a really good album. Start with "If you cant rock me--Followed with "Aint too beg"..Time waits for no-one. I just like this Album. Yours?

Love this album! I'm a metal head who loves The Stones and 50's music!

Pretty much the beginning of their descent into self-parody. Not a great album but some great tracks on it. TWFNO is one of their best songs of the 70s...

Agreed that its a fantastic album. Somewhat overlooked. There isn't a bad song on that first side. Definitely would be on a list of great album sides for me. And the second side isn't too bad either. Short And Curlies & Dance Little Sister are fun little songs, the latter a pretty great rocker. And I've always enjoyed If You Really Want To Be My Friend. Nothing great but I've never had a problem with it. The only two songs I've never been able to get into are Luxury and Fingerprint File but I know I'm in the minority on that, especially Fingerprint.

Its a solid album, but mostly that first side is what holds it up IMO.

It is perhaps their most underrated album.

I think the the only weak cut is Short and Curlies, and that isn't even bad.

Quote
matsumoto33
Pretty much the beginning of their descent into self-parody. Not a great album but some great tracks on it. TWFNO is one of their best songs of the 70s...

Agree completely.

Let's Rank it:

1."If You Can't Rock Me" - 3:46
2."Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (Eddie Holland, Norman Whitfield) - 3:31
3."It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)" - 5:07
4."Till the Next Goodbye" - 4:36
5."Time Waits for No One" - 6:38
6."Luxury" - 5:01
7."Dance Little Sister" - 4:11
8."If You Really Want to Be My Friend" - 6:16
9."Short and Curlies" - 2:43
10."Fingerprint File" - 6:33

Solid 3.90 smokers...

2 1 2 0

"It's only Rock'n'Roll" BUT I LIKE IT !!!

Some great songs, horrendous production, imo.

Let's Rank it (1-5):

1."If You Can't Rock Me" - 3 (live in 1975 this is 5, Mick sings great on studio vers. but production lacks something, and Taylors guitar does not sound good, neitehr does Keiths guitar. Could be one of few where Ronnie almost does a better job in 1975)
2."Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (Eddie Holland, Norman Whitfield) - 3.5 (4 really, production a little better but I cant give it 5 if Shine a light is 5)
3."It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)" - 5 (underrated, misunderstood back in the days)
4."Till the Next Goodbye" - 3.5 (love it but to give it 4 or 5 means its up there with their best ones, Let it loose, and that aint true.)
5."Time Waits for No One" - 4 (again could be 5 but Micks singing is a bit too...something. He's not relaxed at all.)
6."Luxury" - 2 (great love it but nevertheless a throwaway)
7."Dance Little Sister" - 3 and 5 (One of Keiths best riffs, sound on his guitar is amazing, Mick is fantastic, Taylors guitar sound sucks and this is actually a song Ronnie plays better at the Mocambo)
8."If You Really Want to Be My Friend" - 3
9."Short and Curlies" - 1 (c'mon Mick! wake up)
10."Fingerprint File" - 4 (underrated)

So whats the problem? Production that ruins IYCRM and almost half the album. Taylor phoning in solos on a couple of songs, Mick phoning in Time waits for noone. Or trying too hard. Short and Curlies is not a song. Seems Keith was just for touring and living that life on the road and Jagger had to pull out this. I love this record but I hate the way the ruin IYCRM, one of their best songs ever.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-15 11:32 by Redhotcarpet.

Okay, I love the album bnecause I love 70's Stones; the material, the image.
But what still works on Goat's head, drags a bit here: the production, and mastering.
"Luxury" suffers the most. Good song, great lyrics - it never gets off the ground. No bouncey, bouncey.
Dance Little Sister is carried by the fabulous guitars.
If You Really Want to be.. - love this ballad. IMO one of Jagger's best. Blue Magic works really well.
Short & Curlies - complete throwaway. Still - there is this Stones magic in the texture that no one else ever touches
Fingerprint File - one of the very best Stones tracks from 70's. Love it a lot.
If You Cant Rock me - same problem like "Luxury". is it too clean? Too reigned in? I can hear the baffles in the Munich studio here. There is no metal clanking, no ghost echoes. It sounds as if it is coming from inside a sofa.
Plus, the middle funk jam; I've never understood why they keep it so short; live too. It barely has time to gel together, for us to realize "here it is" and it's over. (Same with "Heartbreaker" live in 73.)
"Aint too proud - like it a lot. Love Keith's guitar in the solo.
IORR - Classic. Mud.
Till the Next Goodbye - yes, very very good. A lost gem
Time Waits for no one - Tops. The sound is better on the last cuts on each side.

