Don't even ask me how I got to listening to it and sussing it on the piano.

I know it sounds horribly dated, like a Harold Faltermeyer movie soundtrack at times, but there are some hip chord changes in it. I can't recall Mick ever writing anything like it, before or since (go ahead and say it -- "Thank God!"). The lyrics are thoughtful, the arrangement is well mapped-out.

In the key of C-minor. The central riff is a mix of C melodic minor and natural minor: C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-B-C.

All of Micks solo records have at least a few really good songs on them.alot of people missed it because Keith said it wasn't cool to listen to and so, of course they didn't want to seem uncool.
thats the trouble with lemmings and followers,they miss alot because all they see is someone else's backside.

That song is a good one and "say you will" -also the rocker[ i can't remember the name w/jeff beck] "you put the boot in till the bottom fell right out'

he always had one hand tied behind his back too because he was trying to NOT sound like the Stones.Alot tougher than doing a paint by number project that hits all the cliches.blues,reggae rocker...

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lem motlow
alot of people missed it because Keith said it wasn't cool to listen to and so, of course they didn't want to seem uncool.
thats the trouble with lemmings and followers,they miss alot because all they see is someone else's backside.

I´ve never needed Keith to tell me that MJ´s solo-albums no. 1,2 and 4 are a horrible disgrace - I found out that all by myself

Primitive Cool probably sucks the most. In fact, only Peace For The Wicked and Shoot Off Your Mouth are listenable, imo.

That statement just proves the anti-hype lemming theory -"horrible disgrace".no they're not a "horrible disgace".

they're just records that didnt' work very well for people expecting excellence from a member of the Rolling Stones.
You can cherry pick 2 or 3 good songs,prettty much like Ronnies solo records,Keiths solo records, the Rhythm Kings or all of the Stones records from the last 30 years for that matter.

"Just Another Night" is another fantastically clever arrangement. And there are moments where it really does sound like the theme song of "Fletch."

Wandering Spirit is one my fav records. Bt the way Sweet thing set the pace for other artists at the time, so to speak.

I like the ending - kinda reminds me How Can I Stop.

I'm not much of a fan of SHE'S THE BOSS, but I like "Just Another Night" quite a bit. WANDERING SPIRIT is a great album and PRIMITIVE COOL is nearly as good. Obviously, I don't care for "Let's Work" but Mick also chose to release an edit of the club mix on the LP. I would be interested in hearing the original track Ed Stasium mixed which has never surfaced. It certainly has to be better.

As for the song, "Primitive Cool," I loved it then and still do now. It was an album that seemed made to tour behind. Mick was in great form. As for the rest of his output: there's a few tracks on GODDESS IN THE DOORWAY I enjoy and a couple on the ALFIE soundtrack, and one or two on SUPERHEAVY. It's easier to enjoy Keith's albums because they are so similar to his lead vocal slots with the Stones or listening to Stones bootlegs from the DIRTY WORK or VOODOO LOUNGE sessions. Mick has a tougher time measuring up to the Stones legacy when he strikes out on his own.

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franzk
I like the ending - kinda reminds me How Can I Stop.

You mean the steel drums or whatever? Yes.

I just came around "Secrets" from Just Another Night.

Quite a good song, funky.

Would have been a good song for a Stones album with a more classic Stones arrangement.





A pity they didn't use the best songs from Keith's and Mick's 80'ies / 90'ies albums for a classic Stones albums.

Okay, so here's what I'm talking about: I don't remember who plays piano on the "Primitive" title track but on the intro, after Cm-Bb and Cm-Bb-Gm, he plays a tension chord for two beats that sounds to me like a C9/E. And then the last chord before the band kicks in is a Gm/Eb.

Like I said, very hip.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-07 00:59 by Mel Belli.

I won't doubt that perhaps it is interesting musically, perhaps being the key word, but it's still and always will be a shit song. The video is even worse.

Say You Will... good song, he just used the wrong hair spray for the production.

The rest, eh; Throwaway, Kow Tow and Peace For The Wicked are the only actual good songs on the LP. The rest of it just sucks. Sort of like the preceding Stones album, only PRIMITIVE COOL is still better than that piece of shit.

Although that's easy to say since almost anything is.

So many Stones songs have the I-IV-V chord progression, or close (Ian Stewart disliked SOME GIRLS because so many of its songs went that way) or the Jimmy Reed up-and-down-the-guitar-neck progression (GIMME SHELTER and many others) I thought with PRIMITIVE COOL Mick was consciously trying to work "outside his bailiwick" with this different progression, and not that successfully. Just a guess.

For better and worse, Mick was never, or wasn't often, stuck in the I-IV-V box. Brown Sugar, for starters: the intro is up and down the neck. Moonlight Mile ... High Wire!

Yes, lots of nice chord progressions on the PC album and had it been given the WS (or even TIC) production it would be looked at much more kindly. Easy to say in hindsight of course but it's still strange to think that an experienced musician/superstar like Mick rarely knew better than to go with the flow...Fortunately for him he's had the 68/72 + 77/81 body of work when he wasn't to repeatedly fall back on.

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lem motlow
That statement just proves the anti-hype lemming theory -"horrible disgrace".no they're not a "horrible disgace".

they're just records that didnt' work very well for people expecting excellence from a member of the Rolling Stones.
You can cherry pick 2 or 3 good songs,prettty much like Ronnies solo records,Keiths solo records, the Rhythm Kings or all of the Stones records from the last 30 years for that matter.

