[ultimateclassicrock.com]

The mid-’70s weren’t so great for the Rolling Stones. Commercially speaking, they were on top of the world and never bigger. They were untouchable during this period, with every album shooting straight up the charts and tours selling out in no time.


But behind the scenes, they were starting to unravel. And on record, they were far from their best. Keith Richards was barely conscious during the sessions for 1974’s It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll, and the concerts were more workmanlike than life-changing starting around 1972. Things were getting so big and out of hand that the music, too, was starting to feel less eventful with each passing album.
From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide, first with the tossed-together Goats Head Soup in 1973 and then with the incomplete (but not terrible at all) It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll the next year.
At first, the plan was to rebound quickly and put out a new album. The Stones returned at the end of 1974 to the same Munich studio where It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll was recorded to lay down some tracks. At the start of 1975, they were in the Netherlands recording more. But they were still reeling from Mick Taylor‘s abrupt departure in December 1974 and hadn’t decided on a replacement guitarist yet (Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott were all considered; the job eventually went to Ronnie Wood).

By mid-year, the band was back on the road, and sessions for the record were put on hold. A year after the initial recordings were shelved, the Stones returned to Munich and then headed to Montreux, Switzerland, to polish the tracks. On April 23, 1976, nearly a year and a half after work first started on the record, Black and Blue was released.

It wasn’t quite what fans were used to. Gone, for the most part, were the guitar-guided rock ‘n’ roll workouts that dominated the first half of the decade, replaced by funk, soul, jazz, reggae and a stew of simmering sounds not usually found on Rolling Stones records – at least like this. But put in context with the band’s personal problems and its past history with black music, the record wasn’t so much confusing as it was sorta pointless. As critic Lester Bangs summed up in his review in Creem, “This is the first meaningless Rolling Stones album.”
The record’s two best songs – the soulful ballad “Fool to Cry” and the funked-up “Hot Stuff” – were released on the same single, with both cuts charting separately. (The former made it to No. 10, while the latter stalled outside the Top 40.) Elsewhere, the band – aided by Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins and guitarists Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel, as well as Wood, who got his face on the LP’s back cover and credit as the band’s newest full-time member, even though he played guitar on only three of the album’s tracks – meanders from groove to groove with little purpose. (Two of its leftover songs would later show up on 1981’s Tattoo You.)

But that couldn’t stop the Stones’ commercial roll. Black and Blue climbed to No. 1 and stayed there for four weeks, eventually going platinum. It would be another two years before the group finally got around to sorta cleaning up and getting back on track with Some Girls, a career-reviving hit that confirmed, even to the swarm of cynics that Black and Blue spawned, that the Stones were pretty damn close to indestructible. The mid-’70s stumbles were just another part of their legend.

"From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide..."

It truly is an amazing feat to ponder. Aside from the Beatles' seven year run of greatness, I can't think of any other bands that did so much in such a short amount of time. Maybe Hendrix's back to back Are You Experienced, Axis, and Electric Ladyland albums...and maybe The Who's back to back Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia...or maybe even most of Led Zeppelin's catalogue (Led Zep I -Presence). But all of these might not have the same universal impact and historical significance that the Stones run of greatness has - which depends on who you ask I suppose. But that 1968-1972 period for the Stones was something from another galaxy...all the stars aligned, and everything gelled. Amazing.

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-04-23 19:16 by Hairball.

Quote
JohnnyBGoode
[ultimateclassicrock.com]

The mid-’70s weren’t so great for the Rolling Stones. Commercially speaking, they were on top of the world and never bigger. They were untouchable during this period, with every album shooting straight up the charts and tours selling out in no time.


