Tell Me :
Talk
Also wanna say I love BTB. I also really like VL; I thought I like SW when it first came out but I don't care for it much anymore....but I still listen to Bridges quite often.
I agree with almost all of this review. I love the album apart from some over the top production. I do prefer the album mix of Out of Control though, Danny Sabers mix is a bit, I don't know, busy? for me. I remember being quite astounded at the album on release. So late in the game they sent us this great record. Late in the game BACK THEN? WHAT HAVE WE GOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO, THEN?
Rod
Holy crap, you actually like some good songs. But then you fall off that cliff by liking Gunface and MAWGJ, and add to it somehow by saying it gets better with each listening. That cliff just gets higher and higher, bringing you right back to the lowest point possible... lower than the inside of a black hole.
That would be...
I almost spat up my desert eclair after reading that "everything else is brilliant"
What?! Iorr is a maasterpiece! Between is half a masterpiece! Satanic a third!
Talk about your favorite band.
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Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
GasLightStreet
()
Date: May 20, 2016 16:24
It certainly has a very broad range of styles and sounds on it. It may be their most diverse album in that regard. Aside from Keith's licks and riffs with Flip The Switch and Lowdown, his 3 tunes give this album some weight and are the most listened to tracks, with Flip and Saint Of Me getting regular play (probably because they played those live). I like Out Of Control but I don't listen to it much. The Danny Saber mix is good though, better than the LP mix.
ASMB? worked out great... for the video, the last one they made that worked.
ASMB? worked out great... for the video, the last one they made that worked.
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
Rocky Dijon
()
Date: May 20, 2016 16:34
The videos for "Saint of Me" and "Rain Fall Down" were fine and in keeping with what had gone before. "Don't Stop" is a bad joke. The retro-MTV look was not a good one. "Rough Justice" seemed determined to stay out of focus to hide their age. "Streets of Love" was just painful. The nostalgic videos for "Plundered My Soul" and "No Spare Parts" seemed anachronistic given the brand new vocals gracing them. "Following the River" was um, different. And "Doom and Gloom" made me think I had a @#$%& seizure.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-20 16:34 by Rocky Dijon.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-20 16:34 by Rocky Dijon.
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
GasLightStreet
()
Date: May 20, 2016 16:55
There was a "video" made for Following The River?
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
Rocky Dijon
()
Date: May 20, 2016 17:23
Yeah it was old newsreel and silent movie footage of disasters. Floods, car crashes, plane crashes. It was...unique.
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
LeonidP
()
Date: May 20, 2016 19:19
I love this album!
To me, the last 3 studio efforts, Voodoo, Bridges, and Bigger Bang, are significantly better than the previous 3, Steel, Dirty, & Undercover (yes, I like Undercover a lot, but don't 'love' it). To me the songs are simply far better, and I believe mainly due to Mick/Keith writing together again.
Bridges is my favorite of the last 3. It is very solid throughout, not a bad song on it! It's also the time I saw them the most live in concert -- went at almost every opportunity!
To me, the last 3 studio efforts, Voodoo, Bridges, and Bigger Bang, are significantly better than the previous 3, Steel, Dirty, & Undercover (yes, I like Undercover a lot, but don't 'love' it). To me the songs are simply far better, and I believe mainly due to Mick/Keith writing together again.
Bridges is my favorite of the last 3. It is very solid throughout, not a bad song on it! It's also the time I saw them the most live in concert -- went at almost every opportunity!
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
whitem8
()
Date: May 20, 2016 19:22
I agree Leonid. I also love BTB. There are some amazing songs on BTB and not a bad one as well, which is a feat for a later day Stones album. So much better than Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge and ABB. I am not a fan of those three. And they have not aged well.
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
HonkeyTonkFlash
()
Date: May 20, 2016 19:38
Quote
whitem8
I agree Leonid. I also love BTB. There are some amazing songs on BTB and not a bad one as well, which is a feat for a later day Stones album. So much better than Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge and ABB. I am not a fan of those three. And they have not aged well.
