<At the time, albums like Some Girls, Emotional Rescue, and Undercover afterwards, were considered 'one-track-platters', meaning: one excellent single and the rest of the album was supposedly crap>

All those albums have several great singles! I have never heard of people calling those albums "one track platters". Not back then, and not now.

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Witness
In a less positive approach than before the weekend:

Start Me Up ----- to me Stones-by-numbers. Not bad, but cheap and therefore slightly irritating, where e.g Highwire is only good
Hang Fire ----- the good punkish song from studio outtakes ruined in this arrangement and with those doo-doo's.
Slave ------ following the two opening songs, not working on me, might have been a good song on BLACK AND BLUE, e.g instead of "Melody"
Little T&A ----I am not so keen on that one either
Black Limousine ---- one rather redeeming song, without being in any way great
Neighbours ---- I found that quite banal, too
Worried About You ---- it is OK, but to me nothing more in the studio version
Tops ---- only "Melody" I like less of Stones music
Heaven ---- it's probably OK, but for me would have needed another setting
No Use in Crying ----- in spite of all preceding tracks, I quite like this one, which tells about some quality
Waiting on a Friend ----a gem good enough to be part of any Stones album, on condition of fitting stylistically, best and possibly only suited on GOATS HEAD SOUP.

An album that clearly is better than DIRTY WORK, but all the same gets on my nerve in a way that DIRTY WORK does not, after I only come through the first two songs, when that album is only relatively weak in the context of Stones music.

That would be funny if "slave" did come after "hey Negrita" on B&B, since the riff is so similar.

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DandelionPowderman


All those albums have several great singles! I have never heard of people calling those albums "one track platters". Not back then, and not now.

To be clear, this is not my estimation. But I did hear some people voice this opinion at the time and I did read it in, perhaps, Rolling Stone, MelodyMaker or some other magazine, the critic using the phrase "this is yet another one track platter" (a term I couldnt invent, myself), and "after the first song you might as well stop playing the record". As the then popular expression "they could record a fart and it would still sell" wasn't meant as a compliment, either.

Heavily overrated! Not that I don't like the album, I do ... a lot! But when I see some call it great and classify it up their w/ their best ... I cringe.

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LeonidP
Heavily overrated! Not that I don't like the album, I do ... a lot! But when I see some call it great and classify it up their w/ their best ... I cringe.

Ooohhhh...but it is great and is up their with their best!
I guess it depends on one's perspective of it all though. Being 17 at the time in anticipation of a new Stones album and seeing them for the first time, it was a whirlwind of excitement. Never really cared for Start Me Up, and I wouldn't consider Hang Fire, Neighbors, and Little T&A up with their best, but overall there's alot of nostalgia attached to that whole era, and the album as a whole was their last truly great effort.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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Hairball

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LeonidP
Heavily overrated! Not that I don't like the album, I do ... a lot! But when I see some call it great and classify it up their w/ their best ... I cringe.

Ooohhhh...but it is great and is up their with their best!
I guess it depends on one's perspective of it all though. Being 17 at the time in anticipation of a new Stones album and seeing them for the first time, it was a whirlwind of excitement. Never really cared for Start Me Up, and I wouldn't consider Hang Fire, Neighbors, and Little T&A up with their best, but overall there's alot of nostalgia attached to that whole era, and the album as a whole was their last truly great effort.

Start Me Up is 'great' for me ... I think it has an amazing catchy riff, and great 'drive' to the song, with strong vocals by Mick. I would put 'Slave' up there as great too. The rest of the album has songs that I either love or just like, no throwaways for me.

But the Stones 'great' albums, like Beggars, Bleed, Sticky, Exile, have an entire album of greatness ... I would never put TY near that category.

Great? Some of the early albums, like Hitmakers and Now! ... and for me anyway, Some Girls!

Great album, side B is pure art.

1. Start Me Up. 9+ The studio version is great, live it doesn't work so well
2. Hang Fire. 7. Filler but good
3. Slave. 9+ Halleluja, praise the Lord
4. Little T&A. 8. Good
5. Black Limousine. 8. The solo makes it great
6. Neighbours. 8. Great fun. Mick is wonderful on this
7. Worried About You. 9+. The only reason I don't give it a 10, is because:
8. Tops. 10. Heaven, oh no, wait that's the next song
9. Heaven, 10. Heaven
10. Ain't No Use For Crying. 9+. It's a sort of 3/4 reggae-blues-soul ballad or something.
11. Waiting On a Friend. 10. Perfection.