But behind the scenes, they were starting to unravel. And on record, they were far from their best. Keith Richards was barely conscious during the sessions for 1974’s It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll, and the concerts were more workmanlike than life-changing starting around 1972. Things were getting so big and out of hand that the music, too, was starting to feel less eventful with each passing album.
From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide, first with the tossed-together Goats Head Soup in 1973 and then with the incomplete (but not terrible at all) It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll the next year.
At first, the plan was to rebound quickly and put out a new album. The Stones returned at the end of 1974 to the same Munich studio where It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll was recorded to lay down some tracks. At the start of 1975, they were in the Netherlands recording more. But they were still reeling from Mick Taylor‘s abrupt departure in December 1974 and hadn’t decided on a replacement guitarist yet (Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott were all considered; the job eventually went to Ronnie Wood).

By mid-year, the band was back on the road, and sessions for the record were put on hold. A year after the initial recordings were shelved, the Stones returned to Munich and then headed to Montreux, Switzerland, to polish the tracks. On April 23, 1976, nearly a year and a half after work first started on the record, Black and Blue was released.

It wasn’t quite what fans were used to. Gone, for the most part, were the guitar-guided rock ‘n’ roll workouts that dominated the first half of the decade, replaced by funk, soul, jazz, reggae and a stew of simmering sounds not usually found on Rolling Stones records – at least like this. But put in context with the band’s personal problems and its past history with black music, the record wasn’t so much confusing as it was sorta pointless. As critic Lester Bangs summed up in his review in Creem, “This is the first meaningless Rolling Stones album.”
The record’s two best songs – the soulful ballad “Fool to Cry” and the funked-up “Hot Stuff” – were released on the same single, with both cuts charting separately. (The former made it to No. 10, while the latter stalled outside the Top 40.) Elsewhere, the band – aided by Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins and guitarists Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel, as well as Wood, who got his face on the LP’s back cover and credit as the band’s newest full-time member, even though he played guitar on only three of the album’s tracks – meanders from groove to groove with little purpose. (Two of its leftover songs would later show up on 1981’s Tattoo You.)

But that couldn’t stop the Stones’ commercial roll. Black and Blue climbed to No. 1 and stayed there for four weeks, eventually going platinum. It would be another two years before the group finally got around to sorta cleaning up and getting back on track with Some Girls, a career-reviving hit that confirmed, even to the swarm of cynics that Black and Blue spawned, that the Stones were pretty damn close to indestructible. The mid-’70s stumbles were just another part of their legend.

This is pretty much how I feel about Black & Blue as well except that my favorite tracks are Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama.

"Concerts were more workmanlike" from 1972. Rubbish, as Brussels Affair will testify.

I still find Black And Blue among their most adorable and adventerous records. Not a masterpiece and not by any means consistent, but that's what I like about it. It's a record of extremes and many styles, but with great passion.

It's more a schizophrenic EP than an album, with two different bands showing up for Hot Stuff, Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby, and another for Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama. I can put it on and enjoy it, but it's not a cohesive work at all.

When the writer states that “Fool to Cry” is one of the two best tracks, I have to question his sanity.
I could narrow the album down to Hot Stuff, Hand of Fate, Crazy Mama, and maybe Memory Motel and would be satisfied. The rest just weighs it all down.
It's a bit torturous on vinyl having to endure an entire side imo, yet on a cd it's great since there is a the 'skip track' function.

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

Still love this album even more than my 16 year old self did in 1976. Thoroughly enjoyable tho I could still live without Cherry...

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."

Is this the whole article? Where's the beef??

Hey Negrita is the best cut on the album. It's nasty and funky Stones to the limit. Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama sound like museum pieces, lifeless songs they put on there to sound more like the classic Stones.

Quote
Hairball
"From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide..."

It truly is an amazing feat to ponder. Aside from the Beatles' seven year run of greatness, I can't think of any other bands that did so much in such a short amount of time. Maybe Hendrix's back to back Are You Experienced, Axis, and Electric Ladyland albums...and maybe The Who's back to back Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia...or maybe even most of Led Zeppelin's catalogue (Led Zep I -Presence). But all of these might not have the same universal impact and historical significance that the Stones run of greatness has - which depends on who you ask I suppose. But that 1968-1972 period for the Stones was something from another galaxy...all the stars aligned, and everything gelled. Amazing.

