The MG Album Club - #10) Freeze-Frame (The J. Geils Band)

[lpfreak1170]

The J. Geils Band - Freeze-Frame (1981)


This was a really difficult year for me. It was this year that I really started getting away from my parents' music collection and finding my own music. So many great albums to choose from...some that I was listening to at the time...others I would discover in future years. Is F-F the best of the year? No. "Well, then why did you choose this one?" I chose it because this was the first album that I bought with my own money. I can fairly vividly remember waiting in line with it at Wal-Mart, then getting home and dropping the needle. I remember a couple of the songs being a little "out there" for my 11-year old brain...if only I had any idea what music I would discover in my 20s and later...lolol.

Anyway, this is a sentimental value pick for me. I do really like the album, though. Hope everyone can find at least 1 tune on it to enjoy!!

 

[axolotl]

Hmm.... an 11-y/o lpfreak listening to and contemplating "Centerfold."

The mind boggles, and then, having boggled, moves on.

 

[lpfreak1170]

Hmm.... an 11-y/o lpfreak listening to and contemplating "Centerfold."

The mind boggles, and then, having boggled, moves on.

Laughing nice and loud, good sir!

 

[Nickyboy]

The title track and "Centerfold" where in heavy rotation on the radio back in the day. Not sure if I have ever heard anything else off that album. I guess we will find out!

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Fun pick! Not a great album but there are definitely some numbers beside the two big hits worth hearing. Like Freak though, this album is sentimental for me as well. I know I've shared this before but when I went out to buy my own three albums for an 8th grade graduation party, this was one of them (Police's Ghost In the Machine and The Stones Tattoo You were the other two). Prior to that, I only had albums that were given to me by family and really wasn't into music that much. Buying my own albums (chosen from songs that I had been exposed to on MTV in its inaugural year) started me on my way

Haven't heard in its entirety for several years but do like to break out from time to time. Looking forward to a listen

 

[Ojai Sam]

Spotify link:

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

As I mentioned, like LPFreak, this album has a sentimental place for me too. Is it a great album, no far from it. Few younger music listeners today appreciate what a live powerhouse the J.Geils Band was during the 1970s. Their albums while not always consistent showed a tight blues-rock band who displayed through lead singer Peter Wolf a winking sense-of-humor.
But as they became more popular in the early 80s (and had an MTV presence) with Love Stinks (I loved the title track video) then with this album, they lost some of that core blues sound and developed a funky pop sound. The band is still tight and the humor is still there, but, while I appreciate that, I miss their peak 70s sound.
But while that's frustrating (as is the fact that Wolf would soon leave the band and they'd record only one more subpar album), this is still a fun, energetic album to listen to...primarily a pop album that might not appeal to hard core fans, but taken as it it, still a pretty good pop album

You'd have to be living under a rock to know the two main singles "Centerfold" and "Freeze Frame" both of which I still enjoy. "Flamethrower" is pretty funky and "Do You Remember When" is a nice ballad. Other songs like "Insane, Insane Again" are mediocre and "Piss on the Wall" is just a dumb album closer. I gotta say I forgot all about "River Blindness" which I really, really enjoyed. But the beautiful, melancholy "Angel in Blue" (which actually was the first single released and hit #40) still gets me years later.

I'm gonna rate it - an up and down but damn fine album. Sure many might still be sick of "Centerfold" - I still find it fun (and remember MTV VJ Martha Quinn dancing on a desk in the video) but there as LP Freak states are definitely some other numbers to relish here. Thanks, Freak, for bringing back 8th grade memories, an awkward age for sure but the beginnings of my lifetime of music

And, yes, "test strip proof sheet love" IS hard to find

 

[lpfreak1170]

As I mentioned, like LPFreak, this album has a sentimental place for me too. Is it a great album, no far from it. Few younger music listeners today appreciate what a live powerhouse the J.Geils Band was during the 1970s. Their albums while not always consistent showed a tight blues-rock band who displayed through lead singer Peter Wolf a winking sense-of-humor.
But as they became more popular in the early 80s (and had an MTV presence) with Love Stinks (I loved the title track video) then with this album, they lost some of that core blues sound and developed a funky pop sound. The band is still tight and the humor is still there, but, while I appreciate that, I miss their peak 70s sound.
But while that's frustrating (as is the fact that Wolf would soon leave the band and they'd record only one more subpar album), this is still a fun, energetic album to listen to...primarily a pop album that might not appeal to hard core fans, but taken as it it, still a pretty good pop album

