mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
|
aftermath their satanic majesties request beggar's banquet let it bleed get yer ya-ya's out sticky fingers exile on main street goats head soup some girls bridges to babylon
Aftermath I always thought of The Rolling Stones as a band capable of incredible highpoints, able to create a little bit of magic whenever they really try. Sometimes even when they don’t try. Unfortunately they rarely were able to keep the stunts running through a full album, leaving them with flawed albums and possibly more dependent on singles than their competitors in the 60’s. I still stick with that theory, and Aftermath is not really an exception. It is flawed, but the flaws are affordable this time given how great the best moments are and how often they appears. The first four songs are downright fantastic when pop meets blues. When the naivety of the early sixties clashes into the more sophisticated artistic ideas that would follow. Sure, somewhere after “Dontcha Bother Me” the album starts to suffer a little, but it would be impossible to hold the high standard up throughout the album. The band sometimes sounds thin (one of the main differences between the Brian Jones-era and the Mick Taylor-era), and occasionally falls into blues clichés (although not always lasting a full song) making it obvious why it was stated that white people shouldn’t play the blues. But damn it, the Kinks-y “Mother’s Little Helper” is filled with nasty sarcasm and blends the typical British sound with a darker, bluesier edge that is freightingly attractive. “Stupid Girl” shows great examples of hooks and is a simple, but effective put down of an ex-girlfriend. Call it a rough, boorish alternative to Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street”, if you like. The ultimate revenge and finally having the upper hand in legendary “Under My Thumb” is another obvious highlight. Limited studio effects, but just right fuzzy riffs and xylophone backs up a truly inspired Jagger on vocals. Thinking about it, Aftermath might be Jagger’s greatest album as a vocalist. It never sounds fake or over the top. It all comes naturally, which is a rare thing. Especially on Stones’ later albums. What is so beautiful about this album, is how it doesn’t crave your attention by throwing its pretensions at you. Some of the bands very best songs like “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Sympathy For The Devil” are without a doubt masterpieces, but they seem to be written and produced to impress, to change the world or whatever. Created to be important. Aftermath sounds refreshingly free from all of that. It’s an album filled with just songs. Further on, no matter how good an album like Sticky Fingers might be, it has a sound that’s been copied by so many bands that nearly 40 years later it doesn’t sound as fresh as it might have sounded back then. The sound and songs created by The Rolling Stones in 1966 still sounds unique and personal, though, as it for some reason has had less followers in the modern times. Aftermath finds The Rolling Stones climbing a notch up from being just a simple rock band, but at the same time it is innocent enough in a way the music never would be again after Sgt Pepper. Stones still being frequently compared to The Beatles (which band isn’t?), and I think it would be safe to say that on a sophisticated and creative level, this would be their response to Rubber Soul.
Their Satanic Majesties Request Often referred to as the Rolling Stones’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but that probably has more to do with the year of release rather than the music. Yes, it’s far from the rhythm and blues the band had been playing and has psychedelic and experimental ideas first and foremost that drips of LSD. Just because they abandoned their blues roots (if only briefly) doesn’t make them sound like the Beatles all of a sudden. No, Their Satanic Majesties Request shares more similarities with Syd Barrett than with the Liverpool masters. Sometimes when listening to the album I get the feeling they're trying to make a parody of the whole hippie culture, because it is so extremely naive and childish in some places which makes it unbearable. I guess it is a pretty ambitious project with the Rolling Stones basically exploring the studio possibilities and having some fun during the process. It’s not very fun to listen to, though. Call me boring and old fashioned, but I feel that you should not use the experimental ideas and odd studio effects just for the sake of using them. I’m convinced that if you don’t know how to use the effects in a way that adds to the song or amplifies it, you don’t master it well enough and the result isn’t as groundbreaking as it was supposed, or at least pretended, to be. Sadly, this is exactly what the Rolling Stones are doing. Maybe simply because they didn’t have good enough material to work with. Very few of these songs are enjoyable and the production doesn’t exactly help. There are some numbers that actually have some potential or sections in them that are somewhat interesting, but it’s a small comfort. Overall an incredibly weak album. Why would anyone want to listen to theatrical dialogues with useless effects, poor performances and awful production?