Even as a huge Stones fan (do I even need to state that?), I would honestly rank the Stones '68-'72 run below the Beatles and Hendrix in terms of impact on rock'n'roll.

Is it my favorite run of all the ones you mentioned? Of course, but objectively, I think it had the least impact on the music scene (with the possible exception of the Who and Zep runs).

The Beatles made a quantum leap of what was possible with pop music and what a recording studio was capable of. Hendrix made a quantum leap of the guitar and is still felt by everyone today. The Stones mined every genre of American roots music for all it was worth...influential, no doubt, but maybe not to the same level as the other two.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-04-24 02:56 by keefriff99.

weak article ... It don't really say much about anything



ROCKMAN

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keefriff99

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Hairball
"From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide..."

It truly is an amazing feat to ponder. Aside from the Beatles' seven year run of greatness, I can't think of any other bands that did so much in such a short amount of time. Maybe Hendrix's back to back Are You Experienced, Axis, and Electric Ladyland albums...and maybe The Who's back to back Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia...or maybe even most of Led Zeppelin's catalogue (Led Zep I -Presence). But all of these might not have the same universal impact and historical significance that the Stones run of greatness has - which depends on who you ask I suppose. But that 1968-1972 period for the Stones was something from another galaxy...all the stars aligned, and everything gelled. Amazing.

Even as a huge Stones fan (do I even need to state that?), I would honestly rank the Stones '68-'72 run below the Beatles and Hendrix in terms of impact on rock'n'roll.

Is it my favorite run of all the ones you mentioned? Of course, but objectively, I think it had the least impact on the music scene (with the possible exception of the Who and Zep runs).

The Beatles made a quantum leap of what was possible with pop music and what a recording studio was capable of. Hendrix made a quantum leap of the guitar and is still felt by everyone today. The Stones mined every genre of American roots music for all it was worth...influential, no doubt, but maybe not to the same level as the other two.

I can live with that. I should have been more clear on this to begin with, but I did make the Beatles an exception here, and would definitely agree with you regarding not only their 'impact', but also the amount of trailblazing quality in such a short period. As for Hendrix, upon reflection it's quite possible that even just his single debut album alone made a bigger impact than the Stones 'big 4' combined! Even Zeppelin made such a great impact that it's tricky to pick the Stones over them. I was way more into them in the mid-late '70's than the Stones, and their impact was massive! A bigger impact than the Stones' big 4? Maybe, maybe not....definitely depends on who you ask. And the Who deserve honorable mention, even though their run of absolute greatness probably had less impact than any of the others above. With all that said, it is amazing to ponder what the Stones did in that short period. Not only did they slide afterwards (as the writer states), but before Beggars Banquet they were kind of lost in no mans land with Satanic Majesties. It is the 'big 4' from '68-'72 when they were at the top of their game - a peak that for them would never be reached again imo.


*As for my initial Black and Blue editing in another post above, I forgot to add Hey Negrita to my final cut - it definitely deserves to be there. Not as great as the riff driven Hand of Fate, or as great as the straight out ballsy Crazy Mama, or as super funky as the superior Hot Stuff, but I do enjoy listening to it and would consider it a keeper. Might have to bump Memory Hotel off the list, but so be it.

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

Melody is the weakest link.

Quote
Hairball

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keefriff99

Quote
Hairball
"From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide..."

It truly is an amazing feat to ponder. Aside from the Beatles' seven year run of greatness, I can't think of any other bands that did so much in such a short amount of time. Maybe Hendrix's back to back Are You Experienced, Axis, and Electric Ladyland albums...and maybe The Who's back to back Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia...or maybe even most of Led Zeppelin's catalogue (Led Zep I -Presence). But all of these might not have the same universal impact and historical significance that the Stones run of greatness has - which depends on who you ask I suppose. But that 1968-1972 period for the Stones was something from another galaxy...all the stars aligned, and everything gelled. Amazing.

Even as a huge Stones fan (do I even need to state that?), I would honestly rank the Stones '68-'72 run below the Beatles and Hendrix in terms of impact on rock'n'roll.