Also wanna say I love BTB. I also really like VL; I thought I like SW when it first came out but I don't care for it much anymore....but I still listen to Bridges quite often.
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
GasLightStreet
()
Date: May 24, 2016 18:06
It's hilarious how someone can hear Gunface, Always Suffering, Already Over Me and Might As Well Get Juiced and say there's not a bad song on BTB.
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
HMS
()
Date: May 24, 2016 18:30
In fact there are almost more bad songs on it than on Voodoo Lounge. B2B contains some of the worst, should say most unpleasing songs of their entire career:
Thief In The Night, Always Suffering, Out Of Control, Saint Of Me, Already Over Me. A quintet of ear-bleeding pain.
Everything else is brilliant or at least very good. My favorite tracks are Too Tight and Flip The Switch followed by Gunface and Might As Well Get Juiced. MAWGJ gets better and better the more you listen to it.
Thief In The Night, Always Suffering, Out Of Control, Saint Of Me, Already Over Me. A quintet of ear-bleeding pain.
Everything else is brilliant or at least very good. My favorite tracks are Too Tight and Flip The Switch followed by Gunface and Might As Well Get Juiced. MAWGJ gets better and better the more you listen to it.
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
bitusa2012
()
Date: May 25, 2016 04:41
Quote
Rocky Dijon
I love everything about "Flip the Switch." It's the promise of The X-Pensive Winos finally delivered by The Stones.
"Anybody Seen My Baby?" is easy to pick on, but musically the guitars are perfect as is the bass. The Biz Markie sample is awful. The "No Biz" mix still has that ugly synthesizer which the sample partially masks. What was needed was a guitar solo and there isn't one until the end, but it's a beauty. The drums at times sound like they were sampled as well, other times it's glorious Charlie.
"Low Down" is also very much Winos-style. No where close to the opener, but not terrible. I suspect the "Just between you and me" would have worked better for Keith than it does for Mick.
"Already Over Me" is easy to pick on for Mick's vocals, but I think the song is solid and displays real emotion. It works for me. I would have been curious to hear the Babyface version, but I see nothing wrong with this one at all. Miles above "Following the River" or "Streets of Love."
"GunFace" works for me. Great guitar and vocal. Convincing anger rather than the cartoonish "Fight" or the half-baked outrage of "Sweet Neo Con" or "I Can't Take It." For me, there's a direct line from "Commit a Crime" to this one. I love it almost as much as "Flip the Switch."
"You Don't Have To Mean It" is Keith's best Jamaican number after "Too Rude." Infectious is the word. A real beauty of a song.
"Out of Control" is a great song. I love the dichotomy between the melancholy verses and the literally out of control chorus. This one works great for me. I'll take Danny Saber's final mix over the album cut, though.
"Saint of Me" is another great one. The riff, the lyrics, the groove. It's both pop and gospel. Everything about it works. A real pleasure.
"Juiced" is a near-miss. Get rid of the synthesizers and you've got a mother of a blues song here that I can tell I love. It's not a ruined masterpiece, but it could have been much stronger without the trendiness applied.
"Always Suffering" is lovely. Serene and melancholy with a chorus that again, shows the influence of the Winos. I love it. An acoustic gem.
"Too Tight" is a treasure. Great riff and drumming. Great lyrics. Mick sounds as spiteful as he did thirty years earlier. A lost gem that should have traded places with "Low Down."
"Thief in the Night" is ponderous. Keith is lost in the groove. There are interesting ideas, but it all seems a bit unfocused. The drums and electric guitar kicking in at the end are welcome, though. As are the backing vocals. I don't think Keith's f-bomb is impressive in and of itself. Audience reaction to it always struck me as embarrassing. It was as if it was a naughty word to them.
"How Can I Stop?" is gorgeous. It's placement with "Thief in the Night" might erode some of its impact, but the thing is perfection. Keith getting lost in the groove works well with the hook line of not being able to stop and that coda is a joy to hear.
"Any Way You Look At It" is another acoustic gem. The reference to "Point of View" (Keith's Jamaican hideaway) recalls "Make No Mistake" and the mid-section is right out of "As Tears Go By." I love the tune.
