The Blow-Up

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The Blow-Up
The Blow-Up.jpg
Live album by
Television
Released1982
Recorded1978
Label ROIR [1]
Television chronology
Adventure
(1978)		The Blow-Up
(1982)		 Television
(1992)

The Blow-Up is a live album by the American band Television, released as The Blow Up on cassette in 1982. [2] [3] It was reissued in 1990 and again in 1999. [4] [5] The songs first appeared on a bootleg titled Arrow. [6]

Contents

Production

Recorded at CBGB or My Father's Place [ citation needed ] in 1978, the album was released four years after the band broke up. [7] [8] It contains covers of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Satisfaction". [9] ROIR allegedly acquired the recording from the fan who had bootlegged the band's shows; The Blow-Up's sound quality is typical of a bootlegged recording. [10] [11] [12] "Little Johnny Jewel" had previously only been issued as a single. [13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Robert Christgau B+ [15]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [16]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
St. Petersburg Times B [17]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 9/10 [13]

Robert Christgau, who cowrote the liner notes, stated that, "as with so many ROIR cassettes (and commercial tapes in general), audio makes the difference between a laudable document and living history," and called the version of "Little Johnny Jewel" "definitive." [15] The New York Times praised the "lyrical, incendiary" renditions. [18]

AllMusic wrote that the album "comes awfully close to being an essential document, simply because the band's studio albums didn't always capture the rawness and spontaneity that fueled their on-stage improvisations." [14] In 1990, The Philadelphia Inquirer determined that The Blow-Up "captures the heady intensity of the best guitar band to come out of New York's late-'70s punk/new-wave scene." [19] The Vancouver Sun admired the "breathtaking dual guitar interplay." [20] Spin listed the 1999 reissue as one of the five best of the year, deeming "Little Johnny Jewel" "the height of love between man and E-string." [21]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tom Verlaine, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Blow-Up" 4:00
2."See No Evil" 3:22
3."Prove It" 5:00
4."Elevation" 4:50
5."I Don't Care" 3:04
6."Venus de Milo" 3:31
7."Foxhole" 5:04
8."Ain't That Nothin'" 6:13
9."Knockin' on Heaven's Door" Bob Dylan 7:50
10."Little Johnny Jewel" 14:56
11."Friction" 5:01
12."Marquee Moon" 14:45
13."Satisfaction" Jagger–Richards 7:18

Personnel

Personnel taken from The Blow-Up liner notes. [22]

References

  1. ↑ Hart, Ron (April 19, 1999). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 58, no. 614. p. 29.
  2. ↑ "Television's The Blow-Up". Bomb.
  3. ↑ Thompson, Dave (September 17, 2000). Alternative Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation.
  4. ↑ Kot, Greg (April 26, 1990). "ROIR, aka Reachout International Records Inc., is a cassette-only...". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 14.
  5. ↑ Mathur, Paul (May 1, 1999). "The Blow Up". Melody Maker. Vol. 76, no. 17. p. 36.
  6. ↑ Gale, Ezra (December 16, 1999). "Frank Emilio, Television". Rotations. Miami New Times.
  7. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1129.
  8. ↑ "Television". Trouser Press. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Rhythm & Views (June 10 - June 16, 1999)". Tucson Weekly.
  10. ↑ Bowman, David (April 6, 1999). "Guitar refugees". Salon.
  11. ↑ "12 O'Clock Track: Listen to Television rock out in 1978". Chicago Reader. March 11, 2014.
  12. 1 2 The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 696.
  13. 1 2 Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 398–399.
  14. 1 2 "Television The Blow-Up". AllMusic.
  15. 1 2 "Television". Robert Christgau.
  16. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 83.
  17. ↑ Vivinetto, Gina (July 16, 1999). "Three Punk Bands Live". Weekend. St. Petersburg Times. p. 14.
  18. ↑ Palmer, Robert (November 24, 1982). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. p. C13.
  19. ↑ Milward, John (March 29, 1990). "A Record Firm That Zigs While All the Rest Zag". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E1.
  20. ↑ Mackie, John (June 16, 1990). "Verlaine the enigma returns". Vancouver Sun. p. H7.
  21. ↑ Dolan, Jon (January 2000). "Five Best Reissues". Spin. Vol. 16, no. 1. p. 78.
  22. ↑ The Blow-Up (Album liner notes). Television. 1982.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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