Read a quote recently regarding this album that pretty much sums up my opinion of this album:

"Everything that made Keith's first solo album fun is reduced to a formula here; everything's a rerun, from the opening chords rehashing "Gimme Shelter" to the mandatory album-closing ballad ("Demon"). The band's the same on every track (hardly any guest appearances), and the sound is depressingly monotonous. The real easy-to-please fans will still find something to like in the classic sound of "Eileen," a couple of nice licks on "Yap Yap," and the overlong "Words Of Wonder," but overall this is shockingly weak."

I think his first outing is 9/10. An absolute cracker. Yet he seems to have put less effort in with this alsbum than any he's ever been associated with.

Anybody really love this LP?

>> Anybody really love this LP? <<

yeah i really do :E
that "reviewer" isn't really paying attention, is he/she.

Yeah I dunno. I've been trying to find anything interesting in it for 15+ years and I just don't get it.

The first song is just jammed into a pointless and uninteresting existence for mine and the LP doesn't really improve from there to me.

That said the same reviewer said "don't own a copy of Tattoo You".

That's a very unhealthy attitude towards a masterpiece...

ps: what kind of "criticism" is "the band's the same on every track (hardly any guest appearances)", anyway -
if that's someone's criterion for assessing albums then ... then why are they assessing albums in the first place?

I like the album allot.
It`s not only a Keith album, it`s a band album, if you listen good you can hear a band going to different directions in every song, kind of jazz thing.
It`s also a time in Keith`s carreer were you hear that he is comfortable with his guitar playing, the same you somethimes hear on Bridges to Babylon.

I think it's great, it's Keith all around

The album is amzingly unfocused IMO. It's like a long and boring jam session. His solo songs often go nowhere.That's the problem with Keith. He can jam and comes up with good riffs but he can not put it into a context or structure. I think in the Stones that's Jagger's part.

That saying, I like Main Offender as a kind of "Easy Listening" album. It's great having it playing in the background while your friends over at your house and you have a drink and chat with them.

"The album is amzingly unfocused IMO. It's like a long and boring jam session. His solo songs often go nowhere.That's the problem with Keith. He can jam and comes up with good riffs but he can not put it into a context or structure. I think in the Stones that's Jagger's part."

Very well put Bimmelzerbott.

I think Jagger is definately the structure man of the two - as well as a great all round songwriter anyway.

The songs on this album just generally lack focus or direction and lyrically it's mumble and I'm not exactly sure what Jordan's part re songwriting would have been.

Talk is Cheap was 10 very easily identifiable songs - most of which seem to have been written (for the mostpart) before deciding to hit the recording studio. I know of course some would have come from jamming - but as a rule the songs have shape and focus.

I find this lacking on Main Offender.

Quote
with sssoul
>> Anybody really love this LP? <<

yeah i really do :E
that "reviewer" isn't really paying attention, is he/she.

Yes, he is. He's right, Main Offender sound like a demo at best.

Hate It When You Leave is probably one of Keith's most inspired works. Initially, I liked Talk is Cheap better than Main Offender, but as the years go by, I find that I listen to most of the songs on Main Offender more.

I think it's great. Maybe not as strong as TIC, but still good.

I like everything but "words of wonder" have to agree it's too long and a bit boring. The rest of the album is great to me.

I like Main Offenfder.

Hate It When You Leave is a beautiful soul ballad and Demon, Eileen and Running Too Deep are all excellent numbers.

I do prefer Talk Is Cheap, however.

I like Main Offender better than Talk Is Cheap, and the reason is exactly what the original review didn't like about it: like wild horse pete said, it's a band album. This is a band who has gotten to know each other, no "guest appearances" required. Care to say where that quote comes from, squando? Automotive Weekly?

seriously, I like Talk Is Cheap too of course, but I don't get why some fans are so chauvinistic about it... What's an "identifiable song"? Sounds as if some of you have your ears on training wheels. Do you want someone to hold up cards that say "VERSE" and "CHORUS"? "THIS IS THE FUNK NUMBER." "CUE THE 50s ROCK 'N' ROLL." "THAT'S TAYLOR PLAYING." "YOU GUESSED IT--OPEN G." And when has a clear "structure" been something a Stones song needs? Pretty weak compliment to say, "That Goddess in the Doorway record--great structure!"

with sssoul, your point about guest stars is important (beyond the reviewer's inabilities) and connects directly, in my opinion, with wild_horse_pete's observation that this is a band's album.
One of the attractive things about MO for me is that there are no guests or special added features--it's straight up about its identity and it is focused in its musical range and feel. There's no Dust Brothers, or other ringers brought in, there's just a band that works well together. I'll take that any day. Comparing it to Talk Is Cheap may be both an obvious thing and somewhat unfair. As others have argued, Talk Is Cheap may be the best Stones album of the eighties. While MO may not merit that status, it's still a great album and I would be grateful if the band put out something at approached its strengths today.

I love this album
it´s the great SECOND album

I prefer MO to TIC. He got better. The criticisms this "reviewer" throws out sound very shallow. If structure is important they should not be bothering with the Winos to begin with. rarely have I seen a statement more dense than "The band's the same on every track - no guest appearances"; the opening chords rehashing "Gimme Shelter"??? So every guitar line that is descending is a rehash of GS? And Keith, solo has not done enough albums to have anything be obligatory.

