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Doxa

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JJHMick

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Doxa

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RoughJusticeOnYa

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JJHMick
Everyone who likes Hard Woman and Old Habits Die Hard CANNOT DISLIKE Streets of Love.

...Or Angie, for that matter.

Does that mean that if one likes one ballad one needs to like all ballads...?

In my opinion, "Angie" belongs to very different category than any of those other songs mentioned... A bit like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" compared to "Fight"...

- Doxa

There are different kinds of ballads written by Mick. I hear a relationship in Streets of Love, Hard Woman and Old Habits Die Hard in the way Mick sings them. Out of Tears also belongs in here.
I'm sure you can find similar chord changes too. There's also a similar change odf 'drama' from verse to chorus, isn't it?
Angie has complete sentences, the others more or less brief phrases. As far as I know the music of Angie was done by Keith anyway.

Very good observations. I think we should not underestimate Keith's contribution in "Angie". It is the natural melodic sense, with, yeah, complete sentences going along with the 'natural' flow of melody (and that wonderful chord sequence), we still there can hear as we earlier had heard in, say, "As Tears Go By" and "Ruby Tuesday" (unfortunately Keith also seem to lost that ability later). Mick's latter day ballads, starting probably in "Out of Tears" just don't 'flow' so naturally, and are typically, like you said, made of brief phrases, and also of rather schematic melodic ideas. To my ears they tend to sound a bit artificial or thin.

"Angie" is to me a perfect product of the traditional Glimmer Twins teamwork at its best - Keith giving the base, the feel and the clues, Mick continuing there and driving the song into perfection.

Anyway, that said, I still remeber when VOODOO LOUNGE was released, and its 'retro' nature quickly recognized. "Out of Tears" was seen as a modern day equavalent to "Angie", representing that era or style, Mick rediscovering that vulnerable voice again. Could be. but there are considerable differencies.

- Doxa