Spontaneous Combustion [Live]

Son Seals | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 15, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Alligator Records
• ASIN: B000000A1I
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,073 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine, tough blues and soul from a legendary performer, June 4, 2005

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spontaneous Combustion (Audio CD)

Recorded at Buddy Guy's "Legends" club in 1996, this album finds Frank "Son" Seals on top form playing his gritty, soul-flavoured blues. His guitar tone is hard and nasty as always, as is his raw, guttural voice, and "Spontaneous Combustion" features tough live performances of some of his best songs.

Son Seals is backed by a four-piece band and a small horn ensemble...the latter is generally a nice addition, except for a couple of songs where they should have just clapped their hands or something. And keyboardist Sidney James Wingfield goes back and forth between the organ and the piano, and while I would have preferred him to remain at the piano and stay away from the somewhat artificial-sounding organ, these occational minor glitches are far from enough to spoil the fun here. Seals himself sound in tip-top shape, laying down potent versions of "Don't Pick Me For Your Fool", "Every Goodbye Ain't Gone", the classic "Don't Lie To Me", and a couple of other career highlights, including a funky and newly horn-augumented take on the merciless "Your Love Is Like A Cancer" from Seals' eponymous 1973 debut LP.

On Seals' original "I Need My Baby Back" and Jimmy Reed's "The Sun Is Shining", Wingfield contributes a smoking piano part, and Seals' lead guitar bites and cuts all the way through. Casual listeners may feel that a bit more variation in arrangements and approach would have been nice, but it's hard to fault what is here. This is genuine, rough, tough Chicago blues, and fans of Son Seals will not be disappointed.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Born under a Bad Axe..., February 23, 2000

By 

Bete Noire (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spontaneous Combustion (Audio CD)

Even if you don't believe in the reality of spontaneous combustion,this album will make you a believer.You can't go wrong with song titles like'Your Love is Like a Cancer'...The album also features a number of excellent previously unreleased songs,all done by Seals and his live band in their unique manner...blues like molten lava.A historic performance.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like your blues rough and tumble, this is your cd, October 23, 1998

By 

Dave Iac ([e-mail] (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spontaneous Combustion (Audio CD)

If you have never heard a Son Seals cd, this is the one to hear. He rumbles through 60+ minutes of "Bad Axe" blues. Seals sets the ultimate mood in blues with "Mother Blues" and jams all the way through the finale, "Don't Lie to Me". With an eclectic backing band, including an impressive horn section, this is a must hear for all Music fans not just blues fans.