HiRez Poll J. Geils Band - NIGHTMARES...AND OTHER TALES FROM THE VINYL JUNGLE [Blu-Ray Audio]

[quicksrt]

J. Geils was always a stellar kick-out-the-jambs blues/rock/funk band, and this title falls right into that category. Not a lot of panning on the quad, but there's distinct separation of instruments on most of the tracks. It's a great party-down album and just plain fun all the way through. I give it a nine.

My favorite quad mixes have very strong separation L-R & F-B, but feature little to no panning. And I like J Geils Band's Atlantic period very much. So this album in quad has major appeal for me. I'm not ready to rate it yet as I need to listen to it a bit more. I'm glad others are enjoying it because at first many listeners were saying it was a low priority title for them and that they may order all of them except this one. But then here we are with another winner.

 

[timbre4]

Chain: Oppo BDP-93 > Marantz 4140 > 4 Advent Legacy speakers [not my main everyday system but discs like these get me going]

By now some of you know I consume most music in random mode these days for surprise, variety and getting deeper into the collection. I've decided to stop and give a focused listen to one of these each weekend. Paranoid was last weekend, so moving onto Nightmares this morning.

I confess, in 1974-75 I was enthralled with ELP, King Crimson, Genesis, Strawbs, Gentle Giant music. I'd see the J. Geils Band quad and keep browsing. I never owned this back in the day. Listening to it this morning, I would likely not have bought it back then based on what I was mostly listening to at the time. This is no fault of the band or their albums! I didn't appreciate Bob Dylan until I was 50. Today I love all kinds of music with a much more open mind about it.

J. Geils Band was very popular in 1974; there were news items like when Peter Wolf married Faye Dunaway. So I was always aware of them. I did like the vigor and humor of First I Look at the Purse and I could appreciate they made a lot of people happy. I was working in a record store in 1977 when Monkey Island came out and I liked that one too.

Okay, so what about now? I stuck Nightmares in the player and it came on pretty loud due to a previous Paranoid playback! I yanked it down a bit to adjust. The band is a boisterous party album outfit and presented here gloriously making hay with all 4 speakers cooking. The mix is creative with no gimmicks detected; just a nice well engineered room-filling example decidedly making use of the format. Wolf's vocals are in all channels while unique instruments come at you from all sides.

As others noted, Detroit Breakdown is a strong tune to lead off with. It's pretty brash and maybe I'll get used it over time. Must Of Got Lost I already knew from radio but seems kind of tepid for them to slow down and repeat the title phrase so often to make a hit single. The brief Nightmares pastiche track was cool. All the tunes were pretty good - I'll Be Coming Home and Gettin' Out were the winners for me on this album.

Based on my personal tastes, coupled with the flattering presentation, it's a strong 8 for me. No regrets on the purchase.

 

[jefe1]

It's a Detroit Breakdown this Sunday for me.
This is very crankable and I am getting into the songs.
Kind of a Rolling Stones party sound here
Not the kind of music I usually listen to I like Timbre4 list above I was a big Strawbs fan back then too.
It must have been a gas to see this group live back than.
So great fidelity a satisfying quad mix slight burying of vocals in the mix good songs good musicianship.
Very recommended.
Back to Stoop 39 for more listening....

 

[Lord British]

I'll be listening to this after I get through my other backlog of surround titles. I saw them in '99 at good old Pine Knob, and it was one of the most energetic concerts I've ever been to. They even had me dancing on the lawn, and I DON'T dance.

 

[stereoptic]

This is the only title of the 4 recently released Quadios that I had any interest in. Sorry fellas, I'm not into Sabbath, not enough in the Starship album for to shell out the bucks and make space for, and I have the DVD-a for Billion Dollar Babies that doesn't get much play. I was hemming and hawing as well about purchasing this J. Geils as this is one album of theirs that I don't have, but the positive reviews here pushed me over the edge! Looking forward to this one!

 

[Bill Houston]

Nightmares...was the album I was least familiar with out of the Rhino first wave. With my expectations set to "Dutton Vocallion" (kidding, the mix and mastering for DV is mostly excellent. Some of the albums on offer leave a little to be desired but one is used to being disappointed in the world of surround) I waded in.

I knew nothing about the J. Geils band other than one of the members of the Rollins Band joined them after they broke up. Well, I know who J. Geils Band is now and hoooeeey, does this album smoke! Reminds me of a rowdier, red-blooded version of mid-period Rolling Stones or Chicago. After listening to Nightmares I lowered my score for Red Octopus. Sonics, mix and the overall album put the "puss" into Red Octopus and shows them who king-sh*t of f**k mountain is. "Detroit Breakdown" gets down and so does the rest of this album! Buy!

Music: 8
Mix: 8.5
Sonics: 9

 

[ar surround]

I'll say I think we have a real sleeper hit here. In the release thread it seems like J Geils had the least interest (no surprise really, they have some tough competition), but this here is a easy 10/10...

Oh, it's a sleeper alright, Klaus. It's the first of the four Quadios I've played given that I was expecting a ho-hum reaction on my part. Not so by a mile. I really like it, much more that I thought I would. I did use of bit of EQ to boost the bass slightly and lower the treble slightly...during today's listen anyway. As for tomorrow, who knows.

I rated it a 9/10.

