ALBUM DEATH MATCH: Voodoo Lounge vs. Bridges to Babylon (the 1990s called and they want one of their two stones studio albums back!)

OK...this is about as serious as a matchup as we've had. A battle for the hearts and minds of the 90s.

And here are our featherweight challengers...Voodoo Lounge & Bridges to Babylon. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but which holds up better?


Love Is Strong vs. Flip The Switch - Flip The Switch has the energy - the fastest bpm of any stones song, but Love Is Strong has the groove. LIS over FTS and Voodoo Lounge is on the board. 1-0

You Got Me Rocking vs. Anybody Seen My Baby - oh dear. YGMR is a modern day warhorse classic. I was a butcher cutting up meat, a hooker losing her looks, a cobbler fixing your shoes, it really has it all. But then ABSMB comes along with that amazing rap bit in the middle that just takes the band to a whole new level, a lower level mind you, but also new. OK, while I loathe ABSMB, I'm quite sure I never want to hear YGMR ever again, so it's ABSMB with the win. 1-1.

Sparks Will Fly vs. Lowdown - I'll give you guys the lowdown right now, and let me tell you sparks are flying. 1-2

The Worst vs. Already Over Me - An interesting matchup, I really have to tell you. Probably the one and only time in a matchup where the first song actually describes the second song. Thank you Keith, take all the pain, it's yours anyway! 2-2

New Faces vs. Gun Face - battle of the faces. a face off. I'm for gun control, so just for that New Faces gets it, plus we have MJ lamenting about a young turk cramping his style. It's quite sincere. 3-2

Moon Is Up vs. You Don't Have To Mean It - let's get this over quickly, I hate both songs. Moon Is Up. 4-2

Out Of Tears vs. Out Of Control - looks like we're on the 'Outs' on this one. Actually like both tunes here. OOC really is dynamic and has evolved and has shined in concert...even so, it's pretty damn good here and nudges OOT to the side. 4-3. Voodoo Lounge holding a slim margin.

I Go Wild vs. Saint of Me - OK, is Mick wild or a saint? We don't care, but we do know Saint of Me is the best song on Bridges, so that's enough to tie this baby up, 4-4!

Brand New Car vs. Might As Well Get Juiced - neither is a particular favourite, but MJ's double entendres wear thin pretty damn quickly on BNC. Juiced is at least interesting. Bridges leads for the first time! 4-5

Sweethearts Together vs. Always Suffering - I don't even think you have to listen to the songs to choose a winner. Sweethearts vs. Suffering. Um...who should win. OK, I actually like the little calypso love song while Always Suffering...wait, didn't Already rate this one??? No, wait, that was Already Over Me. Aren't they the same song? Now I don't even know which one is which, only that I hate them both. OK, all tied up again, 5-5!

Suck On The Jugular vs. Too Tight - I think we could rate a winner here just on song titles again but let's take the high road and just say Suck On The Jugular is just so absolutely stupid it shouldn't even be on a record. 5-6

Blinded by Rainbows vs. Thief in the Night - whoa, a hard one. I know some people don't like Rainbows, but I think this is an album highlight. But then we have the Keef song, which is sublime. Very tough call. I think I listen to Rainbows more, so I'm going to have to go with that. 6-6 and we're all tied up again!

This is a bloody battle!

Baby Break It Down vs. How Can I Stop - Another one I actually quite like from VL! Now, the ironically titled "How Can I Stop"...I can tell you how can I stop Keith, RUN OUT OF VINYL! BBID wins taking VL to a 7-6 lead.

Next,

Thru and Thru vs. ah...

Mean Disposition vs. err...

Oh that's right, we've run out of vinyl.

So, conclusions here?

1. 7-6 win Voodoo Lounge over BtoB in our head to head matchups and

2. The realization that they should be employing a lot more editing of material so that we end up no more than 10 songs on each album (Exile excepted) and far shorter Death Matches.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-05-14 21:53 by bv.

i stopped paying attention after steel wheels.

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Bsebastian
i stopped paying attention after steel wheels.

you may not know a lot of these songs then, just warning you.

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treaclefingers

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Bsebastian
i stopped paying attention after steel wheels.

you may not know a lot of these songs then, just warning you.

lol. anyway, please leave a voicemail for the 90s that they can have both their albums back.

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Bsebastian

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treaclefingers

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Bsebastian
i stopped paying attention after steel wheels.

you may not know a lot of these songs then, just warning you.

lol. anyway, please leave a voicemail for the 90s that they can have both their albums back.

