Artist: Album (label, release date) 1-5 stars
The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers (Virgin, August 30, 2005) *****
The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street (Virgin, August 30, 2005) *****
The Rolling Stones: Some Girls (Virgin, August 30, 2005) ****
The Rolling Stones: Tattoo You (Virgin, August 30, 2005) ****
Virgin Records, proud owners of the Rolling Stones' 1971-2005 product (ABKCO still owns their 60's stuff), has re-released nine Rolling Stones albums just in time to benefit from this week's release of the Rolling Stones' first complete studio album since 1997, A Bigger Bang and coinciding U.S. tour. The other titles re-issued this week are: Goat's Head Soup, It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, Black And Blue, Emotional Rescue, and Flashpoint. While none of these albums has ever been hard to find, they are sometimes absent from bins in smaller CD shops or at places like Wal-Mart or Target, so if you get all your music at such locations, here's a chance to plug the gaps in your Stones collection. These albums cover the period from guitarist Mick Taylor's first studio album with the band (Sticky Fingers, from 1971), to bassist Bill Wyman's last appearance with the band (Flashpoint, from 1991). No extra goodies are included, unless the semi-tacky slipcase with the American flag on the Stones' tongue logo counts (the real covers are underneath).
The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers was released in 1971, while the band was still more-or-less at its all time peak, and remains one of their very best albums ever. It was a notable album at the time for several reasons. First, it was Mick Taylor's first studio album with the band (Taylor first appeared on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out in 1970, a document of the Stones' 1969 tour). Second, it was the first studio album from the Rolling Stones after the Altamont fiasco, which gained them some negative publicity and a stain on their image, traces of which still linger to this day. Third, Keith Richards was palling around with country-rock legend Gram Parsons during these and the Exile sessions. All three factors inform this album. While Taylor had a blues-rock pedigree as impressive as Brian Jones', his real strength was as a boogie guitarist, and this is one of the only albums from the Stones to feature room for stretching out. "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is a steller jazzy hard rock extended number with a great jam featuring dueling Taylor/Richards guitar and sax from Bobby Keys. Altamont isn't addressed, except for perhaps "Dead Flowers" something of an epitaph for hippidom, something the Stones never really had much use for. "Dead Flowers" and the exquisitely lovely and sad "Wild Horses" (written for Marianne Faithfull, who OD'd and almost died at the time) showcase the Gram Parsons influence (Parsons covered "Wild Horses" with the Flying Burrito Brothers a year prior to this album's release). "Brown Sugar" and "Bitch" are classic Stones hard rockers. "Moonlight Mile" is another piece of tortured beauty, given arguably the best strings on a rock song ever by Paul Buckmaster. "Sway" is a mellow groove with plenty of Taylor guitar; instead of toning things down after Altamont, Jagger sings "It's just that evil life has got me in its sway". Rock 'n' roll, no "only" required.
Article comments
1 - Vern Halen
I don't know why the mid 70's Stones' material (i.e., Goats Head Soup & It's Only R n R) get such bad raps. Sure, we expect better from the Stones, but those albums were better than 95% of everything else that was released back then. Fingers, Exile, Goat & RnR are the Mick Taylor years, when Taylor provided a contrast to Keef's rhythmic style. Keef & Woody are cool, too, but they're much the same in some ways.
Some Girls, Tattoo You, even Emotional Rescue - good albums - but in some ways, permanent records of a band spinning their wheels. Worth picking up anyways.
2 - uao
Frankly, Goat's Head Soup is one of my favorites --I dig its twisted, druggy, decadent feel--, but mostly when I feel trashy. Compared to most other 70's hard rock, it towers by miles over its competition, but it ain't no Exile.
I have less kind thoughts about It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, which I think is slick, and Black and Blue which I think is unfinished.
They're all worth a spin, though. It's the Rolling Stones, after all.
3 - Vern Halen
Yeah, Exile is right up there as a contender for top 3 rock albums of alll time.
RnR - slick? "But I like it....." I dunno, I don't think there's anything wrong with slick per se - but slick is often used to cover up lack of substance, and that's where it gets it's bad rep.
4 - The Duke
In my book
Let it Bleed
Beggars Banquet
Sticky Fingers
plus some later singles... but Exile... smelled like Phil Spector... way too much stuff loaded into each track. Remember, during the heyday of LP's putting too much stuff on a track turned records into mush. Additionally, putting too much time on a side squished the bandwidth (for lack of a better term) and reduced it to rubble. Exile did both, maybe some remastering and a massage of 5.1 will put it right. But I never cared for it.
Emotional rescue? The video on MTV was entertaining. Plus a couple of other FM players were listenable.
5 - florencia
HOLA AMORES AUNQUE ESTEN VIEJOS LO AMO POR Q NO VIENEN HA POSADAS FLORENCIA 2005
6 - A.J.
Does anyone know how these reissues compare to previous issues in terms of sound quality? Have they been remastered (again)? I'm trying to complete my collection of Rolling Stones' CDs, and I'm wondering whether I should worry about getting the latest versions.
By the way, it looks like the reissued versions of "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile on Main Street" are available through the BMG Music Service. They're in a special "Sales Restrictions Apply" category, which means you can't take them as your bonus or free selections, but you can use them for the one to purchase when you join, and their price ($15.98) is cheaper than the standard price ($18.98).