I've always loved this song. A bizarre sense of irony is Mick's singing on Dirty Work (LP) seems to ape this song's style of how he's screaming the lyrics while still singing. Meaning, at this moment I can't think of another song that Mick sings in a similar way except for the few on Dirty Work.

This track has a lot of energy to it. It just attacks - and chugs. Great album opener. There's nothing else on the album with the same or similar intensity with possibly exception to Dance Little Sister.

Some great guitar work - and sounds, which they did capture on this album quite well I think - as well. As some people have pointed out that the album is somewhat a bloated state of rock, they did seem to experiment a bit with tones and this song presents that. The bridge is what I consider to be a classic Stones bridge - it sort of goes out of orbit for a bit with some funky shit going on and then gets back in there. It's certainly one of my faves. I thought they did a fairly decent version of it for the Licks tour.

I too love this song! Great opening track. But I am not so sure that Jagger is shouting out the lyrics, but adding more dramatic bellows that seem to be almost a parody of the Rock scene, like he is aghast how silly the whole rock scene has become. Great interplay and I love the break down to the fuzz bass with Charlie just keeping wicked timing. IORR is a great disc and i don't find it bloated, but a very acclectic collection of what they do best. Great rock. Gospel. Reggae. And hard core funk/R and B. One of my favs.

IORR would be almost worthy of its predecessors if the mix didn't suck so bad.

"Now who's that black girl with the bright blue haiirrr?"


Love it!

Great song! love the bass solo.I wish they would have performed it more often and it would have been a good replacement for IORR in the live set.Was 2003 the last time it was performed live?-Ronnie used a wah-wah pedal too didn't he?

Sounds LIVE in the studio.

The first new Rolling Stones song I ever heard that I thought sounded a bit contrived - a song about rocking instead of just a great rock song. Still, I loved it in the medley with "Cloud" on the TOTA in '75, and the song is certainly light years better than things like "Rock and a Hard Place" that came later.

Excellent song. The album is great too.

Go Dawgs!

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71Tele
The first new Rolling Stones song I ever heard that I thought sounded a bit contrived - a song about rocking instead of just a great rock song. Still, I loved it in the medley with "Cloud" on the TOTA in '75, and the song is certainly light years better than things like "Rock and a Hard Place" that came later.

yeah i agree it is contrived. i like the song but something is missing, fun lyrics but it's a toss off track really. personally i think the outtake Heart of Love would've made a superior lead track for IORR.

Honestly I always liked it, but enjoyed it even more on the Licks tour. I am not saying it was a better rendition during that era, but it had more juice, more mojo. To me, Keith took more command of the riffing 'Brown Sugar' or 'JJF' style, and Ronnie kind of made it all his own. I think the solo parts actually suited Ron's style as well and possibly better than Mick Taylor's. They waited way too long to bust that one out again. I saw them do it in Columbus, OH in 2002 and it was fantastic.

great live in 75-76, but horrible phrasing on the licks tour, the over-emphasis on the last word of the 'chorus' lines by mick and the back-up stooge was a wretched mistake, yet another butchery from the vegas era.

Palais Royale 2002. A pleasing surprise to me.

One of the absolute highlights in the back-catalogue, especially in the connection with "Get off of My Cloud" in 75/76. There is a version from the IORR studio boots that sounds analytical and clear and has not the muffled character of the original studio version. I think it could be on "It's only Goats Head Soup, but We Like it".

Quite many positive reviews here so I don't feel like too much spoiling the party. To me it just sounds as the band who have just found having running out of fresh ideas and having anything more to say, so they end up repeating their old ideas with a bit of self-parody (but not enough).

I think the song and the parody-element comes better through in 1975/6 tour. Perhaps the song - and the whole album - might have been better with Ronnie????

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-12 16:51 by Doxa.

Do you think it was Mick displaying that he was actually bored with rock'n'roll in general? I find that difficult to believe. It must be a dig at someone, some chick.

