Yeah, not to get off topic, but HCIS is the worst Keith track ever. I don't understand how any Stones fan can find anything to like about it. Ballads are one thing, and this is another. So depressing that I thought he was telling us its over. Its been said MD was added to VL as to not end on a weird note. B2B ends on a worse note.

Quote
Thrylan
Yeah, not to get off topic, but HCIS is the worst Keith track ever. I don't understand how any Stones fan can find anything to like about it.

Really interesting song structure and chord progressions - great soulful playing by everyone, beautiful backing vocals, great vocal delivery from Keith, a gorgeous sax solo by Wayne Shorter no less - and an unusual ending that keeps you guessing.

Apart from that nothing that any Stones fan could find to like about it.

So tell how that plays out in the car with the windows down. I walked away from the CD and assumed they were calling it a day after that one.

Staying off topic to defend HCIS. I never thought of it as depressing, it's a beautiful ballad from an album I still love listening to. Bravo once again Keith

And that's... OK! I can live with really digging all but 2-3 of Keith's songs! I just grew a bit weary of "Keith the Crooner", it usually works to great affect, but you can overdose on water......

How awful, close minded and pathetic that some people find How Can I Stop to be boring or whatever. It's beyond brilliant and one of the greatest songs the Stones have ever done.

If we all liked the same thing, they'd have all chased after Grandma......


My best attempt at a Rock man line....

Quote
BILLPERKS
Baby break it down is worst Stones song...ever.

The BBID from disc 1 Voodoo Brew is extended until completion. It ends in a Gospel style flourish that should have been kept. A lot of these Brew versions may be better than the actual releases.

Baby Break It Down (album version) simply bores me to death. Not even good enough to end up on a b-side. This song plus few others spoil the whole album. The garbage can is the only place for tracks like Baby Break It Down.

1/Rick Rubin as producer.
2/10-11 songs ...maximum

I agree. Of the final three albums, I prefer it to Bridges to Babylon and A Bigger Bang.

My best attempt at a Rock man line....

Reasonable try BUT sniff a fuel tank...drop the commas and put more spin on grandma's bits ....



ROCKMAN

01. Love Is Strong --> GOOD
02. You Got Me Rocking --> WORKS GREAT LIVE
03. Sparks Will Fly --> FILLER
04. The Worst --> OK (but not as interesting as Tru and Tru or exceptionally brilliant as Thief in the Night and How Can I Stop)
05. New Faces --> ANNOYING
06. Moon Is Up --> NONSENSE
07. Out of Tears --> BORING
08. I Go Wild --> STONES BY NUMBERS
09. Brand New Car --> STONES BY NUMBERS
10. Sweethearts Together --> CUTE (It's like Indian Girl revisited. I like both)
11. Suck on the Jugular --> FAILURE
12. Blinded by Rainbows --> OKAYISH BUT BORING
13. Baby Break It Down --> INTERESTING
14. Thru and Thru --> VERY INTERESTING
15. Mean Disposition --> NOTHING SPECIAL

In general, I would say this album has its moments, but it simply is not good enough. Maybe if it were another band I would get interested, but from the Stones, I compare their output with their Magnificent Seven (BB, LiB, GYYYO, SF, EOMS, SG, TY) and then this album does not even come close.

Side One

Love Is Strong
You Got Me Rocking
Sparks Will Fly
The Worst
Moon Is Up
Out Of Tears

Side Two

I Go Wild
Sweethearts Together
Suck On The Jugular
Blinded By Rainbows
Thru And Thru

VOODOO is a strange album. Nothing on it is as good as any of Keith's 3 songs on BRIDGES but it's an OK LP. Not as good as anything from the 1970s for sure and fortunately no where near as horrendous as DIRTY WORK.

Quote
KeithNacho
The best post Tattoo You work is UC, VL and ABB in my setlist

It's UNDERCOVER, not UNDER COVER. Please use the LP title initials correctly, please. It's very important.