 

[quicksrt]

Material - 9
Quad Mix - 10
Sound Quality 7
= 8/10

I find the fidelity is just a tad harsh on the high end, and bass not as liquid as we have heard on say Octopus or Paranoid. I like the instrumental layout / quad channel assignment, where things land is fine, songs are fine, performances are fantastic. But for the fidelity I can only go an 8.5 I can always change my vote if I need to. But for now, an 8

 

[pherbert]

I suppose the standard American English usage would be "I must have gotten lost," but the song and the rest of the album absolutely rock.

I always heard it as "Musta"

 

[Progfiend]

Having no knowledge of this album, I went in blind. Well, what a great quad mix! And the music was very enjoyable, a great blend of funky rock. Kudos to Rhino for knocking this one out of the park! It’s a 10.

Weighing in on the grammatically incorrect song title “Must of Got Lost”, I agree with what pherbert said above - it sounds like he’s singing “Musta got lost”. Now that’s rock ‘n roll!!

 

[jefe1]

The Quadio I was least interested in and group I never listened to much at all.
My time invested in getting to know this album and the songs has been worth it. I have come to like this very much and am happy with the mix.
A strong 9 for me.

 

[Healthcare29]

Like most Uk's I could only name 1 song by JG, this is the most surprising of the 4 & almost certainly only purchased due to the bundle offer, I honestly was expecting one listen & I'm out, well it's got great sound & a really nice album despite all the average reviews I'd read prior, I voted a 9.

 

[stereoptic]

Weighing in on the grammatically incorrect song title “Must of Got Lost”, I agree with what pherbert said above - it sounds like he’s singing “Musta got lost”. Now that’s rock ‘n roll!!

Grammar? Try to decipher Peter Wolf's scatting!

 

[Dynamic Editor]

I was actually worried for a bit in "Stoop Down #39" that my disc was a misprint, given that the entirety of the mix for the start of the song plays out of one speaker.

 

[marpow]

I voted 9.
Very simple, it is just not that much of an iconic album that deserves a 10 from me.
Of course I have heard the radio hit many times. I am surprised that even though I own (5) J. Geils Band albums prior to this my 6th, I never purchased this before.
This new 4.0 Quadio Rhino release sounds stellar, great separation within the 4 channels, plays well loud.
My listen was the rip played through JRiver, USB out to ExaSound DAC and analogue out to pre/pro.
Bass, was only via the large speakers.
As with all of the new Rhino Quadios, the settings if listening via Blu Ray player HDMI with LFE sounds wrong and horrible. The listener needs to find a way to temporarily change settings for these.
The music, well 1974 J. Geils Band as you would expect. I saw them once at Winterland, but too high and don't remember quality of show.
The 2.0, well just a music recording, nothing elite about it.
A good disc to own and support Rhino, that's how I look at it.
Ripped: vey easy with MakeMKV and MMH.
2.0 at 24bit/192Khz DR's are 11's, 12's, 14.
4.0 at 24bit/192Khz DR's are 10, 11's, 12's, 14.

Please keep poll threads pure to your personal listening experience only.

 

[par4ken]

Yes, a definite sleeper! For me the J. Geils Band was "Love Stinks". I ignored the band before that hit and album thus missing out on this. I do have the CD-4 but as I recall it is a more recent (several years) purchase. Being finicky CD-4 I didn't listen to it a lot.

The performance, sound quality and surround are all top notch! They remind me of The Rolling Stones and also of Eric Burdon, so what's not to like!

​

 

[key_wiz]

I was always a J. Geils Band fan but, admittedly, mostly of their later EMI period. I think I only owned two of their Atlantic albums and this wasn’t one of them. Other than “Must Of Got Lost” I’ve never heard this.

But this is definitely the surprise of the Rhino batch. They were always a good time party band and they absolutely rock on this set of tunes. And all Wolf-Sethman originals except for one cover. Solid, fun album. The fidelity is good and the quad mix is excellent throughout.

I’ll be coming back to this one again for sure!

Solid “9”.

 

[scottm18]

Posted this in the main multi-channel Quadio thread,...so I guess that's a resounding yes on audio quality!

Anyone listen to the J Geils quadio yet? I've literally known since 5 minutes ago that all their early albums were produced by Bill Szymczyk of Eagles fame! Hopefully the Quadio sounds a little fuller than the tinny sounding cds...cuz I'm sure with him the original production was top-notch.

 

[Jim.olga]

I have always enjoyed the J.Geils band, but never had a good copy of Nightmares. My 1st few listens I thought the sonics were a bit on the high end and a little thin. I realized I had the LFE engaged, and bypassed it. Wow! The sound balanced out across all 4 channels deepening the base which really made the recording sound so much more rich. I enjoyed Nightmares every bit as much as BDB and Paranoid. I can't comment on Starship since I haven't checked that one out yet.

 

[artwwweb]

Mix: 4/5: Basically lots going on in rears while still leaving enough in fronts. So ought to be an excellent mix. But it's a little difficult to get a perfect front-back balance - rears sometimes drown out the fronts but if you turn them down too much the rears are too quiet. (Might be my fault as I basically sit between my rear speakers, so always have to take care in adjusting the rear levels. But I manage it OK for 95% of releases.)

Sound: 3/5: It's fine, nothing special. Probably due to the desired sound for this kind of music in 1974.

Music: 3/5: "Good time rock"; driving music.

Weighted score: 4*3 + 3*2 + 3*1 = 12+6+3 = 21/30 = 7/10.

I try to split my vote out like this so that a) it helps me to be objective about the mix vs. the music and b) it makes it more obvious to others what has made me decide on the score, which helps them decide how much notice to take of my score.