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Redhotcarpet
... meant to be a dark song about smack but comes off like posing.

Lol, that's how most of Let It Bleed comes across to me, actually there's an element of that in nearly all of the stones music though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-02-15 13:53 by His Majesty.

Both albums are so great. It's almost impossible to rank one above the other.

In light of this threat, I've been listening a lot on both albums. Some more thoughts:

Brown Sugar: Perfection! Excellently written, played and sung. The sax is grand, and the use of the acoustic guitar is pure genius.

Gimmie Shelter: If tension, danger and atmosphere is important in music, this surely is THE masterpiece. It's almost like heaven falls down to the ground, again and again and again...
the best first song

Sway: To me it sounds a bit contrived. They don't get much out of those three chords, until the beautiful solo guitars kick in. Mick is trying to sing his heart out, but the song doesn't justify his efforts, imo.

Love In Vain: Other big acts had already tried covering Robert Johnson-tunes, Crossroads by Cream being perhaps the most famous at the time. The Stones took the other route. Whereas Cream's version was more rocking than that of Johnson, the Stones added a country sound to the blues, and even simplifyed the arrangement a little. The result is a heart-warming, soulful tune with some of the finest use of slide guitar ever on a Stones record.
Best second song, hands down

Wild Horses: One of my absolute favorites. Hauntingly beautiful, fragile and honest. Interesting use of guitars, and some of the best singing you'll find on a Stones album.
Best third song!

Country Honk: Can easily be mistaken for a pisstake on country music. However, it is indeed a homage to the music Mick and Keith were listening to at the time. Bringing in Byron Berline on fiddle was a clever move. I like the otiginal HTW far better, but always enjoy this one as well.

Can't You Hear Me Knocking: A perfect showcase for dirty, mid-tempo Stones rock'n'roll, something they would try again and again later on, without necessarily succeeding to the same extent. Some of Keith's best riffing, and beautiful jazzy playing by Taylor in the (Miles Davis-inspired) jam in the ending.
Best fourth song.

Live With Me:
A powerful rocker with an interesting balance between Taylor's trebly guitar and Keith's muddy sound. Bobby Keys lifts this one up to a climax.

You Gotta Move:
The Stones have never succeeded (or dared) to approach a blued number in such an authentic way. This one oozes delta all over it, and imo it probably is one of the best blues tunes they ever did, together with some of the earliest covers.
Best fifth song

Let It Bleed:
A tongue in cheek country tune. I like it, but it really isn't much to write home about. Poorly played, wonky (not in a good way) and it takes some time before it takes off. The ending with "let it on, rider" takes off, though.

Bitch:
A good riff and very funny lyrics. The guitar solo way down in the mix-trick is tried here again, without succeeding as good as on HTW, imo. The song takes off with the horns, and the bridge is cool.

Midnight Rambler:
One of the best songs the Stones ever recorded, imo. Even though some live versions are faster, and with more flash, no version captures the lyrics as good as the original. It's dark, scary and uncomfortable at times. It's almost like Mick Jagger is coming out of the speakers to get you. Fantastic track!
Best sixth song

I Got The Blues:
The Stones haven't written many soul ballads like this. This one would have made Otis proud! Brilliant dynamics, fragile singing, awesome guitars - one of the few examples of weaving between Taylor and Keith - and a brilliant crescendo, with the clever major/minor trick for Mick to sing over.
Best seventh song

You Got The Silver:
One of Keth's best. Brilliant guitars, well-written, well-performed. Good vocals, good atmosphere. The interplay between acoustic and electric slide guitars works very well, imo.

Monkey Man:
Some of Keith's collest open G-licks, without open G! Very funky and heavy where it's needed. Brilliant melody, regarding the band arrangement. The vocals are mostly shouting, but it's cool shouting, and the lyrics may seem like a big joke, but I think they're funny, although the music sounds "serious". Love the instrumental bridges. One of my favorites, and it always works very well live.
Best eighth song

Sister Morphine:
It's beautiful and dark, but I grew quickly tired of it. It might have something to do with the guitar sounds, or the fact that Ry Cooder never stops playing - or at least it feels like it. Many cool licks, but they could have been placed in the right context, imo.

Dead Flowers:
A nice country song, with a good verse, and a catchy chorus. I like it the most when Mick sings it like on the original, something he hasn't done since 1972. Some nice licks by Taylor, albeit pretty standard.

