I like it better than B&B but not nearly as much as GHS. Stuff like Short & Curlies was really scraping the bottom of the barrel, creatively. But then you have the funk of Fingerprint and the Taylor-signature piece, Time. Dance Little Sister has a great groove and raunchy guitars, though it's not a brilliant song. I thought Til The Next Goodbye was a decent ballad. The title track remains one of the strangest recordings in the Stones canon, perhaps because it started as a demo with other people on it and morphed into a Stones track through overdubbing. It's somehow still much more compelling as a studio track with an acoustic foundation than the straight-ahead rocker they try to make it onstage.

Short and curlies is definitely a low. First time I ever wanted to turn off a stones song mid way through first listen.

Solid album. Major step down for GRNRBITW though.

hard to understand this, I think short and curlies is really great, pure stones, love that song

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michel
hard to understand this, I think short and curlies is really great, pure stones, love that song

Totally agree.

Dance Little Sister as well.

While we're here, apart from the obvious ones, Luxury works for me.

The whole album is great.

Luxury, IYCRM, IORR and FF are great songs. IYRWBMF has grown on me. The rest is so so to poor, imo.

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DandelionPowderman
Luxury, IYCRM, IORR and FF are great songs. IYRWBMF has grown on me. The rest is so so to poor, imo.

Ah come on... TWFNO?

Dance Little Sister (ask Jimmy Page).

ATPTB.. just for Keith's unusual guitar break.

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DandelionPowderman
...The rest is so so to poor, imo.

yeah iyo fortunately.

HMN

Jimmy was way out there when he did that statement

TWFNO is ok at best, imo. ATPTB is cool, but somewhat generic. I enjoy the live versions the most.

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Honestman

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DandelionPowderman
...The rest is so so to poor, imo.

yeah iyo fortunately.

I said that

Along with Goats Head Soup I think the album suffers from being released shortly after the immortal period. They are both fine albums in their own right.

"Lyin' awake in a cold, cold sweat. Am I overdrawn, am I going in debt?
It gets worse, the older that you get. No escape from the state of confusion I'm in.

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sonomastone
Short and curlies is definitely a low. First time I ever wanted to turn off a stones song mid way through first listen.

Solid album. Major step down for GRNRBITW though.

Totally agree with your points.

I always liked this album musically because of the way the keyboards were an integral part of so many songs. Not just an overdub like on many later albums, but woven into the fabric of the melody on songs like Next Goodby, Luxary, Short & Curlies, Be my Friend and of course, Time Waits for No one.

The inter-twining of guitars and keyboards made for some beautiful melodies. Nicky added so much to the song creation process

The album sounds dated and doesn't stand the test of time. A few songs on side four of Exile hinted at this chorused reverb drenched sound but IORR is soaked through-out. Still I love the title track, TW and Dance... Taylor is at the height of his fusion exploration, same is true for Goats. It is a miracle they jumped back into relevance with Some Girls a few years later. Today fans pray for similar miracle fans where a new Stones album takes the world by storm. I believe they can do it...

IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL is perhaps the first Stones album where the stones-by-numbers approach first came into play on a large scale. In other words the Stones were recording typical sounding Stones songs (many of the rocking variety) but without any real sense of conviction or inspiration behind their creation. 'If You Can't Rock Me', the cover 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg', 'Dance Little Sister' and even the title track, for me are really short term pleasures, where if you scratch the surface, what lies beneath is pretty hollow. That's not to say they aren't enjoyable to a degree, because they are rather spightly, and in a sense, perhaps, more familiar stylistically to the average Stones fan, than some of those more meandering and melancholly offerings on, say, GOATS HEAD SOUP, for example, but unfortunately over repeated listens these songs don't stand up nearly so well.

Even the changes of pace songs like the ballads 'Till The Next Goodbye', 'If You Really Want To Be My Friend' and to a point 'Time Waits For No One', are somehow lacking, and, perhaps, also quite hollow. 'Fingerprint File' doesn't impress me either, as much as its funky musical direction suggests it might. 'Time Waits For No One' however, works well in terms of it being Mick Taylor's swansong, in retrospect, Although it isn't somehow as well rounded in terms of its construction and production as the tracks on the Stones more higly regarded albums, musically Nicky Hopkins and Mick Taylor cook up something rather transcendant, and haunting. 'Luxury' is perhaps the other highlight for me. I just love Jagger's attempts at a Jamaican accent in this. In a sense 'Luxury' also acted as a signpost to the much better BLACK AND BLUE within its slight reggae influenced sound.

IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL for me is the weakest Stones album of the seventies. If GOATS HEAD SOUP hinted at times that the Stones were in decline, with IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL, the Stones decline is pretty full scale throughout. The Stones were very much on autopilot. I still enjoy listening to the album, however, although it's always a toss up for me, to which is the weaker album between this and EMOTIONAL RESCUE. I have come to the conclusion that i like EMOTIONAL RESCUE more simply because the Stones were trying to be a little different in terms of musical direction at times, which contributed to making it more interesting. Unfortunately, with IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL it was more of the same from the Stones, minus the magic ingredients.

I often wonder how much different the album would have sounded with Jimmy Miller behind the controls?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-06-27 22:27 by Edward Twining.

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Edward Twining
IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL is perhaps the first Stones album where the stones-by-numbers approach first came into play on a large scale. In other words the Stones were recording typical sounding Stones songs (many of the rocking variety) but without any real sense of conviction or inspiration behind their creation. 'If You Can't Rock Me', the cover 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg', 'Dance Little Sister' and even the title track, for me are really short term pleasures, where if you scratch the surface, what lies beneath is pretty hollow. That's not to say they aren't enjoyable to a degree, because they are rather spightly, and in a sense, perhaps, more familiar stylistically to the average Stones fan, than some of those more meandering and melancholly offerings on, say, GOATS HEAD SOUP, for example, but unfortunately over repeated listens these songs don't stand up nearly so well.

Even the changes of pace songs like the ballads 'Till The Next Goodbye', 'If You Really Want To Be My Friend' and to a point 'Time Waits For No One', are somehow lacking, and, perhaps, also quite hollow . 'Fingerprint File' doesn't impress me either, as much as funky musical direction suggests it might. 'Time Waits For No One' however, works well in terms of it being Mick Taylor's swansong, in retrospect, Although it isn't somehow as well rounded in terms of its construction and production as the tracks on the Stones more higly regarded albums, musically Nicky Hopkins and Mick Taylor cook up something rather transcendant, and haunting. 'Luxury' is perhaps the other highlight for me. I just love Jagger's attempts at a Jamaican accent in this. In a sense 'Luxury' also acted as a signpost to the much better BLACK AND BLUE within its slight reggae influenced sound.

IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL for me is the weakest Stones album of the seventies. If GOATS HEAD SOUP hinted at times that the Stones were in decline, with IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL,the Stones decline is pretty full scale throughout. The Stones were very much on autopilot. I still enjoy listening to the album, however, although it's always a toss up for me, to which is the weaker album between this and EMOTIONAL RESCUE. I have come to the conclusion that i like EMOTIONAL RESCUE more simply because the Stones were trying to be a little different in tems of musical direction at times, which contributed to making it more interesting. Unfortunately, with IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL it was more of the same from the Stones, minus the magic ingredients.

I often wonder how much different the album would have sounded with Jimmy Miller behind the controls?

Nice. Coherent.

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doxa
IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL is perhaps the first Stones album where the stones-by-numbers approach first came into play on a large scale.

Brilliant analysis, as usual.

It's one of the last Stones albums where I liked to really liked almost every song (Some Girls is the last), but ....Friend is almost vomit-inducing.

Dancing, Star Star and Silver Train were quite dominant tracks on GHS, and imo they are archetypical by numbers tracks.

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DandelionPowderman
Dancing, Star Star and Silver Train were quite dominant tracks on GHS, and imo they are archetypical by numbers tracks.

Agreed, IORR is the same way, but it has the advantage of being the forerunner vs. the next 30 years of often the same thing. The formula was still fresh.

Too much analysis going on here. You had to be of a certain age I suspect. Not too old, not too young.

I was 15.

It was my second Stones album (after GHS).

It cemented my Stones fandom forever after.

It's special.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-06-27 23:23 by GravityBoy.

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DandelionPowderman
Dancing, Star Star and Silver Train were quite dominant tracks on GHS, and imo they are archetypical by numbers tracks.

Yes, Dandelion, and 'All Down The Line', 'Rocks Off', and 'Rip This Joint' on EXILE ON MAIN STREET too. However, that's really besides the point that i'm trying to make.