Beggar’s Banquet Beggar’s Banquet was the starting signal of the Rolling Stones classic period. Their previous albums had all been solid, but rarely interesting. Either they tried to write Beatles melodies or copy the old Chicago blues masters. Here they focus more on acoustic blues with a folky approach. Yes, the infamous classics “Sympathy For The Devil” and “Street Fighting Man” rocks hard and convincing, and so does the Jimi Hendrix-sounding “Stray Cat Blues”, but the rest of the album is acoustic, blues based folk songs that sometimes works and sometimes they don’t. “Dear Doctor” and “Parachute Woman” first appears to be jokes, but they are too long to be taken as novelties. On the other hand there’s “Jigsaw Puzzle” and “No Expectations” which makes it clearer why the Rolling Stones wanted to take their music in this direction. “Street Fighting Man” was released as a single, but was never available in Detroit because of the riots at the time. The song itself rocks, though. You should notice that there isn’t one single electric instrument on it. Well, except for the bass. With only acoustic guitar as their weapons they make Cream look like sissies. The best thing about the song is the piano, though. During the chorus it sounds mighty as thunder on judgement day. In fact, the piano is great whenever it appears on the album. All credit to studio musician Nicky Hopkins for his contributions. The album opener, “Sympathy For The Devil”, didn’t pass very quietly either thanks to Jagger’s (excellent) lyrics. The religious people in America felt very uneasy with the song and left them confused. A great piece of rock music, but with morally questionable lyrics. No matter how you feel about the lyrics, you can’t deny the excellency of the music. The only complaint I can come up with is about the guitar solo. The sound is really nasty and awful, and Keith never was better than an average solo guitarist. The acoustic guitar sound, however, is great and makes me enjoy even the lesser songs here. Even though “Dear Doctor” is still about 3:20 minutes too long.
Let It Bleed The Stones continues with the same formula as on Beggar’s Banquet. They don’t try to develop it, just recreate it. Well, they succeeded. The opening “Gimme Shelter” is a really atmospheric rocker featuring great harmonica and female backing vocals. It is dark and haunting filled with paranoia and gives a feeling of walking on thin ice, ready to fall into the freezing water any moment now. A drugie on the way to meet his maker, and after all, “it’s only a shot away”. I tell you the group has never sounded quite like that, before or after. Which is a contradiction to what I just said, but no rule without exceptions, right? Next follows an acoustic blues, just like on Beggar’s Banquet: start things off with a bound to be classic song and follow it up by an unpretentious blues number. This time it’s a cover of the legendary Robert Johnson’s “Love In Vain”. It’s not that impressive, and Jagger’s vocals are far from satisfying. They do manage to make it less generic by throwing in some minor chords here and there. “Country Honk” is a remake of “Honkey Tonk Women” and it sounds more like a parody on the new blues style they’ve embraced. Filled with violin and awful vocals it will most likely leave the listener disappointed rather than amused. Now, this album isn’t regarded as a classic for nothing. The great, loose country pop and fantastic slide guitar from guesting Ry Cooder in the title track and the amazing blues jamming in “Midnight Rambler” will have you singing, dancing, laughing and jumping up and down in excitement. It’s such a shame they are surrounded by bland fillers. “Live With Me” tries to rock, but it sounds far-fetched and not at all as natural flowing as “Stray Cat Blues” on the previous album. “You Got The Silver” is lead by Keith on vocals and he does a decent job with this country-ish blues. The song itself is far from essential, but it has some nice acoustic guitar and always potential. It’s just that you sit and wait for something to happen, something to change. It never does, which is a bit frustrating. The two closing songs are not frustrating at all, though. “Monkey Man” is a rocker that actually works thanks to interesting instrumental parts with guitar picking, slide guitar and great piano lines. No matter how good it is, it is bound to fall short when compared to the epic, sing-along number “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. It’s filled with drug-references, but could also be taken positive depending on how the listener interpret the lyrics (“you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you will find you get what you need”). Either way it’s a great song, a classic, a song that stands the test of time. A song that along with “Gimme Shelter”, “Midnight Rambler” and the title track saves Let It Bleed from falling flat. An album labeled as a next to flawless classic is revealed with scratches, dents and bumps.
Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out Whenever the greatest live album is discussed, Ya-Ya’s is always mentioned together with The Who’s Live At Leeds. I’m not sure I would go that far, but the album sure is great. Especially Jagger and the fresh member Mick Taylor, a young solo guitarist talented enough to challenge Hendrix, Clapton and the other guitar heroes, shines throughout the album. The hit single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” rocks hard and the band sounds truly inspired, enjoying their reputation as the world’s greatest rock band. Hell, they even turn “Love In Vain” into a good song while they're at it. On the other hand they manage to butcher “Sympathy For The Devil”. With the piano and congas gone it ends up sounding thin and more like an average shuffle rather than one of the greatest moments in history of rock. Guess it's true that you can’t always get what you want. The sound is raw, the performance is tight but at the same time loose enough to sound relaxed. Especially “Midnight Rambler” showcases the Stones as a band, a unit. It’s loud and furious, becomes whispering and moaning and then it rocks again. All done seemingly effortless, in trance and subconsciously. One of those songs that defines what rock is all about. Sometimes you can question the song material (not only one, but two Chuck Berry covers?), sometimes the playing isn’t always the best, technically speaking and sometimes the band sounds thin. However, most flaws are saved by the uncompromised intensity and energy put into each and every song. You know, they were called the greatest rock band for a reason.
