I very much question most of the suggestions here.

In the end most of the Stones decisions have been right - with perhaps one or two possible exceptions.

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CousinC
I very much question most of the suggestions here.

In the end most of the Stones decisions have been right - with perhaps one or two possible exceptions.

I agree totally. The Stones in my opinion haven't really made any wrong decisions. 'Harlem Shuffle' was the biggest surprise, but that was before i had heard the 'Dirty Work' album, and discovered the real lack of an effective alternative. Songs like 'Hand Of Fate' just don't sound like single material.

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treaclefingers

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stoned in washington dc
she saw me coming is horrible! should not have even been on album

Hey hey hey...not fair to criticize if you don't have an alternative. You must have been satisfied then, with Streets Of Love.

i always assumed rough justice was the first single and i'm fine with that..


streets of love should also not have been on the album

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Rocky Dijon
A BIGGER BANG is the only time when I questioned the choice of lead-off single. I thought "Rain Fall Down" or "Dangerous Beauty" would have been better choices for first single than "Streets of Love." I consider it criminal that "Dangerous Beauty" and "Laugh? I Nearly Died" were never performed live on the tour.

Both really good songs...not sure if I'm in agreement that they are 'singles' though.

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Rocky Dijon
A BIGGER BANG is the only time when I questioned the choice of lead-off single. I thought "Rain Fall Down" or "Dangerous Beauty" would have been better choices for first single than "Streets of Love." I consider it criminal that "Dangerous Beauty" and "Laugh? I Nearly Died" were never performed live on the tour.

I question MANY of their lead-off single choices. But SOL was special in that category. A Jagger throwaway better suited to the Alfie soundtrack. I agree with Rocky that "Rain Fall Down" or "Dangerous Beauty" would have been better choices for first single than "Streets of Love." And I also consider it criminal that "Dangerous Beauty" and "Laugh? I Nearly Died" were never played live. Shame on the old bastards. My choice would have been "Dangerous Beauty". It would have been topical and relevant and kicked ass.

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Turd On The Run

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Rocky Dijon
A BIGGER BANG is the only time when I questioned the choice of lead-off single. I thought "Rain Fall Down" or "Dangerous Beauty" would have been better choices for first single than "Streets of Love." I consider it criminal that "Dangerous Beauty" and "Laugh? I Nearly Died" were never performed live on the tour.

I question MANY of their lead-off single choices. But SOL was special in that category. A Jagger throwaway better suited to the Alfie soundtrack. I agree with Rocky that "Rain Fall Down" or "Dangerous Beauty" would have been better choices for first single than "Streets of Love." And I also consider it criminal that "Dangerous Beauty" and "Laugh? I Nearly Died" were never played live. Shame on the old bastards. My choice would have been "Dangerous Beauty". It would have been topical and relevant and kicked ass.

Yes, and for all the publicity Sweet Neo Con got...Dangerous Beauty to me was a better song (sorry, meant to say it was actually a GOOD song) and funny.

It also could have been their most effective music video since "Undercover of the Night" if they bothered to dramatize the lyrics.

Both "Dangerous Beauty" and "Laugh? I Nearly Died" could have been phenomenal performances for the Super Bowl half-time show as well and would have boosted album sales considerably.

A BIGGER BANG is the only Stones album that I felt suffered from poor sequencing of songs. I didn't think length was a problem, but stronger songs placed first would have helped tremendously.

I would have run with "Rain Fall Down" or "Dangerous Beauty" or even "Under the Radar" as better opening tracks than "Rough Justice."

It Won't Take Long would might have been a killer single. The only track since Start Me Up IMO that has the Jumpin' Jack Flash or Brown Sugar feel. Much better than the somewhat similar Rough Justice/Oh No Not You Again. Maybe they considered that but though the song was "too hard" for today's ears. Streets Of Love would be crap if there wasn't that great Ronnie-solo. She Saw Me Coming as a lead single? Are you kiding? To me this is one of the Top 20 worst Stones songs ever, would have been okay as a X-Pensive Winos rehearsal though.

oh no i forgot about oh no not you again

i like that one.. much better than streets of love..


basically bigger bang should have been like an 8 song album including one or two of the b sides.

