gotta disagree with mr.twining.....oh no not you again (goosebumps) rough justice (goosebumps)....everysong somehow "fits" together.....and of course gets better with every play....plus i believe the stones have kicked down the door for being a vital rock band this late in the game....when i play biggerbang i the stones strike me as being "inspired" once again...mick sounds like he believes in the lyrics.....i think its going down in history....best to all the stonesniks

Brilliant post mrD:

"So stop comparing ABB to previous albums the only thing matters is "Does the album make you feel good when you listen to it"


I've been thinking the same thing. How many people are 'enjoying' listening to ABB, I sure am.

I ain't stupid, I'm just guitarded.

I enjoyed listening to ABB and i am looking forward to listen it again and again! I think its a great album with a lot of strong songs ( I especially love It won´t take long, Laugh I nearly died, Driving Too Fast, Ohnonotyouagain and She Saw Me Coming. Only Streets of Love and Dangerous Beauty I consider not so good, but tastes are different! Honestly I think if you likes/loves the Stones, you simply have to love ABB, because after B2B its back to their roots, its pure Stones of the year 2005!

I totally agree with Wandering Spirit, this is a great album and gets better with every play, it has a continuity that no album has had since Undercover.

This album sounds exactly like it was recorded - Mick and Keith in the studio with a bunch of songs - over-dubbed drums, over-dubbed guitars, over-dubbed bass.
The drums are not high in the mix Mathijs (as much as they have been in the past). The snare drum does not have the usual Charlie whack, it's much more hollow. The hi-hat is practically inaudible on some tracks and clearly a lot of drum looping and drum over-dubbing has gone on.
I think it's a pity they didn't use this opportunity to go in a slightly different direction, the songs are quite predictable Stones fodder, some trying to be overly 'pop' and whats with this funky stuff for Gods sake? Yeeesh...........
The Stones strength is playing as a unit, it is essential to their 'rough round the edges' sound and cannot be recreated in the studio by over-dubbing drums etc.
One more thing - shoot the bass player and get back Wyman - even if only for the recording sessions.......

Don't like the drum sound either. I much more prefer the drum sound on Some Girls. It's not Charlies drumming I don't like (his drumming is hard hitting and swinging as usual, great!), it's the sound I don't like, not crispy and clear enough.

I also think that sometimes the sound is "too full" (don't know how to explain it in other words). Listen for instance to the end of Oh No Not You Again, there's a "wall of sound" I really don't like, some other songs suffer from the same problem. But maybe that's the sound of the music these days, some other good bands have the same problem, maybe it's what the people want these days.

And of course Wyman is missing, Watts & Wyman were the perfect rhythm section, the "chemistry" is gone since Bill left.

But don't get me wrong, I think A Bigger Bang is a great album with some very good songs on it (It Won't Take Long, Rain Fall Down, She Saw Me Coming, This Place Is Empty, Laugh I Nearly Died, Look What The Cat Dragged In), the best since Undercover. Great raunchy, raw, dirty guitars, Love it!

Can't believe that we're complaining about the drum sound (or playing) here. Charlie plays marvellous on this album, and drum-loops? a couple of places... drum and bass overdubs? No drums. Bass? I don't know if Jagger overdubbed, but it is certainly not marking this album.