I agree with almost all of this review. I love the album apart from some over the top production. I do prefer the album mix of Out of Control though, Danny Sabers mix is a bit, I don't know, busy? for me. I remember being quite astounded at the album on release. So late in the game they sent us this great record. Late in the game BACK THEN? WHAT HAVE WE GOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO, THEN?
Rod
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
GasLightStreet
()
Date: May 25, 2016 20:46
Quote
HMS
In fact there are almost more bad songs on it than on Voodoo Lounge. B2B contains some of the worst, should say most unpleasing songs of their entire career:
Thief In The Night, Always Suffering, Out Of Control, Saint Of Me, Already Over Me. A quintet of ear-bleeding pain.
Quote
HMS
Everything else is brilliant or at least very good. My favorite tracks are Too Tight and Flip The Switch followed by Gunface and Might As Well Get Juiced. MAWGJ gets better and better the more you listen to it.
Holy crap, you actually like some good songs. But then you fall off that cliff by liking Gunface and MAWGJ, and add to it somehow by saying it gets better with each listening. That cliff just gets higher and higher, bringing you right back to the lowest point possible... lower than the inside of a black hole.
That would be...
Re: ALBUM TALK: Bridges To Babylon
Posted by:
Turner68
()
Date: May 26, 2016 11:51
Quote
HMS
In fact there are almost more bad songs on it than on Voodoo Lounge. B2B contains some of the worst, should say most unpleasing songs of their entire career:
Thief In The Night, Always Suffering, Out Of Control, Saint Of Me, Already Over Me. A quintet of ear-bleeding pain.
Everything else is brilliant or at least very good. My favorite tracks are Too Tight and Flip The Switch followed by Gunface and Might As Well Get Juiced. MAWGJ gets better and better the more you listen to it.
I almost spat up my desert eclair after reading that "everything else is brilliant"
Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
RollingFreak
()
Date: April 6, 2017 18:58
Going off the same thread as A Bigger Bang, its got me rethinking this album. Well, not rethinking, but revisiting, and not really changing my mind about it. I sought it out when I was relistening to Keith Richards songs, and after I heard the 3 on this album I decided to dig into the album.
Haven't changed my mind, I really don't find it good, at all. IMO probably their worst besides those 80s albums. Only real standout is Out Of Control which doesn't even touch the greatness it is live, but you hear the foundation here. Then I come across the Rolling Stone review which is just sickingly praiseworthy (their usual "crap on the past efforts they previously praised but this new one is good" stuff) and I'm wondering if I'm totally missing something.
I find the Richards songs to be completely boring and repetitive and the Jagger songs to be second rate attempts at a modern rock fusion with loops and stuff. Flip The Switch almost sounds like they can't find the groove at all then just give up at the end. Again, am I missing something? I've never really given this album much thought.
Haven't changed my mind, I really don't find it good, at all. IMO probably their worst besides those 80s albums. Only real standout is Out Of Control which doesn't even touch the greatness it is live, but you hear the foundation here. Then I come across the Rolling Stone review which is just sickingly praiseworthy (their usual "crap on the past efforts they previously praised but this new one is good" stuff) and I'm wondering if I'm totally missing something.
I find the Richards songs to be completely boring and repetitive and the Jagger songs to be second rate attempts at a modern rock fusion with loops and stuff. Flip The Switch almost sounds like they can't find the groove at all then just give up at the end. Again, am I missing something? I've never really given this album much thought.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
Hairball
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:11
The only songs I liked at time of release were Keith's You Don't Have to Mean It, and Saint of Me - which ironically Keith has nothing to do with.
Bad album, but a pretty good tour albeit sterile and Vegas. The B-stage was great, as was the entire main stage visually speaking.
I remember writing a review at the time of the Dodger stadium show, and mentioned it was like being at Disneyland with the whole family in a very friendly environment - the danger of a Stones concert was no longer there.
_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......
Bad album, but a pretty good tour albeit sterile and Vegas. The B-stage was great, as was the entire main stage visually speaking.
