After a long long time yesterday I listened to Soup from A to Z, at full volume (Universal remaster). Never liked it too much but it is a very good album. Here are my very personal impressions.

The production (Jagger?) has good taste and once again assembled a terrific group of fantastic musicians. All songs are wonderfully played and arranged. Its the album in its unity that I have problems with, because it seems to me that the songs are not well assorted. I can remember when I first heard Soup, years ago, I thought it was some kind of collection, not a true album. I was not at all surprised when I learned that there are hardly two songs with the same line up!

Dancin is a good opener. I have the feeling that the tempo gets faster of a couple of points in the first minute or so, but it could be only my impression. The band is tight, Jagger sings well. I like the fact that the Stones feel confortable with opening an album with a very unconventional and uncomemrcial song.

100 years. Is any "stone" indispensable to make a good stones song? This could be the leitmotif of the whole album (with Bill and Keith almost missing in action). In any case this is a superb track. Very funky. Very well written. The "lazy bones" part is a Jagger materpiece. Superb work in the keyboard section, supporting a great Taylor in his best "Shaft" mood!

Down again and once again I forced myself not to press the "next" button. This is the worst song Keith ever recorded and one of the most boring songs of the entire Stones catalog. I have not changed my mind yet.

Heartbreaker. Superb. Simply superb. A force of the nature. Love the balance between the strong and soft part. Very elegant and subtle.

Angie. I love this song, and to my ears the album version remains unsurpassed. Nicky Hopkins rules, but keith's stunning work on the acoustic always makes me wonder what the album could have been if he was a little more into it.

Train. Good fun song in the wrong position. Dull as a Bside opener. But it is a very good song. Love the backing vocals on the "but I sure loved the way that she laughed and took my money" line! Standing ovation to whoever is playing the bass (Taylor? Bill? doesn't sound Keith to me).

Hide your love. What a contarst to hear Mick J on keyes in an abum dominated by Hopkins! Its Soup's "you gotta move".

Winter. Good but not great ballad. It echoes Mile, but this time the two Micks don't cook a masterpiece. Still, good cooks can't spoil the Soup.

Music. What a nice song. Wierdly assembled. Could have been a great single some 5 years earlier.

Star Star. The Stones, at last, at what they do best. Complete line up in the house, Ian to boogie, MickT and Keith that play with the time on the backbeat, Jagger is Jagger. As much as I love this album, Star Star is the song that urges me to pick up the guitar and sing and play along!

C

The most beautiful RS work !!!!!!!!!!!

I happen to really like Coming Down Again (it certainly is no where near the worst thing Keith has ever done, that wouldn't happen for a quite a while yet) and although Angie is a brilliant song I can't stand it.

I've always loved Heartbreaker. There's something supreme about it, possibly the simplicity of it combined with the heaviness of it even though it's got a ton of room to breathe. It just has a 'something' going on that is beyond awesome. It has amazing sound to it.

100 Years Ago is possibly one of their best songs ever. Fukcing great song.

I do like Mr D. There's something brilliant about it, perhaps it's the lick that is just how Keith played Satisfaction on the Let It Bleed tour only in A.

Can You Hear The Music is outstanding - it's that cool jacket in the closet that's fallen to the floor and has been overlooked because no one looked in the right place. The guitar going through the Leslie makes the vibe. Overall it's one of their most interesting songs in an obtuse way.

Although I like Silver Train, I really do wish they would have put Criss Cross Man/Save Me on instead.

Star Star seems Stones By Numbers to me. I like it but it's not - there's nothing brilliant about it and it's only the lyrics really that have made it to be what it is. Otherwise it's just a throwaway tune really, standard Chuck Berry music.

It seems that Mick is comfortable with his voice on this album. He's a little more loose on this record than the 4 before it, if that makes any sense. The production, overall, has this essence to it that is foggy, swampy and yet very defined with an odd kind of dull brightness to it. Great album.

I've never been able to put my finger on why Silver Train doesn't sound better. It's a great, rocking tune, and Mick T is blazing on slide, but for some reason it doesn't "gel" and doesn't have that dirty rocking feel to it; not sure if it's the production, or whether the band that made Exile just wasn't the same anymore (and you could argue the same about Star Star).