Quote
squando
...
"Everything that made Keith's first solo album fun is reduced to a formula here; everything's a rerun, from the opening chords rehashing "Gimme Shelter" to the mandatory album-closing ballad ("Demon"). The band's the same on every track (hardly any guest appearances), and the sound is depressingly monotonous. The real easy-to-please fans will still find something to like in the classic sound of "Eileen," a couple of nice licks on "Yap Yap," and the overlong "Words Of Wonder," but overall this is shockingly weak."
...
Anybody really love this LP?

yep, Me!

He/She/It.... whoever you're quoting,is probably also liver than you'll ever be....

Like TIC better, but Hate it When You Leave is a fantastic song.

I have to admit I dont enjoy as a whole as much as the first one-but theres still some GREAT stuff on it, like 999, Wicked, and Hate It When You Leave(love it when they do the Temps impersonations!).

<<I like everything but "words of wonder" have to agree it's too long and a bit boring>>

I think it's - along with Runnin' Too Deep - the best track on the album. I wouldn't mind having five more minutes of that bass. As an album it may well be somewhat unstructured, but I don't really think it works against it. Overall a great effort imo



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-06-01 11:42 by Sohoe.

Main Offender is just pure Keith from start to finish. It's perfect and I love it!

999 **** Interesting tune. Has a bit of an ominous feeling to it. It was good live too.

Wicked As It Seems ***** Great tune - the bastard child song of the One Hit riffage and the (so obvious) father of Love Is Strong. Great tune, excellent groove, intimidating. Classic Keith. I'm sorry - Classic Keef.

Eileen **** Nice rocking ballad. Very smooth and seamless. Perhaps a bit by the numbers but then...it's Keith Richards and he's doing what he does. And the EP was fantastic with the live How I Wish.

Words Of Wonder *** Great idea, great loping tune. A little too long possibly. And I love that Keith left his bum bass note in the tune. Live this was incredible.

Yap Yap ** A bit of a bore here. Eyes and ears closed on this one when they did it obviously. It's too soft for not being soft enough (the proper 'soft' - think Losing My Touch, How Can I Stop). A bit silly even. Must be an English thing (ha ha).

Bodytalks **1/2 Another odd one that is seemingly a by the numbers tune. Nothing special and a bit annoying actually.

Hate It When You Leave **** This is excellent. Although that Baby dude's 'singing' is the only thing wrong with it.

Runnin' Too Deep ***** Great riffing, great everything. Excellent tune.

Will But You Won't ***** A bit of a repeat on Too Deep but I like that he explored the riff etc...that much more. Fantastic tune. A little more intense than Too Deep.

Demon ***** One of Keith's favourite little licks that is turned into a beautiful song. One of his strongest songs I think.

I love this album and I actually play it more than Talk Is Cheap (and of all the Stones albums of the 1980s, it's probably second or third most listened to behind Tattoo You and Undercover). But the funny thing is TIC is probably the better album - MO is a loose album, the joys of having a played band and it 'shows' with the overall loose tightness of the songs on this album. TIC sounds more rehearsed and honed (and as we can guess a bit more focused seeing it was his first solo album) whereas MO is a bit more organic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-06-03 01:52 by skipstone.

That is well put: TIC is probably the better album, yet I play MO more. That is pretty much the way I see it. The one thing I find so baffling, that I think Keith must have done it on purpose, is to sequence Runnin Too Deep and Will But You Wont back to back. Same riff, and even same key. Brilliant. The whole ending avalanche of WBYW is awesome. It's like a symphony of open tuned guitars droning at you; wave after wave. Acoustic guitars in there; and way on top that Babi Floyd growling.

"Care to say where that quote comes from, squando? Automotive Weekly?"

Sorry everyone should have posted the source link before. They're called "Wilson and Alroys record reviews":

[www.warr.org]

And open-g I'm sorry but your point has flown straight passed me...

Quote
squando
"Care to say where that quote comes from, squando? Automotive Weekly?"

Sorry everyone should have posted the source link before. They're called "Wilson and Alroys record reviews":

[www.warr.org]

And open-g I'm sorry but your point has flown straight passed me...

ah, I should have known. Those guys never have anything interesting to say. They really could be writing for a car magazine. As I recall, their tastes run toward late-period Genesis, not rock and roll.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-06-02 15:34 by cc.

MO is a superb album, with one of Keith's best songs ever (Hate it when you leave). One prefect album if Eileen was left as a B side and Runnin Too Deep and Will But You Wont were not in a sequence.

C

Good album, but with fewer great songs than TIC, imo. Songs like Running Too Deep, Will But You Won't and Body Talks are not among Keith's best. But all in all a good album. Wicked As It Seems, Eileen and Hate It When You Leave are masterpieces. Words Of Wonder is also good.

"with one of Keith's best songs ever (Hate it when you leave)."

Man just cannot get my head around that one - I think it's terrible.

My review is this:

A friend of mine had gotten an advance "cassette" copy at Chrysalis Records back in the day and gave it to me...I thought it was unmixed demo's...when I got the real CD and found out it was the exact cassette that I had been listening to I felt sick because I thought it was aweful and so far from Talk Is Cheap.

I couldn't let myself believe Keith would put out a subpar record...and I played it and played it and played it...and then lightning struck and I got the record.

Aside from "Body Talk" which I still believe should have been left off...the album is great...and "YAP YAP" and "Hate It When You Leave" are two of the best Keith songs he has ever done. I listen to this album like crazy...it's flatness and lack of effects have turned into a favorite of mine and became the blueprint for Grunge/Alternative 90's rock and getting away from the big 80's sound/reverb.

PECMAN