. You will not be able to stop. When the J. Geils Band is in concert. Go!Go!Go! It will turn into the best party you ever seen. This cd makes a great x-mas gift to for Mom and Dad. If they look like they have been in a rut lately.(midlife crisis) Just watch the gleam in there eyes as they start shaken their butts,and heading straight for the bedroom. You think i'm kidding? try it out and you'll give this prize from history.1976(the same year bob seager's "live bullet"and lynard skynard's "one from the road" came out).FIVE STARS It was a very good year. THANK YOU!

At their mid-seventies peak these guys were known as the poor man's Rolling Stones and for good reason. First, they played straight ahead rhythym and blues based Rock and Roll with fire, passion, and authority. Second, frontman and showman extrordinaire Peter Wolf could have shown Jagger a few moves. This album showcases two shows - in Boston and Detroit - and most of the band's great songs. The liner notes will tell you that the band saw itself as being at their peak and it's Mt. Everest. They're tighter than the Stones have ever been (on their live recordings anyway) and Wolf' s "Wooba Gooba" monologue sequing into "Musta Got Lost" should earn him a forefather's award from the rap music industry. Peak 70's Rock and Roll.

i got it at used record shop. before that, i'd only heard the 'freeze frame' era j geils. 'Where did our love go' blows away both the supremes and soft cell's (possibly the baddest live rendition of the tune anywhere). 'lookin for a love' sounds different than the studio version i heard later but there isn't a bad tune on here. these guys rocked out similar to the stones et al.

I saw the band perform at the Worcester Centrum on Jan. 2, 1983. To this day the best concert I've ever seen.

They started out with their more current pop-hits like Centerfold. After the Mayor came out and gave them the keys to the city, the Mighty J. Geils Band played the good stuff (this album and Full House) deep into the night.

I don't think my rear-end touched the seat once during the entire concert. I dare you to try sitting still while listening to songs like `Back to Get Ya.'

As great as The J. Geils Band could be on any studio recording their live albums (and any live performance) could blow away their great work in the studio.

"Blow Your Face Out" (a comment that Peter Wolf makes during the live concert here and on their previous one)catches the band in their prime. Yes, they had bigger hits later (and recorded some terrific albums) but THIS is the best live album they ever made and one of their finest as well.

More than double the length of "Full House" (their third and second best live album)"Blow Your Face Out" contains key album tracks from throughout the band's early career (it was their eighth album). What's nice about "Blow Your Face Out" is that it compliments the other two live albums as there are only a few tracks that show up on all three albums.

The remastering by Bill Inglot and Ken Perry for the 1993 reissue has a number of good points including the use of the original mastertapes for this version. Inglot's mastering style is a bit on the bright side for some folks so just be aware of that when you pick this up. I don't have a problem with it. If you appreciate his other work, you'll appreciate this as well.

The booklet has extensive liner notes with info on each track.

Highly recommended.