Certainly better than ABB, but that's not a high level to set the bar and quite frankly a cat farting in a bucket would have been better than ABB. They've covered the songs well, but millionaires singing the blues just doesn't seem to work as well as 6 hungry lads from London learning a craft did.

Perhaps that's little unfair in comparison, but I always wanted a blues album and it's a let down overall, you just don't feel the blues listening to it and it feels and sounds like what it is, the Stones playing blues in their 70s while sated in leisure.

The mix is indeed dreadful, and could be partly to blame for the above...I think these days sound engineers @#$%& about with stuff just for the sake of it and music like this really doesn't need it. I'd give it 5/10

The Rolling Stones go home to the blues with 'Blue & Lonesome'

“In a way it reminds me of 1962,” Richards, 72, said in an interview from his home in Connecticut.

“On the other hand, we probably play them a little different now, probably with more confidence,” he said. “We have the sound down better now. When we started in England, there wasn’t anybody who knew how to record this stuff, so that took quite a while to organize. It was only when we came to America and got into American studios that we really started to hit our stride.”

Full article: [www.latimes.com]

I can't wait to go back and read the reviews (I think!)
just had my first run thru of B & L
and I want to write this before I lose my nerve.
Mick Jagger.
His vocals and harmonica.
Fresh material live vocals,
not his masterpieces he's sung a million times.
LISTEN to his voice take on notes, meaning, feeling, he's got a deep well.
Where is he plugged into? The core of the earth?
Does he climb the Himalaya's on his time off,
and stay frozen in a Buddist zen state?
I want to be in a prison cell next to him, listening to him playing harmonica.
To be in a argument with him, having that voice yell at me.

P.S.
This is like new material to me. I don't know the originals. I'm not going to find them either, I'm sorry. So guess what, this is shhhh! kinda a new album.
Songs 3 and 4,
Blue and Lonesome
All of Your Love
made me want to take up smoking and drinking again.
Cigarettes and hard liquor.

Of course it's NOT better than the last few "normal" albums. It is no classic and many songs sound the same (like on many Dylan albums), but I like it. It makes no sense to compare it with a Jagger/Richards pop- rock album.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-12-02 20:53 by Monsoon Ragoon.

You always keep ants @#$%& / sour plums.

Whether a new studio album is coming out with their own songs, there remain people whine and complain.

It is still there after 54 fantastic years and action and release an album as blue & lonesome.

Just listen back and enjoy this great album.
Gr Bert.


Je blijft altijd mieren neukers houden/ zuurpruimen.

Of er nu een nieuw studio album met eigen nummers uit komt, er blijven mensen zeuren en klagen.

Het is toch fantastisch na 54 jaar nog bestaan en optreden en een album als blue & lonesome uit brengen.

Gewoon lekker luisteren en genieten van dit geweldige album.
groeten Bert Strijk.

Quote
Hairball

Quote
maumau
you're quick and smart Hairball, good for you
not being rude here but consider that not anyone who is liking or dancing the butt out of this are green to the originals or unfamiliar of "the real deal"
at least I am not

Cheers maumau.

I wasn't necessarily referring to anyone (or everyone) here - obviously there are some well schooled music lovers and appreciators here on IORR!
I was mainly referring to the general masses. Glad you and whoever else here is enjoying it as much as you seem to be, and hopefully the real deal will reach larger audiences.

Keep dancing your butt off!

I will Hairball!

Just finished my 1st run through the new album - 1/2 in the car on the way back from the store and the other half sitting at my desk.

My early thoughts:
1. Is it just me or is there not a single "BeeBay" on the album? I loved the fact that Mick has finally rediscovered how to pronounce the word "Baby". Especially as it's in just about every song.

2. Loved the fact that, for the most part, the keyboards have been pushed so far back in the mix. I was surprised to see that they seemed to be listed on every track. My thought upon reading the liner notes was "wow, I didn't hear 'em".

2a. From the department of "Who am I to judge": At points Charlie's 'china crash' grates on me. I've read others on IORR discus it's use in the live setting but a couple of songs on B&L made me think "OK, that's enough of that".

3. (This has as much to do with what I've heard as well as some of what I've read in this thread) I feel sorry for all of the people who can't seem to listen to what is there without hearing what is not or what they've heard in other versions of these songs.