I remember writing a review at the time of the Dodger stadium show, and mentioned it was like being at Disneyland with the whole family in a very friendly environment - the danger of a Stones concert was no longer there.
_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
stones40
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:12
When you find that when songs played live in concert such as -
Flip the Switch
Out of Control
Saint of Me
are far better live than on record that in itself makes you wonder about the production sound / mixing that was used for BTB.
BTB the album is not a really good album by the Stones and the methods that Mick & Keith used probably explains why.
It was said at the time of release that Mick & Keith wrote their own songs for the album and did not collaborate over the songs that they wrote.
I tend to ignore playing the album but enjoy above songs on BTB DVD.
Flip the Switch
Out of Control
Saint of Me
are far better live than on record that in itself makes you wonder about the production sound / mixing that was used for BTB.
BTB the album is not a really good album by the Stones and the methods that Mick & Keith used probably explains why.
It was said at the time of release that Mick & Keith wrote their own songs for the album and did not collaborate over the songs that they wrote.
I tend to ignore playing the album but enjoy above songs on BTB DVD.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
laertisflash
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:17
Of course.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
buttons67
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:26
it is full of filler with some good songs.
gunface is my favourute and i find it underrated.
you dont have to mean it, already over me are also good.
anybody seen my baby and flip the switch are good enough
the rest varies between so so and utter crap.
saint of me is the worst single they ever released and is one very overrated song, out of control is almost as bad.
like a bigger bang and voodoo lounge it could have been cut, with cover versions added, but certainly these albums could have been shortened from 13, 14 and 16 songs to 10-12.
gunface is my favourute and i find it underrated.
you dont have to mean it, already over me are also good.
anybody seen my baby and flip the switch are good enough
the rest varies between so so and utter crap.
saint of me is the worst single they ever released and is one very overrated song, out of control is almost as bad.
like a bigger bang and voodoo lounge it could have been cut, with cover versions added, but certainly these albums could have been shortened from 13, 14 and 16 songs to 10-12.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
HMS
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:29
No it isn´t.
But I found a way for me to turn this mix of two solo-albums into something enjoyable:
01 Flip The Switch
02 Lowdown
03 Gunface
04 Anybody Seen My Baby
05 How Can I Stop
06 Might As Well Get Juiced
07 You Don´t Have To Mean It
08 Too Tight
Everything not included in above playlist is horrible to my ears.
How Can I Stop of course is rather boring but I wanted to create a LP, not a EP.
But I found a way for me to turn this mix of two solo-albums into something enjoyable:
01 Flip The Switch
02 Lowdown
03 Gunface
04 Anybody Seen My Baby
05 How Can I Stop
06 Might As Well Get Juiced
07 You Don´t Have To Mean It
08 Too Tight
Everything not included in above playlist is horrible to my ears.
How Can I Stop of course is rather boring but I wanted to create a LP, not a EP.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
geordiestone
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:33
I like it, but you gotta dig deep behind the productions and sounds which were modern at that time. There's a sense of Mick pulling in that direction versus Keith who doesn't give a crap for modern technology and on this occasion Mick wins hands down. But still, it's way way better than any Mick solo album [Wandering Spirit aside] and imo there are no awful songs on it.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
Shantipole
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:35
As per usual one man's treasure is another man's junk. I love the album and still listen to it. Standouts for me are Saint of Me and Out of Control. Anybody Seen My Baby has grown on me and You Don't Have to Mean it is a fun summer song. Flip the Switch and Too Tight are fun rockers and Already Over Me is great. The tour was fantastic and I had VIP tickets so the memories are great. I stopped seeing them live after that mainly due to refusing to spend hundreds of dollars to hear the same songs.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
Witness
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:44
Yes, BRIDGES TO BABYLON is a good album in my estimation. It is so good as verging on the semi-great. And it is more daring than A BIGGER BANG, which is also good and marginally better, but more "safe", as one objection in between these two albums isolated.