This is my favourite rocker to open a stones album. Great from start to finish. All stones playing at full cylinders. From the initial drum roll to when old bill doubles the outro making the finale something else (PLEASE listen to the bass!!!). The bass drums interlude is simply amazing and then that wonderful keith lick ... and then Taylor's tangled solo! All parts of the song are mixed up, it makes you want to dance! WHAT A SONG Live 75 they didn't fully realise the potential of this killer. In 2003 it blew me away!

C

A fine analysis by liddas makes me wondering the strangeness of this track.... I agree that all the cylinders all on and full, and if one analyses each part in terms of its own (the structure of the song, lyrics, Charlie's back beat, Keith's riff, Micks' contribution, Bill...), all of them they are all just fine... Theoretically it is a great song, even a perfect Stones song: all that is needeed is there... but for some reason, the final outcome just does not click. I have had this feeling from the very first time I heard it, and still have it when listening to it. I think the true inspiration is missing. It is Stones-by-numbers. Perhaps for the very first time ever.

Of course it is a "Jumpin' Jack Flash" compared to something mediocre like "You Got Me Rocking" (this is an unfair comparison), but still it sets my mood negative when I start to listen the album, and I never get over of it.

- Doxa

Now when I more think of it, and listening to that 2002 live version: if they had released the song anytime after DIRTY WORK it would have been their biggest hit ever since. I mean all teh rockers, say, in VOODOO LOUNGE or BRIDDGES TO BABYLON or A BIGGER BANG are total mediocre album fillers (in every sense: riffs, structure, lyrics, etc.), starting from "Love Is Strong", compared to it. Mixed by the best gear available, it would have been "Start Me Up" of the 90's (or the 00's).

- Doxa

"Contrived." "Negative." Good words for this song. Too much effort to sell it with too little result. The 2nd consecutive opening album dud. Taylor opens the song and plays some nice leads, but the repetitive riff goes no where. I'm not sure exactly when the band's put downs and negativism started to wear on me, but over time it has become a distasteful trademark.

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Doxa
A fine analysis by liddas makes me wondering the strangeness of this track.... I agree that all the cylinders all on and full, and if one analyses each part in terms of its own (the structure of the song, lyrics, Charlie's back beat, Keith's riff, Micks' contribution, Bill...), all of them they are all just fine... Theoretically it is a great song, even a perfect Stones song: all that is needeed is there... but for some reason, the final outcome just does not click. I have had this feeling from the very first time I heard it, and still have it when listening to it. I think the true inspiration is missing. It is Stones-by-numbers. Perhaps for the very first time ever.

Of course it is a "Jumpin' Jack Flash" compared to something mediocre like "You Got Me Rocking" (this is an unfair comparison), but still it sets my mood negative when I start to listen the album, and I never get over of it.
- Doxa

Yeah Doxa, I somewhat agree, I've always thought from the very first listen that it just missed. It has all the ingredients, but just misses . . .

the '75 version rocks and that 2002 version above is pretty good, Ronnie actually sounds funky, but Keith just doesn't deliver, or perhaps its the mix and his guitar is not up front where it should be. Jagger's vocal in 2002 just doesn't do it for me . . .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-13 06:07 by NorthShoreBlues2.

Great song. Also loved the way Mick sang it in the mid 70s tours. His melody line in the verses is very catchy and cleverly easier and different to sing live.

Great riff too. Mick's I believe?