I am surprised to read that Ronnie is not on Slave. So all guitars are by Keith?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-01-28 21:53 by matxil.

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matxil
Great album, side B is pure art.

1. Start Me Up. 9+ The studio version is great, live it doesn't work so well
2. Hang Fire. 7. Filler but good
3. Slave. 9+ Halleluja, praise the Lord
4. Little T&A. 8. Good
5. Black Limousine. 8. The solo makes it great
6. Neighbours. 8. Great fun. Mick is wonderful on this
7. All About You. 9+. The only reason I don't give it a 10, is because:
8. Tops. 10. Heaven, oh no, wait that's the next song
9. Heaven, 10. Heaven
10. Ain't No Use For Crying. 9+. It's a sort of 3/4 reggae-blues-soul ballad or something.
11. Waiting On a Friend. 10. Perfection.


I am surprised to read that Ronnie is not on Slave. So all guitars are by Keith?

All About You?

Ronnie is on earlier takes of Slave.

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DandelionPowderman

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matxil
Great album, side B is pure art.

1. Start Me Up. 9+ The studio version is great, live it doesn't work so well
2. Hang Fire. 7. Filler but good
3. Slave. 9+ Halleluja, praise the Lord
4. Little T&A. 8. Good
5. Black Limousine. 8. The solo makes it great
6. Neighbours. 8. Great fun. Mick is wonderful on this
7. All About You. 9+. The only reason I don't give it a 10, is because:
8. Tops. 10. Heaven, oh no, wait that's the next song
9. Heaven, 10. Heaven
10. Ain't No Use For Crying. 9+. It's a sort of 3/4 reggae-blues-soul ballad or something.
11. Waiting On a Friend. 10. Perfection.


I am surprised to read that Ronnie is not on Slave. So all guitars are by Keith?

All About You?

Ronnie is on earlier takes of Slave.

You're always very fast in detecting my typos
I could of course say I am just testing you, but in fact, no, I just messed up again. Corrected it. And in fact, listening to Slave again, there's actually only one guitar in it, right?

Yep, only Keith

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DandelionPowderman


All those albums have several great singles! I have never heard of people calling those albums "one track platters". Not back then, and not now.

I remember a critique by a leading German Journalist (Frank Laufenberg, the Germans here will know him) who said about "Undercover":
I must say it's a mediocre Stones album. But that also means it's 99% better than anything already or will be released this year.

The album has a concept that sets it apart from other Stones albums: rockers on side 1, ballads on side 2. I agree that the latter is rather great (side 1 also btw).
I used to think, this is like the Stones own Abbey Road. Far fetched but thats how I feel about it.
Yes it was the first Stones album that I got, so that colours the experience of course.

Tattoo You was even better than Some Girls to acquaint (is that an English word anyway?!) Stones haters/dislikers with the band.

I never found a person who did not like Waiting On A Friend and regarded Start Me Up as a superb rocker. Even for those who found Neighbors too Punkish, they enjoyed the video. Btw, video: Which band could be simply filmed performing (SMU) than the Stones?!

That slow and fast side issue (I think, imitated Rod Stewart records) goes to show that the vinyl format is better for consumption than the cd format. Anyway, one has hardly 45 minutes without interruption to listen so you could choose the side of your mood. I remember needing about half a dozen attempts to listen to A Bigger Bang in a row. Oh yeah, video killed the radio star, technical progress killed the whole business.

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JJHMick
...I never found a person who did not like Waiting On A Friend ...

Well not that I don't 'like' it, but I certainly don't think it's close to the masterpiece claimed by some. To me, it's just a decent track, cool that it's not much like anything they've done before, but overall not a 'must' to listen to.

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matxil
...side B is pure art....

Eh ... again, it is good overall, but still not anywhere near what I would call 'pure art'. My favorites are Worried About You and Heaven, to me the rest are average to decent Stones tracks.

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LeonidP

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JJHMick
...I never found a person who did not like Waiting On A Friend ...

Well not that I don't 'like' it, but I certainly don't think it's close to the masterpiece claimed by some. To me, it's just a decent track, cool that it's not much like anything they've done before, but overall not a 'must' to listen to.

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matxil
...side B is pure art....

Eh ... again, it is good overall, but still not anywhere near what I would call 'pure art'. My favorites are Worried About You and Heaven, to me the rest are average to decent Stones tracks.

