It's a very good Stones album but certainly not in the first division (Exile, LIB , Sticky Fingers etc etc).

It has aged a lot better than Steel Wheels and contains some great tracks inc Love Is Strong and two strong Keith tracks.

Great album.

Granted, lyrics mostly suck (but not always: New Faces, Mean Disposition, Through and Through are cool)

Granted, it's modeled on classic Stones

But it works: mature playing, mature singing, mature production. It does not feel like a pathetic attempt at staying young and cutting edge (BT, nor like a pathetic worn out album (AB: it's the album of great musicians at their twilight, doing what they like to do and doing it well.

A sign of a good album: even the lesser songs have something catchy about them. Moon is up and its drum sound, Brand New Car and Keith's background vocals, Out of tears and Mick's gorgeous chorus singing.

Classics to me: Love is strong, New Faces, The Worst, Through and Through.

But I enjoy the whole of it and often give it a spin.

They should have included The Storm, had less tracks and it would have been a total classic.

I have some fond memories of Voodoo Lounge as it ties in with the one and only time I went to one of their gigs, but ultimately I found both the record and concert disappointing for some reason.

I wish "You Got It Made" would have made the final cut.

...all good except for You Got Me Rocking...one of the biggest examples of Mick's sometimes lazy lyrical style that just makes you scratch your head....what was he thinking?...or not....

Yeah, it's the second half of the album that is very weak. And so without direction that it runs itself in the ground. "Faces" and "Moon" work on Side 1; but once you add all of Side 2 the album goes schizo.
Drop "Sparks", "Brand New Car", "Sweethearts", "Jugular and "Rainbows".
Add "Jump on Top" and "Storm". Thru and Thru shortened,once you take that whole end jam away, the song gets it's humor back. Have an uptempo closer like "I Go Wild". With the change in songs the album is not only better, but acquires acompletely different identity: loose and uptempo.

I started thinking about it in a different way - Ronnie is all over the album with some amazing playing (I think). Keith, though, doesn't do a whole lot that is demanding or even good really, just average. Love Is Strong and Moon Is Up are the only real deals with Voodoo and The Worst is very nice. The rest of it is just ordinary and downright boring.

anyone else not particularly fond of Love is Strong, which is essentially just a watered-down, recycled version of keith's wicked as it seems? ...the bridge on LIS is just a complete cheeseball...

The bridge on LIS? Explain where the bridge is because there is no bridge. It's just a two part song. That's it.

what are you scared of baby....it's more than just a dream......

That's not a bridge!

then why does mick yap out during some live versions of it, just before they get to it: "TAKE IT TO THE BRIDGE?" maybe he was talking about some other kinda bridge, i dunno....

seriously - of course it's a bridge - it bridges' the song's main section...what would you call it, skip?

sharks will cry, thats right up there with ku ku ka chu

It's a humdinger of an album. It kicks ass. Sparks Will Fly is cool. The music is simply great on that one. It's the If You Can't Rock Me of the 90s. Love Is Strong, You Got Me Rocking, The Worst. It goes on and on with it's greatness. I never understood the disliking of YGMR. It's a great one indeed.

JumpingKentFlash

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JumpingKentFlash
I never understood the disliking of YGMR. It's a great one indeed.

agree 100% , excellent song

hey, hey - you got me mocking now....

Hey... hey... is that a walker now?

[thepowergoats.com]

hey hey we make the money now hey hey

hey hey let's reuse ronnie's solo on rough justice now

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benon again
I`m very surprised with so high asssesment of Wandering Spirit between Stones fans.Don`t you hear differences between tasteless , ordinary one dimensional guitars on Jaggers album and Richards/Wood guitar work?Even poorest Stones song has classy guitars with really sophisticated sound.Acustics , electrics , they have spirit and taste.Back to subject - VL has one poor element for me - it is Daryll`s bass.That`s why swing has gone i`m sorry.

I can only speak for myself, but the reason why WS soars above the other post-Tattoo You output is first and foremost in the songwriting.
A song is only as good as it's written.
You can have the producer(s) tweak it however you want for better or worse - if you don't have a well-written song first, it all falls apart. Wandering Spirit is what Voodoo Lounge should have been.

[thepowergoats.com]

There is certainly more energy in the songs of Wandering Spirit than on Voodoo.

Love Is Strong is more of an A/B song. Take it to the bridge? As it's been discussed here before, there is no bridge in LIS when you listen to other songs like Loving Cup or Out Of Tears or Shattered. That 'bridge' part in LIS is more like a chorus than anything.

let's bridge the gap and call it a brorus...or a chridge, even...but at least on one guitar tab site, they think it's a bridge:

[www.guitar-music-tabs.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-08-23 22:26 by StonesTod.

voodoo lounge overall is a weak album and rarely produces the high moments that previous stones album,s did.

it has good songs on it though just not enough with a bit of bite to it.

love is strong is the best of the album followed by brand new car, then i go wild, the worst, out of tears, you got me rocking and blinded by rainbows.

moon is up and new faces are ok but not really strong enough which the album required.

"Moon Is Up" and "Mean Disposition" are 2 of the very best tunes after Bill Wyman left IMO..... I think that there's a lot of fillers on Voodoo Lounge.

I actually like Moon is Up.
One thing's for sure, they did some GREAT b-sides for the album (The Storm, I'm Gonna Drive, So Young, Jump On Top of Me), and much like ABB, they could have trimmed down a lot of songs, put the b-sides in proper and had a HELL of a better album!

[thepowergoats.com]

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Erik_Snow
"Moon Is Up" and "Mean Disposition" are 2 of the very best tunes after Bill Wyman left IMO..... I think that there's a lot of fillers on Voodoo Lounge.

well, when you have essentially a fillers album, you don't wanna clutter it up with too many good songs...

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow
"Moon Is Up" and "Mean Disposition" are 2 of the very best tunes after Bill Wyman left IMO..... I think that there's a lot of fillers on Voodoo Lounge.

well, when you have essentially a fillers album, you don't wanna clutter it up with too many good songs...

Hmmmm - that makes good sense, thx for enlightening me

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jamesfdouglas
I actually like Moon is Up.
One thing's for sure, they did some GREAT b-sides for the album (The Storm, I'm Gonna Drive, So Young, Jump On Top of Me), and much like ABB, they could have trimmed down a lot of songs, put the b-sides in proper and had a HELL of a better album!

Fully agreed. Why on earth did we have a Voodoo w/'Jugular' but no "The Storm" or 'Jump On Top Of Me', and a Bigger Bang w/generic rockers like "It Won't Take Long' when there were far more fun outtakes like 'Dont Wanna Go Home' and 'Under the Radar'?

Also, if they wanted to have a car/driving themed song on VL, I'd have rather had 'I'm Gonna Drive' instead of "Brand New Car".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-08-24 02:29 by theimposter.

ummm...i have it on good authority than BNC ain't about cars...

Loved the album,
then to see the concert, went to the Auckland show first night.....absolutley incredible !!!
Keith and Ronnie and Charlie getting things going and then Mick , just loping onto the stage to the thumping drums and guitars..."Not fade away" the crowd went wild.
ahhhh great memories , I think a good era.
and no other band could ever get that mood , they had a sense of mystery and aura about them.
the papers were full of stories about their stay...hookers, booze etc
cool times indeed.