J. Geils Band, "Love Stinks" (EMI America, 1980)

Throughout the '70s, the Boston-based J. Geils Band built a loyal following through its uncompromising brand blues and R&B, coupled with the stage presence of frontman Peter Wolf, a former DJ whose onstage raps became the stuff of legend.

The band scored some minor hits along the way, such as "Give It to Me" and "Must of Got Lost," but remained more of a cult favorite than a breakout act. By the time of its final album for Atlantic Records, 1977's "Monkey Island" (with the artist credited only as Geils), the band wasn't selling much at all, its musical approach apparently lost in the shuffle of disco.

A shift of record labels didn't help much, with the stellar "Sanctuary" album spawning a minor hit single in the moody "One Last Kiss," but barely cracking the Top 50 after its release it late 1978.

For its second EMI effort, the J. Geils Band came up with a solid anchor that helped ensure a hit album. The title track to "Love Stinks" might be dipping a toe into novelty territory, but it has the undeniable hooks of a catchy, "Wild Thing"-derived riff and well-worded lyrics that lead to the singer's succinct conclusion about romance.

"Love Stinks" the song actually was one of two Top 40 singles from "Love Stinks" the album. The other was the disco-infused "Come Back," issued right at the start of 1980 but sounding like a product of the decade that preceded it. That being said, it was one of the better tunes you could dance to at the time.

Other selections on "Love Stinks" run the gamut from the power pop of the opening "Just Can't Wait, which is awash with Seth Justman's synthesizer, to the hard rock of "Tryin' Not to Think About it," which probably comes closest on the album to sounding like vintage Geils: Wolf sings menacingly over J. Geils' fat guitar chords, and this is one of the few songs on the album to give blues harp player Magic Dick an opportunity to stretch out and put his inimitable stamp on the recording.

But overall, Justman's production on the album steers it away from the rawer approach of the band's early years toward a direction apparently seeking sales and airplay. Stephen Jo Bladd's percussion sounds especially processed and artificial, a detail that many artists unfortunately followed as the decade progressed (witness ZZ Top).

Still, "Love Stinks" remains a listenable album, with tracks like the cover of the Strangeloves' "Night Time" occasionally appearing on party compilations. And the rousing chord progression of "Till the Walls Come Tumblin' Down" could have served as a template for the rockabilly of "Stray Cat Strut" a few years later. Then there's the short diversion of "No Anchovies, Please," the bizarre narrative recounting the fate of a young woman who decides to open a can of those stinky little fish.

Longtime fans of the J. Geils Band may have been put off by the band's slick approach to "Love Stinks," but they really objected when they heard its followup, "Freeze-Frame." Of course, that album's sappy sing-along "Centerfold" went to No. 1 and still can be heard more often than anyone should like; the LP rode the song to the top spot, and the title track hit No. 4 as a single.

Then Wolf departed and the band broke up a few years afterward, showing that it just might have been better off sticking with playing the blues and staying out of the Top Five.