Bloodshot

by Tim SendraBloodshot is the J. Geils Band's third studio album and their first Top Ten (and last until 1982's smash Freeze Frame). The band sounds tighter, meaner, and funkier than on their first two releases, frontman Peter Wolf is looser and wilder than ever, and J. Geils positively rips things up on guitar. This newfound power could be down to the band blanketing the country and honing their craft in sweaty bars and concert halls. The positive response to their raw and alive live album Full House may have helped too. Whatever the cause, Bloodshot fairly jumps through the speakers on flat-out rockers like their cover of obscure soul stomper "(Ain't Nothin But A) Houseparty," the lean and nasty "Back to Get Ya" (which features a classic Wolf aside, "Scramble my eggs, honey!"), and concert fave "Southside Shuffle." The band also shows their range with hokey but fun blues shuffle "Struttin' with My Baby," bopping jump blues ("Hold Your Loving"), and very convincing heartbroken balladry ("Start All Over Again"). The band also delivers their first self-penned classic, the reggae-influenced "Give It to Me," which starts off as a tight and tough reggae-influenced pop song and spreads out into a funky jam that equals anything similar the Stones ever attempted. Along with it being a hit, Bloodshot is the first Geils album to stake a claim on the major leagues of rock & roll.