Edward, I do get a feeling of spontaneity on many of SW's tracks. Opening to Sad, Sad, Sad - and most of it. Can't Be Seen grabs me, as does Hold On To YH.
Lots of stinging Keith leads, (those three songs especially). The track that I first thought was weakest (NME said "turgid cack"!) was Mixed Emotions. But that really grew. It has layers, and depth. Tumbling Dice was, as a single, very flat - their weakest single in years. But that aged very well indeed and became warhorse material. On hearing Miss you for the first time on the radio - it almost passed me by - didn't even recognise it as stones!- trundling along at mid-tempo with no distinctive guitar sound. Some of their stuff works well that way - in contrast to the 'no prisoners' DW approach

Also, Lowdown, Don't Have To Mean It and Too Tight are fairly fresh on B2B - though they are exceptions.

Great rock albums don't have to be raw, and 'in your face' like DW is. Sticky Fingers wasn't for the most part. Fairly polished really. But Stones were raw and in-yer-face in early to mid-sixties. So, in a way, it's (DW) a flash-back. Jagger shouting, loud guitars etc.

DW album is just pretty punk - back to basics. Too basic for some it seems.

Should have been called Stripped!

(btw I think nearly all songs are Keith's -and most lyrics too. If they'd been Jagger-songs then Mick might have taken more care with his singing style. Personally I think the "shouting" style works and suits the music. They were angry times. Matter of taste, ofcourse. Jagger is 'singing' more on Harlem Shuffle. Perhaps he was more involved/interested in that one?!).


Shake a Tail-Feather, Darling!

I think Winning Ugly and Back To Zero are primarily Micks songs. What is noticeable about these songs is the changes in tempos in different stages of the songs and the different instrumentation which creates freshness and vitality. Too many later songs begin at a set tempo and carry on until the end without much variation.
Also the digital production saps the vitality out of the later songs. There seems more space for the songs to breathe on Dirty Work.
Too many songs on Bridges To Babylon seems structued to play in stadiums and lack the intimacy found in the Stones earlier work.

Perhaps so. I agree about the variety of pace and different instrumentation. Inventive and fresh. "Monkey on my back.....spine begin to crack" sounds a bit Keith to me. But who knows for sure. Oh yes, and the Sax on BTZ. Great use and its timing in the song.

I think the tour logos used on the covers of SteelWheels, Voodoo Lounge,Bridges To Babylon and also the blatant use of the tongue logo prominantly seen on the No Security CD cover really confirms the Stones are primarily a corporate venture and any relationship to creativity is long gone.
Back to Dirty Work - it does sound like genuine Stones music even if it's not them at their best.It is also the last Stones album i liked enough to play continuously on its release.

I think you are largely right - but I got (and still get) a buzz out of SW - and would play it continuously on its release. I don't bunch it with the nineties albums but see it as an extension of DW. Without the rough edges - but Keith still in fighting form. I also loved that tour - fantastic sound and first and best of concept stages. Dark and moody. (SW stage NOT Urban Joke stage!)

The tours are corpoarte ventures - but when I saw Jagger, Watts and Richards on the last tour - they were really into it. A joy to watch, really. Especially on the B-stage. But it's in the studio that the real creative interaction has gone. It's largely a measured approach and a packaged sound. If they liked working together in the studio then we would have seen 2 to three studio albums by now, since Bridges.

Unfortunately SteelWheels has a more sterile produced sound than any other album in their career which i find makes it hard to listen to. The Stones always rock best when their sound is dense and muddy. SteelWheels digital sound is precisely the opposite.

"Dirty Work" is the only Stones album I've never upgraded to CD. I remember listening to it relentlessly when it came out however.

KSIE.....I would love to tell you where to get the Dirty Work outtakes but I do not know myself. I am trying to find out how to get them.

Sorry.

Milo, NYC
I'm just waiting on a friend (to tell me where to get the DW outtakes)

Milo,
email me at mkeefe@eliassen.com and I will tell you where I got the discs or i can make you copies. A lot of great stuff on these 2 discs. Booby Womack is on 3-4 songs and there is a lot of Keith and Ronnie interplay on other songs. There is a killer blues track on it. I don't have the track list

Keith of course is completely straight

KSIE.....I love Hazel Dickens! Talk about a Down Home Girl! Her song West Virginia is a phenominal piece of American roots music.
I listened to DW and the outtakes all weekend and the more I listen to these discs, the better they get. It seems like the band had something to prove...to each other. You can feel the tension between the band members. I like the fact Jagger growls throughout....it seems like he's really fired up!

Cafaro,

May I get in touch sometime about those discs?

I have a very poor quality studio boot, with mainly uninspired jams. Can't remember title off hand. Will check.

Shake a Tail-Feather, Darling.

deidre,
email me at address shown earlier.


Keith of course is completely straight

ROCKMAN





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-01 00:56 by Rockman.