Search - J Geils :: Flashback - Best of

Barbara F. from SIOUX FALLS, SD
Reviewed on 5/4/2010...

I love this CD! If you love J. Geils Band & love the 80's music then you're going to love this CD!

"Flash" in the Pan

Brian D. Rubendall | Oakton, VA | 12/22/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The J. Geils Band labored in obscurity for many years before they broke through to the big time in the early 80s with the album "Freeze Frame" and the massive hit "Centerfold." For about a year or so they were unaviodable on the radio. They followed up their success with a moderately successful live album. Then lead singer Peter Wolf left the "fold" and the band faded quickly back into obscurity. "Flashback" collects the highlights from just before the band's breakthrough to the top until Wolf's departure. The highlights include the three songs from "Freeze Frame" including both the title track and "Flamethrower." Also excellent is the 1980 classic "Love Stinks" the sound of which anticipates "Centerfold." "I Do" and the lame cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances" are from the live album. Overall, this is a middling collection of material with a few highlights that sounds as dated today as anything from the early 1960s."

CHANGE STINKS

Jukebox Dave | RECORD TOWN, USA | 10/12/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Fans of this Beantown sextet's rafter-raisin', harp-saturated boogie n' blues might well gasp "WHA' HAPPEN???" upon spinning this second career compilation of new-wavey, MTV-ready hits. Like the Doobies, Dr. Hook, and Boston's other homeboys Aerosmith, J. Geils pulled a musical 180 midway through their careers. Upside: increased airplay, platinum sales...Downside: lousy music, decreased creibility. Sure, "Love Stinks" is a fun li'l ditty (Who can't relate to THAT sentiment?), and "Centerfold" was accompanied by a sexy video in its day, but this J. Geils Band is a Howlin' Wolf cry away from "Whammer Jammer" and "First I Look at the Purse". At least "I Do" is a live version of the same song on the superior first anthology, "Best of". 'Twasn't long after till Peter Wolf (a charismatic front man if ever lived one) split from J. Geils over creative differences and recorded..........the equally synthetic "Lights Out"! Sorry, but "Flashback" ain't nothin' but a dull party, folks."