4. I really like this album. One of my all-time favorite bands playing music and songs that they enjoy and have been inspired by. Kind of like when the Stones first started opening the vaults, I'm already hoping that there is more of this to come.

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts as time goes by but, for now, I'll sum up by saying, this was worth the wait. Merry (early) Christmas to me! Looking forward to getting home and under my headphones for some focused listening as opposed to background listening.

Peace,
Mr DJA

I've listened to the album four times now after buying it this morning.

I absolutely love it. They're really locked in tight and playing without pretension. I'll give it a five-star review. I could put it on any track and random and enjoy it.

The whole thing is enjoyable as an album listening experience. It's well sequenced. At first I wasn't crazy about going into another mid-tempo number as an album closer after the rousing "Just Like I Treat You", but I think the appearances of Eric Clapton push the rest of the Stones to the next level musically, and ultimately "I Can't Quit You Baby" is invigorating, thanks in large part to Mick's passionate singing.

My least favorite track is "Hoo Doo Blues". That and the catchy "Just Your Fool" are decent songs and very listenable. I wouldn't skip them if they came up on shuffle. I just think they're a bit ordinary compared to the rest.

"Hate To See You Go" sounds better than the video version for some reason. I enjoy it more the more I hear it.

"All Of Your Love" and "Little Rain" really show how well everyone in the band listens to each other. Both great songs performed very well.

I love the guitar riffs from Keith and Ron on "Just Like I Treat You" and "I Gotta Go."

Great drumming by Charlie all around but especially on "Everybody Knows About My Good Thing" and "Ride 'Em On Down". Cool changes in intensity really make those two songs stand out.

Mick's harmonica is excellent, and his singing is especially good on "I Gotta Go", "Everybody Knows About My Good Thing", and "I Can't Quit You Baby." I love it when his voice squeaks and whenever he takes a breath through the harmonica.

It's hard to pick a favorite track. I would have to say the title song "Blue And Lonesome" might be the standout for me right now. It really captures a unique mixture of music, I think. There's some sort of indefinable magic in that performance. I feel some of the best Rolling Stones tension that I associate with songs like "Monkey Man" and "Midnight Rambler".

All in all, a very enjoyable album to hear on the first day of release. I hope most everyone here enjoys it! And, if you don't like it... whassamatta you? You don't like the blues or somethin'?! Getouttahere!

Have heard only the 3 songs previously available, so I have no review, but...

I don't understand the notion that you have to be suffering to play blues. Blues is about life; yes, there are songs about people doing you wrong, but there have also always been plenty of songs full of humor, sex and swagger. After about 45 years of listening to blues, I can honestly say it has never made me sad to listen to blues. Quite the opposite.

Agree that it's pointless to compare blues covers with Stones originals. We can disagree about the merits of the Stones originals in recent decades, but I do find (in the 3 I've heard) a more relaxed band that doesn't seem to be struggling with it's own mythology.

Outtakes or something else?
[www.youtube.com]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

What's going to be the best source? The physical CD, iTunes or Amazon download? Don't have a turn table so vinly's out. What I have heard on You Tube does sound a bit "brickwalled" to me.

Omg. Omg. Omg. Soooooooo love this. Guess I'm heading to Europe if the fates allow.

Quote
HomerSimpson
What's going to be the best source? The physical CD, iTunes or Amazon download? Don't have a turn table so vinly's out. What I have heard on You Tube does sound a bit "brickwalled" to me.

Except for the fact that I decided to go to the store and buy the CD, I like the fact that, if you buy the CD at amazon, you get the download included. One of the main, if not only reasons I'll buy new cds at amazon is for the download that comes with some of them.

Peace,
Mr DJA

i find HOO DOO killer

Has anyone mentioned that dreamy number "Little Rain" yet? Good song.

And when Jagger was doing his own song "Blue" he musta been channeling a little rain..

My top 4 playlist at this moment

01 Little Rain
02 I Can't Quite You Baby
03 Blue and Lonesome
04 All Of Your Love

Now it gets tricky

05 Hoo Doo Blues
06 Everybody Knows About My Good Thing
07 Commit A Crime
And so on...from 05-12 I enjoy them all but the 01-04 seem to consistently be my favorites. Nonetheless what a GREAT Album!!!

