Customer Reviews

Nightmares...And Other Tales From The Vinyl Jungle

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once upon a time and long before the release of Love Stinks, the J Geils Band released nothin' but pure bar room raucous R&B Rock and Roll. Their first 3 albums, J Geils Band, The Morning After and Blood Shot were and still are the perfect soundtrack for anyone that knows how to hang tough, party hearty and street smart enough to know that rock and roll was never meant to be pretty. The only thing better sounding than the performances on the afore mentioned albums are the performances captured at Detroit's Cinderella Ballroom on the Live Full House LP. Still regarded by many as one of the best live albums in history.

Despite their authentic street approach for reconstructing R&B,Soul and Blues into hard hitting Rock and Roll The J Geils Band never got the recognition they deserved. It might be because the whole time they were signed to Atlantic Records the musical trends of the day ranged from Psychedelia and Hard Rock, to Glam, Progressive and Punk, but who can really say? What ever the reason was J Geils & Company went back to the drawing board and changed things up a little bit on their next record without compromising what they were all about when they first put their band together. That amazing album was called Nightmares and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle.

I say amazing because besides having all the usual R&B, Blues & Soul elements incorporated into their Rock and Roll overdrive the bad boys from beantown tear up this record with creative flourishes of funk on songs like Funky Judge, psychedelia-funk-jungle-rap (yes Rap!) on Nightmares and even a bosa nova style (?) on I'll Be Coming Home. Also on the disc are 2 radio friendly songs, Givin It All Up and I Must Have Got Lost that have some what of a pop flavor without sacrificing their rootsy sound. Included no doubt to entice more commercial listeners into their listening audience. The opening track, Detroit Breakdown is the proverbial J Geils show stopper about partying to the hilt and then some, Magic Dick and his "licking stick" blow it all out on this one as well. Look Me In the Eye displays some nice slide by Mr Geils and some nice flourishes of odd signature smacks by drummer Danny Jo Bladd. Another kicker, Stoop Down # 39 is all about gettin' down in the groove with your lady ( ....stoop, stoop, stoop down baby!) The last song on the album is Gettin' Out and it ends the disc the same way you're supposed to end a party--- with a bang! Peter Wolf sings & screams out a story about busting out of a bad street-life scenario the only way a man that grew up 2-fisted in New York's Hell's Kitchen can. The song includes phenominal solos from J Geils himself, Magic Dick on mouth harp and Seth Justman on keyboards and principal writer (with Wolf) as well as chief arranger.

This is the album that Wolf & Justman really came together on as a song writing team. The arrangements and execution of the songs are top notch and show off how talented the musicians in the Geils band really were. They were still hungry at this point vying for the top gig in the rock and roll hierarchy and you can hear it through out the album as they put all their blood & sweat into each song. But then again the J Geils band always improved with every album they recorded for Atlantic Records. Subsequently the "other" albums they recorded after they left the Atlantic label, Love Stinks and beyond weren't as powerful. For me this is their best studio album, you can't go wrong with this one. Blow your face out, baby!

I liked almost all J. Geils music, but this album was my favorite. A few of my old friends would always ask me to play 'Nightmares' when they got in my GTO to cruise around. Not a lame song on the album.

Forget the reviews that say there's nothing on "Nightmares" except the single "Must Have Got Lost". Sure, it's one of the great lost singles of the '70's but that doesn't mean it's the best song the disc. That honor goes to "Detroit Breakdown" which not only opens this CD but also "Blow Your Face Out" one the band's two five-star live discs. Other highlights include "Stoop Down #39" and the hilarious of "Funky Judge" (come on, how many times have you heard a George Jessel appearance on a rock album?). A solid 4-Star effort from Peter, Seth, Magic Dick and the rest of the boys.

It's a music crime that one of J. Geil's best albums is out-of-print. "Nightmares...And Other Tales from The Vinyl Jungle" happens to be one of the band's finest albums. Of course, it's hard to pin out their best albums because they were remarkably consistent over the years unlike many bands from the 1970's.

Opening with "Detroit Breakdown" and a second muscial wallop in the form of "Givin' It All Up" the hit single here was "Must of Got Lost" which earned the band enough airplay to push this album into the Top 30 back in 1974.