Have to agree about Waiting on a Friend... would probably never make my top 50 list.
Out of curiosity, do you think they've put put a better original album since Tattoo You?

ps - My favorite desert island tracks off the album are:

-Slave
-Black Limousine
-Tops
-Heaven
- No Use in Crying

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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Hairball

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LeonidP

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JJHMick
...I never found a person who did not like Waiting On A Friend ...

Well not that I don't 'like' it, but I certainly don't think it's close to the masterpiece claimed by some. To me, it's just a decent track, cool that it's not much like anything they've done before, but overall not a 'must' to listen to.

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matxil
...side B is pure art....

Eh ... again, it is good overall, but still not anywhere near what I would call 'pure art'. My favorites are Worried About You and Heaven, to me the rest are average to decent Stones tracks.

Have to agree about Waiting on a Friend... would probably never make my top 50 list.
Out of curiosity, do you think they've put put a better original album since Tattoo You?

Not sure, it's close for me. I really do like their last 3 studio albums a lot, Voodoo, Bridges, Bigger Bang, I think I may like each one better than Tattoo You. Then again, none of them has a song as good as either Start Me Up or Slave, so not sure ... it's close.

** edit ... oops forgot about Black Limo ... another that I love!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-01-29 04:40 by LeonidP.

Didn't Ian Stewart say that Black Limousine sounds like "bloody Status Quo"?!

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JJHMick
Didn't Ian Stewart say that Black Limousine sounds like "bloody Status Quo"?!

I always thought that was Lies. They had been playing BL since 1973, supposedly.

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DandelionPowderman


All those albums have several great singles! I have never heard of people calling those albums "one track platters". Not back then, and not now.

That's RIDICULOUS!

What, so every single didn't go Top 10 or Number 1? People know Miss You and Start Me Up and Emotional Rescue. But there are plenty of people that know Shattered, Hang Fire, She's So Cold, Beast Of Burden, Waiting On A Friend and, yes, Neighbours.

One track platter. What a load!

Take those 3 LPs with all the singles and video singles and it's a min-hits comp!

Start Me Up
Miss You
Emotional Rescue
Hang Fire
Shattered
She's So Cold
Neighbours
Where The Boys Go
Respectable
Worried About You
Beast Of Burden
Waiting On A Friend

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TravelinMan
Who doesn't love Start Me Up?

Me. Trite.

The remainder of the record though is just sensational, apart from Slave - I just can't get right into funky Stones. Salve/Dance/Dance Pt2...mmmm, they're all right, but not ... ALL RIGHT!!!!

Side 2 is sublime. Just sublime.

I still vividly recall the first time I played the album. Side one - rocks - it's THE Stones. And - in the main - great.

Flipped the disc. WTF????? THIS is The Stones???? By the end of side 2 I had somehow been completely hypnotized. Just beautiful music. Almost ethereal were/are Tops and Heaven. Worried About You, to this day, is my favourite EVER (live or studio) Mick Jagger vocal of all time. He is just so masterful in his vocal in this, getting better and better as the song progresses. Awesome.

Waiting on a Friend? Great way to round out the record. Not Stones-like, yet also so true to their more 'experimental' sound. Lilting. Floats by...

Rod

For me, "Start Me Up" is a masterpiece recording. Bill shines. Everyone does.
Worth the price of admission right there imo.
It's super great, super realized, I love it.

And I think "Hang Fire" is a wonderful song; a wonderful lyric;
They don't always pull that off with these more provacative numbers and I have always loved this track and been grateful for it.
It's a perennial. Both of these are imo.

That's it for Greatness, as far as what I love to spend time with in their vast catalog frankly. that is, From Tatoo You.

I like "Black Limousine" a lot. It has swing and a wonderful feel. They do this stuff great.
"Neighbours" rolls you over with it's energy and humor. I like it more than I should. But I do like it.
"Waiting on a Friend" for me, could possibly or probably go right up there with the first two in the Great category. That would be fair I think.
It's got wonderful feel and I've special affection for it.

The rest never did catch my attention or affection in a sustained way for whatever personal reasons of taste.
So I'd say three great wonderful, really worthwhile tracks for me, at least with this album. So I'd rate it a good album but not a great one.
I'd say it has AT LEAST TWO SUPER SUPER GREAT SONGS tho...
and that's amazing and appreciated by this fan.