Is it my favorite run of all the ones you mentioned? Of course, but objectively, I think it had the least impact on the music scene (with the possible exception of the Who and Zep runs).

The Beatles made a quantum leap of what was possible with pop music and what a recording studio was capable of. Hendrix made a quantum leap of the guitar and is still felt by everyone today. The Stones mined every genre of American roots music for all it was worth...influential, no doubt, but maybe not to the same level as the other two.

I can live with that. I should have been more clear on this to begin with, but I did make the Beatles an exception here, and would definitely agree with you regarding not only their 'impact', but also the amount of trailblazing quality in such a short period. As for Hendrix, upon reflection it's quite possible that even just his single debut album alone made a bigger impact than the Stones 'big 4' combined! Even Zeppelin made such a great impact that it's tricky to pick the Stones over them. I was way more into them in the mid-late '70's than the Stones, and their impact was massive! A bigger impact than the Stones' big 4? Maybe, maybe not....definitely depends on who you ask. And the Who deserve honorable mention, even though their run of absolute greatness probably had less impact than any of the others above. With all that said, it is amazing to ponder what the Stones did in that short period. Not only did they slide afterwards (as the writer states), but before Beggars Banquet they were kind of lost in no mans land with Satanic Majesties. It is the 'big 4' from '68-'72 when they were at the top of their game - a peak that for them would never be reached again imo.


*As for my initial Black and Blue editing in another post above, I forgot to add Hey Negrita to my final cut - it definitely deserves to be there. Not as great as the riff driven Hand of Fate, or as great as the straight out ballsy Crazy Mama, or as super funky as the superior Hot Stuff, but I do enjoy listening to it and would consider it a keeper. Might have to bump Memory Hotel off the list, but so be it.

In my initial post, I did include Zep's run as being more influential than the Stones.

It's a really close call, but their impact on production and hard rock/heavy metal is, obviously, monumental...not to mention the SALES that Zeppelin accumulated from their first album through Presence. Every album is multi-platinum...just an incredible run.

Again, not minimizing the Stones' run, but in terms of impact and influence, it falls short a bit. Artistically, I'd put it up against anyone's.

I don't entirely disagree with the viewpoints expressed in the article, but the quality of the writing leaves a lot to be desired. 'Sorta', odd use of parenthesis... Low level writing.

Melody is the weakest link.



Yeah but that sly gal still managed ta take off with the trailer home .......



ROCKMAN

Quote
Hairball
"From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide..."

It truly is an amazing feat to ponder. Aside from the Beatles' seven year run of greatness, I can't think of any other bands that did so much in such a short amount of time.

...Creedence Clearwater Revival:

Four great LPs within 18 months!

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boogaloojef

Quote
JohnnyBGoode
[ultimateclassicrock.com]

The mid-’70s weren’t so great for the Rolling Stones. Commercially speaking, they were on top of the world and never bigger. They were untouchable during this period, with every album shooting straight up the charts and tours selling out in no time.


But behind the scenes, they were starting to unravel. And on record, they were far from their best. Keith Richards was barely conscious during the sessions for 1974’s It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll, and the concerts were more workmanlike than life-changing starting around 1972. Things were getting so big and out of hand that the music, too, was starting to feel less eventful with each passing album.
From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide, first with the tossed-together Goats Head Soup in 1973 and then with the incomplete (but not terrible at all) It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll the next year.
At first, the plan was to rebound quickly and put out a new album. The Stones returned at the end of 1974 to the same Munich studio where It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll was recorded to lay down some tracks. At the start of 1975, they were in the Netherlands recording more. But they were still reeling from Mick Taylor‘s abrupt departure in December 1974 and hadn’t decided on a replacement guitarist yet (Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott were all considered; the job eventually went to Ronnie Wood).

By mid-year, the band was back on the road, and sessions for the record were put on hold. A year after the initial recordings were shelved, the Stones returned to Munich and then headed to Montreux, Switzerland, to polish the tracks. On April 23, 1976, nearly a year and a half after work first started on the record, Black and Blue was released.