Very radical record, commercially speaking. I love it but that sort of raw barebone interpretation of "The" blues is probably an acquired taste. Even their original version on "Little Red Rooster" in 1964 was more commercially gentil. Good for the Rolling Stones to dare releasing that record! I hope the kids out there ear it and dig it.
Rock and roll,
Mops

Quote
Deltics
Outtakes or something else?
[www.youtube.com]

Sounds like vinyl played at the wrong speed.

I bought in on vinyl and cd. Playing it using An Arcam CD player and amp, Thorens turntable and awesome Tannoy speakers. Sounds great on both vinyl and cd. And I have also played on Spotify through my sonos system and that sounds good to. I think it's a great album, I love it.

Quote
crumbling_mice
Certainly better than ABB, but that's not a high level to set the bar and quite frankly a cat farting in a bucket would have been better than ABB. They've covered the songs well, but millionaires singing the blues just doesn't seem to work as well as 6 hungry lads from London learning a craft did.

Perhaps that's little unfair in comparison, but I always wanted a blues album and it's a let down overall, you just don't feel the blues listening to it and it feels and sounds like what it is, the Stones playing blues in their 70s while sated in leisure.

The mix is indeed dreadful, and could be partly to blame for the above...I think these days sound engineers @#$%& about with stuff just for the sake of it and music like this really doesn't need it. I'd give it 5/10

I stopped reading after "six hungry lads from London".


You don't get IT (The Rolling Stones) from the start at Edith Grove. Hahaha six hungry lads from London... how dumb can one be and dislike this music.

I still haven't read any reviews, it's actually fun this way,
'All of Your Love'
so far (not far) is the standout to me.
Good Lord, 'striptease' is the word.
Striptease.
'10'

<They've covered the songs well, but millionaires singing the blues just doesn't seem to work as well as 6 hungry lads from London learning a craft did.>

If the blues is in your blood, it's in your blood. Makes no difference if you're poor boys or millionaires. The Stones are older now but they are still the same guys they were when they started making music. They love to play the blues and it shows.

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."

Quote
mr_dja

3. (This has as much to do with what I've heard as well as some of what I've read in this thread) I feel sorry for all of the people who can't seem to listen to what is there without hearing what is not or what they've heard in other versions of these songs.

4. I really like this album.

Peace,
Mr DJA

+1

still some people here, some fans, might be shaked by the fact that they're apparently still able to play without chuck 1-2-3-4. that's shocking

Quote
Deltics
Outtakes or something else?
[www.youtube.com]

The uploader must be learning how to play guitar, hence the songs playing as if it were in 16rpm.

Quote
Palace Revolution 2000
Has anyone mentioned that dreamy number "Little Rain" yet? Good song.

And when Jagger was doing his own song "Blue" he musta been channeling a little rain..

I'll mention it, it is dreamy! It sounds somehow different from the rest.

you cant please everyone I guess, which is probably a good thing but get over it, this is a great album, period and what makes it even cooler is, u can feel listening to the songs just how much fun they are having

Giving it its 1st listen as I type. We can complain about a lot of things here - high ticket prices, war horse set lists, corporate gigs and cancelled shows, side band members etc. And often with merit. But man - I don't see how anyone could do anything but smile and rejoice about this album. LOVING IT!

Überkitsch retro music, recorded and produced in one of the best studios available. I didn't hear a single note or solo that the Stones (or different musicians) haven't played better a zillion times before. The kind of music that you also would expect if Jeff Koons had become a musician or producer controlling pro-tools, working for the Stones.. Compliments to Jagger who almost artificially tries to sing and play harp like his life depends on it. And to a certain extend, Charlie, who drags me through this album here and there when he keeps it going with his 4 on the floor beat. Much to 2-dimensional and predictable Stones music for me. But it's the Rolling Stones, the best garage band in the world, releasing an album after many years trying to re-invent themselves just before X-Mass. And that's where it belongs, under the Christmas tree, drenched in tinsel for a mother in law who grew up in the 6-tees being a Beatle and Stones fan.

I think that is a great album, all the songs are killers and the band sounds fresh...what else can I ask?

Unfortunately, the disc is not available in Mexico, I will need to hear it on Spotify for now