A tweak on HMS' VOODOO...

01. Love Is Strong
02. You Got Me Rocking - yawn
03. Sparks Will Fly ----->FILLER - stupid lyrics - should've been left off
04. The Worst - great tune
05. New Faces ---->FILLER - awful song - should've been left off
06. Moon Is Up
07. Out Of Tears - brilliant slide solo, OK song
08. I Go Wild - the long lost brother of Crazy Mama?
09. Brand New Car - funky but boring
10. Sweethearts Together ----->FILLER - should've been left off
11. Suck On The Jugular - hilarious
12. Blinded By Rainbows - should've been left off
13. Baby Break It Down - should've been left off
14. Thru And Thru
15. Mean Disposition ----->FILLER - should've been left off

Had they not put those bolded songs on and put I'm Gonna Drive and Jump On Top Of Me instead it would've been a much better LP. Shorter with better songs.

Quote
matxil
01. Love Is Strong --> GOOD
02. You Got Me Rocking --> WORKS GREAT LIVE
03. Sparks Will Fly --> FILLER
04. The Worst --> OK (but not as interesting as Tru and Tru or exceptionally brilliant as Thief in the Night and How Can I Stop)
05. New Faces --> ANNOYING
06. Moon Is Up --> NONSENSE
07. Out of Tears --> BORING
08. I Go Wild --> STONES BY NUMBERS
09. Brand New Car --> STONES BY NUMBERS
10. Sweethearts Together --> CUTE (It's like Indian Girl revisited. I like both)
11. Suck on the Jugular --> FAILURE
12. Blinded by Rainbows --> OKAYISH BUT BORING
13. Baby Break It Down --> INTERESTING
14. Thru and Thru --> VERY INTERESTING
15. Mean Disposition --> NOTHING SPECIAL

.

I agree except :
07. Out of Tears --> GOOD
08. I Go Wild --> WORKED WELL LIVE IN 94/95
10. Sweethearts Together --> ANNOYING

Matxil's got it about right. Difficult to sit through the whole album without skipping tracks. Much prefer B2B and HCIS the best thing on there.

I like it like it´s released it was one of my first albums i bought from Stones and then in 1995 i saw them in Nijmegen and Rotterdam and i was blown away by the live experience.
Because of the good memories it´s one of my favorite studio albums.
After that tour i start collecting the rest of the albums and also bootlegs.

played it today ,i think its brilliant cd with diffrent songs which i like and love it with so many songs on it,would not take any tracks off.

I've said it before and I say it again: Vodoo Lounge was, is and will forever be the album that suffers the most from Mick and Keith using their best songs at the time for solo albums, namely Wandering Spirit and Main Offender.

With the best stuff from these albums (recorded by the Stones, of course) on board and some weak tracks removed, Voodoo Lounge could have been a bona fide classic Stones album. The songs were there, they were just not used for the band.

As it is, I agree with Moonshine that it's difficult to sit through the whole album without skipping certain tracks - usually a safe indicator that something's wrong with any albums that are just mixed bags, no matter how good certain tracks are.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-09-01 04:12 by alimente.

Quote
alimente
I've said it before and I say it again: Vodoo Lounge was, is and will forever be the album that suffers the most from Mick and Keith using their best songs at the time for solo albums, namely Wandering Spirit and Main Offender.

With the best stuff from these albums (recorded by the Stones, of course) on board and some weak tracks removed, Voodoo Lounge could have been a bona fide classic Stones album. The songs were there, they were just not used for the band.

As it is, I agree with Moonshine that it's difficult to sit through the whole album without skipping certain tracks - usually a safe indicator that something's wrong with any albums that are just mixed bags, no matter how good certain tracks are.

Only the difficult thing is that, concerning VOODOO LOUNGE as many other albums, I regularly don't agree about which the comparatively weaker songs would be. Or the strong ones. The strongest and most interesting song on VOODOO LOUNGE, apart from "Love Is Strong", to me is "Sweethearts Together".