Now this is personal taste. That's all it is.
I know some of those other tunes are especially loved and appreciated by a lot of fans.
It's what captured with me; and what I found myself going back for again and again.
I'm the kind of fan like a lot of you; I'll think of a song and NEED to find it.
And Hang Fire and Start Me Up were songs I always thought brilliant. And "Waiting for a Friend" I always found lovely and heartening.
Bill does INCREDIBLE work on SMU and HF!!! Just precious and wonderfully lifting.
I didn't think "Undercover," which followed this one, was as good as this one personally.
For me it didn't have TY kind of Greatness, imo, too much near it;
and imo, TY def DOES have these Super Great Wonderful, classic Stones compositions and recordings. Super conceived an performed.
Super Great Prodcution. START ME UP is a Killer Great song.
If it was the only things on the LP it would be hard to bitch.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-01-30 06:21 by hopkins.

I forgot to add Worried About You to my Desert Island tracks, but maybe that wasn't compeletely accidental.
At one time it was my favorite track on Tattoo You, but having seen it performed live several times sort of tainted it for me. While Mick's falsetto on the studio version is classy and subtle, when performed live it became brash and almost obnoxious! Still a great song live and especially studio musically- the way the song slowly builds, picks up pace with Charlies Drums, and Mick's vocals go back to normal. And that perfect studio guitar solo from Wayne Perkins soars and literally sings to the heavens above - something Ronnie has never been able to quite capture imo. At the end it becomes almost a gospel type rave-up that makes me want to jump and shout and sing along as loud as I can. OK, I've convinced myself...no live version can taint the greatness...studio version definitely belongs on my desert island tracks from Tattoo You along with Slave, Black Limousine, Tops, Heaven, No Use in Crying.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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GasLightStreet

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DandelionPowderman


All those albums have several great singles! I have never heard of people calling those albums "one track platters". Not back then, and not now.

That's RIDICULOUS!

What, so every single didn't go Top 10 or Number 1? People know Miss You and Start Me Up and Emotional Rescue. But there are plenty of people that know Shattered, Hang Fire, She's So Cold, Beast Of Burden, Waiting On A Friend and, yes, Neighbours.

One track platter. What a load!

Take those 3 LPs with all the singles and video singles and it's a min-hits comp!

Start Me Up
Miss You
Emotional Rescue
Hang Fire
Shattered
She's So Cold
Neighbours
Where The Boys Go
Respectable
Worried About You
Beast Of Burden
Waiting On A Friend

You can add Far Away Eyes (promo video) and Dance, part 3 (promo 45 single) and you've got the bonus tracks..

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LeonidP

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JJHMick
...I never found a person who did not like Waiting On A Friend ...

Well not that I don't 'like' it, but I certainly don't think it's close to the masterpiece claimed by some. To me, it's just a decent track, cool that it's not much like anything they've done before, but overall not a 'must' to listen to.

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matxil
...side B is pure art....

Eh ... again, it is good overall, but still not anywhere near what I would call 'pure art'. My favorites are Worried About You and Heaven, to me the rest are average to decent Stones tracks.

The waxy buildup in your ears fortunately can be addressed through some very simple techniques. Try lying on your side and having someone dribble warm, (not hot!) water into your ear canal...wait a minute, roll over and drain the water in your ear into a towel. gross, i know, especially if some orangey waxy buildup flows out onto the towel. When that happens though, success! Now. do the same in the other ear.

THEN, grab a vinyl copy of Tattoo You, and try listening to side two again, and please advise us of the results. I think you'll be pleased!

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SomeGuy

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DandelionPowderman


All those albums have several great singles! I have never heard of people calling those albums "one track platters". Not back then, and not now.

To be clear, this is not my estimation. But I did hear some people voice this opinion at the time and I did read it in, perhaps, Rolling Stone, MelodyMaker or some other magazine, the critic using the phrase "this is yet another one track platter" (a term I couldnt invent, myself), and "after the first song you might as well stop playing the record". As the then popular expression "they could record a fart and it would still sell" wasn't meant as a compliment, either.

Gotcha, but the mags (if they indeed claimed this) were proven wrong with time

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treaclefingers

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LeonidP

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JJHMick
...I never found a person who did not like Waiting On A Friend ...

Well not that I don't 'like' it, but I certainly don't think it's close to the masterpiece claimed by some. To me, it's just a decent track, cool that it's not much like anything they've done before, but overall not a 'must' to listen to.

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matxil
...side B is pure art....

