J. Geils Band

Bloodshot is not the J. Geils Band's best album. In fact, J. Geils isn't always the best band. But "Give It To Me" is a great song, and "(Ain't Nothin' But A) House Party" has one of the three finest opening guitar riffs in all of rock music. (The other two are in "Sweet Little Hi-Fi" by Pussy Galore and anything by AC/DC.)

During the last two years, Boston's J. Geils Band has built itself a national reputation as a
tight, energetic, popular and extremely good-humored touring band. But, as so often
happens with great live bands, the recording studio took the edge off the group's chief
virtues: drive, momentum and self-assurance. While The J. Geils Band and The Morning
After, the first two albums, stack up well next to other rock LPs of the last coupl... More >

Never has the mass audience blunted a group's fine points so quickly. Tight arrangements? They boogie endlessly through riffs they were playing three years ago. Low-profile funk? Peter Wolf now shows off every emotional inadequacy of his phony growl. Resourceful material? The borrowed songs are almost as bad as the originals. Humor? Their idea of a funny is to rhyme"shiny" and "heinie." I hope they know where to shine this one. (Grade - C+)