strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
This is something that I actually intend to finish. >___>
Anyway, I'm going to start with 'Their S*tanic Majesties Request' and do the whole UK/US split albums later, probably after I do the live albums, because honestly, that's a big hassle. So enjoy~. Also, DUE TO THE RECENT CRACK-DOWN ON OFF-SITE LINKS, I WILL ONLY POST THE TITLES OF THE SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT. Find 'em yourself. >.>
--THEIR S*TANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST--
It always funny to read arguments by hardcore Christians who call rock music s*tanic and cite this album as one of the main examples. Of course, every argument like that is extremely flawed(understatement) and citing this album is where the argument really starts to fall apart because honestly, there's nothing s*tanic at all about this album except for the title. Sure, the music video for "2000 Light Years From Home" is questionable in that sense, but I'll look over that for the sake of criticizing the hardcore Christians(>_>). The whole album's a joke anyway. This is about as s*tanic as, say, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn or Highway 61 Revisited.
For a joke though, S*tanic Majesties is a pretty darn good album. Far from a "Grade-A" Stones album of course, but it does stands as a "Grade-A" psychedelic album, no matter how many people say they hate it. But the haters mostly come from the Stones fanbase who are used to the usually sleazed-out garage rock sound they have. Not many albums have had the same effect on the ear as this has. And I couldn't really describe how this album sounds to me in words(mostly because I'm horrible at forming thoughts into words. No lie~) but if it helps any, I'd take this over Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band any day. And that's probably another reason why people say they hate it -- they compare it to Sgt Pepper's so much. Honestly, it sounds more like Pink Floyd's debut(which was released about 4 months before S*tanic Majesties in the UK and two in the US) than it does Sgt. Pepper's.
As you go through S*tanic Majesties, you'll notice that the Mellotron is a very prominent instrument here(at least, I think that that's a Mellotron. It really sounds like it.) and it seems to underline the whole "psychedelic" idea. And some of the songs are slightly muddled in not quite an unpleasant way. It appears as if this album was really planned out, but I guess with close to nine months of studio time, they had time to really fix it up. Actually, if you ask me, S*tanic Majesties probably had more effort put into it than other Stones albums, and it comes off as sounding polished yet still rough like the other Stones albums. But then again, the Stones can't really escape their roughness. It's been with them ever since they were formed(which was somewhere between the Big Bang and biopoesis).
S*tanic Majesties opens up with a fun little sing-a-long that does a decent job of setting up the mood for the rest of the album, as it's both dark and playful. But the real fun begins with the bouncy(?) and almost alien-sounding "Citadel". Think of "Sing This All Together" to be a rabbit hole and "Citadel" to be the little locked door that leads to Wonderland. Which is a pretty apt metaphor, since the song after "Citadel" is the strange "In Another Land", a Bill Wyman highlight. And that's an appropriate name, because S*tanic Majesties is really like some weird, acid-induced adventure through some alien land.
The rest of the album is pretty consistent and holds up to the standards set by the first three cuts. All except for the bore-fest "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)", anyway, but that can be easily looked over with the help of a fast-forward button. But after that, it continues on as if that piece of trash was never there. There also seems to be tastes of foreign music here-and-there(foreign to America that is) which just adds to the experience. S*tanic Majesties is a masterpiece.
Interesting cuts include:
'Citadel'
'In Another Land'
'She's A Rainbow'
'2000 Light Years From Home'
'2000 Man'
9/10 |
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Gary141Join Date: 2007-11-15
Post Count: 11094 |
What happened to the 25 artists thread?
Or the song review thread?
Well, whatever.
I bet a bunch of their later albums will get crappy reviews. |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
I lost track of them. But I'm finishing this, dangit. However, I may get axe'd because YTube links are apparently "too strong" for Roblox or something. >_>
I can always use an alt though. |
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Crash6351Join Date: 2008-10-17
Post Count: 21489 |
Satanic isn't filtered... |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
I tried to post the codes to YTube links at first, and those normally aren't filtered, so I thought it was the "satanic" that was upsetting the censors. I was too lazy to change 'em all back. >_> |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
--BEGGAR'S BANQUET--
There was always one thing that aggravated me about Beggar's Banquet, and that's the fact that the opening track, 'Sympathy For The Devil' gets you ready for some epic, engaging listen and then it dumps all this country/blues crap on you. Not that I dislike country/blues, but the Stones never did it all too good. It's painful to listen to in all honesty, the only thing that keeps it from being total crap is the dark humor in those cuts. But while you're sifting through all of those country/blues messes, you'll find that Beggar's Banquet has its moments, which is why it gets so much acclaim. However, a lot of this acclaim is very undeserved because, dangit, this is a really boring album unless you're the type who can sit through and enjoy all of the failed attempts at country. And it's the country that ruins it.
