Would it make sense to anybody if I said I prefer VL but I think B2B is probably better ?

Because that's kind of how I feel.

VL is a nice cosy chunk of familiar Rolling Stones ...but B2B was certainly more creative.

both albums are good, but not great, both have a lot of filler and too many songs, and both are similar to a bigger bang in terms of filler and quality.

including a bigger bang i think its difficult to split them, they are all very close, so im going for a draw.

the highlights of voodoo lounge are

brand new car
love is strong
i go wild

and for bridges to babylon, its

gunface
already over me
flip the switch


neither album is vintage stones but there are some good songs.

Welll...Voodoo Lounge I actually played a few times. Bridges to Babylon is still in shrink wrap...

seems to me the neutered lion is a bit of a metaphor for the album.

Quote
rebelhipi
Babylon for me.
Again it wins by the number of absolute belters.

Babylon era has become of of my all time stones eras. Maybe even their peak time in my opinion.

Voodoo 5:
Love Is Strong
You Got Me Rocking
Out Of Tears
I Go Wild
Thru and Thru

Babylon 7:
Flip The Switch
Anyone Seen My Baby?
Lowdown
Out Of Control
Saint Of Me
Thief In The Night
How Could I Stop

Btw i was one of the only one to vote for Steel Wheels on the last one and seems like im on the loosing side here too.

never too late for a bit of introspection.

I love them both, about equally. It's a 'tie'!

To me VOODOO LOUNGE is the third consecutive album that the three of them constitute a relative and to some extent also an absolute slump in their studio career. A couple of songs more or less "Stones -by-numbers", some OK songs, but not much more, however, two songs that I really like: Obviously "Love Is Strong" and, possibly surprising, "Sweethearts Together".

BRIDGES TO BABYLON for me is much, much better, not outright great, but verging on the semi-great. Besides, I find it their most enterprising and daring album since their latest great album, UNDERCOVER. Many really good songs on B2B, " "Gunface" as an exception to that. Among the (at least almost) great songs, I also count two that many consider weaknesses, but not to me. I do much like both "Might as Well Get Juiced" and "Always Suffering", and I adore their contrasting styles.

Late edits: Crucial words, fallen out, have been added.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2020-01-01 14:43 by Witness.

(Double post.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-01-01 14:37 by Witness.

Bridges to Babylon is better because it's got Thief In The Night on it. For the rest I don't really listen to either one. VL has got You Got me Rocking, the last time they made a rocker that they could play convincingly live, but hell, it's fine live, but the studio version is just not good enough.

Quote
matxil
Bridges to Babylon is better because it's got Thief In The Night on it. For the rest I don't really listen to either one. VL has got You Got me Rocking, the last time they made a rocker that they could play convincingly live, but hell, it's fine live, but the studio version is just not good enough.

I thought both Lowdown and Flip The Switch sounded great live. The latter even better than the studio version. Then again, those are the only good rockers on B2B, imo.

Voodoo for me

Voodoo definitely wins!!!!

Sweethearts Together & Moon is Up & I Go Wild steal the show!!!!

Much as it was with the Undercover/Steel Wheels boxing match, this one is close for me.

But the match goes to Bridges to Babylon, but only barely...simply because it's highs are higher, though I agree with the idea that it's lows are lower, too.
Both albums include among their singles, average songs imho...You Got Me Rocking and Anybody Seen My Baby? Both have true clunkers...Blinded by Rainbows and Gunface. Both have bland tracks that should have been b-sides...Mean Disposition and Low Down.

But Bridges just seems a little more interesting and brave, with VL being safer somehow.

VOODOO LOUNGE (6)
Love is Strong
New Faces
Moon is Up
Out of Tears
Sweethearts Together
Thru and Thru

BRIDGES TO BABYLON (7)
Flip The Switch
You Don't Have To Mean It
Out of Control
Saint of Me
Too Tight
Thief in the Night
How Can I Stop

Voodoo Lounge gets my vote.

Damn this is tough, going thru and comparing/contrasting all these songs makes me appreciate how great the Stones are in the studio, they are truly masters of their craft. Voodoo just has too many ideas going on and like Bigger Bang could use some editing. It’s not that strong that it needs to have these 15 songs on it.

Absolutely love the four B sides though on Voodoo(So Young, The Storm, Jump On Top Of Me, I’m Gonna Drive). Now we are up to 19 songs....what did Keith say about being prolific?

I want to love VL but never have, my nod goes to Bridges

Waiting for the next round of albums.

This is fun

VL for KO

I find Voodoo Lounge to be their second worst album, just after Dirty Work. It's the sound I just can't listen to, and it's a concept album of trying to recreate Aftermath or something. It's a calculated album.

I really like Bridges. Its modern, fresh, and has some very good songs. The bad ones you can skip.

Mathijs

Quote
Mathijs
I find Voodoo Lounge to be their second worst album, just after Dirty Work. It's the sound I just can't listen to, and it's a concept album of trying to recreate Aftermath or something. It's a calculated album.

