Customer Reviews

Monkey Island

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a big J Geils fan, but I never went for the slick productions. This CD is very satifying, without falling into that trap. I had Monkey Island on tape years ago. Not all of it has aged well, it has the indellible stamp of the '70's guitar. The shining stars are the strong vocals and music on "Surrender!", the rollicking remakes of "I'm not Rough" and "I Do", and the very poignant "Wreckage", which was the track I remembered most. The ballads are well turned out and the title track is interesting, and if "I Do" doesn't get you dancing, I don't know what will. This album deserved a lot more attention than it got. One or two listens, and you will find yourself hooked. It's a mixed bag of styles, but it does not disappoint.

I hesitate calling this one their best. That's probably because their first three (and especially the incendiary "Live - Full House") remain so damned explosive after all these years. But "Monkey Island" is certainly their most ambitious and probably their most provocative, in terms of their songwriting and the spread of their blues and soul aspirations. Heard on another level, "Monkey Island" did for the J. Geils Band what the Rolling Stones merely hoped most of their 1970s output would do for them - kick them onto another plane altogether. The difference was, a) the Geils band could outplay the 1970s Rolling Stones (and damn near anyone else, at their best) with their hands amputated; and, b) Geils and company never put themselves in position to become solipsistic caricatures of themselves, not even when they slicked up and popped out in the early 1980s. But the group's 1980s hitmaking was merely fun. "Monkey Island" is downright transcendent, even on the J. Geils Band's terms.

I loved this album when it first came out and I still love it today. This is the kind of album I wish someone (anyone!) would produce today. This is an album with an attitude -- it's funky, it's groovy, it's tough, it's fun, it's sad and it's even sweet at times. There is truly something for everyone on this album -- from the hot, hot, hot Surrender featuring Cissy Houston to the unbelievable harmonica solo from Magic Dick and Seth Justman's stellar keyboards on the hauntingly jazzy and beautiful Monkey Island. Wreckage, the final track, closes the album on such as achingly satisfying note that you'll want to play the whole thing over again. Justman and Wolf really hit this one on the mark with a combination of rock and roll, blues, and jazz that shows off their great dimensionality, highlights their musical roots and gives a glimpse of what's to come on their later albums. I HIGHLY recommend this album!

I've been a fan of J.Geils and a musician (harmonica, guitar, tenor sax) for 30 years. This album is a must have for one reason. Listen carefully to the song "I'm not Rough". Magic Dick creates a tone approaching Louis Armstrong's trumpet. The harmonica sounds more like a trumpet than a marine band. This sound has never been duplicated on record (that I'm aware of) and is beyond even the very best players' abilities as far as tone goes. I'm including players like Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, Mark Hummel, Rick Estrin, etc. They're all excellent in their own right, but not any of them can match this tone on this one song. It's simply incredible. The rest of the album is ok, but for me, anybody who can make a marine band sound like Louis Armstrong is worth listening to and appreciating.

I don't get the similarities to the Rolling Stones. Okay, so both the J. Geils Band and the Stones used to have some funky numbers in the mid 70's and had a tendency to jam away a lot. I get that. But upon hearing either band, you can instantly tell who's who. I wish the J. Geils Band was considered in the same league as the Stones on classic rock radio, because they truly deserve it. Anyway, the title song "Monkey Island" has one of the coolest choruses and funkiest jams you'll ever hear. For that song alone, the album is worth purchasing. "Surrender" might remind you of the Stones "Hot Stuff". That's a good thing in my book. There's only one J. Geils Band, and here's a great introduction to their forgotten classic style.

Most modern music can be categorized into specific eras, such as the 50s or 90s, but some music stands out as timeless as it always sounds fresh and new. Two tracks on this cd, the title track 'Monkey Island' with its strange narrative and changing rhythms, and 'Surrender' with its funky latin beat, fall into this second category, making this cd a worthwhile addition to a good eclectic collection of modern music

Never mind "Centerfold," "Give It To Me," "One Last Kiss" or any of their radio-made hits. THIS is the album the J. Geils Band should be remembered for. It rocks up a storm and has songwriting smarts behind the blasting. "Somebody" is a tale of a doublecross-gone-awry that blasts away like a shotgun. "Monkey Island" is in the same vein, but sounds more like Springsteen circa "Jungleland." And the bands' remakes of "I Do" and Louie Armstrong's "I'm Not Rough" are their bar-room best. Peter Wolf never sounded so good and the clean production on this album finally does right by Magic Dick, rock's best harpist (sorry, John Popper!). This is a classic, classic album and if you don't get it, you are missing out BIG TIME!

Simply, this is the best studio representation of the J. Geils Band. The failure of this album can only be explained by the hainoeus disco drenched era within which it was released, I will leave it up to the other reviewers to dissect the individual tracks. Suffice it to say that there isn't a weak cut on the album. This is where their songwriting chops truly came together and the choices in cover versions were superb.

The rockers tear it up and the band seldom did ballads with this type of precision and skill. Some may quibble about some of the later albums being superior but I think that this is definately their most consistent studio album. The only Geils album that I would give five stars.

a lot of fine folks love this album, critic and non-critic alike, so don't let me drive you away, but i've tried getting into this album more than a few times over the years, and i made another attempt yesterday, and it's just not working for me. i am not one who automatically dislikes slick polished production on an album, but with this group i just don't feel it works. i love the raw power of their 1st album, and ditto the live set "full house," this turn toward the mainstream forsakes those blues-rocker days in favor of funk, ballads, shuffles, and arena rock. i want to love it. i just don't. the title track "monkey island," is fine, nothing much else here strikes me so. very professional sounding, very uninspiring. mediocre material from a band that did much better elsewhere. sorry.

While some may quibble that Monkey Island is excessively sprawling and shizoid, I would contend this album shows J Geils at the height of their powers, literally a band that could take on any genre or song idea and come up aces.

The disc includes funky soul (Surrender), doo-wop (I Do), good-natured honky-tonk piano stompers (I'm Not Rough), shiny R & B Pop (So Good and You're the Only One), a big cinematic show-stopper ballad (I'm Falling), a hard rocker (Somebody), a moody piece with an almost psychedelic rock-out coda (Wreckage), and the sprawling multi-faceted title track which incorporates everything from jazzy licks, pseudo-calypso, acoustic strumming, an almost cinematic reach and big chorus drama.

The arrangements are ambitious and so well thought out that the total impact of the album, if you listen to it carefully all the way through, is nothing short of stunning. For example, the "Big Finish" horn and string arrangement that kicks in at the end of I'm Falling and the unexpected guitar work-out coda at the end of Wreckage are two of my favorite sneak-attack sucker punches in all of recorded music. The overall effect of this disc is that you end up thinking that at this point in time, there was nothing that this band could not do. The only flaw, and its a small one, is that the coda of Wreckage is too short! That perfect last step should have lasted just a little bit longer before the fade out.....

In my view, they make nary a misstep - they reach for the stars and pull it all off. Magic.