Instead I myself am pleased to receive the songs that I have got.

Quote
alimente
I've said it before and I say it again: Vodoo Lounge was, is and will forever be the album that suffers the most from Mick and Keith using their best songs at the time for solo albums, namely Wandering Spirit and Main Offender.

With the best stuff from these albums (recorded by the Stones, of course) on board and some weak tracks removed, Voodoo Lounge could have been a bona fide classic Stones album. The songs were there, they were just not used for the band.

This could be true, but still they had some two years to compose some new stuff. They were older, and not any longer in their creative heights, but still...

I would say that the weakness of VOODOO LOUNGE, in compared to highlights of MAIN OFFENDER and especially to 'the best Stones album since...' WANDERING SPIRIT, is something to do with the creative colloboration of Jagger and Richards. My picture is that by then they couldn't any longer to bring the best out of each other, but quite the opposite: instead of inspiring each other, they just tried to cope with each other, prevent conflicts, make compromises, offer safe and easy decisions. To an extent, already STEEL WHEELS, compared to TALK IS CHEAP and even PRIMITIVE COOL, was also, despite its hype and success, suffering a lot of the atmosphere of compromise solution (even not so clearly as VOODOO LOUNGE). Since starting their solo careers both Mick and Keith sound like being by themselves much more creatively brave and challenging, risky taking, as they would be with each other. DIRTY WORK famously suffered from Jagger's disinterest. But when Jagger was supposedly 'on' again, even that didn't help. According to this interpretation, what saved BRIDGES TO BABYLON was that of it initially consisting of two solo records: both heroes were there giving there the best they can, without the creatively negative presence of the other. Yeah, as a result, we got the best individual Stones songs of modern age.

It is common to say that we hear in both of their solo records the absence of the other: how would Mick would have finished up Keith's sketch songs, how would Keith have given some earthy credibility to Mick's trend-spotting doings, etc. But this is how we like to see their interaction ideally (based on history). But in reality, I think it is more like: 'hey, I don't really need to hear a second opinion here. I do damn well know what is that like.' These guys know each other, and what they have offer, to suggest, etc. too well. I think the reason why the best and most interesting Jagger/Richards individual tunes (from the times they started doing solo records) are to be found on their solo records, not from Stones records (besides BRIDGES TO BABYLON). In those we can hear the guys following their own intuition, and probably having some other, more inspiring people to co-operate with around.

When I listen to "Evening Gown" or "Hate It When You Leave" I really don't miss any other cooks there. The same with "Sweet Thing", "Take It So Hard", "Out of Focus", "Make No Mistake".... Those are wonderful songs that stand by their own. It is pretty hard to think that Jagger could have written anything as challenging with Keith (= for the Stones) as he did in, say, "War Baby". Or Keith with Mick (= Stones) anything so deep reggae-rootsie stuff as "Words of Wonder". Etc.

VOODOO LOUNGE, as I see it, is the last serious try to make a Stones album like they used to, as a whole band effort, based on Mick and Keith's colloboration. How successful that turned out to be.. yeah sold a helluva amount of copies yes, but seemingly they haven't interested in doing anything similar for 21 years now...

Lastly, I've been listening rather much lately to (the bootleg of) CROSSEYED HEART. I really don't hear there a lost great Rolling Stones album but a very fine, mature-sounding Keith Richards album, with a very strong identity of its own. And I'm more than happy with that.

- Doxa

Quote
alimente
I've said it before and I say it again: Vodoo Lounge was, is and will forever be the album that suffers the most from Mick and Keith using their best songs at the time for solo albums, namely Wandering Spirit and Main Offender.

With the best stuff from these albums (recorded by the Stones, of course) on board and some weak tracks removed, Voodoo Lounge could have been a bona fide classic Stones album. The songs were there, they were just not used for the band.