In comparison, I am one, who holds that there are approximately as many as 12 great Rolling Stones albums, including the German Decca compilation AROUND AND AROUND, which was early on how I met some of the band's first material. UNDERCOVER as the latest great one, I have not yet concluded if BLUE AND LONESOME may become a 13th great album. As many as three further albums to me are or are verging on the semi-great.
In the other end, I am, as almost alone, even more frustrated by TATTOOO YOU than by the weaker DIRTY WORK. Apart from that, I don't like the sound of STEEL WHEELS, even if there are some almost good songs, but not all ("Continental Drift" as directly great though), whereas I think it far between really good songs on VOODOO LOUNGE.
As to B2B, I am once again in the minority, who likes very much "Might As Well Be Juiced" and even more "Always Suffering". The contrasts between these two songs and the preceding "Saint of Me" are for me one (but not the only) highlight of this album. In fact, the song that I am least happy about, apart from "Gunface", is "Out of Control"; I have heard a live version more to my liking though.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-04-06 19:49 by Witness.
In comparison, I am one, who holds that there are approximately as many as 12 great Rolling Stones albums, including the German Decca compilation AROUND AND AROUND, which was early on how I met some of the band's first material. UNDERCOVER as the latest great one, I have not yet concluded if BLUE AND LONESOME may become a 13th great album. As many as three further albums to me are or are verging on the semi-great.
In the other end, I am, as almost alone, even more frustrated by TATTOOO YOU than by the weaker DIRTY WORK. Apart from that, I don't like the sound of STEEL WHEELS, even if there are some almost good songs, but not all ("Continental Drift" as directly great though), whereas I think it far between really good songs on VOODOO LOUNGE.
As to B2B, I am once again in the minority, who likes very much "Might As Well Be Juiced" and even more "Always Suffering". The contrasts between these two songs and the preceding "Saint of Me" are for me one (but not the only) highlight of this album. In fact, the song that I am least happy about, apart from "Gunface", is "Out of Control"; I have heard a live version more to my liking though.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-04-06 19:49 by Witness.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
Redhotcarpet
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:52
Yes it is. It is not among their best of course but the best since TY perhaps. I never listen to it but objectively it is probably better than Undercover despite Too much blood (underrated) she was hot and undercover. It is a solid album and it has thief, flip and the boring but, again, probably radiogood out of control. Saint of me is shit but yes its very Stonsey like Micks other attempts at rock radio play during the Vegas era. D&g style. Maybe Steel Wheels is underrated as Vegas era goes. The mid and slow tempos on Wheels are quite good.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
Monsoon Ragoon
()
Date: April 6, 2017 19:56
Good album, but worse than most Stones albums (except maybe It's Only Rock'n Roll & Between The Buttons; Satanic Majesties does not count).
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
Redhotcarpet
()
Date: April 6, 2017 20:00
Quote
Monsoon Ragoon
Good album, but worse than most Stones albums (except maybe It's Only Rock'n Roll & Between The Buttons; Satanic Majesties does not count).
What?! Iorr is a maasterpiece! Between is half a masterpiece! Satanic a third!
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
HonkeyTonkFlash
()
Date: April 6, 2017 20:01
I like it a lot and I think if it had come out, say - in the mid seventies, it would have been very well received. Of course the Biz Markie rap part should have been shelved but still...And I know I'll get flack for saying this but I also think if A Bigger Bang had been the follow up to Black and Blue, people would have thought it was a fresh reinvigorated sound. Not as good as Some Girls but still...
"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-04-06 20:04 by HonkeyTonkFlash.
"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-04-06 20:04 by HonkeyTonkFlash.
Re: Is Bridges To Babylon a good album?
Posted by:
RollingFreak
()
Date: April 6, 2017 20:07
After a bit more listening I've realized the middle isn't bad. Already Over Me, Gunface and Out Of Control. That is a solid stretch. Everything else I just can't really get on board with. Borderline unlistenable to me. But some cool opinions here and was wondering. Pretty cool to see such a wide spectrum, and most of which doesn't just sound like kiss assing but a genuine like and intelligent reasoning for enjoying the record.
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