You Can't Always Get What You Want:
Very beautil, albeit a bit one-dimensional, after the choir is finished - and the band have played the verses and choruses for a couple of minutes. The song really takes off when it becomes a gospel tune towards the ending. The song is innovative and with a saying that's hard to get rid of. It makes an impact, that's why it's a classic, imo.
Best ninth song

Moonlight Mile:
My favorite Stones track, nuff said!

After a few more listens, I changed my mind. Let It Bleed is the better album, although my rankings show it's impossible to decide in writing, LOL!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-02-15 13:56 by DandelionPowderman.

Have a question you sound like you can answer. Searching for correct title of song which may be on Sticky Fingers. Used to listen to it (loud) around 1971. Jagger sang 'wake up n------ or we're all through.' My dad used to tell us we'd better turn that stuff down and my kids don't believe this could've ever been recorded. Do you know song title and album? Thanks.

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owlbynite
Have a question you sound like you can answer. Searching for correct title of song which may be on Sticky Fingers. Used to listen to it (loud) around 1971. Jagger sang 'wake up n------ or we're all through.' My dad used to tell us we'd better turn that stuff down and my kids don't believe this could've ever been recorded. Do you know song title and album? Thanks.

That's The Last Poets, in addition to being on their own album that track featured on the Performance soundtrack.

LIB is my favourite album of all time, Stones or otherwise. I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For me, each number is perfectly placed within the album as a whole - as someone else has written, the 60's shifting into the 70's. It also sums up the two strands of the the Glimmer Twins songwriting genius at each end of the record - Gimme Shelter is all about Keith, YCAGWYW is Mick personified. What comes in between is the synthesis of the two and a resume of their influences (LIV for eg and CH). Not many weeks go by when I don't listen to this and I have never grown tired of it.

I have not got one favourite Stones album only, even if I in the past could have been made to nominate one. Rather, there are to me now 8 - 10 Stones albums in undecided rivalry for that title. That rivalry never stops. And at times there are outside contenders that do no qualify, but at given moments might give me as much intensity of feeling. There is much joy for me to have it that way.

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His Majesty

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Redhotcarpet
... meant to be a dark song about smack but comes off like posing.

Lol, that's how most of Let It Bleed comes across to me, actually there's an element of that in nearly all of the stones music though.

Actually you're right and wrong imo because Let it bleed is indeed very much a constructed well planned production and one might say posing (monkey, let it bleed, rambler) but it comes off as the real raw deal. I think its their great American novel. Sticky is probably more "honest" in that way, so you are right but to my ears they sound more forced (Wild Horses, YOu gotta move, I got the blues) on Sticky. I believe them on Let it bleed but I dont buy it on Sticky. Mick has got nasty habits, he is the Rambler, Keith needs shelter and Anitas got the silver. You CAN bleed on them and all our loves in vain. And yes, Mick is the monkey man and Marianne cant get what she wants. Honk honk.

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Redhotcarpet
... it comes off as the real raw deal.

More like a pantomine.

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Lady Jayne
LIB is my favourite album of all time, Stones or otherwise. I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For me, each number is perfectly placed within the album as a whole - as someone else has written, the 60's shifting into the 70's. It also sums up the two strands of the the Glimmer Twins songwriting genius at each end of the record - Gimme Shelter is all about Keith, YCAGWYW is Mick personified. What comes in between is the synthesis of the two and a resume of their influences (LIV for eg and CH). Not many weeks go by when I don't listen to this and I have never grown tired of it.

Lady Jayne, i think actually that LET IT BLEED very much takes its template in terms of style and sequencing from BEGGARS BANQUET, and whereas BEGGARS BANQUET seemed so perfectly formed, where all of the tracks seem so incredibly complimentary to one another, LET IT BLEED appears a little more uneven by comparison. The true greatness to be found on LET IT BLEED pretty much belongs to the era defining 'Gimmie Shelter', 'Midnight Rambler' and 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', and what's left, although very good on their own terms as songs, actually don't transcend perhaps from being very good to classic status, quite. That's not to say LET IT BLEED isn't a classic Stones album as a whole, just perhaps that the whole is actually far greater than the sum of its parts. LET IT BLEED very much builds on what BEGGARS BANQUET began in terms of the electric/acoustic country blues influences, only the emphasis perhaps moves slightly more in favour of electric than the more predominantly acoustic flavouring of a number of the BEGGARS BANQUET tracks. In a sense BEGGARS BANQUET and LET IT BLEED are the closest the Stones ever came to repeating themselves on consecutive albums, although saying that severely undermines how effective (and important) LET IT BLEED is. How important an album containing GIMMIE SHELTER on its own is, makes it pretty much as important an album as the Stones have ever recorded.