It wasn’t quite what fans were used to. Gone, for the most part, were the guitar-guided rock ‘n’ roll workouts that dominated the first half of the decade, replaced by funk, soul, jazz, reggae and a stew of simmering sounds not usually found on Rolling Stones records – at least like this. But put in context with the band’s personal problems and its past history with black music, the record wasn’t so much confusing as it was sorta pointless. As critic Lester Bangs summed up in his review in Creem, “This is the first meaningless Rolling Stones album.”
The record’s two best songs – the soulful ballad “Fool to Cry” and the funked-up “Hot Stuff” – were released on the same single, with both cuts charting separately. (The former made it to No. 10, while the latter stalled outside the Top 40.) Elsewhere, the band – aided by Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins and guitarists Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel, as well as Wood, who got his face on the LP’s back cover and credit as the band’s newest full-time member, even though he played guitar on only three of the album’s tracks – meanders from groove to groove with little purpose. (Two of its leftover songs would later show up on 1981’s Tattoo You.)

But that couldn’t stop the Stones’ commercial roll. Black and Blue climbed to No. 1 and stayed there for four weeks, eventually going platinum. It would be another two years before the group finally got around to sorta cleaning up and getting back on track with Some Girls, a career-reviving hit that confirmed, even to the swarm of cynics that Black and Blue spawned, that the Stones were pretty damn close to indestructible. The mid-’70s stumbles were just another part of their legend.

This is pretty much how I feel about Black & Blue as well except that my favorite tracks are Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama.

There you go...

Quote
Hairball
When the writer states that “Fool to Cry” is one of the two best tracks, I have to question his sanity.
I could narrow the album down to Hot Stuff, Hand of Fate, Crazy Mama, and maybe Memory Motel and would be satisfied. The rest just weighs it all down.
It's a bit torturous on vinyl having to endure an entire side imo, yet on a cd it's great since there is a the 'skip track' function.

I'd choose Hey Negrita as the second rocker. IMO, it's far better than Crazy Mama.

I guess there is something for everyone on BAB, and that's some of its strength, imo - a varied and rootsy album, albeit a bit eclectic and inconsistent.

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24FPS
It's more a schizophrenic EP than an album, with two different bands showing up for Hot Stuff, Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby, and another for Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama. I can put it on and enjoy it, but it's not a cohesive work at all.

I don't follow you here.. It's the same band playing on Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby and Crazy Mama, you mean surely? Wood also plays on Fool To Cry..

AC/DC (hard rock(n'roll)

1977 : Let There Be Rock
1978 : Powerage
1979 : Highway to Hell
1980 : Back in Black
1981 : For Those About to Rock We Salute You

***
I'm just a Bad Boy Boogie

Quote
powerage78
AC/DC (hard rock(n'roll)

1977 : Let There Be Rock
1978 : Powerage
1979 : Highway to Hell
1980 : Back in Black
1981 : For Those About to Rock We Salute You

Hard and brainless (and we love it)

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DandelionPowderman

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24FPS
It's more a schizophrenic EP than an album, with two different bands showing up for Hot Stuff, Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby, and another for Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama. I can put it on and enjoy it, but it's not a cohesive work at all.

I don't follow you here.. It's the same band playing on Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby and Crazy Mama, you mean surely? Wood also plays on Fool To Cry..

It's two entirely different sounds. Some Girls sounds like one particular band with a particular sound the whole way through, much like on their best albums. Black and Blue sounds like a modern, funk-reggae band with a few cuts like Crazy Mama and Hand of Fate sounding like a Stones cover band playing a couple of Stones B-sides from an earlier time. Those particular cuts seem thrown on there, as if the band was afraid to go all in and a part of their audience would see them as too disco. That segment of their fans probably never accepted Hot Stuff & Hey Negrita, and probably goes to get a beer whenever Miss You is played in concert.