There are three very well-known songs on Beggar's Banquet, and those are 'Sympathy For The Devil', 'Street Fighting Man', and 'Stray Cat Blues'. So unless you're a hardcore Stones fan(as am I), I suggest you just stick with those. Like stop now. Just go now. Leave. Listen to those songs and forget about the rest of the album. However, if you are that interested in Beggar's Banquet, I might as well take the time to guide you through it, no?
Maybe I just issues with stuff, but I've always thought that 'No Expectations' and 'Dear Doctor' sound very similar. Honestly, those songs are throwaways, but I've always thought that 'Dear Doctor' was really, really funny. A feat that we wouldn't see again until Some Girls('Far Away Eyes', btw.) 'Parachute Woman' is more Stones-esque than the rest of the country songs. In fact, it's really pushing blues/rock rather than country/blues. But alas, it's just novelty. It might sound alright at first, but it quickly gets boring after a few listens. You can skip 'Jig-Saw Puzzle'. I've always thought of it as a prototype of 'Midnight Rambler', except very boring. You might want to give it a spin though. 'Prodigal Son' and 'Factory Girl' are the same case as 'No Expectations' and 'Dear Doctor', but a whole lot more listenable. Check them out. The album closer, 'Salt of the Earth' is a rocking gospel-esque song and it's really, really, really amazing. It's pretty refreshing after having to wade through crap too. Definitely check that out.
6/10
No effort put into this one, to be quite honest. Sorry. :p |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
--LET IT BLEED--
Let It Bleed is one of *those* albums. You know the type -- the type that gets tons of critical acclaim. It's also one of *those other* albums. You may or may not know the type -- the type that actually DESERVES all that critical acclaim. If you've read any positive reviews on it, they're all probably telling you the truth. Other reviews aside though, Let It Bleed is a relatively dark album, with a very stoner atmosphere. Like... it sounds like a Poe story being recorded in someones basement while they were all shot up, which -- knowing the Stones -- was proably exactly the case. Of course, that stoner-basement sound is actually pleasant. It takes a few blues excursions here-and-there and the two country/blues songs on here aren't total crap. Sure, 'Honky Tonk Women' gets completely butchered on this, but at least it's more listenable than 'No Expectations', right?
Let It Bleed's also one of those albums that has to be heard from start to finish. I mean, I guess that that you could pick a few tracks off this album and just listen to those, but really, it's not the same. You have to hear it ALL THE WAY from the opening licks of the ominous 'Gimme Shelter' to the closing choir "Oms" of 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'. There's some great sleaze-filled songs in here, and this is the album that got the Stones started on the sleazy stuff. Sure, it was there in Beggar's Banquet, and it never really hit off until Sticky Fingers, but 'Live With Me' has some nasty metaphors and the title track is just... Wow. 'Country Honk' is about a w****, and I think that 'You Got The Silver' has the same theme. I mean, it's sleazy stuff. Not as bad as it gets, but still.
All in all, you'd better check it out. I mean it. Listen to it. Now. No, not tomorrow, or later or whatever. NOW. Because if you don't, you never will.
9/10
Gimme Shelter
Love In Vain
Country Honk
Live With Me
Let It Bleed
Midnight Rambler
You Got The Silver
Monkey Man
You Can't Always Get What You Want
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Gary141Join Date: 2007-11-15
Post Count: 11094 |
I really hate how they started blocking Toutube links again. |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
--STICKY FINGERS--
With Sticky Fingers, the Stones started to stick with their sleazy, raunchy music that they do so well. On their previous two albums, flirtations with country took up a nice fraction of the albums, but most of that has been removed now in favor of straight out rock 'n roll/blues/scary, morbid ****. What really stands out is that in between all of that sleaze and s*x and c*caine, the Stones have a soft side. And that soft side is really... soft. Oh yes. You see, included in this album is the greatest ballad ever(and it is, darnit), "Wild Horses". Now, if you compare that to other songs on the album -- like "B**ch" for example -- and then you'll see what I mean about being "soft".