With STICKY FINGERS the Stones very much abandon the social concerns to be found within those LET IT BLEED songs, and their vision pretty much turns inward towards the sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll culture which pretty much inhabited their own lives at the time. One senses with STICKY FINGERS the Stones becoming much more insular, and more detached from their surroundings, where they sing about pretty much what was affecting their own lives, and this marked them growing away from being willing to relate to what was going on around them. Maybe this has something in part to do with the Altamont disaster, and perhaps that growing sense that they no longer want to associate/reflect the society surrounding them. The more rocking electric guitar sound introduced at this time really did represent what the Stones would sound like during Mick Taylor's time with the band, in addition to a new level of professionalism, not perhaps previously found on Stones albums. STICKY FINGERS perhaps doesn't quite contain such important songs as GIMMIE SHELTER, MIDNIGHT RAMBLER and YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT, but i would say it is a more consistent album, in terms of overall song quality and level of performance.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-02-17 22:58 by Edward Twining.

Thanks. And it's on Performance soundtrack & which other album?

Nice Edward, great post!

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owlbynite
Thanks. And it's on Performance soundtrack & which other album?

Their self titled debut...

The Last Poets - 1970

[en.wikipedia.org]

Sorry redcarpet. I can't buy this stuff re Mick, Keith, Anita, Marianne...It wasn't a tabloid world for us...we didn't think the way some of you seem to now.

If I had to choose only one of these albums, I suppose I'd pick Let It Bleed... but I love them both.

And for those of us who were around when they each were released, most of my rabid Stones fans friends loved and were excited about BOTH albums.

This was a THRILLING time for Stones admirers and we didn't make life a contest trying to choose our favorite for all time. We were simply grateful and played our vinyl nonstop.

Cheers! Thanks again.

Quote
DandelionPowderman
Both albums are so great. It's almost impossible to rank one above the other.

In light of this threat, I've been listening a lot on both albums. Some more thoughts:

Brown Sugar: Perfection! Excellently written, played and sung. The sax is grand, and the use of the acoustic guitar is pure genius.

Gimmie Shelter: If tension, danger and atmosphere is important in music, this surely is THE masterpiece. It's almost like heaven falls down to the ground, again and again and again...
the best first song

Sway: To me it sounds a bit contrived. They don't get much out of those three chords, until the beautiful solo guitars kick in. Mick is trying to sing his heart out, but the song doesn't justify his efforts, imo.

Love In Vain: Other big acts had already tried covering Robert Johnson-tunes, Crossroads by Cream being perhaps the most famous at the time. The Stones took the other route. Whereas Cream's version was more rocking than that of Johnson, the Stones added a country sound to the blues, and even simplifyed the arrangement a little. The result is a heart-warming, soulful tune with some of the finest use of slide guitar ever on a Stones record.
Best second song, hands down

Wild Horses: One of my absolute favorites. Hauntingly beautiful, fragile and honest. Interesting use of guitars, and some of the best singing you'll find on a Stones album.
Best third song!

Country Honk: Can easily be mistaken for a pisstake on country music. However, it is indeed a homage to the music Mick and Keith were listening to at the time. Bringing in Byron Berline on fiddle was a clever move. I like the otiginal HTW far better, but always enjoy this one as well.

Can't You Hear Me Knocking: A perfect showcase for dirty, mid-tempo Stones rock'n'roll, something they would try again and again later on, without necessarily succeeding to the same extent. Some of Keith's best riffing, and beautiful jazzy playing by Taylor in the (Miles Davis-inspired) jam in the ending.
Best fourth song.

Live With Me:
A powerful rocker with an interesting balance between Taylor's trebly guitar and Keith's muddy sound. Bobby Keys lifts this one up to a climax.

You Gotta Move:
The Stones have never succeeded (or dared) to approach a blued number in such an authentic way. This one oozes delta all over it, and imo it probably is one of the best blues tunes they ever did, together with some of the earliest covers.
Best fifth song

Let It Bleed:
A tongue in cheek country tune. I like it, but it really isn't much to write home about. Poorly played, wonky (not in a good way) and it takes some time before it takes off. The ending with "let it on, rider" takes off, though.