But isn't it clear that there's a need for people to know which album is marginally better?

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treaclefingers

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Bsebastian

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treaclefingers

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Bsebastian
i stopped paying attention after steel wheels.

you may not know a lot of these songs then, just warning you.

lol. anyway, please leave a voicemail for the 90s that they can have both their albums back.

But isn't it clear that there's a need for people to know which album is marginally better?

only if mick taylor plays on one of them.

OK, I will play. Although I basically have the same opinion about Stones and the 90s as Sebastian. Here we go:

Love is Strong - Flip the Switch 0-1
YG me rocking - Anybody seen... 1-0
Sparks will fly - Lowdown 1-0
The Worst - Already over me 0-0
New Faces - Gun Face 0-0
Moon is Up - You dht mean it 1-0
Out of tears - out of control 0-1
I go wild - saint of me 0-1
Brand new car - might awg juiced 1-1
Sweetharts -always suffering 0-0
Jugular - too tight 0-0
Rainbow - Thiefs 0-0
Break it down - how can i stop 1-0
---------------------------------------
5-4, VL wins!

Love is Strong - Flip the Switch LOVE IS STRONG
YG me rocking - Anybody seen ANYBODY
Sparks will fly - Lowdown LOWDOWN
The Worst - Already over me ALREADY OVER ME
New Faces - Gun Face GUNFACE
Moon is Up - You dht mean it YOU DONT HAVE TO MEAN IT
Out of tears - out of control OOC
I go wild - saint of me I GO WILD
Brand new car - might awg juiced JUICED
Sweetharts -always suffering ALWAYS SUFFERING
Jugular - too tight TOO TIGHT (and I dont really like it)
Rainbow - Thiefs THIEF IN THE NIGHT
Break it down - how can i stop HOW CAN I STOP

Voodoo 2
BtoB 11

Love is Strong - Flip the Switch LOVE IS STRONG
YG me rocking - Anybody seen YG
Sparks will fly - Lowdown LOWDOWN
The Worst - Already over me THE WORST
New Faces - Gun Face GUNFACE
Moon is Up - You dht mean it YOU DONT HAVE TO MEAN IT
Out of tears - out of control OUT OF CONTROL
I go wild - saint of me SAINT OF ME
Brand new car - might awg juiced JUICED
Sweetharts -always suffering ALWAYS SUFFERING
Jugular - too tight JUGULAR
Rainbow - Thief THIEF IN THE NIGHT
Break it down - how can i stop BREAK IT DOWN.

Love Is Strong vs. Flip The Switch 1 - 0
Love is Strong has the stronger riff, the better melody and more dynamics.

You Got Me Rocking vs. Anybody Seen My Baby 2 - 0
You Got Me Rocking is silly filler, but it works very well live. One of those Stones mysteries.

Sparks Will Fly vs. Lowdown 2 - 1
Both are filler, but Lowdown is nicer.

The Worst vs. Already Over Me 3 - 1
Rather mediocre, but the Worst rings more honest

New Faces vs. Gun Face 3 - 2
Tough call, both are attempts and nothing more than attempts. Gun Face has more action.

Moon Is Up vs. You Don't Have To Mean It 3 - 3
Neither is good, but You Don't Have To Mean It, well, I don't know, it could have maybe grown out to be something more interesting.

Out Of Tears vs. Out Of Control 3 - 4
It's a Papa was a Rolling Stone rip-off, but a lot of great music is ripped off somewhere, and anyway, it's kind of cool.

I Go Wild vs. Saint of Me 3 - 5
I Go Wild is good filler, Saint Of Me is more than that. I like the licks in the chorus (is that Ronnie?)

Brand New Car vs. Might As Well Get Juiced 3 - 6
Two attempts to make an "original blues" (original as in innovative). Neither attempt goes very well. "Might As Well..." could have been better, but Brand New Car has reached its optimum already, which isn't very high.

Sweethearts Together vs. Always Suffering 4 - 6
I think it's cute. That's a very wrong word to use in the context of talking about the Stones, but I don't care.

Suck On The Jugular vs. Too Tight 4 - 7
"Funky filler" versus "rock filler". Well, let's go for the rock filler then.

Blinded by Rainbows vs. Thief in the Night 4 - 8
Can I give two points to Thief in the Night? It's actually the best song on the entire album. Much better than "How Can I Stop" which most people seem to like more. I like that typical lack of direction, the looseness, the seemingly improvised collection of lines and melodies and choruses and verses. Like all other post-80's songs from Keith? Yes, but this one works exceptionally well.

