I realized that the Stones have released a total of 24 studio albums, four of which were completed in the last 21 years. This would constitute a "down period" in the band's career, but that doesn't mean they haven't put out some good stuff.
They just haven't been doing it that often.
The result has been lackluster, especially when compared to their hey day material. The unfortunate bit is that three of these later albums were CD's, which means they were longer than a traditional 40+ minute album. And since the Stones were reared on putting out albums in 40-minute blocks, but are required to churn out 60 minute CD's, that's about 20 minutes of not-so-spectacular stuff.
WHY BRING THIS UP? Because as I've been playing and playing 2005's "A Bigger Bang" and skipping my less-favored tracks resulted in a solid Stones album forced into a CD lifestyle. I've been dealing with this for a while, because for some reason I can't stop playing the CD in the car (it just lives there), but it wasn't until recently that I uploaded it onto my iPod and started cutting some of the fat. There was a good album in there -- good enough music that the band actually opened their recent tour with "Rough Justice" (for a few nights anyway) and kept some of the songs in the line-up. When I saw "Shine A Light," I actually was hoping to hear some of my favorites from this album, which seems crazy. When given the choice, shouldn't I want to hear "Sympathy for the Devil" for the 100th time?
The fact that they didn't play them then made me a little sad, because it's like they didn't believe in their own music. And it makes me sad-angry because they've been forcing songs like "You Got Me Rocking" down our throats since 1994, but I can't find a single instance of "Laugh, I Nearly Died" live. It's a travesty!
So without further ado, I present to you the 1970's album version of 2005's "A Bigger Bang," (aka "The Way You Should Actually Experience This Album If You Want To Like It.")
First off, the cover. Either don't look at it too often or, if you're still using the CD, turn it from the goof-ball, space-campfire photo and opt for the simple white-letters-over-black reverse side. I can't find a picture, so just look at the one at the top of the page compared with this (assume the sides)...
Now, you're gonna cut it down to 11 tracks, leaving:
1.) Rough Justice
2.) Let Me Down Slow
3.) It Won't Take Long
4.) Streets of Love
5.) Back Of My Hand
6.) Biggest Mistake
7.) This Place Is Empty
8.) Oh No, Not You Again
9.) Laugh, I Nearly Died
10.) Look What the Cat Dragged In
11.) Infamy
Now we've got something to properly review. And in true addition-by-subtraction fashion, this new running order gives a new focus to the entire operation. In fact, a decent emotional thread weaves through this album, making it almost sound relevant. It's like there was a concept album hiding amongst the latest affirmations of going wild* and car-as-love motifs**.
This leaves a lean, mean, blusey record, where all the songs are about something beyond "Let's make a song." In the past, strong music as used for "Rough Justice" would have been relegated to the proof of how crazy or sexy the Stones want to be. Here, it's about something (breaking up with a girl or I dunno...). And "Rough Justice" is one of their greatest songs of the last, 30 years. It's an album kick off, not an album sludge (I'm looking at you, "Flip the Switch"). It is a fan maker. It is a rocker that doesn't have anything to prove. It has stupid innuendo used well, not random swearing for swearing's sake (I'm looking at you, "Sparks Will Fly"). It deserves better. I hope they play it for their 90th birthdays.
"Let Me Down Slow" is an okay #2, but coupled with "It Won't Take Long," you have something taking shape. In "Let Me Down," Jagger's expecting his girl to break up with him, and he wants it done painlessly. Then by track 3, he's in denial about the situation, declaring it won't take long to forget her. I say denial because we still have more album to go.
That's where "Streets of Love" comes in, a well made schmaltz and the best version of "Wild Horses" they've made since "Angie." More importantly, it's better-made, more-tolerable schmaltz than "Rain Fall Down," which contains some of the worst lyrics on the CD (it's just stream of consciousness; something like, "I went to sit down, started watching TV, then I got hungry and I saw you there, and the Rain Fell Down, and we made sweet love." This is barely an exaggeration). Carrying the schmaltz torch alone, you only have to sit through 5 minutes of good schmaltz instead of 10 minutes. Plus, "Streets" solidifies this heartbreak theme, where Jagger's protagonist is admitting to himself that he's alone and lonely and that he's at fault.