Bitch:
A good riff and very funny lyrics. The guitar solo way down in the mix-trick is tried here again, without succeeding as good as on HTW, imo. The song takes off with the horns, and the bridge is cool.

Midnight Rambler:
One of the best songs the Stones ever recorded, imo. Even though some live versions are faster, and with more flash, no version captures the lyrics as good as the original. It's dark, scary and uncomfortable at times. It's almost like Mick Jagger is coming out of the speakers to get you. Fantastic track!
Best sixth song

I Got The Blues:
The Stones haven't written many soul ballads like this. This one would have made Otis proud! Brilliant dynamics, fragile singing, awesome guitars - one of the few examples of weaving between Taylor and Keith - and a brilliant crescendo, with the clever major/minor trick for Mick to sing over.
Best seventh song

You Got The Silver:
One of Keth's best. Brilliant guitars, well-written, well-performed. Good vocals, good atmosphere. The interplay between acoustic and electric slide guitars works very well, imo.

Monkey Man:
Some of Keith's collest open G-licks, without open G! Very funky and heavy where it's needed. Brilliant melody, regarding the band arrangement. The vocals are mostly shouting, but it's cool shouting, and the lyrics may seem like a big joke, but I think they're funny, although the music sounds "serious". Love the instrumental bridges. One of my favorites, and it always works very well live.
Best eighth song

Sister Morphine:
It's beautiful and dark, but I grew quickly tired of it. It might have something to do with the guitar sounds, or the fact that Ry Cooder never stops playing - or at least it feels like it. Many cool licks, but they could have been placed in the right context, imo.

Dead Flowers:
A nice country song, with a good verse, and a catchy chorus. I like it the most when Mick sings it like on the original, something he hasn't done since 1972. Some nice licks by Taylor, albeit pretty standard.

You Can't Always Get What You Want:
Very beautil, albeit a bit one-dimensional, after the choir is finished - and the band have played the verses and choruses for a couple of minutes. The song really takes off when it becomes a gospel tune towards the ending. The song is innovative and with a saying that's hard to get rid of. It makes an impact, that's why it's a classic, imo.
Best ninth song

Moonlight Mile:
My favorite Stones track, nuff said!

After a few more listens, I changed my mind. Let It Bleed is the better album, although my rankings show it's impossible to decide in writing, LOL!

Nice review!

However, I would pick Sway over Love In Vain, Let It Bleed over You Gotta Move, I Got the Blues & You Got the Silver would be a tie, Sister Morphine over Monkey Man. Other than that I agree with you...

I think Sticky Fingers works better as an album. I like more songs on Let It Bleed, but I just don't feel the flow, other than a good choice of opener and closer. It's kind of uneven to me. I think Sticky Fingers is a great album, Let It Bleed is a great collection of songs.

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Edward Twining

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Lady Jayne
LIB is my favourite album of all time, Stones or otherwise. I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For me, each number is perfectly placed within the album as a whole - as someone else has written, the 60's shifting into the 70's. It also sums up the two strands of the the Glimmer Twins songwriting genius at each end of the record - Gimme Shelter is all about Keith, YCAGWYW is Mick personified. What comes in between is the synthesis of the two and a resume of their influences (LIV for eg and CH). Not many weeks go by when I don't listen to this and I have never grown tired of it.

Lady Jayne, i think actually that LET IT BLEED very much takes its template in terms of style and sequencing from BEGGARS BANQUET, and whereas BEGGARS BANQUET seemed so perfectly formed, where all of the tracks seem so incredibly complimentary to one another, LET IT BLEED appears a little more uneven by comparison. The true greatness to be found on LET IT BLEED pretty much belongs to the era defining 'Gimmie Shelter', 'Midnight Rambler' and 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', and what's left, although very good on their own terms as songs, actually don't transcend perhaps from being very good to classic status, quite. That's not to say LET IT BLEED isn't a classic Stones album as a whole, just perhaps that the whole is actually far greater than the sum of its parts. LET IT BLEED very much builds on what BEGGARS BANQUET began in terms of the electric/acoustic country blues influences, only the emphasis perhaps moves slightly more in favour of electric than the more predominantly acoustic flavouring of a number of the BEGGARS BANQUET tracks. In a sense BEGGARS BANQUET and LET IT BLEED are the closest the Stones ever came to repeating themselves on consecutive albums, although saying that severely undermines how effective (and important) LET IT BLEED is. How important an album containing GIMMIE SHELTER on its own is, makes it pretty much as important an album as the Stones have ever recorded.

