Hand of Fate. Melody is a half-baked turd imo, as is Cherry oh Baby. And I always found Memory Motel too schmaltzy for my taste. But calling the album disastrous is stretching it!

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"Music is the frozen tapioca in the ice chest of history."

"Shit!... No shit, awright!"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-07-01 12:34 by Greg.

i wouldn´t call it "disastrous', but too short (only 8 songs is too little, even if the total ruuning time of BB is about 40 minutes and not shorter than other Stones albums with 10 songs).

my favourite: hey negrita!

Yeah it was indeed regarded as disastrous when it was released. But Fool to cry and Hand of fate just sounded great in concert, and later on - as it happened with many Stones albums - many people including me began to appreciate the album, with songs like Crazy mama and Memory motel (remembered when being played live in concert) comin to mind. Hey negrita seems to be another favourite.

I really like Foll to cry best. The Stones tried out new sounds and falsetto lead singing on that one.

Memory Motel and Hand of Fate save the album from being a disaster. It sure would have been if they were replaced with tracks as inconsequential as Hey Negrita or Melody.

Couple of great ones on it,for sure.
Best ?.......................
Ah,yes..............Memory Motel,.............damned hot again today !

black & blue is not disastrous it is a fukking great album.
lots of good tunes and very good sound.

I think the title of this thread somehow stresses the weak point of the great Black and Blue album: It doesn't contain a really strong standout track, like Brown Sugar, or Gimme Shelter. And the great tracks it has had been done better before (Memory Motel, as great as it is, pales in comparison to the warm tenderness of Moonight Mile; Crazy Mama doesn't better Tumbling Dice; Hot Stuff doesn't outfunk "Fingerprint File" and so on). So as fine an album it is, Black and Blue continued what had begun with Goats Head Soup (in a way even with Exile) - The Stones playing up to their image, because there was no way left to top their previous archivements. You simply can't top the top, I reckon.

"Memory Hotel" gets my vote.
I always loved the provocative 'blondie'-poster that went on to promote the album, BTW...
And I'd like to hang the person who called this a 'disastrous' album!

Memory Motel - from a great album.

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Greenblues
I think the title of this thread somehow stresses the weak point of the great Black and Blue album: It doesn't contain a really strong standout track, like Brown Sugar, or Gimme Shelter. And the great tracks it has had been done better before (Memory Motel, as great as it is, pales in comparison to the warm tenderness of Moonight Mile; Crazy Mama doesn't better Tumbling Dice; Hot Stuff doesn't outfunk "Fingerprint File" and so on). So as fine an album it is, Black and Blue continued what had begun with Goats Head Soup (in a way even with Exile) - The Stones playing up to their image, because there was no way left to top their previous archivements. You simply can't top the top, I reckon.

It doesn't have standout tracks? Actually, it has 7 and only one filler (Cherry).

C

Best rocker: Hand Of Fate
Best blues tune: Melody
Best ballad: Memory Motel
Best funk tune: Hey Negrita (my personal favourite)
Best disco tune: Hot Stuff
Best reggae tune: Cherry Oh Baby

This tells it all. The album is so diverse, and yet so well functioning as a unit. Fantastic production and sound. My only complaint is that there are too few songs on it...

I see what you mean, liddas, but I guess you can follow my point too. There is a reason why it wasn't well received at the time. B&B is a great album, but in a different way than their past archivements. In spite of it's "Hot Stuff" and "Crazy Mama" and "Shake It Up, Now" refrains it's not a "hot" or exiting album. It's more like a well produced, knowingly crafted "by numbers" effort that turned out amazingly well, so good in fact that I hesitate to point out one certain track.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-07-01 14:26 by Greenblues.

Crazy Mama and Memory Motel are my personal favorites .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-07-01 14:36 by boston2006.

Memory Motel unquestionably. One of Jagger & Richards' finest moments.