Agree with Palace. And album that could have been much more.

It's not bad but it's way too uneven. I think it's their weakest of the 70's. Some tracks are great though. I've always liked the cover of Ain't too proud to beg, you just can't sit still to that one. Same goes with Luxury, the reggae influences suits the song perfectly. And then you have the outstanding tracks, TWFNO which is one of Taylor's best numbers, and Fingerprint File which may be one of their coolest. Love that Lesley overdrive.
Apart from those, the rest is boring, I never really cared for the title track.

This album brings the band back after the more experimental Goat's Head Soup to the basics
of Rock 'n Roll. And I like it.
One could even argue that this album is, just like Beggar's Banquet and Exile on Main St
(and maybe Aftermath and Now!) going back to the black origins of Rock. A bouquet of styles, rangeing
from hard rock (If you can't rock me) to reggae (Luxury) and from soul (If you really want to
be my friend) to funk (Fingerprint File).
Maybe the quality of some songs is not up to par with the afore mentioned albums, but still
the available talent is showing.

Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

1. If You Can't Rock Me:
2. Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
3. It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It):
4. Till the Next Goodbye:
5. Time Waits for No One:
6. Luxury:
7. Dance Little Sister:
8. If You Really Want to Be My Friend:
9. Short and Curlies:
10. Fingerprint File:

I see Doxa did make a new standard on the rating on IORR....with the smoking faces

I love the IORR album; allthough I can understand why some people think it's the worst album of the 70s, as well. I just "overlook" the self-parody; and enjoy the songs as they are.
Production is not good; I agree. But it's good enough for me and Bobby McGee. The Japanese vinyl pressing I have sounds better than all other versions I've heard.

I think it's a bit like Bowies Diamond Dogs. Very uneven.

A couple of great songs ( If You Can't Rock Me, the title song, Fingerprint files) and some easy-to-forget fillers.

What the f..k 6 smokers on 'If you can't rock me.. Well wait til you see this:

3/ It's only rock'n'Roll (but I like It) ....

><

2 1 2 0

Some really cool songs, but suffers from poor production. I remember it from a wonderful/terrible time of my life (the dreaded teenage years).

The good:
Lost my virginity
Got my driver's license
Got a car
Lots of friends/partying
Cool music

The bad:
Parent's 2nd divorce
Kept getting my heart broke
I was broke

Quote
Come On
What the f..k 6 smokers on 'If you can't rock me.. Well wait til you see this:

3/ It's only rock'n'Roll (but I like It) ....

><

It is a good song, remember?





Probably some of Mick's best singing ever as well.

It is a good song, remember?




Yep, I went through the entire IORR this morning...

2 1 2 0

its a very good album and underrated like so many others, obviously compared with the big 4, again my opinion is that if that album had been recorded by another musician it would be hailed as one of thier best, but not the stones.

There are albums that are better than the sum of its parts (think of EXILE) and I think there are albums taht are worse than sum of its parts. I think IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL belongs to that category. Even though the songs are individually quite good over-all, great musicianship all over the album, the wholeness sounds a bit bored, repitive and without focus. It is rather weak effort producterwise.

Yeah, IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL is their weakest album of the decade but still it is a very good album, compared to anything post-TATTOO YOU. In 1974 the band just couldn't do much wrong - and I think IT'S ONLY ROCK'N*ROLL is the ultimate limit they can do wrong.

But let's rank it, using the 'popular' method

1. "If You Can't Rock Me": "Rocks off" vol. 2 but without the groove and roll; basically all there is all that is needed for a graat Stones track but the result sounds a bit forced. Early sign of "by numbers".