THIS IS NEW, people. As far as I can tell, I can't think of a single Rolling Stones track where they admit they might have some fault in a failed relationship.
You go to "Back of My Hand" for a dose of blues menace, and it's a great song because it's cool to hear them doing this again. This is the best you could ask for in a later-period Stones album: does it remind you of the right things.
You skip the bar rock "She Saw Me Coming" going directly to "Biggest Mistake" arrives to throw in some more empathy as Jagger is realizing his cheating ways may have cost him the love of his life. We've been down this road before ("BABYLON'S" "Already Over Me" -- which sounded exactly like "Always Suffering" on the same damn album), but not without the filler to soften it. Here we just came out of "Back of My Hand," making for a more powerful emotional transition.
"This Place Is Empty" stays mostly because it fits the theme. It's not a bad song, but not great. It keeps things going for the pick-me-up of "Oh No, Not You Again," a song they believed in enough to include in their concerts. More bar rock is jettisoned in "Dangerous Beauty" (I mean, who cares?) and you get to one of the lost jewels in this mess, "Laugh, I Nearly Died."
It's really a shame that their success has overpowered the band's ability to shed the fat and just play music. I understand it for "STEEL WHEELS" and "VOODOO LOUNGE" and "BRIDGES TO BABYLON" (more on the 1st and 3rd), but this was a good album, with actual musical stretching going on. I have never heard Mick Jagger sing like he does on "Laugh." Never. It's on the chorus specifically. It's a pained howl, and it's loud and it's awful and it's great. And they never play it live. Nor will they. History will regret because the song was on the back end of a fat album, bookended by turds like "Beauty" and the less-than-timeless "Sweet Neo Con," a song not helped by some seriously annoying lyrics (it's like liberal bait; I'm all for doing politics in music, but lyrics like "You call yourself a Christian / I think that you're a hypocrite / You say you are a patriot / I think that you're a crock of shit" are as tired as Charlie).
We're almost done.
Some songs seem fast, but are really slow songs with fast guitars. Some are fast songs with slow guitars. "Look What The Cat Dragged In" gets a lot of play with me because it's a fast song with fast guitars, fast drums, fast bass, fast other guitar and fast lyrics. It's a lot of fun to sing along with, and I guarantee no one has ever confessed to that with any of these songs and it is a shame.
We drive past "Driving Too Fast" -- I don't know many CD's where you can't skip the second to last song -- and go into "Infamy," a great song if for no other reason than it is a Keith song with the full Rolling Stones. That is to say, it's not just a Keith song with Ronnie and Charlie and Darryl. Mick plays the harmonica on it, and it's nice to hear. The way their careers and concerts have gone, it seems there's a serious separation between the Mick material and the Keith material. But since they were always stronger together than apart, it stands to reason that this feels more like fun than obligatory.
There you have it. 43 minutes and it's all pretty good. At least as good as "TATTOO YOU." The only thing you're missing is a great, get-'em-all-singing last song. "Infamy" is a great song, but it's not a finale. At least not by the standards of a band that has closed albums with "Salt of the Earth," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," "Moonlight Mile" and "Soul Survivor" (yes, I'm comparing it to their absolute best albums. So what?). It's not even on par with a finale like "Star Star," which was at least as grease ball as the rest of its album. It's more along the lines of "TATTOO YOU's" "Waiting On A Friend." "Here's a good song... and the end."
This is what I think about: ways to save my heroes from themselves for my ability to better enjoy them.
*As a rule, I believe that if you have to say/sing how you're going to "go crazy" or "be wild" that you are, in fact, neither crazy nor wild. This can be seen in "VOODOO LOUNGE's" "I Go Wild" and "BRIDGES TO BABYLON's" "Out of Control." Both serviceable songs, but ultimately suspiciously pushy about their agenda.
**Seriously, what is up with 60's-age Stones and these car songs? "LOUNGE" has "Brand New Car," this one's got "Driving Too Fast," and I'm pretty sure there's some mention to engines or speed on "BABYLON." It's like they just discovered the Beach Boys.