I love the old TV performance though. It must be on youtube somewhere. It's great.

I always felt that this album was the beginning of the end of greatness for the Stones.
To me, the overall mood is somewhat depressed and I agree with you about the disc being a collection of songs. I've always felt that the songs would have been better if they were added to other albums instead of some of the filler from them. Like mixing GHS with IORR and Black and Blue and put out 2 albums instead of 3.

They sounded like they really weren't into making the disc and given what may have been going on with the band at the time, it;s easy to see why.

I always felt that GHS was like Emotional Rescue in it;s mish mash of styles and feeling of no overall direction.

I felt that Some Girls was a masterpiece and then we got Emotional Rescue and Tattoo you which was the end of another good era of music.

Unfortunatley, we havent had another great era and given their advanced ages, it;s unlikey we will see another one.

liddas , i agree with (nearly )everything you say but
i love coming down again , its wonderful ,it fits pefectly among the songs and of course is head and shoulders above "im losing my tou-ho-houch."
winter , i love the way how two chords can set the scene and the atmosphere of the song immediatly and it doesn't let you down.
star star excactly , you hit the nail on the head , i like the inverted 12 bar ,pity the words are a bit rude ,(a bit?) i would love to sing this
goats head soup? perfect album for me .

On the contrary, Coming Down Again is the most heartfelt, honest and moving piece of work Keith has ever done. Sorry you can't hear that.

I still like @#$%& a lot..

In general most of the songs seem to be so very pointless, same with IORR album.

I didn't know songs had to have a point. Relevance is irrelevant in music.

Great great album

100 years ago is musically maybe the best Rolling Stones song ever, as a composition and as for its studio performance.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-15 17:46 by kleermaker.

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His Majesty
In general most of the songs seem to be so very pointless, same with IORR album.

Pointless? Many of the songs convey a melancholy and longing unusual for a Stones record (100 Years, Coming Down Again, Angie, Winter). Very strong lyrics. If anything, it's the rockers like Star Star that sound a little forced.

GHS is one of my absolute favorite albums, only Sticky and EOMS rates higher. Star Star didn't pass the test of time though, it just sound foolish/stupid to me nowadays. There's also some really nice guitarwork on it which never really comes through -maybe because of the way it's mixed? Anyway, over all, great songs, great playing, love the album!

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S.T.P
GHS is one of my absolute favorite albums, only Sticky and EOMS rates higher. Star Star didn't pass the test of time though, it just sound foolish/stupid to me nowadays. There's also some really nice guitarwork on it which never really comes through -maybe because of the way it's mixed? Anyway, over all, great songs, great playing, love the album!

Totally agreed.

Coming Down Again and Winter are two of my favourites on the album. Coming Down Again is one of the most perfect tracks to listen to when you've just got in after a heavy night out. In particular, the line "where are all my friends, coming down again" is so perfect. And the way the music just takes you down so gently, it's really soothing and perfectly captures what the lyrics are saying. A masterpiece in my opinion.

And Winter, up there with the very best Jagger lyrics. The start of the 2nd verse where he sniffs suggestively...well it's (sniff) sure been a hard hard winter is another classic bit of suggestiveness. Is it a drug reference or has he merely got a chill from that cold cold weather. (It got many of us debating that one at the time).

Two tracks that reveal the softer side of the Stones. Both very dreamy and superbly played. Classics.

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Cafaro
I always felt that this album was the beginning of the end of greatness for the Stones. To me, the overall mood is somewhat depressed .

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Silver Dagger
Coming Down Again and Winter are two of my favourites on the album.
Two tracks that reveal the softer side of the Stones. Both very dreamy and superbly played. Classics.

Love it or loathe it, I guess most of us agree that this album represented some sort of coming down/comedown for the Stones. So IMO "Coming Down Again" should have been the title track of the album, representing the more laid back, weary style of the album.

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Cafaro
I always felt that GHS was like Emotional Rescue in it's mish mash of styles and feeling of no overall direction.