Sticky Fingers This might be the most well known Stones-album, and rightfully so. It’s stuffed with classic rock riffs, fantastic songwriting, nice and haunting ballads. It probably keeps the amount of fillers to a minimum, well at least by Rolling Stones' standards. It’s notible how the group manages to sound compact and not too sharp around the edges, but at the same time bring in the raw and loose feeling of a live performance into the studio. Of course, sometimes they do try to hard to live up to the expectations of them being a though, wreckless blues rock band. “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” seems like a poorly attempt to rock to shock, with the loud and stutter riffs and obnoxious vocal delivery. If you can sit through the first five minutes you’ll be rewarded with some nice guitar playing from Taylor and a good band jam. I’m not sure it’s worth it, though. “You Gotta Move” is another of those acoustic blues that the last couple of albums were built around, and those songs were hit and miss affairs. This is a miss. However, whatever complaints I might throw at this cornerstone and monument of rock and roll are bound to bounce back at me when the weaker moments are protected by guards called “Brown Sugar”, “Wild Horses” and “Dead Flowers”. What can anyone possible put up against those? Catchy, melodic and diverse. Rocking and ready roll. A musical and social statement. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll expressed the way it was intended.
Exile On Main Street In my opinion, the Rolling Stones’ problem has always been too many fillers on their albums. They had fantastic songs, even on the less good records, but also always some shitty stuff too. Obviously, for them to release a double album is not that a great idea to start with. Surprisingly enough, the obnoxious or unmemorable tunes are less than expected, but fillers will always be fillers. However, while in some ways Exile was a step back to less sophisticated production, less brains and more animal like instinct, it is also in many ways a huge step forward. The country and acoustic blues they started embracing on Beggar’s Banquet actually works really well here and doesn’t sound like parodies or sarcastic jokes anymore. The rockers do rock, and they do it dirty and hard. Sounding almost like punk rather than blues rock. The piano based songs sounds fresh and are often catchy and sometimes even seems like a stab at gospel. Mick Jagger’s singing is strong and maybe this is his best rock album, vocally speaking. Having said that, there are a few things to complain about. As most double albums Exile is far from flawless. The record is built around all these cool, cranked up guitar riffs, but the riffs are far from spectacular. I mean, they sure would have been spectacular if we haven’t heard them all before. In one shape or another, the Stones already used most of the ideas and only minor variations have been made. From this point on I could start a music theory lesson, but I won’t. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Unless you hear it yourselves, then take your own word for it. On the other hand, as I stated in my review of the Strokes’ Is This It? rock isn’t always about being original, so I guess just because I’m sometimes bored doesn’t have to mean you will be. You might even love it. Other than the rockers? Songs that sounds appealing to start with often are too long, too monotonous and what started out as a classic song ends up sounding like yet another everyday-number in a faceless crowd. One last complaint; the album is too long. If they only would have trimmed, cut and edited it in some places it could easily have been their best album. Besides, whatever negative things I’ve said shouldn’t keep you from owning songs such as “Rocks off”, “Shine A Light”, “Tumbling Dice” and “Sweet Black Angel”. Just remember that you also get the far from pleasing “I Just Want To See His Face”, “Ventilator Blues” and “Casino Boogie”.