They just haven't been doing it that often.
The result has been lackluster, especially when compared to their hey day material. The unfortunate bit is that three of these later albums were CD's, which means they were longer than a traditional 40+ minute album. And since the Stones were reared on putting out albums in 40-minute blocks, but are required to churn out 60 minute CD's, that's about 20 minutes of not-so-spectacular stuff.
WHY BRING THIS UP? Because as I've been playing and playing 2005's "A Bigger Bang" and skipping my less-favored tracks resulted in a solid Stones album forced into a CD lifestyle. I've been dealing with this for a while, because for some reason I can't stop playing the CD in the car (it just lives there), but it wasn't until recently that I uploaded it onto my iPod and started cutting some of the fat. There was a good album in there -- good enough music that the band actually opened their recent tour with "Rough Justice" (for a few nights anyway) and kept some of the songs in the line-up. When I saw "Shine A Light," I actually was hoping to hear some of my favorites from this album, which seems crazy. When given the choice, shouldn't I want to hear "Sympathy for the Devil" for the 100th time?
The fact that they didn't play them then made me a little sad, because it's like they didn't believe in their own music. And it makes me sad-angry because they've been forcing songs like "You Got Me Rocking" down our throats since 1994, but I can't find a single instance of "Laugh, I Nearly Died" live. It's a travesty!
So without further ado, I present to you the 1970's album version of 2005's "A Bigger Bang," (aka "The Way You Should Actually Experience This Album If You Want To Like It.")
First off, the cover. Either don't look at it too often or, if you're still using the CD, turn it from the goof-ball, space-campfire photo and opt for the simple white-letters-over-black reverse side. I can't find a picture, so just look at the one at the top of the page compared with this (assume the sides)...
___________________________
therollingstones.abiggerbang
_____________________________
Already you're in a better place.
Now, you're gonna cut it down to 11 tracks, leaving:
1.) Rough Justice
2.) Let Me Down Slow
3.) It Won't Take Long
4.) Streets of Love
5.) Back Of My Hand
6.) Biggest Mistake
7.) This Place Is Empty
8.) Oh No, Not You Again
9.) Laugh, I Nearly Died
10.) Look What the Cat Dragged In
11.) Infamy
Now we've got something to properly review. And in true addition-by-subtraction fashion, this new running order gives a new focus to the entire operation. In fact, a decent emotional thread weaves through this album, making it almost sound relevant. It's like there was a concept album hiding amongst the latest affirmations of going wild* and car-as-love motifs**.
This leaves a lean, mean, blusey record, where all the songs are about something beyond "Let's make a song." In the past, strong music as used for "Rough Justice" would have been relegated to the proof of how crazy or sexy the Stones want to be. Here, it's about something (breaking up with a girl or I dunno...). And "Rough Justice" is one of their greatest songs of the last, 30 years. It's an album kick off, not an album sludge (I'm looking at you, "Flip the Switch"). It is a fan maker. It is a rocker that doesn't have anything to prove. It has stupid innuendo used well, not random swearing for swearing's sake (I'm looking at you, "Sparks Will Fly"). It deserves better. I hope they play it for their 90th birthdays.
"Let Me Down Slow" is an okay #2, but coupled with "It Won't Take Long," you have something taking shape. In "Let Me Down," Jagger's expecting his girl to break up with him, and he wants it done painlessly. Then by track 3, he's in denial about the situation, declaring it won't take long to forget her. I say denial because we still have more album to go.
That's where "Streets of Love" comes in, a well made schmaltz and the best version of "Wild Horses" they've made since "Angie." More importantly, it's better-made, more-tolerable schmaltz than "Rain Fall Down," which contains some of the worst lyrics on the CD (it's just stream of consciousness; something like, "I went to sit down, started watching TV, then I got hungry and I saw you there, and the Rain Fell Down, and we made sweet love." This is barely an exaggeration). Carrying the schmaltz torch alone, you only have to sit through 5 minutes of good schmaltz instead of 10 minutes. Plus, "Streets" solidifies this heartbreak theme, where Jagger's protagonist is admitting to himself that he's alone and lonely and that he's at fault.