There isn't a weak track on the album with even the joke cover song "Funky Judge" having enough kick and fun it so that it only already adds to a solid slice of bar band rock 'n' roll.

The remaster by George Marino is the only version (aside from the original vinyl) that I've ever heard and sounds extremely good with nice dynamic range. The production of Bill Szymczyk perfectly compliments the no frills music here. As usual every band member shines and the songwriting from the Wolf/Justman team is top notch throughout. Klein's bass is solid and rocking throughout nicely complimenting the hard hitting drum sounds of Bladd and Geils guitar sizzles. It wouldn't be a complete meal without Magic Dick's roving bluesy harmonica wailing and he wails big time here.

Highly recommended.

Other than certain LP's ("Sanctuary" & "Blow Your Face Out" to name a couple), here's one of the best that J. Geils ever made! Briefly, "Nightmares" was considered by many Fans (back in '75), as being the Group's, life saver, because of the let down that many people felt after Geils recorded the "Ladies Invited" LP in late '73. For those that don't know (or remember), it was the previos "Bloodshot" LP (in early '73), that woke-up the entire music world to Geils, with Big Hits like "Give It To Me" & "House Party". While the group's original Boogie, Blues, and Funk sound was clearly established with the making of "Bloodshot", the following LP "Ladies Invited", I believe, was simply misunderstood. And if by chance you've never heard anything prior to "Bloodshot", than "Ladies Invited" could never be considered for it's own greatness. Having said that, Nightmares" (which followed), might be considered a life saver by some, but to this Geils Fan, "Nightmares" was simply another master piece, a (dream come true), and one of the Band's very best - EVER!

"Nightmares" has a touch of everything these amazing Cats have created over the years, with one of the more popular hits "Detroit Breakdown" (which still has me puzzled to this day), how Peter could have ever performed on stage? The other extremely popular tracks here are "Must Have Got Lost" & "Stoop Down", which all have appeared on many of their Greatest Hits Albums. "Nightmares" also has a couple of their party-bashing tracks such as "Funky Judge" and "Nightmares", which follows that trademark of up-beat singles, that most of their LP's contain. But it's the combination of the above, to include the Mood-maker "Gettin' Out" & one of the greatest Love Ballard's ever writen in "I'll be Coming Home" which really puts "Nightmares" at the top of their very best list! If you don't have this Disk - than you have my sympathy!

NIGHTMARES...AND OTHER TALES FROM THE VINYL JUNGLE is yet another great album by the J. Geils Band, returning the band to its roots in the Memphis-Chicago-St. Louis-West Coast-Detroit blues-soul-R&B axis, following a pop excursion with LADIES INVITED. This CD features great original songs written by singer Peter Wolf and keyboardist Seth Justman. The only bad moments here are the stupid title track, which is really just an excuse to do a comic rant, and a cover of "Funky Judge", a song I never really liked in the first place. Nevertheless, this CD is just as good as BLOODSHOT, so get it if you can.

The J. Geils Band is best known for their 80's classic "Centerfold", but before that song and the Freeze Frame album they released a series of excellent albums in the 70's steeped in soul & blues. The best of those releases is Nightmares. Perfectly combining the rock, soul & blues sound, the album is a great listen. The best song on the album is the forgotten "Must've Got Lost". The song has a great sing along chorus and immediately will stick in your head. If all you know about J. Geils is Freeze Frame, then check out their earlier releases and you will not be disappointed. Nightmares is the best place to start.

Growing up a teeneager in the 70's in Massachusetts meant you had Full House and any number of other J. Geils Band albums (I had them all up until Monkey Island). They were almost all great rocking albums and I wore them out into useless disks of vinyl. Some of us hard core J. Geils fans considered Nightmares to be one of their best. Tight and clear, the songs are very original and mark the first time J. Geils broke from their typical style. If it was an experiment, it was a screaming success. This album will not disappoint you.

it's hard to believe that no one else has reviewed this compilation, although it's old, it may be the best of the j. geils band. very tight with good production work. slick guitar solos and all around superb musicianship.