With STICKY FINGERS the Stones very much abandon the social concerns to be found within those LET IT BLEED songs, and their vision pretty much turns inward towards the sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll culture which pretty much inhabited their own lives at the time. One senses with STICKY FINGERS the Stones becoming much more insular, and more detached from their surroundings, where they sing about pretty much what was affecting their own lives, and this marked them growing away from being willing to relate to what was going on around them. Maybe this has something in part to do with the Altamont disaster, and perhaps that growing sense that they no longer want to associate/reflect the society surrounding them. The more rocking electric guitar sound introduced at this time really did represent what the Stones would sound like during Mick Taylor's time with the band, in addition to a new level of professionalism, not perhaps previously found on Stones albums. STICKY FINGERS perhaps doesn't quite contain such important songs as GIMMIE SHELTER, MIDNIGHT RAMBLER and YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT, but i would say it is a more consistent album, in terms of overall song quality and level of performance.

I absolutely agree with you that LIB as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts; I think that is what I love about it! I also agree that SF is more consistent in terms of song quality, but as an album to listen through in sequence, it doesn't, to me, make the 'sense' that LIB does. BB is also a great album I listen to all the time, but I guess I am too influenced by beginnings and endings to rate it as highly as LIB - I am lukewarm about Sympathy for the Devil and I think Salt of the Earth is outright lame as a finale, whereas GS and YCAGWYW are peerless 'bookends' to the Glimmer partnership.

Lady Jayne, i am not sure i agree with you with regards to 'Sympathy For The Devil' and 'Salt Of The Earth'. What i love about BEGGARS BANQUET is its lack of pretence, in terms of what constitutes the basic ingredients of each song. The Stones on BEGGARS BANQUET tend never to overreach themselves in terms of them attempting to appear too 'grand',or over inflated etc. One could argue that 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' is a touch overblown, yet perhaps also, with good reason, maybe the female chorus and the song's length etc. is a necessary ingredient to the song's effectiveness etc. It's a matter of personal taste, for sure, but i prefer the simplicity of BEGGARS BANQUET over LET IT BLEED, at times even down to Jagger's vocals. Listen to the sensitivity Jagger gives to 'No Expectations' when compared to its LET IT BLEED counterpart 'Love In Vain', where the slightly more heavy handed and mannered vocals (at times) starts to creep in. BEGGARS BANQUET has the Stones presenting those country blues sounds in the purest and least affected fashion they would ever. The Stones succesfully made those influences truly convincing, in their own unique (and sometimes quite subtle way). Starting with LET IT BLEED, in a sense, the Stones begin to lose some of their early musical naivety, which is especially true of Jagger's vocals on occasion. The 'rock' voice becomes more pronounced on LET IT BLEED, hardly a bad thing of course, but the Stones youthful innocence would invariably be lost for good (aside from, say, the occasional song like 'Wild Horses').

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Edward Twining
Starting with LET IT BLEED, in a sense, the Stones begin to lose some of their early musical naivety, which is especially true of Jagger's vocals on occasion. The 'rock' voice becomes more pronounced on LET IT BLEED, hardly a bad thing of course, but the Stones youthful innocence would invariably be lost for good (aside from, say, the occasional song like 'Wild Horses').

Indeed.

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His Majesty

Quote
Edward Twining
Starting with LET IT BLEED, in a sense, the Stones begin to lose some of their early musical naivety, which is especially true of Jagger's vocals on occasion. The 'rock' voice becomes more pronounced on LET IT BLEED, hardly a bad thing of course, but the Stones youthful innocence would invariably be lost for good (aside from, say, the occasional song like 'Wild Horses').

Indeed.

And thats why I compare it to Lady Jane. I think I finally figured it out, Wild Horses sounds like the blueprint for Guns and Roses ballads. The 12-string sound, lighters in the air, join in on the powerballad refrain. Everybody! "Wiiiiillld hozeeeeees, couldnt draaaag me awaaaayyyeee, yeah!, Wiiiild hozeeeess.."

"Angeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

"Yoooooooooooooooooou're just a memory"

"You Caaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiin't always giiit whatcha wantccchhh"

"Taaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiim waits for no one"