2. "Aint Too Proud to Beg": Now there is the roll element and the performance is vital but a bit messy or out of focus. There is a better cover in teh vaults...

3. "It's Only Rock'n'Roll": Yeah, this song is a classic but I still hesitate in giving it five smokers. It has so much great qualities, but it is a bit too archaic, badly produced (even though it is intentional) to my taste. The lyrics are among Jagger's finest ever. The "like it"part in the end of it is one of my personal favourite Jagger moments. Shit, in the end of the day: this is a genious rock and roll song. And the only time ever since Berry's "Rock and roll Music" the term "rock and roll" is justifiedly used in title.

4. "Till the Next Goodbye": nice little and simple ballad, and so much impression in Jag's voice. A bit too sugarish,

5. "Time Waits For No One": Well, en epic song. Taylor's Swan song, and one of Jagger's most reflective lyrics ever. The drum machine Watts... Wonderful musicianhip (despite Jagger's vocal starts to sound mannerish sometimes)

6. "Luxury": I have always loved the feeling of this song. It is rythmically odd-peace, and one of their early Caribbean efforts. It still sounds fresh. Funny lyrics. It occupies a dance effort place withina an album that would later be followed by "Hey Negrita", "Too Much Blood" and "Winning Ugly".

7. "Dance Little Sister": It rolls yeah but it goes nowhere. Generic and dull lyrics. El Mocambo version is wonderful; a song made to play live.

8. "If You Really Want to Be My Friend": I never been a big fun of this effort to enlarge their vocabulary. It tries and tries, but just don't work. But I can't really see what exatly is wrong with it. Need to relisten.

9. "Short and Curlies": The only "blues" song of the lot. But a bit pointless.

10. "Fingerprint File": The band does not quite feel at home here but it is still an intersting curiosity.

- Doxa

Quote
Havo
a really good album. Start with "If you cant rock me--Followed with "Aint too beg"..Time waits for no-one. I just like this Album. Yours?

A lot of fans bash it on here, but to me Ain't To Proud To Beg is one fantastic cover!

Doxa's estimation of 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll' is dead right in my opinion. Even his individual ratings of the tracks coincide with mine perfectly. 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll' finds the Stones still ticking over in terms of them finding the energy in feeling inclined to record, yet their inspiration is sadly gone. They seem almost swept away by the notion of wanting to produce good old rock 'n' roll, as with many of their previous releases, but the results ring very hollow very fast, and are often lacking in terms of depth and focus. Keith routinely can knock out a riff, and Jagger can still sing as only he can, but the album sounds almost like a going through the motions parody of what a Rolling Stones album should sound like, than perhaps the genuine article. The riffs all sound a little too unsubtle and too obvious, and the songs lyrics tend to offer little more, in many instances, than pastiches of what the Stones have delivered much more effectively in previous times. The Stones talent was of course still intact, but their inspiration was temporarily gone. There are interesting glimmers (pardon the pun!) of interest, for example, the theme and musical elements contained within 'Time Waits For No One', but even this track tends to have an uneven, and almost unfinished feel to it, as if the track was perhaps assembled at the mixing desk, as opposed to resulting from a healthy touch of inspiration. However, compared with the post 'Tattoo You' output, 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll' is still a pleasing listening experience, because the Stones still sound pretty young, and fairly virile, and even quite decadent, even though they are floundering creatively. 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll' is their weakest album of the seventies in my opinion, but it still possesses a few mild pleasures on repeated listens.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-15 19:30 by Edward Twining.

A pretty good album, a pity it's never been performed live with Taylor. I still blame him for leaving.
Songs like TWFNO, S&C, DlS, APTB and FF in particular. The Rolling Stones could have peaked once more as a 2 guitar band with these.

I agree with Edward Twinning who agrees with Doxa - with two exceptions: I've got a soft spot for Dance little sister, which I haven't heard the El Mocambo-version of and I rank Fingerprint file as one their soulclassics. I love Micks vocals - the variation (and the mannerism). And the production of the track. Five smoking heads to that one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-15 19:24 by GetYerAngie.