Television
The Blow-Up

THE REVIEW

GUITARS.

Strong and energetic guitars. Distorted and reverberating guitars. And at times clear and evocative guitars. In short, everything is here: there's punk, new wave, and rock'n'roll.
There's the great instrumentality of Tom Verlaine. There's the portrait of a group that was not only the greatest in the late '70s New York scene, but has become unquestionably pure Legend.

Anyone who knows their "Marquee Moon" (a rock milestone) knows what I'm babbling about......
And this incredible double live album dating back to 1978 definitively unleashes all the energy of that record. All the tracks are revisited except "Torn Curtain" and "Guiding Light". Alongside a great performance of "Elevation", there are very acid versions of "Friction" and "Prove It", with Verlaine's voice perhaps not always audible and in tune, but perfectly mastering the warm surrounding energy and inseparably linked to the electric noise that bounces off the crowd's screams and sweat.

From the other album "Adventure" come two short and masterful performances of "Foxhole" and "Ain't That Nothin'", the latter perhaps the best of the first album. The title-track opening this live is the homage to "Fire Engine" by the psychedelic 13th Floor Elevators and all that dissonance and guitar freedom movement that must have been so dear to our Tom. But we do not forget the old genuine rock'n'roll either: in fact, a shrill version of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" closes the disc, underlining the great influence that this group exerted on Television. The cover triptych ends with a splendid and free rendition of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". After all, Mr. Zimmerman is owed something by everyone, right?
But the tracks that alone are worth listening to (and purchasing) this work are "Little Johnny Jewel" and "Marquee Moon". The former is the actual debut single of Television, dating back to 1975, the year bassist Richard Hell (who had founded them) left, and the lineup was definitively established with Tom Verlaine on vocals and guitar, Richard Lloyd on second guitar, Fred Smith on bass, and Billy Ficca on drums. The piece is a union of pure rock'n'roll adrenaline and new wave richness, and the exceptional and long solo churned out here by our Tom indisputably elects him as one of the greatest and most original rock guitarists ever.

"Marquee Moon" then reaches its potential peak here, reproducing in the second part of the piece one of the greatest guitar gallops in rock, a child of the seminal "Sister Ray" by the Velvet Underground. Pure ecstasy! And that's all......
Television were the guitars of the new wave, and Patti Smith defined Verlaine's sound as a SCREAM OF A THOUSAND BIRDS. Well, this live album is a squeeze of energy, of glorious rock, of history, and also of these remarkable birds, all in one big glass. Who wants a sip?