Goats Head Soup Whilst most people seem to think that the Stone’s magic touch paled a little after Exile On Main Street, I wholeheartedly disagree. Maybe because I don’t find their previous work as mind blowing as the already mentioned ‘most people’ does. I’m starting to believe that the critics in 1973 simply wasn’t able to appreciate Goats Head Soup and that mistake somehow managed to get inside of people’s heads, remaining there to this day. Because Goats Head Soup is one of the most consistent Stones-albums out there, and especially the first half is criminally good. “Dancing With Mr. D.” and “Heartbreaker” isn’t far from recreating the shivering atmosphere of “Gimme Shelter”, and not to be forgotten is how Mick Taylor shines with his magnificent lead guitar. Not only is he playing down right fantastic, but has also a new, improved sound. A sound that lands somewhere between Clapton and Gilmour, a little thicker than previously, a little muddier. It makes wonders with the songs, just listen to “100 Years Ago” and you will know what I mean. Now, obviously an album can’t be built on a guitar sound only, there has to be songs as well. The songwriting of Jagger/Richards has arguably been reaching higher standards both after and before Goats Head Soup, but most of these numbers are winners. “Angie”, “Coming Down Again” and the Van Morrison-sounding “Winter” are examples of particularly successful moments. Another important thing is the sheer energy the band expose through your speakers. Jagger’s harmonica is bleeding, his vocals range from tender and beautiful to loud and distinct. Richards’ rhythm guitar holds everything together with great riffs, even though in most bands the bass and drums are the basic leading instruments. Here, Wyman is following Watts, whom follows Keith. Charlie and Keith knows their stuff, no doubt about it. Wyman is maybe more anonymous and less explosive, but that’s good. One person less fighting for the spotlights. With Mick Taylor’s guitar on top of it all, the band produces one of their best albums. Try to get THAT in your head.
Some Girls Often hailed as a comeback album, which is kind of strange considering the previous album, Black And Blue, was of similar quality. The reason for the high praise might be the single “Miss You”, which according to the critics found the Stones re-inventing themselves by catching up with the disco sound flooding the radio stations at the time. However, it’s just really a blues ballad with a funky bass line. It’s as much disco as B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” was a pop ballad, another case of ‘accusation of selling-out versus the visionary’. Disco or not, “Miss You” is a great song. The rest of the album finds the Stones at (for the critics at the time) more familiar territory, though. Sometimes rather successful as in the heavy “When The Whip Comes Down” or the groovy “Just My Imagination” in which the band slowly works up an inspired storm. Other than those three songs, there are few songs making me lift my hat. Some Girls has very few stinkers, “Far Away Eyes” being the undisputed low-point, but not many truly great moments either. The title track is a semi-highlight with it’s unexpected acoustic parts, and so is the pure rock and roll in “Respectable”. It is the soul ballad “Beast of Burden”, though, that is the last, true peak. It possesses that rolling rhythm and floating syncope riffs that is so typical for Keith (other songs with similar ideas would be “Start Me Up”, “Brown Sugar”, “Tumbling Dice”). One of the strengths of the song (and the rest of the album) is the splendid, entwined guitar playing between Richards and Ron Wood (he replaced Mick Taylor for the Black And Blue-album). Some Girls is far from an essential or important album, but it is enjoyable. It features a couple of gems (“Just My Imagination”, “Respectable”, “When The Whip Comes Down”) that hasn’t been overplayed or killed by the radio and pointless compilations. And the songs that actually are overplayed (“Miss You”, “Beast of Burden”) are still good enough to survive those troubles and manage to come out on top. Some people claimed rock was dead. Apparently the Stones wasn’t listening. Or maybe they just didn’t care.
Bridges To Babylon ‘What would it take to bury me? I can't wait, I can't wait to see!’ Jagger howls in the rocking album opener. I must admit that I am curious myself. Just when they were ready to pack it in, or at least when people told them to pack it in, they release their best album in 25 years. Just the fact that songs like the dark “Out of Control” (which I rank as an essential, that’s right, essential, Stones-track) and “Flip The Switch” actually were foundation pieces on the following tour and managed to stand next to tracks such as “Gimme Shelter” and “Jumping Jack Flash” without shame or excuses says a whole lot. The first single off of Bridges To Babylon was “Anybody Seen My Baby” and it was greeted with a huge amount of mocking and had it been possible, the critics would have covered it in tar and feathers. Yet, it’s just Jagger keeping up with the trends and doing the same thing as he did with “Miss You”. Sure, the rap-part towards the end is not needed, but at least it’s short enough. The song itself is decent, but features some nice guitar licks and has those trademark Stones harmony vocals which just gets to me. And it is catchy. The only reason I can think of why it was so badly killed at the time is because it wasn’t what anyone expected from the group. A slow, 90’s r’n’b ballad. Anyhow, critics were kinder on the follow-up single, “Saint of Me”. Supposedly a sequel to “Sympathy For The Devil”. Although it doesn’t match the original in any way and have little in common with Jagger’s lyrical masterpiece, it still have a great sound to it. That goes for the whole record actually. The only thing I feel a bit uneasy about is the sequence at the end. Why put two slow Keith-sung ballads next to each other? Not that they’re bad, but they are among the weaker tracks here. Mistakes like that are easy ignore, though, as most of the album is brilliant. The Rolling Stones may not be a greatly important band any longer, but they’re still one helluva great one.
|