My feeling is the rocking songs on ITS ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL tend to sound particularly forced, almost as a way for the Stones to make up for those songs lack of inspiration. The Stones later more formulaic type rockers like 'Sad Sad Sad', 'You Got Me Rocking', 'Rough Justice' etc. actually truly begin here, where inspiration is replaced by a standard unimaginative rock 'n' roll type cliche (and not just in lyrical terms either). Yes, maybe there have been glimpses of this before, but never so blatantly and consistently, as on IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL in my opinion. The great thing about BLACK AND BLUE, and for whatever its perceived shortcomings may be, the Stones change track a little, and indulge in a blacker, more funk inspired rhythmic sound for some of the time, which in a sense ceases the perception that the Stones were slipping ever further into repetition and decline. There aren't necessarity that many great songs on BLACK AND BLUE (at least not where the rockers were concerned) but the more rhythmic influences ensured the Stones didn't fall into self parody quite so quickly.

You can give me 'Hot Stuff' over 'If You Can't Rock Me', any time.

I think the rockers on GHS are just as forced-sounding, Edward.

RO, ADTL and RTJ, however, all have the energy and that little extra something which the rockers on GHS and IORR (apart from IYCRM and IORR) don't have, imo.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-06-27 23:59 by DandelionPowderman.

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DandelionPowderman
I think the rockers on GHS are just as forced-sounding, Edward.

RO, ADTL and RTJ, however, all have the energy and that little extra something which the rockers on GHS and IORR (apart from IYCRM and IORR) have, imo.

I would disagree with you slightly there, Dandelion. 'Silver Train' and 'Star Star' in my opinion are preferable to rockers like 'Dance Little Sister' and 'If You Can't Rock Me' which for me, come off a great deal more forced, but behind the bravado are less substantial. Of course, i'm not implying 'Silver Train' is one of the great Stones rockers, necessarily, either. 'Dancing With Mr D' is a bit of a dirge, admittedly, but i still prefer it, despite the fact it gives the clearest indication, up to that point that the Stones were not perhaps musically in the best of health. 'Star Star' stands on its own pretty much, i feel, within its Chuck Berry influenced sound and quirky lyrics. The overiding descriptive word i would use to describe the Stones decline on IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL is 'sustained', Dandelion, and 'sustained' is not a description you could point to on the Stones previous release, GOATS HEAD SOUP, in my opinion.

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GravityBoy
Too much analysis going on here. You had to be of a certain age I suspect. Not too old, not too young.

I was 15.

It was my second Stones album (after GHS).

It cemented my Stones fandom forever after.

It's special.

Yes, I think this is the it. IORR was obviously good enough for me that it started a life-long journey into the Stones. Musically there's lots of cool stuff going on, even with Short and Curlies. You've got Stu playing the boogie woogie. You've got the decadence of Luxury and raunch of Dance Little Sister. You've got acoustic guitar and piano and Billy on the ballads. You've got Taylor ripping into the solo on If You Can't Rock Me and Keith grinding it out on Ain't Too Proud To Beg.

The album is good due to good musicianship, NOT good songwriting. There are some exceptions but overall, the songwriting was weak and feels a bit thrown together.

But hey, both guitarists were at their height of herion addiction at this time so I'm sure it's hard to write great songs with guitarists nodding off.

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Edward Twining

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DandelionPowderman
I think the rockers on GHS are just as forced-sounding, Edward.

RO, ADTL and RTJ, however, all have the energy and that little extra something which the rockers on GHS and IORR (apart from IYCRM and IORR) have, imo.

I would disagree with you slightly there, Dandelion. 'Silver Train' and 'Star Star' in my opinion are preferable to rockers like 'Dance Little Sister' and 'If You Can't Rock Me' which for me, come off a great deal more forced, but behind the bravado are less substantial. Of course, i'm not implying 'Silver Train' is one of the great Stones rockers, necessarily, either. 'Dancing With Mr D' is a bit of a dirge, admittedly, but i still prefer it, despite the fact it gives the clearest indication, up to that point that the Stones were not perhaps musically in the best of health. 'Star Star' stands on its own pretty much, i feel, within its Chuck Berry influenced sound and quirky lyrics. The overiding descriptive word i would use to describe the Stones decline on IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL is 'sustained', Dandelion, and 'sustained' is not a description you could point to on the Stones previous release, GOATS HEAD SOUP, in my opinion.