Baby Break It Down vs. How Can I Stop 5 - 8
I like both, but since B2B seems to be winning, I give this point to Baby Break It Down. That, and because How Can I Stop is a bit the same sort of thing as Thief In The Night anyway, and I like Thief better.

Thru and Thru vs. .... 6 - 8

So, clearly, B2B is a better album, because even with 2 "cheating points", VL doesn't win.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-05-14 13:27 by matxil.

Love is strong is a great or at least good song with the best riff since Start me up and the best chord sequence and use of harmonica since Gold Painted Nails. Babylon is a better album though. Voodoo is horrible. Nothing good on it except for LIS.

As always, loads of different opinions - but, for me, BTB is one of my least liked albums (in as much as I like/love all Stones albums) whereas VL is in my Top 10 so...
...VL by a country mile!

Love Is Strong vs. Flip The Switch 0 - 1
Two great songs. Love Is Stones is always disastrous live, mostly because of Mick’s uncool singing. Flip The Switch rocked like a train on the BTB-tour.

You Got Me Rocking vs. Anybody Seen My Baby 1 - 1
Once again two great songs. You Got Me Rocking always bets bashed for being played too much live, I strongly disagree.

Sparks Will Fly vs. Lowdown 1 - 2
Sparks Will Fly is good, but Low Down is so much cooler and harder rocking.

The Worst vs. Already Over Me 1 - 3
Already Over Me is one of the great forgotten Stones ballads. The Worst is more of a corny trifle.

New Faces vs. Gun Face 2 - 3
A few years ago I would have said Gun Face without thinking about it. New Faces has however grown on me a lot. I love the genial mode it has.

Moon Is Up vs. You Don't Have To Mean It 3 – 3
You Don’t Have To Mean It is a painfully casual Keith songs which leaves me highly unaffected. Moon Is Up has an adventures melody and production which still sounds very refreshing.

Out Of Tears vs. Out Of Control 4 - 3
Out Of Control… is great because it’s so dramatic, and the outro jam is cool. Live it was very good in 2014. But after listening back to the 1997 live recordings, the 2014 recordings sounds harmfully bad. Out Of Tears is a slightly better song overall, and Ronnie’s tasty slide solo is worth dying for.

I Go Wild vs. Saint of Me 4 – 4
Saint Of Me is unique and interesting. I Go Wild is waaay to casual.

Brand New Car vs. Might As Well Get Juiced 5 – 4
Brand New Car is a very tasteful track, MightAWGJ is not even a Stones song for me.

Sweethearts Together vs. Always Suffering 6 - 4
Sweethearts together is a fantastic song. Could easily replace Wild Horses in the setlist. Always Suffering is okay, but always seemed to be a lame copy of Already Over Me.

Suck On The Jugular vs. Too Tight 6 – 5
Too Tight is exactly as energetic as it tries to be. Could have worked very well in concert I think if they'd rehearsed well. There no need to talk about Suck On The Jugular…

Blinded by Rainbows vs. Thief in the Night 6 - 6
Blinded by Rainbows is the kind of ballad which makes you wanna puke. Theif In The Night is brilliant, partly since it really sounds like a Thief in the night. Maybe Keith could have made some great movie soundtracks?

Baby Break It Down vs. How Can I Stop 6 - 7
Baby Break It Down is great until you've heard it a few times. How Can I Stop is one of Keith most emotional ballads, and works perfectly as the album closer.

So Bridges To Babylon wins with 7-6.
No surprise really, BTB is the better album, even though I like both.
These two high quality album’s should get a lot more songs in the setlist.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-05-14 15:33 by TheBlockbuster.

I like your review style treaclefingers, I'm going to go for:

Love is Strong - Flip the Switch 1-0
YG me rocking - Anybody seen... 2-0
Sparks will fly - Lowdown 3-0
The Worst - Already over me 4-0
New Faces - Gun Face 5-0
Moon is Up - You dont mean it 5-1
Out of tears - out of control 5-2
I go wild - saint of me 5-3
Brand new car - might awg juiced 5-3 (ditch them both!)
Sweetharts -always suffering 6-3
Jugular - too tight 6-4
Rainbow - Thiefs 6-5
Break it down - how can i stop 6-6

So for me its a draw... I would forget thru and thru and mean disposition and settle for a merger 90's album:

You Got Me Rocking
Sparks will Fly
Too Tight
New Faces
The Worst
You Don't Have to Mean It
Love is Strong
Sweet Hearts Together
Saint of Me
Out of Control
Thief in the Night
How Can I Stop

Mr Fingers...oddly enough, I do coincidently agree with your breakdown and analysis of each battle in this classic match to the death of the cobwebbed corner of my cd collection. I am compelled to add that although this listener has listened to VL all the way thru on quite a number of occasions, he has not listened to B2B all the way thru since the initial purchase. Now both lay unplayed and rotting at the bottom of the pile.

