#178
July 1 1984
Peter Wolf
Lights Out
3.75 out of 5
Highlights:
Gloomy Sunday
Baby Please Don’t Let Me Go
Crazy
I don’t know what it is about this record. Maybe it’s the sum of the parts thing. Without the rest of the J. Geils Band I feel like Wolf is caught somewhere between blues rocker and 80s Big Sound. I know that “Lights Out” was the big hit but I always felt that was just a big dumb song in search of a movie soundtrack. And that’s all I ever heard of this album which is no longer available anywhere except YouTube.
For me, it isn’t until the later part of the record, starting at “Gloomy Sunday” and all the way through “Crazy” that everything gels. The fauxTown sound finally comes through and I can almost give in to Pete. But it ultimately doesn’t feel organic. I can’t help but wonder what all of this might have sounded if Seth Justman and the boys had gotten their hands on it. Especially if someone was there to help Peter on the sublimely weird “Mars Needs Women”, which without the rest of the band is just soooo atrocious instead of being hilarious. Alas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W7V_DVC8lw
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