THIS IS NEW, people. As far as I can tell, I can't think of a single Rolling Stones track where they admit they might have some fault in a failed relationship.
You go to "Back of My Hand" for a dose of blues menace, and it's a great song because it's cool to hear them doing this again. This is the best you could ask for in a later-period Stones album: does it remind you of the right things.
You skip the bar rock "She Saw Me Coming" going directly to "Biggest Mistake" arrives to throw in some more empathy as Jagger is realizing his cheating ways may have cost him the love of his life. We've been down this road before ("BABYLON'S" "Already Over Me" -- which sounded exactly like "Always Suffering" on the same damn album), but not without the filler to soften it. Here we just came out of "Back of My Hand," making for a more powerful emotional transition.
"This Place Is Empty" stays mostly because it fits the theme. It's not a bad song, but not great. It keeps things going for the pick-me-up of "Oh No, Not You Again," a song they believed in enough to include in their concerts. More bar rock is jettisoned in "Dangerous Beauty" (I mean, who cares?) and you get to one of the lost jewels in this mess, "Laugh, I Nearly Died."
It's really a shame that their success has overpowered the band's ability to shed the fat and just play music. I understand it for "STEEL WHEELS" and "VOODOO LOUNGE" and "BRIDGES TO BABYLON" (more on the 1st and 3rd), but this was a good album, with actual musical stretching going on. I have never heard Mick Jagger sing like he does on "Laugh." Never. It's on the chorus specifically. It's a pained howl, and it's loud and it's awful and it's great. And they never play it live. Nor will they. History will regret because the song was on the back end of a fat album, bookended by turds like "Beauty" and the less-than-timeless "Sweet Neo Con," a song not helped by some seriously annoying lyrics (it's like liberal bait; I'm all for doing politics in music, but lyrics like "You call yourself a Christian / I think that you're a hypocrite / You say you are a patriot / I think that you're a crock of shit" are as tired as Charlie).
We're almost done.
Some songs seem fast, but are really slow songs with fast guitars. Some are fast songs with slow guitars. "Look What The Cat Dragged In" gets a lot of play with me because it's a fast song with fast guitars, fast drums, fast bass, fast other guitar and fast lyrics. It's a lot of fun to sing along with, and I guarantee no one has ever confessed to that with any of these songs and it is a shame.
We drive past "Driving Too Fast" -- I don't know many CD's where you can't skip the second to last song -- and go into "Infamy," a great song if for no other reason than it is a Keith song with the full Rolling Stones. That is to say, it's not just a Keith song with Ronnie and Charlie and Darryl. Mick plays the harmonica on it, and it's nice to hear. The way their careers and concerts have gone, it seems there's a serious separation between the Mick material and the Keith material. But since they were always stronger together than apart, it stands to reason that this feels more like fun than obligatory.
There you have it. 43 minutes and it's all pretty good. At least as good as "TATTOO YOU." The only thing you're missing is a great, get-'em-all-singing last song. "Infamy" is a great song, but it's not a finale. At least not by the standards of a band that has closed albums with "Salt of the Earth," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," "Moonlight Mile" and "Soul Survivor" (yes, I'm comparing it to their absolute best albums. So what?). It's not even on par with a finale like "Star Star," which was at least as grease ball as the rest of its album. It's more along the lines of "TATTOO YOU's" "Waiting On A Friend." "Here's a good song... and the end."
This is what I think about: ways to save my heroes from themselves for my ability to better enjoy them.
*As a rule, I believe that if you have to say/sing how you're going to "go crazy" or "be wild" that you are, in fact, neither crazy nor wild. This can be seen in "VOODOO LOUNGE's" "I Go Wild" and "BRIDGES TO BABYLON's" "Out of Control." Both serviceable songs, but ultimately suspiciously pushy about their agenda.
**Seriously, what is up with 60's-age Stones and these car songs? "LOUNGE" has "Brand New Car," this one's got "Driving Too Fast," and I'm pretty sure there's some mention to engines or speed on "BABYLON." It's like they just discovered the Beach Boys.
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