I really like Bridges. Its modern, fresh, and has some very good songs. The bad ones you can skip.

Mathijs

My sentiments exactly!

HMMM....let's see how much things have changed from 4 years ago pitting these two again each other.


[iorr.org]

Hoping for more recognition of Thru And Thru and Mean Disposition this time around...

I find B2B is riskier and thus more interesting. Some might argue that it's trying to sound "contemporary" I like that over the "vintage" sound of VL.

Same reason I like Undercover, it also takes some risks -- title track, Too Much Blood.

T@3

The best songs on B2B are better than the best on VL. The worst songs on B2B are worse than the worst on VL.

[www.reverbnation.com]

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audun-eg
The best songs on B2B are better than the best on VL. The worst songs on B2B are worse than the worst on VL.

I concur. There's nothing as bad as MAWGJ, Gunface, Already Over Me and Always Suffering on VOODOO. However, ha ha, and this is saying something in a way - I'd rather listen to Winning Ulgy than SNC or SOL from A BIGGER BANG...

There are some pretty bad ones on VL as well, trust me

Quote
SomeGuy
There are some pretty bad ones on VL as well, trust me

New Faces is chalkboard scrapingly awful.

Sweethearts Together - I'd rather be electrocuted.

You Got Me Rocking - Makes the lyrics of So Young sound downright adult.

Sparks Will Fly - as brilliant as a bunch of 6 year old kids painting by numbers with the most amazing thing they've ever invented in their entire lives.

I've told this story in the past on here, but here's a short version...

Grew up with the Stones on the Oldies station, without knowing who they were really. My parents only listened to the Oldies station, and my father is a big "pre-drugs" Beatles fan, as well as a fan of most 50's music. I was 13 when SW and Mixed Emotions came out and the video was on MTV relentlessly. That same year, The London Years came out, and it was a Christmas present to me - I couldn't believe how many of the songs on there I knew. I was a rabid Beatles fan growing up, and it wasn't until I saw the Boys live on the B2B tour in Boston that I was fully converted and the obsession began.

Flashpoint, when it came out, I thought was tremendous, and it's still probably my preferred live album - aside only from Stripped, but of the actual live albums, it would be Flashpoint. But then they took a long break, and I was starving for new music from them. So, when Love Is Strong came out, with that wicked guitar riff and it's sweet video, I was instantly hooked!!! I bought the cassette of the album, and that was all I knew for the longest of times. Mean Disposition I didn't even know existed until about 15 years ago, and IMO as the album closer, I think it highly detracts from the album. Thru & Thru is one of my very favorite Keef songs, and it serves as the quintessential closer to this album.

I was 18 when VL came out - a teenage boy throbbing with hormones, and to me, VL just oooooooooooooozes sex. From the raunchy opening riff of Love is Strong to the pure raw energy of Sparks Will Fly, and climaxing in the dirtiness of I Go Wild - the only song I've ever heard (even to this day) that devotes itself entirely to pleasure derived from pleasing a woman orally. Even the afterglow of Brand New Car has a nice, light a cigarette and pass it between partners feel to it. And let's not forget the ferociousness of Suck On The Jugular - another Mick-in-his-prime-on-the-prowl raw primal number. Combine all this with The Worst and Thru & Thru - still 2 of my favorite Keef tunes, and so far it's a winner.

The sound is hard hitting all the way thru, and the drums in the stairwell work to garner that extra thumping of the heart. You Got Me Rocking I used to love much more than I do now - I feel as if it's been worn out live. But Baby Break It Down is one of my all time favorite songs of theirs. The Harpsichord on New Faces gets me every time - a friggin harpsichord!!!!! Who uses that outside of a long-dead classical maestro?!?!?! I still love it!!! And I also am a fan of the lyrics. Moon Is Up is a great follow up, and with its echoing drums and distant sounding vocals from Mick pining for a missing love. Great stuff. The lyrics to Blinded By Rainbows....so poignant and deep. Gives me goosebumps every time. Out of Tears is no Almost Hear You Sigh, but to me, it's worlds better than both ballads on B2B. The agonizing dismissal of Mick conceding that he is played out. And of course Sweethearts Together - a somewhat country-ish sounding little ditty about a new love just starting out, which is what I had back in 1994.

It's a masterpiece so intricately crafted and forever embedded in my very soul as the best they've ever done start to finish.............ruined by the discovery of Mean Disposition, which was seemingly tacked onto the end to ruin the fluidity of the whole damn thing. Those who have the cassette, I invite you to put it on this weekend, pour yourself a tall glass of red wine, strip off your clothes, and listen to it alone in the darkness - feel the sexuality drifting out of the speakers and be lost in everything that has made this band the bad boys of Rock n Roll for so damn long!!!!! Voodoo Lounge is The Rolling Stones at their very baddest some 30 years on.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2020-01-17 17:39 by VoodooLounge13.

I will say that I do like the artwork for B2B better, though the Purple Spiked tongue is my favorite tongue....

Voodoo Lounge for me and it's no contest.