I agree - I think there ae great songs on all of Mick's albums. I played "Primitive Cool" recently for the first time in about 25 years...my grandmother gave it to me as a present for my 17th birthday in 1987. It has some great songs - Say you will and Throwaway are my favourites. It suffers a bit from 80s production but it sounds no worse than any of my other albums from that era. What is strange is that I am now 45 so I am older than Mick was when he released that album!!

Always liked this one. It's got some King Crimson-esque touches here and there.

I haven't listened to them in years, but I always found Mick's solo albums to be enjoyable. I never approached them expecting them to be as great as Rolling Stones albums but what is? There's a lot of music I like that is good but doesn't come close to the Stones; not much does in my book. The Stones are a rare and beautiful thing.

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GasLightStreet
The rest of it just sucks. Sort of like the preceding Stones album, only PRIMITIVE COOL is still better than that piece of shit.

Although that's easy to say since almost anything is.

I have to disagree. Primitive Cool-album is poor compared to glorious Dirty Work. The only rather weak song on DW - Back To Zero - is much much better and more enjoyable than the best song(s) on PC.

DW beats any Jagger-solo-album including Wandering Spirit and it beats several Stones-albums too.

Primitive Cool (the song) probably is the biggest sucker on the album... besides LW of course (I always forget the existence of LW, it´s just a bad bad dream, it can´t be true). The song Primitive Cool maybe is interesting if you are a musician, but listening to it as "just a song" is a very unfruitful experience. The lyrics are oh so stupid, the singing is oh so affected and mannered, the production is oh so terribly 80s, it´s oh so slick and... and... I could go on for hours... what a terrible waste of time this clunker is.

Gotta agree with HMS that I'd rather listen to DW than most of Mick's solo stuff, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy Mick. I also enjoy Bad Company and Heart for instance. They don't touch the Stones by a country mile but what does? Doesn't mean you can't enjoy other things. There's good music...and then there's Stones, which in my opinion is just light years beyond most everything else...including individual Stones solo stuff. The Stones are much greater than the sum of their parts.

Another thought - comparing Mick solo to the Stones is like holding the Stones themselves to their own high standard of the Big Four. Lightening doesn't strike forever. Doesn't mean their other stuff isn't good. Kind of like holding Dylan to the same standard of Blonde on Blonde or Blood on the Tracks. Some works of genius can't be repeated. Doesn't mean his other stuff still isn't good in it's own right.

it was interesting at the time, but having listened to the whole album a few years ago, the production really ruins the album.

as noted, let's work is a complete joke that i think actually sunk his solo aspirations.

i think we can actually thank his choice of it as the kick off single for the reason the stones regrouped in 1989....that song saved the rolling stones!

Not all his solo work sucks, Wandering Spirit is great.

Well, after reading this thread, I tried listening to it on YouTube. I grant you the opening chords are alright and the melody is interesting, although the singing annoys me (why did he all of a sudden decided to sing in that way I'll never understand), but when the drums and the "bass" (for lack of a better word) fell in, I had to stop listening. Unbearable.
I guess I'm a "lemming" (never heard that word for it but I'm supposing it's equivalent to the "keithette" gem): I almost like all of Keith solo stuff and most of the Keith songs with the Stones (except for Wanna Hold You, Infamy and This Place Is Empty), whereas with Mick Jagger, I find most of his solo-stuff unbearable (and that includes Wandering Spirit), mainly because of that weird way of singing it and the terrible sound of the instruments. Exceptions are Just Another Night, which I like, Hard Women To Love which is okay, and Miracle Worker which is enjoyable. Maybe there are a few other ones that I forget but not many. I can only say that I really tried, more than once. For once I have to semi-agree with HMS, even Dirty Work is easier to listen to.

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emotionalbarbecue
... Sweet thing set the pace for other artists at the time, so to speak.

Love Sweet Thing, but that statement seems a stretch.

Primitive Cool track is decent, there are better on the album. ...and, of course, as others point out, the awful Let's Work.

I love:
Peace For Wicked
Radio Control
Party Doll

Throwaway is right behind...

Guys, I did not intend to rekindle a debate about the relative merits of Mick Jagger's solo material. All I'm saying is that PC is harmonically complex and interesting.

The more curious question to me is: Knowing that people were not commercially receptive to Ambitious Mick, did he at some point say "F it; I'll give them 'Oh No, Not You Again' instead"?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-07 18:43 by Mel Belli.

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Mel Belli
Guys, I did not intend to rekindle a debate about the relative merits of Mick Jagger's solo material. All I'm saying is that PC is harmonically complex and interesting.

The more curious question to me is: Knowing that people were not commercially receptive to Ambitious Mick, did he at some point say "F it; I'll give them 'Oh No, Not You Again' instead"?

Don't know. But I relatively like "Oh No, Not You Again". I am probably weird that way, because I also don't have problems with "Streets of Love". Not that I would necessarily choose it to take with me to an island in the pacific, but I don't hate it either.
I have no idea how Mick Jagger feels about the relatively "not so enthusiast" reception of his solo work. I could imagine he doesn't care. And I grant you, at least he's tried to do something completely different. And I very well believe you when you say the songs are well written, with interesting chord changes or melodies. Unfortunately, it's the sound that often makes them unlistenable.

I'm hearing the weird scale differently now. No Ab at all. More like: C-D-Eb-F-Gb-G ...