However, on this album, the Stones got really... nasty. Sure, the Stones had lots of innuendoes and s*xual metaphors before, but on Sticky Fingers, they didn't hold back. And I'm not just talking about the zipper cover either(where it zips down to reveal a close-up of some dude's groin. Kinda disturbing). There's songs about r*pe("Brown Sugar"), lust("B**ch"), dudes ****ing themselves up with drugs("Sister M*rphine"), it's just... Eck. And on the subject of "Sister M*rphine", if you thought that Let It Bleed was dark... No, if you thought that any song was disturbing before, you. Have. Not. Heard. Sister. M*rphine. Aside from the lyrics, there's also that twangy(?) guitar, and the... Oh darn. Just listen to it.
Sticky Fingers, if you ask me, is probably the most accessible Stones album out there. There's no country/blues messes and there's no wild experimentation, but there is a balanced amount of almost everything the Stones have tried before. This is one of those rare albums where the band gives it their all(or rather, how much "all" alcoholics and junkies can have). All of the riffs are pretty catchy, the instrumentation is darn well made and the whole album is just pieced together really, really well.
But even with the Stones "all", Sticky Fingers still comes off as a somewhat "exhausted" album. There's no real crashing rockers or bluesy stoner jams like in Let It Bleed or Beggar's Banquet. No interest in making fun music like in Satanic Majesties. It's simplistic but raw. Exhausted yet bursting with that Stones energy. It's just rock 'n roll. And maybe that's just all we need.
8.5/10
Interesting cuts include:
Brown Sugar
Sway
Sister M*rphine
B**ch
Dead Flowers
Moonlight Mile |
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xLegacyJoin Date: 2010-08-04
Post Count: 343 |
Yes. |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
I hate having to censor harmless words. >_> |
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Crash6351Join Date: 2008-10-17
Post Count: 21489 |
I have Sticky Fingers on Vinyl
Also have...
Exile on Main St.
Tattoo You
Greatest Hits Volume 2
More Hot Rocks
Thats all from the top of my head. |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
I have everything between Flowers and Some Girls, minus Let It Bleed and It's Only Rock N Roll on vinyl. >_>b |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
--EXILE ON MAIN STREET--
It's funny. I really, really don't want to write something about this. There's just too much to wrap my head around. It's not even all that great. The first disc IS pretty amazing. Can't beat the first disc. When the second one begins, however, they totally lose their stuff. So tell you what, to save us both the trouble, you go listen to the first disc and I'll go ahead and end this. Sound good?
5/10
Interesting cuts include:
Rocks Off
Rip This Joint
Tumbling Dice
Sweet Virginia
Torn And Frayed
Sweet Black Angel
Shine A Light |
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strafJoin Date: 2008-06-14
Post Count: 3625 |
--GOATS HEAD SOUP--
Unjustly hated, Goats Head Soup is the less sleazed-out follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Exile On Main St. I can't really say anything that hasn't already been said, so here's Robert Christgau's opinion on Goats Head Soup, which is almost exactly the same as mine:
"Except for the spavined "Dancing With Mr. D," and the oxymoronic "Can You Hear the Music," these are good songs. But the execution is slovenly. I don't mean sloppy, which can be exciting--I mean arrogant and enervated all at once. Mick's phrasing is always indolent, but usually it's calculated down to the last minibeat as well; here the words sometimes catch him yawning. Without trying to be "tight" the band usually grooves into a reckless, sweaty coherence; here they hope the licks will stand on their own. Only on "Star Star" the most outrageous Chuck Berry throwaway of the band's career, does this record really take off."
Did I cheat you out of a review? Yes.
6/10
Interesting cuts include:
100 Years Ago
Angie
Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
Star Star |
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I absolutely, whole'heartedly agree with you on account of the Beegar's Banquet and Exile on Mainstreet |
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:P Just most Rock n Roll is influenced by drugs. And Lucifer was the angel of music, so people freak out on music. I am a hardcore Jesus freak and I don't think all of Rock n Roll is. |
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And I forgive you for what you said. I apologize if I offended you as well |
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I swear...every thread I'm in..I'm haunted by you talking about the musician drug relationship XD but yeah.... |
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Hehehe. Well, I love music forum. I just love music. |
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NOW THAT.....is something we can agree on |
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