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ab
Anybody Seen My Baby from B2B. The first single should have been Out of Control, their best song on any album since Undercover.

ASMB was a momentum killer, as a single, as an album track, and onstage. The rap interlude is one of the most embarrassing things ever on a Stones album.

Streets of Love from ABB. I'd have gone with Rough Justice or Oh No Not You Again.

Angie was pretty lame, but there was no other obvious single on GHS.

Totally agree about ASMB
Totally disagree about Angie = lame

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Interesting to read the speculation over A BIGGER BANG, but, in my opinion, worthless... nothing would have been any different if the leading single would have been any mentioned here. There simply wasn't any hit material, top class song to make any difference in that album to begin with. They didn't really push very hard to promote "Streets of Love"/"A Rough Justice" - sounded more like "shit as we are pretending relaese a new hot album (to get the license to tour), so we are supposed to relaese a single as well, right? Hey Was, pick two from there. Yeah, any two will do. Aah, those two? Awright, let's play that easy 'by-numbers rocker in Super Bowl, and let's put that awful ballad out in some idiot soap opera. That's it. Now we can start rehearsing for the tour. Hhahahahha!!"

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-02-23 21:16 by Doxa.

Let's declare that singles should not be on albums..If they are I would have released 'Rocks Off' as the first single for Exile...

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First Bang single shoulda been Rough Justice/Back Of My Hand .......



ROCKMAN

...or Live Midnight Rambler for Get yer ya yas out...

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Come On
Let's declare that singles should not be on albums..If they are I would have released 'Rocks Off' as the first single for Exile...

Since the 70's, singles have been used as a 'promo' for the album. You could argue that the 'album' is going the way of the dinosaur, but I think the idea of the single is still an excellent way to promote the album.

With that said, with Rocks Off as a single, I think they would have moved far more units than they initially did with Exile.

Choosing Tumbling Dice, while a fantastic song, would be the equivalent of having Dead Flowers as the lead single off of Sticky Fingers. Great tune, but not as the lead single!

Doxa, I don't think it was coincidence that the only two tracks Matt Clifford had a hand in producing were the two singles aimed at Top 40: "Streets of Love" and "Rain Fall Down." Both were calculated as pop songs by Mick. "Rough Justice" and "Oh No, Not You Again" were aimed for the smaller rock radio market.

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Rip This
...I always thought of She Saw Me Coming as a throw away...besides isn't the one with the INXS riff once/twice removed?...Under The Radar would have been more radio friendly.

+1

Rain Fall Down would have been the best first single IMHO

That said, Streets of Love was VERY popular in some countries and even made #1 in Italy after featuring in a TV ad.

That's the way these things are done now, I'm afraid.

...or 'Dear Doctor/@#$%& Blues' for Beggars Banquet...

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..."Saint of me" far better than "anybody seen..." for a single.....I add that
for me "she saw me coming" is a very poor track : melody,words,arrangement....

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ab

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Glam Descendant
>Angie was pretty lame, but there was no other obvious single on GHS.

And it was one of their hugest singles -- proof positive they should *never* listen to what their fans think lol.

That it was one of their biggest singles is more indicative of the utter crap that was topping the singles charts around that time. I can hear the programmers' meeting discussion now: "This Angie record'll go great with Seasons in the Sun, I Am Woman, and Me and You and a Dog Named Boo. Then maybe we can pick up the tempo with Your Mama Don't Dance and Bad Bad Leroy Brown."

Probably true! But Me and You and a Dog Named Boo was a great song!

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stupidguy2

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ab

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Glam Descendant
>Angie was pretty lame, but there was no other obvious single on GHS.

And it was one of their hugest singles -- proof positive they should *never* listen to what their fans think lol.

That it was one of their biggest singles is more indicative of the utter crap that was topping the singles charts around that time. I can hear the programmers' meeting discussion now: "This Angie record'll go great with Seasons in the Sun, I Am Woman, and Me and You and a Dog Named Boo. Then maybe we can pick up the tempo with Your Mama Don't Dance and Bad Bad Leroy Brown."

Probably true! But Me and You and a Dog Named Boo was a great song!

What about the Bloody Red Baron, wasn't that from then too?