Both albums have poor production. However, I still think the rockers on GHS are just as "artificial" (that's the word I prefer) as those on IORR. None of the GHS sound real or convincing to me. That can be said about the rockers on IORR too, but the choruses (IORR) and the funkiness/groove (IYCRM), the caribbean flavour (Luxury) give them the edge, imo. Star Star is too "cartoon-ish" for me.

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DandelionPowderman

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Edward Twining

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DandelionPowderman
I think the rockers on GHS are just as forced-sounding, Edward.

RO, ADTL and RTJ, however, all have the energy and that little extra something which the rockers on GHS and IORR (apart from IYCRM and IORR) have, imo.

I would disagree with you slightly there, Dandelion. 'Silver Train' and 'Star Star' in my opinion are preferable to rockers like 'Dance Little Sister' and 'If You Can't Rock Me' which for me, come off a great deal more forced, but behind the bravado are less substantial. Of course, i'm not implying 'Silver Train' is one of the great Stones rockers, necessarily, either. 'Dancing With Mr D' is a bit of a dirge, admittedly, but i still prefer it, despite the fact it gives the clearest indication, up to that point that the Stones were not perhaps musically in the best of health. 'Star Star' stands on its own pretty much, i feel, within its Chuck Berry influenced sound and quirky lyrics. The overiding descriptive word i would use to describe the Stones decline on IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL is 'sustained', Dandelion, and 'sustained' is not a description you could point to on the Stones previous release, GOATS HEAD SOUP, in my opinion.

Both albums have poor production. However, I still think the rockers on GHS are just as "artificial" (that's the word I prefer) as those on IORR. None of the GHS sound real or convincing to me. That can be said about the rockers on IORR too, but the choruses (IORR) and the funkiness/groove (IYCRM), the caribbean flavour (Luxury) give them the edge, imo. Star Star is too "cartoon-ish" for me.

Yes I agree but GHS has a keith track... And a darn good one...

I have always loved this album. The only drawback is the muddled sound.

"Well my heavy throbbers itchin' just to lay a solid rhythm down"

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sonomastone

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DandelionPowderman

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Edward Twining

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DandelionPowderman
I think the rockers on GHS are just as forced-sounding, Edward.

RO, ADTL and RTJ, however, all have the energy and that little extra something which the rockers on GHS and IORR (apart from IYCRM and IORR) have, imo.

I would disagree with you slightly there, Dandelion. 'Silver Train' and 'Star Star' in my opinion are preferable to rockers like 'Dance Little Sister' and 'If You Can't Rock Me' which for me, come off a great deal more forced, but behind the bravado are less substantial. Of course, i'm not implying 'Silver Train' is one of the great Stones rockers, necessarily, either. 'Dancing With Mr D' is a bit of a dirge, admittedly, but i still prefer it, despite the fact it gives the clearest indication, up to that point that the Stones were not perhaps musically in the best of health. 'Star Star' stands on its own pretty much, i feel, within its Chuck Berry influenced sound and quirky lyrics. The overiding descriptive word i would use to describe the Stones decline on IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL is 'sustained', Dandelion, and 'sustained' is not a description you could point to on the Stones previous release, GOATS HEAD SOUP, in my opinion.

Both albums have poor production. However, I still think the rockers on GHS are just as "artificial" (that's the word I prefer) as those on IORR. None of the GHS sound real or convincing to me. That can be said about the rockers on IORR too, but the choruses (IORR) and the funkiness/groove (IYCRM), the caribbean flavour (Luxury) give them the edge, imo. Star Star is too "cartoon-ish" for me.

Yes I agree but GHS has a keith track... And a darn good one...

CDA is sorely missed in concert!

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24FPS
The rotten icing on the cake was Love You Live. There was a big demand for a live album and what we got was the first incarnation of the Vegas Stones (excepting the El Mocambo Side).

I alwways thought that '75 and '76 and LYL were the anti-Vegas Stones. VERY loose, sloppy and coked out. More so than any tour before. I think I know what you mean by 'first incarnation', but I don't think that these years qualify. Vegas Stones came upon us quickly and without warning, imo. To keep this on topic, good songs on IORR, not so good sound. Except for Dance Little Sister, great production.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-06-28 08:41 by carlorossi.