Re: Best Modern Stones Song (Since 1985)
Date: May 9, 2015 16:45
My primary motivation for buying post '85 Stones output has been associated with going to shows. I've only seen them twice. I was about a year too young and 90 minutes too far away to see them in Hampton in '81, though a couple of my older friends went. When they announced the tour in '89, of course I bought Steel Wheels. I liked a decent amount of it, but I didn't think it was great at the time. 26 years later, that album stands up pretty well. Almost Hear You Sigh, Slipping Away, and Mixed Emotions are excellent, maybe not up to the Mick Taylor or better part of the Brian Jones years, but certainly up to standards from the Some Girls / Tattoo You era. My opinion, of course.
I skipped all tours until A Bigger Bang. Though they could have tripled the Steel Wheels set list and still left out some gems, the 27 songs I heard in Raleigh for $30 were well selected, sated my appetite for live Stones, and left me and those who went with me literally saying "They undercharged for this show."
The only reason I went to A Bigger Bang was that my in laws wanted to go (OK, cool!). Pertinent to this discussion, you know what my favorite song of the show was? Out of Control. I'd never heard it until that night, and it was by far more exciting than hearing JJF etc. again. As for A Bigger Bang, well, I decided to give it a spin a couple of weeks ago now that it has had some time to bake, and it seems a bit paint by numbers to me. But part of me wonders if it is hard to be objective with a band that has this history. Given my age, everything released from '75 (I started listening to rock radio, not top 40, very young) to '89 has memories attached, and even pre '75 that I'd hear on the radio, prompting me to buy albums, is associated with events in my life. A Bigger Bang? Other bands, to degrees lesser known, not played on the radio (who listens?) were filling that void by then.
I'm catching them again because now my daughters want to go. I am excited. What will they play, if anything, from post Steel Wheels that I don't or barely know? I don't know, but I'm hoping for a gem. I know this is an unpopular position, but I'm looking forward to the war horses, because this is my kids' chance to get a taste, no matter how altered, of one of the greats. Of course, there are still greats today, we just enjoy them in much smaller venues and not on the radio. Drive-By Truckers, anyone?
Sorry, I veered off topic, but in these paragraphs, you have my list.