Frostbite

Albert Collins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Alligator Records
• ASIN: B0000009XM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,383 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #43 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Texas Blues
  • #46 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Electric Blues Guitar

Editorial Reviews

From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD

The Telecaster Big Freeze continues in 1980. Those piercing, clipped high notes, wet-finger-in-light-socket riffs, and lucent lines are in abundance, lancing an assortment of originals and little-known R&B tunes. Collins's vocals, meantime, reflect the wit and seriousness of his guitar playing. Unfortunately he has to contend with a bumptious horn section. -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine follow-up to "Ice Pickin'", April 3, 2004

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frostbite (Audio CD)

"Frostbite" may not be as well known as Albert Collins' commercial zenith, the 1978 album "Ice Pickin'", but it is nevertheless a fine effort.

Featuring a handful of excellent musicians, "Frostbite" includes some of Collins' best songs, like the supremely funky "If You Love Me Like You Say" and the wonderful piano-driven "The Highway Is Like A Woman", and he is backed by a five-man horn section which plays soulful riffs and fills without ever overwhelming Collins himself.
The excellent drummer Casey Jones is perhaps mixed a little bit too far into the background on a couple of tracks, but the sound and the mixing is generally very good, and the interplay between drummer Jones and bassist Johnny Gayden is top-notch.

As you probably know, the late Albert Collins played with a capo high up on the neck of his Fender Telecaster, delivering his muscular solos with no overdrive and very little sustain, and the resulting clear, "brittle" notes gave him his nickname "the Iceman".
He plays a number of excellent solos here, particularly on "Give Me My Blues" and "Blue Monday Hangover", and his vocals are strong and confident.

Not all of these songs are strong enough to make "Frostbite" a five-star album, but most of what is here is very good or even great, making this a fine addition to anyone's Albert Collins-collection.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brick (but not goldbricking), February 29, 2000

By 

blender - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frostbite (Audio CD)

The instrumental tunes really kick, and the lyrics Collins comes up with are so cold, you can feel the Hawk comin' across Lake Michigan...

Get this one from Alligator records - it's definitely worth the cost of admission, folks. You'll not find a better Telecaster player than Albert Collins. (I'd heard that his volume knob on his amp went past 10, to 11, but I didn't believe it 'til I saw him live in California - I couldn't verify that it wasn't simply painted on, but it sure did sound like he was blowing that speaker past its limits to the coldest sound I'd ever heard.)

May your music live on through future generations of blues aficionados, Albert.

Peace out.