Why cant people just listen too the album as a summing up of where the Stones were at the time,We cant compare everything to the 68-72 period,they moved on for better and worst,Black and Blue is great.

Coming Down Again

<There is a reason why it wasn't well received at the time.>

The same happened with Exile, remember. And the arguments were the same: "No stand out-tracks".

However, on Black'n'Blue there are stand out-tracks. Songs like Memory Motel, Hot Stuff, Hey Negrita - and even the single, Fool To Cry are great, great songs.

i love black and blue

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DandelionPowderman
<There is a reason why it wasn't well received at the time.>

The same happened with Exile, remember. And the arguments were the same: "No stand out-tracks".

Yeah, that's right of course. But then Exile is rather an album drawing from a certain "feel" than from individual tracks. Maybe that's also the case with Black and Blue. Mind you,"standout" can also be referred to only the tracks on the album . That's the reason why even an album with strong individual tracks, might be viewed as being "without standout tracks". But I'm getting into nitpicking now, I admit. Everytime I hear the first bars of "Crazy Mama", my foot starts tapping, and I'm wearing a big smile on my face!



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2009-07-02 19:22 by Greenblues.

One of my favorite records. Fav songs : mermory motel, hand of fate, hey negrita

To me, - there are some great songs on B&B.

I really like: Hot Stuff, Memory Motel, Hand of Fate, and Melody!
Fool to cry and Hey Negrita are good too.

This makes already 6 strong tracks on that album!

Leaving only Cherry oh Baby and Crazy Mama being weaker/ or filler material.

Crazy Mama is actually a nice rocker.But somehow I always found it not strong enough for a real good Stones album closer. And - the track could have been played/ produced better!
One or two other/ better songs and Black & Blue would have been a highlight!

Memory Motel

Hey Negrita for me. I like Jagger on Memory Hotel, but I never considered it a 'real' Stones song as no Stone plays guitar on it.

Mathijs

The Stones did not have a disastrous album until 1986

great stuff to me - I liked this album right from its release

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Mathijs
Hey Negrita for me. I like Jagger on Memory Hotel, but I never considered it a 'real' Stones song as no Stone plays guitar on it.

Mathijs

Nevermind, it happened before. Shine a light from Exile, for example ...

C

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Mathijs
Hey Negrita for me. I like Jagger on Memory Hotel, but I never considered it a 'real' Stones song as no Stone plays guitar on it.
Mathijs

Well, yeah. But in this case it was the time of the long guitarist hunt.
So they are kinda excused.

And because of this we got some of the best guitarplayin on their albums:
Hot stuff, Hand of fate, Memory Motel, Hey Negrita, even Fool to cry.
Great stuff !

It's in a recent thread. I'll look around.

Yeah - Slave is the best song from Black And Blue. Or Worried About You. Ha ha.

Here you go, the founder of the 'disastrous' comment:

ukulele69 from the Ronnie Wood Appreciation Thread, page 1, last post on page, and I quote, severely edited:

"In my opinion, there was not another person on the face of the Earth who could have stepped into the Stones as well as Ron Wood did. And, after the disastrous Black and Blue, they came back with the powerful (and fun) Some Girls."

Melody

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CousinC

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Mathijs
Hey Negrita for me. I like Jagger on Memory Hotel, but I never considered it a 'real' Stones song as no Stone plays guitar on it.
Mathijs

Well, yeah. But in this case it was the time of the long guitarist hunt.
So they are kinda excused.

And because of this we got some of the best guitarplayin on their albums:
Hot stuff, Hand of fate, Memory Motel, Hey Negrita, even Fool to cry.
Great stuff !

I think that's a bullshit reason...My belief is KR was so out of it, he either stole material from the guitarists they were auditioning a la Exile and Graham, or people like Mandel and Perkins started to play riffs and Keith called them his own?

Are there any Led Zeppelin songs where Jimmy is not playing? The Who with no Pete?

My suspicion is The Stones stole a lot of material and called it there own. And then again, I could be full of shit?