Eh ... again, it is good overall, but still not anywhere near what I would call 'pure art'. My favorites are Worried About You and Heaven, to me the rest are average to decent Stones tracks.

The waxy buildup in your ears fortunately can be addressed through some very simple techniques. Try lying on your side and having someone dribble warm, (not hot!) water into your ear canal...wait a minute, roll over and drain the water in your ear into a towel. gross, i know, especially if some orangey waxy buildup flows out onto the towel. When that happens though, success! Now. do the same in the other ear.

THEN, grab a vinyl copy of Tattoo You, and try listening to side two again, and please advise us of the results. I think you'll be pleased!

Just using a simple plastic syringe with tepid water, not putting too much pressure, holding your head with a 45 degrees sideways angle above the sink, also works very well.

For me, Tattoo You is part of The Big Three: Aftermath (UK version), Exile, and Tattoo You.

Mathijs

I love this album...it's the last one that I truly enjoy from start to finish. Undercover came somewhat close (I still feel there's a bit of filler on it), and the following ones are spotty in my opinion...

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treaclefingers

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LeonidP

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JJHMick
...I never found a person who did not like Waiting On A Friend ...

Well not that I don't 'like' it, but I certainly don't think it's close to the masterpiece claimed by some. To me, it's just a decent track, cool that it's not much like anything they've done before, but overall not a 'must' to listen to.

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matxil
...side B is pure art....

Eh ... again, it is good overall, but still not anywhere near what I would call 'pure art'. My favorites are Worried About You and Heaven, to me the rest are average to decent Stones tracks.

The waxy buildup in your ears fortunately can be addressed through some very simple techniques. Try lying on your side and having someone dribble warm, (not hot!) water into your ear canal...wait a minute, roll over and drain the water in your ear into a towel. gross, i know, especially if some orangey waxy buildup flows out onto the towel. When that happens though, success! Now. do the same in the other ear.

THEN, grab a vinyl copy of Tattoo You, and try listening to side two again, and please advise us of the results. I think you'll be pleased!

Probably hard for you to comprehend, not everyone has the same taste, favorites, etc. And since you can't seem to read, I didn't say I dislike it, only that it's not as great as some claim.

Every hear of Sticky Fingers? Try giving that a listen and then tell me TY is in the same ballpark.

Have to agree that this album is seriously overrated. Start Me Up and Waiting on a Friend are genuine classics and far superior to Emotional Rescue and She’s So Cold but overall I think Emotional Rescue (the album) is the better work.

Tops –The highlight of the song is Taylor’s guitar in the fade out...which is more than a little disappointing when you think about it.

Slave – I get the appeal of that hypnotic riff but in the end it’s just a jam. I know, it’s only just a jam but you like it, however, I call it a Huge Missed Opportunity.

Worried About You – Similar to Emotional Rescue, the song only kicks into high gear when Mick drops the falsetto. His falsetto is farcical and debases what could’ve been a cool ballad. Try walking around all day speaking falsetto and then tell me I’m wrong.

Waiting on a Friend – Here the falsetto works because he’s using it as an instrument. This is definitely one my favorite ballads (with surprisingly mature lyrics) – it’s quite reminiscent of ‘No Expectations’ in the sense that we’re treated to numerous grand performances (I’m thinking of Jack Nitzsche’s tinkly piano, Brian’s slide, Sonny’s sax etc.) which elevate a fairly simple piece of music to ethereal heights.

Neighbors – I’m sure most agree that this song should be filed under ‘Tolerable Filler.’

Start Me Up – Fans tend to focus on the iconic riff and in fact the whole band is totally locked into that sleazy rhythm but Mick’s vocal performance is a tour de force. The lyrics are sleazy (the antithesis of Waiting on a Friend) but fairly irrelevant – it’s all in Mick’s relentless delivery (he could’ve sang ‘Turn Me Off’ and it still would’ve been a huge hit).

Hang Fire – Worst song on the record – file this one under ‘Intolerable Filler.’

Black Limo - Decent bluesy rocker that for whatever reason I seldom listen to. Why don’t I listen to it more? Black Limousine – Gotta get you into my YouTube rotation.

Little T&A – One of Keith’s best songs and vocal performances slightly marred IMO by the ham-fisted intro.

Heaven – Belongs on the ‘The Gimmick Twins Greatest Hits album’ along with Shattered, Fingerprint File etc. but I was delighted to hear it when I saw Vanilla Sky in the theater.