You'd have to be living under a rock to know the two main singles "Centerfold" and "Freeze Frame" both of which I still enjoy. "Flamethrower" is pretty funky and "Do You Remember When" is a nice ballad. Other songs like "Insane, Insane Again" are mediocre and "Piss on the Wall" is just a dumb album closer. I gotta say I forgot all about "River Blindness" which I really, really enjoyed. But the beautiful, melancholy "Angel in Blue" (which actually was the first single released and hit #40) still gets me years later.

I'm gonna rate it - an up and down but damn fine album. Sure many might still be sick of "Centerfold" - I still find it fun (and remember MTV VJ Martha Quinn dancing on a desk in the video) but there as LP Freak states are definitely some other numbers to relish here. Thanks, Freak, for bringing back 8th grade memories, an awkward age for sure but the beginnings of my lifetime of music

And, yes, "test strip proof sheet love" IS hard to find

 

[Unsomnambulist]

I have childhood memories of this band too, but they pertain to the previous year's album, Love Stinks, which was one of the first albums I ever bought. Later that year (1980) I purchased a copy of The Wall, and promptly lost all interest in the J. Geils Band (and the Doobie Brothers as well).

Freeze-Frame is a fun album and it blows my mind that it is better produced and has better sound quality than 80% of the music I've heard that has come out in the last 15 years.

I don't think I've heard these songs in album order before, so I thank @lpfreak1170 for choosing it.

I give it .

 

[Ojai Sam]

I have Rhino's great 2 CD comp of JGB but last.fm tells me this is the first time I've heard this album. It really is a lot of fun. Not many groups survive long enough to release a dozen albums, so the boys can certainly be forgiven for taking their sound out of the roadhouse and into the arena. Not every track is strong but they all keep the party moving right along.

Seems like our guilty pleasures generally date back to when we were teenagers. MTV came along too late to shape my taste the way Shindig and Hullabaloo did but my faves Paul Revere & The Raiders had much the same career arc as Geils from greasy blues to mainstream success to jumping the shark.

Thanks for a great pick, freak. It's a rare opportunity to flash back with you and Da Zeeb.

 

[Nickyboy]

I liked it, too. Although I am still sick and tired of the two top hits, it was refreshing to hear the other tracks which never made it to radio. Not the greatest album ever made, but an excellent example of the era in which it was released. I give it three stars.

 

[axolotl]

I liked it, too. Although I am still sick and tired of the two top hits, it was refreshing to hear the other tracks which never made it to radio. Not the greatest album ever made, but an excellent example of the era in which it was released. I give it three stars.

So, I decided to piss on the wall and give this an opportunity.

I'd say my experience parallels Nick's and Rick's most closely. I like it. It was good to hear the album in its entirety.

The instrumentation is lush, and it is well-recorded. Are those real horns, or is that a Sears poncho? It is nothing groundbreaking, but it is an ideal testament to the times.

Did anybody ever do a punk cover of "Rage in the Cage?" That might have been a missed opportunity.

I give it . Well, 3.1416. That's it; I give it pie.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

I don't think I've ever listened to the album end to end. I know I've heard Rage In The Cage. Did it hit the radio, just with less success than the other two?

I've never listened to Freeze Frame on headphones. You can hear a lot going on - unusual stuff in both the rhythm section and guitar riffs. And of course, there's the signature harmonica work. And this pretty much pervades the album. The band is clearly working hard to innovate on this album. I liked River Blindness. Piss On The Wall had some appeal even though -- unlike the rest of the album -- it harkened back to bar band music. I'm really tired of the two singles. I respect the band's abilities and their effort to change to mainstream/arena music, but the formula just isn't one that's made for me.

As an aside, Insane, Insane Again reminded me of Devo and River Blindness reminded me of Talking Heads. I wonder if those groups were really influences or if it's just 80's music being 80's music.