Might an avid follower of these classic battles expect to see in the future
any of the following?...

Satanic Magesties vs Beggar's Banquet (which might not be a complete runaway as one might expect)?

Aftermath vs Between the Buttons?

Tattoo You vs Some Girls?

Perhaps followed by quarter-finals, semis, and a world championship? One can only hope and dream.

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josepi
Mr Fingers...oddly enough, I do coincidently agree with your breakdown and analysis of each battle in this classic match to the death of the cobwebbed corner of my cd collection. I am compelled to add that although this listener has listened to VL all the way thru on quite a number of occasions, he has not listened to B2B all the way thru since the initial purchase. Now both lay unplayed and rotting at the bottom of the pile.

Might an avid follower of these classic battles expect to see in the future
any of the following?...

Satanic Magesties vs Beggar's Banquet (which might not be a complete runaway as one might expect)?

Aftermath vs Between the Buttons?

Tattoo You vs Some Girls?

Perhaps followed by quarter-finals, semis, and a world championship? One can only hope and dream.

well...we'll see (how can one convey coyness...we need a coy emoticon!)

OK, that one's not coy...a bit full of himself if you ask me.

I think it's fun what you're doing with the Album Death Matches, but comparing song to song (in order) is not totally accurate to me. Song vs song in order, for me BtoB comes out ahead, yet I think Voodoo Lounge is a better album as a whole and I listen to it more than BtoB.

Love Is Strong vs Flip The Switch - Love Is Strong
You Got Me Rocking vs Anybody Seen... - You Got Me Rocking
Sparks Will Fly vs The Lowdown - Sparks Will Fly
The Worst vs Already Over Me - The Worst
New Faces vs Gunface - New Faces
Moon Is Up vs You Don't Have To Mean It - You Don't Have To Mean It
Out Of Tears vs Out Of Control - Out Of Control
I Go Wild vs Saint Of Me - Saint Of Me
Brand New Car vs Might As Well Get Juiced - Brand New Car
Sweethearts Together vs Always Suffering - Sweethearts Together
Suck On The Jugular vs Too Tight - Too Tight
Blinded By Rainbows vs Thief In The Night - Blinded By Rainbows
Baby Break It Down vs How Can I Stop - How Can I Stop

Voodoo Lounge 8-5 Bridges To Babylon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-05-16 19:28 by Big Al.

I still prefer Voodoo Lounge over Bridges to Babylon, if you're going to do a comparison of the two. I say it even though I don't like any of the albums from Steel Wheels on.

both albums with too much filler, should have been shortened and maybe included a couple of cover songs each to fill them out.

voodoo lounge wins on points due to the fact it has less filler and no crap songs like saint of me.

and am i the only stones fan who actually digs gunface.

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buttons67
both albums with too much filler, should have been shortened and maybe included a couple of cover songs each to fill them out.

voodoo lounge wins on points due to the fact it has less filler and no crap songs like saint of me.

and am i the only stones fan who actually digs gunface.

In assessing your question, I think we can unequivocally say that is highly likely.

Not a lot of love for Thru And Thru and Mean Disposition here...

Both great songs, btw.

Love Is Strong vs Flip The Switch - FLIP THE SWITCH
You Got Me Rocking vs Anybody Seen My Baby - ANYBODY SEEN MY BABY
Sparks Will fly vs Lowdown - LOWDOWN
The Worst vs Already Over Me - THE WORST
New Faces vs Gun Face - neither
Moon Is Up vs You Don't Have To Mean It - YOU DON'T HAVE TO MEAN IT
Out Of tears vs Out Of Control - OUT OF TEARS
I Go Wild vs Saint Of Me - I GO WILD
Brand New Car vs Might As Well Get Juiced - BRAND NEW CAR
Sweethearts Together vs Always Suffering - neither
Suck On The Jugular vs Too Tight - TOO TIGHT
Blinded By RainbowS vs Thief In The Night - THIEF IN THE NIGHT
Baby Break It Down vs How Can I Stop - HOW CAN I STOP

VL 4
BTB 7

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DandelionPowderman
Not a lot of love for Thru And Thru and Mean Disposition here...

Both great songs, btw.

You only think so because thru and thru you have a mean disposition!