Freeze-Frame | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 26, 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1980–1981 | |||
Studio | Long View Farm, North Brookfield, Massachusetts | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:55 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Producer | Seth Justman | |||
The J. Geils Band chronology | ||||
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Singles from Freeze-Frame | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Robert Christgau | B+ [3] |
Rolling Stone | [4] |
Rock 82 | (favorable) [5] |
Freeze-Frame is the tenth studio album by American rock band the J. Geils Band, and the last one to feature original vocalist Peter Wolf. The album was released on October 26, 1981, by EMI Records. It reached number one on the United States Billboard 200 album chart in February 1982, and remained at the top for four weeks. The album featured the hit singles " Centerfold" (No. 1 US; No. 3 UK) and " Freeze Frame" (No. 4 US). " Angel in Blue" also reached the US Top 40.
Keyboardist Seth Justman wrote or co-wrote all of the album as well as receiving credit as arranger and producer of the material.
A 2013 Spin article called "Flamethrower" the band's funkiest song and said: "With three avant-gardish anomalies that flirted with harmolodic punk-jazz funk ("Rage in the Cage," "Insane, Insane Again," and "River Blindness") balancing out three slick Top 10 pop hits, 1981's Freeze Frame holds the rare if not impossible distinction of being simultaneously both the J. Geils Band's most blatantly pop and mostly blatantly experimental album." [6]
All songs written by Seth Justman except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | " Freeze-Frame" | Justman, Peter Wolf | 3:58 |
2. | "Rage in the Cage" | Justman, Wolf | 4:56 |
3. | " Centerfold" | 3:36 | |
4. | "Do You Remember When" | Justman, Wolf | 4:45 |
5. | "Insane, Insane Again" | 4:43 | |
Total length: | 21:58 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
6. | " Flamethrower" | 4:58 | |
7. | "River Blindness" | 6:06 | |
8. | " Angel in Blue" | 4:51 | |
9. | "Piss on the Wall" | Justman, Wolf | 3:02 |
Total length: | 18:57 |
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
---|---|---|---|
1982 | "Angel in Blue" | Billboard Hot 100 [20] | 40
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1982 | "Centerfold"/"Flamethrower" | Club Play Singles [21] | 12
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1982 | "Centerfold" | Mainstream Rock Tracks [22] | 1
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1982 | "Centerfold" | Billboard Hot 100 [20] | 1
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1982 | "Flamethrower"/"Freeze Frame" | Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks [23] | 25
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1982 | "Flamethrower" | Mainstream Rock Tracks [22] | 30
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1982 | "Freeze-Frame" | Mainstream Rock Tracks [22] | 8
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1982 | "Freeze-Frame" | Billboard Hot 100 [20] | 4
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Organization | Level | Date |
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RIAA – USA | Platinum [24] | January 11, 1982 |
But on Freeze Frame, the band latched onto the twitchy, bleepy aesthetic of new-wave rockers like the Cars...