Often a tough pairing to pick a winner, but for me it comes down to ---
It's Only Rock and RollFirst of all, the cover. Before you hear a note, the IORR cover is classic. Same artist who did Bowie's "Diamond Dogs". The cover of GHS is kind of a drag, as is much of the music. I mean the cloth even drags across Mick's face. It evokes a bit of murky mystery, but ultimately not a classic cover.
Now for the music.
GHS seems like a letdown after Exile. I know people have called Exile a "Keith album" and GHS a "Mick album". I can see where that might be coming from, but it feels to me like the Glimmers have great moments and contributions on each. IORR, for better or worse, feels like an entrance into a new era whereas GHS feels like the fading of one. That said, I love "Winter", "100 Years Ago", "Coming Down Again" "Starf*cker" and "Hide Your Love". Never been much of an "Angie" fan. "Heartbreaker" has grown on me somewhat, but it's hardly a top song for me. "Can You Hear the Music" feels like a B-Side and I wish they'd put "Criss Cross Man" on the album in it's place. "Silver Train" and "Dancing with Mr. D" seem like throw aways with Mr. D maybe being the worst leading track on an album in their whole discography.
IORR conversely takes off from the get-go. IORR is indeed poorly produced, but the mud works for me especially on the rock tracks and the almighty "Fingerprint File"...though I'm still trying to get used to the speed-corrected slower version after growing up with the faster one. There's no wonderful ballad like "Winter" but I do like "Til the Next Goodbye" and "Time Waits For No One" and there's the duet with Blue Magic and the soul of "If You Really Want to be My Friend". "If You Can't Rock Me" into "Aint Too Proud To Beg" is a very solid 1-2 punch, with the title track being no slouch in the third slot. "Short and Curlies", "Luxury" and "Dance Little Sister" are kind of the sleepers for me, but IORR is the winner for me over GHS by a slim margin...just for the total package of it all.
Ultimately my pick is perhaps obvious considering my username.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-09-04 17:48 by floodonthepage.