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24FPS

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DandelionPowderman

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24FPS
It's more a schizophrenic EP than an album, with two different bands showing up for Hot Stuff, Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby, and another for Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama. I can put it on and enjoy it, but it's not a cohesive work at all.

I don't follow you here.. It's the same band playing on Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby and Crazy Mama, you mean surely? Wood also plays on Fool To Cry..

It's two entirely different sounds. Some Girls sounds like one particular band with a particular sound the whole way through, much like on their best albums. Black and Blue sounds like a modern, funk-reggae band with a few cuts like Crazy Mama and Hand of Fate sounding like a Stones cover band playing a couple of Stones B-sides from an earlier time. Those particular cuts seem thrown on there, as if the band was afraid to go all in and a part of their audience would see them as too disco. That segment of their fans probably never accepted Hot Stuff & Hey Negrita, and probably goes to get a beer whenever Miss You is played in concert.

I understand. Still, I think Miss You, Beast Of Burden, Far Away Eyes and Shattered sound very different compared to When The Whip Comes Down, Lies, Some Girls, Imagination and Before They Make Me Run.

The main difference is that SG has more rockers, I suppose...

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DandelionPowderman

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24FPS

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DandelionPowderman

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24FPS
It's more a schizophrenic EP than an album, with two different bands showing up for Hot Stuff, Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby, and another for Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama. I can put it on and enjoy it, but it's not a cohesive work at all.

I don't follow you here.. It's the same band playing on Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby and Crazy Mama, you mean surely? Wood also plays on Fool To Cry..

It's two entirely different sounds. Some Girls sounds like one particular band with a particular sound the whole way through, much like on their best albums. Black and Blue sounds like a modern, funk-reggae band with a few cuts like Crazy Mama and Hand of Fate sounding like a Stones cover band playing a couple of Stones B-sides from an earlier time. Those particular cuts seem thrown on there, as if the band was afraid to go all in and a part of their audience would see them as too disco. That segment of their fans probably never accepted Hot Stuff & Hey Negrita, and probably goes to get a beer whenever Miss You is played in concert.

I understand. Still, I think Miss You, Beast Of Burden, Far Away Eyes and Shattered sound very different compared to When The Whip Comes Down, Lies, Some Girls, Imagination and Before They Make Me Run.

The main difference is that SG has more rockers, I suppose...

The whole album of Some Girl, to me, sounds as if Bob Clearmountain fed it through some kind of contraption that gave everything this swirly kind of sound like when they'd feed music through a leslie speaker in the 60s. That became even more evident when the bonus disc came out in 2011 and none of the songs, okay, maybe Claudette, sounded like they could have fit on the original Some Girls album.

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24FPS

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DandelionPowderman

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24FPS

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DandelionPowderman

Quote
24FPS
It's more a schizophrenic EP than an album, with two different bands showing up for Hot Stuff, Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby, and another for Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama. I can put it on and enjoy it, but it's not a cohesive work at all.

I don't follow you here.. It's the same band playing on Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby and Crazy Mama, you mean surely? Wood also plays on Fool To Cry..

It's two entirely different sounds. Some Girls sounds like one particular band with a particular sound the whole way through, much like on their best albums. Black and Blue sounds like a modern, funk-reggae band with a few cuts like Crazy Mama and Hand of Fate sounding like a Stones cover band playing a couple of Stones B-sides from an earlier time. Those particular cuts seem thrown on there, as if the band was afraid to go all in and a part of their audience would see them as too disco. That segment of their fans probably never accepted Hot Stuff & Hey Negrita, and probably goes to get a beer whenever Miss You is played in concert.

I understand. Still, I think Miss You, Beast Of Burden, Far Away Eyes and Shattered sound very different compared to When The Whip Comes Down, Lies, Some Girls, Imagination and Before They Make Me Run.

The main difference is that SG has more rockers, I suppose...

The whole album of Some Girl, to me, sounds as if Bob Clearmountain fed it through some kind of contraption that gave everything this swirly kind of sound like when they'd feed music through a leslie speaker in the 60s. That became even more evident when the bonus disc came out in 2011 and none of the songs, okay, maybe Claudette, sounded like they could have fit on the original Some Girls album.