If You Can't Rock Me is a going through the motions type Stones song and a similar style of song to You Got Me Rocking to a degree, but it's a whole lot more likeable. Even when the Stones were off form in the seventies and struggling for inspiration they were still enjoyable to listen to. However, If You Can't Rock Me is very hollow sounding in pretty much every respect, and in a way the track only emphasises the greatness of the Stones when they were on form, because for some artists a track like this would be amongst their high points. Those who do not follow the Stones possibly imagine that this represents a typical Stones song,yet thankfully these type songs were very rare prior to the It's Only Rock 'N' Roll album. The song pretty much parodies the image of being a rock star and playing in a rock 'n' roll band, because it is very forced and cliche driven, and it lacks any kind of subtelty (like for example the measured tempo of Tumbling Dice), which has always been an aspect to the Stones sound which has contrasted with their more mainstream rock/heavy rock contempories. The It's Only Rock 'N' Roll album as a whole (and title track single) is very much what its title suggests, which is a large step down from their previous efforts (including the often subdued and melancholly, but far more intricate if a little unfocused Goats Head Soup). The Stones for the first time are acting as a brand, instead of creative musical artists. However, there is still pretty much an air of decadence which is still quite intoxicating which would pretty much be lost when the Stones decided to repeat the same type musical parody and formula in their post Tattoo You output but in very much a cleaned up way.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-13 09:16 by Edward Twining.

Would be a good sober-opener for arenas

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Doxa
Theoretically it is a great song, even a perfect Stones song: all that is needeed is there... but for some reason, the final outcome just does not click.
- Doxa

All I can say is that whenever I cover it with the band I play with (that is not a stones cover band and only I and the other guitarist are stones fans), everybody gets a kick from it. It has such a positive vibe, be it the chord progression, be it the space you have to play with the beat or to improvise that the energy it generates is absolutely contagious. Live, it is always a success. What happened to me is exactly what I guess happened to the stones when they gave it a try in view of the lix tour. From the very first Toronto gig you can see how into it they were, and how positively the crowd reacted. I think that all this tells a lot of the intrinsic power of the song.


C

This number is created in studio and there doesn`t exist good live version in my opinion.Album version is great .Fantastic mood from early 70`s.

I love this song. The one thing that mars it a little is the mix. I can't put my finger on but bothe GHS and IORR are not mixed all that well. Better production would have helped both albums but I still love both of them anyways.

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Edward Twining
If You Can't Rock Me is a going through the motions type Stones song and a similar style of song to You Got Me Rocking to a degree, but it's a whole lot more likeable. Even when the Stones were off form in the seventies and struggling for inspiration they were still enjoyable to listen to. However, If You Can't Rock Me is very hollow sounding in pretty much every respect, and in a way the track only emphasises the greatness of the Stones when they were on form, because for some artists a track like this would be amongst their high points. Those who do not follow the Stones possibly imagine that this represents a typical Stones song,yet thankfully these type songs were very rare prior to the It's Only Rock 'N' Roll album. The song pretty much parodies the image of being a rock star and playing in a rock 'n' roll band, because it is very forced and cliche driven, and it lacks any kind of subtelty (like for example the measured tempo of Tumbling Dice), which has always been an aspect to the Stones sound which has contrasted with their more mainstream rock/heavy rock contempories. The It's Only Rock 'N' Roll album as a whole (and title track single) is very much what its title suggests, which is a large step down from their previous efforts (including the often subdued and melancholly, but far more intricate if a little unfocused Goats Head Soup). The Stones for the first time are acting as a brand, instead of creative musical artists. However, there is still pretty much an air of decadence which is still quite intoxicating which would pretty much be lost when the Stones decided to repeat the same type musical parody and formula in their post Tattoo You output but in very much a cleaned up way.

A very good analysis, particulary the contrast with GHS, which was more downbeat, but had better songs, IMO. I remember thinking even when IORR came out that it was a bit strange that there were two songs about rocking (or rock & roll). It seemed they were a bit bored and devoid of inspiration. It sounded like Mick was tired of being a rock singer, rather than celebrating it (if you read the words to the title track carefully). This was the first time I had ever thought that about the Stones. Even so, most of the material makes the more recent output pale in comparison (still can't abide Short & Curlies or If You Really Want To Be My Friend though).

"Now I ain't lookin' for no pretty face, oh no" .... great moment.

Perfect opening rocker...

It's only rock n roll but I like it. Nice energy. Love it.

Always loved this tune and think it rocks just fine. A funny side note....when I first got into the Stones in my mid to late teens, I thought the lyrics to this was "got one hard on and it hurts like hell.....if you can't rock me somebody will"