As it is, I agree with Moonshine that it's difficult to sit through the whole album without skipping certain tracks - usually a safe indicator that something's wrong with any albums that are just mixed bags, no matter how good certain tracks are.

This might be true for Mick, but I think both The Worst and Thru And Thru surpasses most of Keith's material on MO in terms of quality (with the exception of Words Of Wonder and Hate It When You Leave).

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
alimente
I've said it before and I say it again: Vodoo Lounge was, is and will forever be the album that suffers the most from Mick and Keith using their best songs at the time for solo albums, namely Wandering Spirit and Main Offender.

With the best stuff from these albums (recorded by the Stones, of course) on board and some weak tracks removed, Voodoo Lounge could have been a bona fide classic Stones album. The songs were there, they were just not used for the band.

As it is, I agree with Moonshine that it's difficult to sit through the whole album without skipping certain tracks - usually a safe indicator that something's wrong with any albums that are just mixed bags, no matter how good certain tracks are.

This might be true for Mick, but I think both The Worst and Thru And Thru surpasses most of Keith's material on MO in terms of quality (with the exception of Words Of Wonder and Hate It When You Leave).

From Mick's side it could also be that he had just made a rather good Stones-sounding album by himself, and now he should another with his old pals.. Artistic exhaustion?

Jagger's stance on VOODOO LOUNGE has been alawys a bit vague. We know all that retro-talk and blaming Don Was etc. He sounded like he - HIM! - didn't have much control, or - more likely I think - that he simply wasn't that interested at all (or lost his interest among the process.)

- Doxa

Quote
Doxa

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
alimente
I've said it before and I say it again: Vodoo Lounge was, is and will forever be the album that suffers the most from Mick and Keith using their best songs at the time for solo albums, namely Wandering Spirit and Main Offender.

With the best stuff from these albums (recorded by the Stones, of course) on board and some weak tracks removed, Voodoo Lounge could have been a bona fide classic Stones album. The songs were there, they were just not used for the band.

As it is, I agree with Moonshine that it's difficult to sit through the whole album without skipping certain tracks - usually a safe indicator that something's wrong with any albums that are just mixed bags, no matter how good certain tracks are.

This might be true for Mick, but I think both The Worst and Thru And Thru surpasses most of Keith's material on MO in terms of quality (with the exception of Words Of Wonder and Hate It When You Leave).

From Mick's side it could also be that he had just made a rather good Stones-sounding album by himself, and now he should another with his old pals.. Artistic exhaustion?

Jagger's stance on VOODOO LOUNGE has been alawys a bit vague. We know all that retro-talk and blaming Don Was etc. He sounded like he - HIM! - didn't have much control, or - more likely I think - that he simply wasn't that interested at all (or lost his interest among the process.)

- Doxa

And he tried to recreate Sweet Thing for VL. Luckily, they didn't include it

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice song, but it's obvious that Honest Man is a rock sibling to ST.





[www.youtube.com]

It is a little paradoxical, while the live performances of the 89 Stones are widely criticized as Vegas or cover band acts (rightly in my opinion), all the three post 89 albums are above average by far in my opinion. But they aren't as much appreciated as they deserve. As for me ABB is even a classic one ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-09-01 17:10 by RobertJohnson.

All three of them could have been excellent albums if they had limited the running time to 40 minutes like they used to in the old days.

On VL, BTB & ABB you can easily find 10 great songs, imo, the problems is the albums have 15 or so...

Using the programm function of my CD-player I come to very satisfying results.

Quote
jaggered1
I am surprised that V.L.is not get the recognition it deserves IMO it is one of the greatest of late period Stones. Such variety. Good rockers great ballads a little Tex Mex and Keiths best country ever. And why they haven't done Mean Disposition or Baby Break It Down live escapes me.

Best album to date since Tattoo You, without a shadow of doubt.

I remember Keith in an interview just after they finished the album saying that he and Mick were looking down through the same telescope when they made this, and it shows.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-09-01 18:10 by keefriffhards.