I Love You Too Much
No Spare Parts
So Young

also had that sound, imo.

I agree about the consistent sound, although they offered a variety of musical styles on SG as well: Miss You was SG's Hot Stuff and Beast Of Burden was SGs Fool To Cry etc..

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makemeburnthecandle
Melody is the weakest link.

I actually think the opposite. Melody is the only reason for me to even listen to the album. Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama are fun, but also maybe the first examples of "Stones by Numbers". Hey Negrita is interesting but doesn't really go anywhere. The rest I don't care for at all.

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matxil

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makemeburnthecandle
Melody is the weakest link.

I actually think the opposite. Melody is the only reason for me to even listen to the album. Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama are fun, but also maybe the first examples of "Stones by Numbers". Hey Negrita is interesting but doesn't really go anywhere. The rest I don't care for at all.

It has two excellent bridges and a very cool slide solo towards the end. So, yes, it definitely goes somewhere to this listenere's ears

Quote
JohnnyBGoode
[ultimateclassicrock.com]

The mid-’70s weren’t so great for the Rolling Stones. Commercially speaking, they were on top of the world and never bigger. They were untouchable during this period, with every album shooting straight up the charts and tours selling out in no time.


But behind the scenes, they were starting to unravel. And on record, they were far from their best. Keith Richards was barely conscious during the sessions for 1974’s It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll, and the concerts were more workmanlike than life-changing starting around 1972. Things were getting so big and out of hand that the music, too, was starting to feel less eventful with each passing album.
From 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1972’s Exile on Main St., the Stones released four of rock’s all-time greatest albums. Not just four of the Stones’ greatest albums, but four of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. Then they began to slide, first with the tossed-together Goats Head Soup in 1973 and then with the incomplete (but not terrible at all) It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll the next year.
At first, the plan was to rebound quickly and put out a new album. The Stones returned at the end of 1974 to the same Munich studio where It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll was recorded to lay down some tracks. At the start of 1975, they were in the Netherlands recording more. But they were still reeling from Mick Taylor‘s abrupt departure in December 1974 and hadn’t decided on a replacement guitarist yet (Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott were all considered; the job eventually went to Ronnie Wood).

By mid-year, the band was back on the road, and sessions for the record were put on hold. A year after the initial recordings were shelved, the Stones returned to Munich and then headed to Montreux, Switzerland, to polish the tracks. On April 23, 1976, nearly a year and a half after work first started on the record, Black and Blue was released.

It wasn’t quite what fans were used to. Gone, for the most part, were the guitar-guided rock ‘n’ roll workouts that dominated the first half of the decade, replaced by funk, soul, jazz, reggae and a stew of simmering sounds not usually found on Rolling Stones records – at least like this. But put in context with the band’s personal problems and its past history with black music, the record wasn’t so much confusing as it was sorta pointless. As critic Lester Bangs summed up in his review in Creem, “This is the first meaningless Rolling Stones album.”
The record’s two best songs – the soulful ballad “Fool to Cry” and the funked-up “Hot Stuff” – were released on the same single, with both cuts charting separately. (The former made it to No. 10, while the latter stalled outside the Top 40.) Elsewhere, the band – aided by Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins and guitarists Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel, as well as Wood, who got his face on the LP’s back cover and credit as the band’s newest full-time member, even though he played guitar on only three of the album’s tracks – meanders from groove to groove with little purpose. (Two of its leftover songs would later show up on 1981’s Tattoo You.)

But that couldn’t stop the Stones’ commercial roll. Black and Blue climbed to No. 1 and stayed there for four weeks, eventually going platinum. It would be another two years before the group finally got around to sorta cleaning up and getting back on track with Some Girls, a career-reviving hit that confirmed, even to the swarm of cynics that Black and Blue spawned, that the Stones were pretty damn close to indestructible. The mid-’70s stumbles were just another part of their legend.

The author is kinda dumb