I guess you're right, comparing these two albums. They're both a bit disappointing in that there was so much material to choose from. But something was surely lacking at the time, be it spirit or direction or both and they just didn't get it quite right. Nevertheless both albums are great to listen to and also great "what-could've-been-albums" that would greatly benefit from the "deluxe" treatment.

GREAT GREAT ALBUM....I loved the video of Silver Train...We all stayed home to watch it on tv when it 1st came out..

Funny i never liked Can you hear the music untill i was much older..
100 Years Ago is in the same league as Sway to me....Both are unbelievable songs..And everyone has to love Star Star, Angie
and Heartbreaker..
It was so exciting hearing it on the radio all the time when it was 1st released....

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hot stuff
GREAT GREAT ALBUM....I loved the video of Silver Train...We all stayed home to watch it on tv when it 1st came out..

It was so exciting hearing it on the radio all the time when it was 1st released....

So you love it for a great deal for sentimental reasons. Nothing wrong with that. But as for Can you hear the music one can say that you love it on its own merits.

As for 100 years ago I agree, I even rate it higher than Sway. Then and now.

GREAT album!!!
I think the sound of the album is pretty close to Exile. We have a lot of instruments, a muddy mix, which gives a lot of charm to it.
I don't know if some of you have heard the bootleg "Dancing so free GHS Reheated", by Mickboy, but the result is just AWESOME!!!
There's a great difference in sound with the original album, with a better definition of the bass and treble. Much better than all the 2009 remasters.
(Sorry for my english which may not be perfect....)
To finish, "Dancing with Mr D" has got the best possible riff introduction!

To this day I've never understood why so many consider this album sounding the death knell of the band (my first album was SG when I was 10 years old). I remember Dave Marsh only giving it one star out of five in the Rolling Stone Record Guide. While GHS is a flawed album, it's still one of my favorite Stones albums. Winter is a lost classic and Criss Cross is a great outtake if you haven't heard it. Also, Through the Lonely Nights was recorded during these sessions, but didn't officially appear until a year later as a b-side to IORNR. There's also an outtake of D with an amazing Mick Taylor guitar solo that was unfortunately cut from the album version. I guess the album isn't for everyone, but I really enjoy it.

Coming down again
100 years
winter
Angie.................

...............musically, the best RS album
But if you want rock & roll., check any other one (any Stone's album is great; except for DW)

great album!

Kleermaker---Not really true about sentimental reasons....Because Today i'm not as excited about Silver train or even Mr. D. as i was when i 1st saw and heard it after its release...Both songs blew me away when they were 1st released...But i never really liked, Can you hear the music..
But Today i really like cyhtm, but don't get blown away with the other 2 songs... I still like both songs but just not like i used too..

Its a different type of album and not a normal Stones Album...

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hot stuff
Kleermaker---Not really true about sentimental reasons....Because Today i'm not as excited about Silver train or even Mr. D. as i was when i 1st saw and heard it after its release...Both songs blew me away when they were 1st released...But i never really liked, Can you hear the music..
But Today i really like cyhtm, but don't get blown away with the other 2 songs... I still like both songs but just not like i used too..

Its a different type of album and not a normal Stones Album...

What is a normal Stones album? Beggars Banquet for example (not so much 'typically' Stonesrock on it), or LIB (not very rocky as well), or etc.

People often forget that the Stones always had a broad range of musical styles, even in the very beginning one can hear that (As tears go by, Blue turns to grey, The singer not the song, etc.). They somehow make all those styles their own. That's the secret of the Stones: you can't earmark them, certainly not before 1975 when they still developed their own style, which is.. as I pointed out.

I always liked this album and thought the criticism was unfair and probably due to "Goat's Head Soup" coming after "Exile on Main Street." Any album after "Exile" was bound to fail by comparison, as "Exile" is the greatest R&R album ever made in my very humble opinion.

The album did fall short in the lyrics department. "Star Star" would've been a hit in America if Jagger had spent more than five minutes on the lyrics and considered how unlikely getting the song played on the radio was, given the subject matter (thought I do like the line "Jimmy Page was quite the rage/I could not see the reason why," which I think of whenever I hear Led Zepplin).

