Joan Jett covered the song for the soundtrack of the 1996 movie Mr.Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield praised the song, describing it as "rollicking". The B-side of the "Love Stinks" single was "Till the Walls Come Tumblin' Down", also a track from the Love Stinks album. Geils Band's greatest songs, considering its lyrics to be "a hilarious spoof on new-wave nihilism as well as soul cliche." Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield calls it "one of the great trash-rock singles of the '80's." Cash Box said that the "playfully virulent lyric.mixed with Seth Justman’s whirling keyboards, creates an exciting march-like rhythm." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci rated it to be the band's 3rd greatest song, saying that it incorporates "'60s garage-rock guitar," "late-'70s New Wave synths" and "a singalong chorus straight outta the era's arena rock" that "meet for a glorious collision that results in one of the group's heaviest, and best-loved, songs." "Till the Walls Come Tumblin' Down" AllMusic critic John Franck describes the song as "infectious," noting that it was "one of the band's most recognizable FM songs ever." Music critic Robert Christgau describes the song as "broad" and "uproarious." Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh considers it one of the J. Geils Band who were then known for blues and R&B, but admits the results are fun to listen to and acknowledges that this and some other songs from the Love Stinks album pointed the way towards their pop-oriented 1981 platinum hit album Freeze Frame.
Viglione finds such a "simple riff rocker" a departure for the J. Author Maury Dean describes the opening of the song as "ponderous Power Metal." Dean describes the band's playing in the refrain as generating "wild waves of flame," the guitars as "fire-breathing" and Wolf's vocals in the "yeah yeah" portion of the chorus as snarling with " heavy metal glee." Justman provides extensive keyboards, which Associated Press critic James Simon feels gives the song "a little extra zing." Viglione describes the riff as " Lou Reed's ' Vicious' as performed by his Rock & Roll Animal band on Lou Reed Live at half-speed," also noting that it is a hard rock version of the riff from " Louie Louie." Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield notes that the riff was later used by Nirvana in the song " Smells Like Teen Spirit." Reception Geils Band lead singer Peter Wolf's marriage to actress Faye Dunaway, which ended in a 1979 divorce. You might be surprised by what you hear.The lyrics describe a love triangle in which two participants experience unrequited love, before segueing into a description of love gone sour in general. So sit back, relax, and let the tunes flow. All we’re doing here is rockin’ out, Charlie Baker style. We’re not talking about Baker’s performance as Governor of Massachusetts or picking apart his record or pontificating over who will replace him come November. Now, if you haven’t figured it out by now, this is not a political piece. The one thing Christantiello didn’t do, however, is form Baker’s picks into a proper playlist. From there, reporting from other local media outlets like Boston Magazine is cited and the list of Baker’s top tunes grows. And he used Twitter as a resource as well: Charlie Baker has been spotted at Dropkick Murphys shows more than once over the years. Thank you.)įrom the Boston Public Radio tunes, Christantiello then dug into the Globe archives for some more of Baker’s favorite acts and artists. But please do not listen to Boston Public Radio, as it airs at the same time as my show. (As an aside, Boston Public Radio is a fine program and GBH is a Boston institution. Writer Ross Christantiello started by sharing some of the music Baker talked up last week on GBH’s Boston Public Radio. The jumping-off point for the playlist comes from this piece.