"Dancin' with Mr. D" is another song with a great vibe and great hooks (a Keith Richards creation all the way, you can tell), but Jagger @#$%& up with his B-movie voodoo lyrics. That one could've been a hit too if not for the lyrics.

It really is a great album, though, and I remember all the kids in my high school being very excited about it when it came out in 1973.

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Pietro
I always liked this album and thought the criticism was unfair and probably due to "Goat's Head Soup" coming after "Exile on Main Street." Any album after "Exile" was bound to fail by comparison, as "Exile" is the greatest R&R album ever made in my very humble opinion.

The album did fall short in the lyrics department. "Star Star" would've been a hit in America if Jagger had spent more than five minutes on the lyrics and considered how unlikely getting the song played on the radio was, given the subject matter (thought I do like the line "Jimmy Page was quite the rage/I could not see the reason why," which I think of whenever I hear Led Zepplin).

"Dancin' with Mr. D" is another song with a great vibe and great hooks (a Keith Richards creation all the way, you can tell), but Jagger @#$%& up with his B-movie voodoo lyrics. That one could've been a hit too if not for the lyrics.

It really is a great album, though, and I remember all the kids in my high school being very excited about it when it came out in 1973.

The release of a Stones album was a sensation in those days, as I remember very well. But who knows those albums yet? When I look at the statistics of the viewers of 'my' YT-clips, filled with Stones music from the Taylor-era, then I see that, especially in Europe, but also in de US (let's say in the Western world) about 90% is 45 years and up, and even almost 50% 55 years and up. And 75% are male, only 25% female. In Europe the numbers are even more dramatic: only 15% female. The Stones (I mean the band from the beginning until now) are becoming more and more a band for old(er) men. Their audience will die out. Look at ourselves: mostly older men, talking like old women about the Stones and whatever tiny detail concerning them

I think the Stones do sound a little jaded on Goats Head Soup, compared with their four previous efforts, and song for song there's a feeling that there's a certain lack of focus, yet in many ways that's pretty much what makes Goats Head Soup such a richly intoxicating listen - its greatness isn't overly explicit and it takes a while for the album to grow. The Stones aren't quite so finely tuned and they're pretty much conveying a mood instead of creating great individual songs, which is very much unlike anything else in their catalogue in many ways. There is a certain mellow beauty to much of the album and a willingness to experiment, even though the results on initial listens may seem a little aimless and self indulgent. However, Goats Head Soup is richly rewarding over the long term, possibly the most rewarding musical experience of their entire career, thanks largely to the collaboration of Jagger and Taylor. It is possibly Taylor's finest moment in a studio environment, certainly in terms of him creating music which has a soulful quality, because the tone of the album is a lot more sophisticated generally. I very much agree that the least interesting songs are those that are most typically Stones sounding - namely Silver Train, and Star Star, but they are still a great deal of fun and do give the album balance.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-15 22:30 by Edward Twining.

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skipstone
I didn't know songs had to have a point. Relevance is irrelevant in music.

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71Tele

Pointless? Many of the songs convey a melancholy and longing unusual for a Stones record (100 Years, Coming Down Again, Angie, Winter). Very strong lyrics. If anything, it's the rockers like Star Star that sound a little forced.

Yeah, pointless was the wrong word to use!

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ajc68
To this day I've never understood why so many consider this album sounding the death knell of the band (my first album was SG when I was 10 years old). I remember Dave Marsh only giving it one star out of five in the Rolling Stone Record Guide. While GHS is a flawed album, it's still one of my favorite Stones albums. Winter is a lost classic and Criss Cross is a great outtake if you haven't heard it. Also, Through the Lonely Nights was recorded during these sessions, but didn't officially appear until a year later as a b-side to IORNR. There's also an outtake of D with an amazing Mick Taylor guitar solo that was unfortunately cut from the album version. I guess the album isn't for everyone, but I really enjoy it.

Dave Marsh is a dick. If the album cover had said "Bruce Springsteen" he would have given it five stars instead of one.