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Taylor1
It’s obvious Mick and Keith don’t agree on what the album should be, or they wouldn’t have done only 1 album in 24 years.I think Mick likes to do more experimental stuff which sometimes doesn’t work and Keith wants to do r&b and some reggae.

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black n blue
Woody has some tunes I bet. Get your act together and put and album out. Lazy guys

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Doxa

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Send It To me
There are a fair number of artists who seem to find writing and recording rewarding enough to keep doing it without regard to commercial or cultural impact (Paul Simon, Neil Young) and others, like the Stones, who seem to need the culture and the marketplace to be interested for them to continue.

This is true indeed. One way to put it is to have an audience or not. Or to play for themselves or for the audience. The Stones always seem to have an audience in mind. They are doing it for people. Since signing with ALO, their music has done to attract big crowds, to make a difference, or a cultural impact and the marketplace, you name it. Once they tasted that apple they would not reduce their act to smaller crowds. Like Charlie once put it, nothing is more horrible than to play jazz in a small club, having an audience of couple of people, some of them your relatives. However, it was from the club circuit from where the Stones, even before ALO, understood what it is all about: to make the audience go wild, to move their asses. With ALO and record contract all of that just grew bigger, but the function remained the same: they are there to make a difference. All kind of artistic integrity or whatever is there just to serve that purpose. ALO forced Mick and Keith to write their own material because that was a necessary condition for them to survive (and pointing out that the true money is in there). They did wonderful hits when that was needed. They made wonderful albums when that was needed. There was a time when true artsitic integrity was a fundamental part of a proper rock and roll band, and of thw whole pop music business. In order to be hot you needed to release every four months a hot single or every year a new hot album. That was the nature of their game back then. Decades ago.

As far as releasing new music go, I think the biggest obstacle for the Stones being not so profilic for years (almost decades) is that there really isn't any longer such a marketplace/true interest/audience for it any longer. Surely, that's the nature of record business in genaral, but they also have their own intrinsic problems there: is not just them not to able reach new audience any longer, it is also their old audience are too spoiled by great past to attract any longer (which is natural: how the men in their senior years could actually compete with their younger selves when they were full of energy, passion and determinition, and the times were on their side). Yeah, the fans will buy out of loyalty any of their new recors, listen it a couple of times, and then - let's be honest - forget it. If the material is played in concert casual fans don't give a shit, while the loyal fans try to accept it, even though in the deep in their hearts they wish they would play something else (from the great back catalogue full of hidden gems).

I think it all boils down to fact any performer or a professional artist faces: does what I do mean something - do people actually care of what I do. Some people with ego big enough do not give a shit about it. That's the old romantic idea of artistry. They are just doing it for the sake of doing it, no matter whatever anyone thinks of it. Like their 'inner self' forces them to show artistic expression. Oh yeah. In a way a guy like Mick Jagger is more a pure artist in that sense than, say, Neil Young or Paul Simon is. Namely, he seemingly writes all the time, makes demos and whatever (since enjoying it, that is, having a natural tendency on it), but is such arrogant '@#$%&' that keeps all it with him, and releases next to nothing. Why to bother relaese anything if it doesn't mean anything? Just to show 'I am alive' or 'showing artistic integrity just in the sake of it' or 'this something I supposed to do, because I once did it for living and for survival'. Probably Mick self-esteem is not so low and his ambition and motivation is much higher. Besides, most of all, he can.

However, in regard to their legendary contemporaries who are more 'profilic', The Stones did something last year none of them could: relaesed a song that actually attracted an audience in a way that it is listened like their old hits do. That's actually a bigger achievement than releasing no matter many meaningless albums that are basically forgotten the day when they are released. I am sure that pleased very much the band itself - that people actually listen their stuff - which I hope might inspire them to release some more. (We have to also note that the last time The Stones actually released an album that turned out to be a huge commercial hit, selling in quantities no any other of their contemporaries can even imagine - doing that by a covers blues album was also a kind make good old Stonesian effort of making a difference).

The Stones are a huge, commercial pop music phemenonen, probably the biggest rock band ever, not any avantgarde act by any means. I think the problem is that many of us fans tend to see the band as some kind of avantgarde act, just out there from an artistic inspiration, not what it actually is. I guess it much easier to be diehard fan for a lesser act (as a huge Dylan fan I know it personally).

It's only rock'n'roll.

- Doxa

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mailexile67

We'll get a new last studio album next year?!

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mailexile67
They're booking European stadiums for spring/summer next year...

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Big Al
My prediction? They’ll do something.

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jbwelda
I cannot see anyone but possibly Mick being up for that scene, a residency in Vegas. Why in the heck would Keef for one want to do that? At their ages, I don't see the attraction for them, again, possible exception being Mick.

jb

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dmay
A Las Vegas residency with whomever else is also in town doing a residency as guest stars performing with the Stones every other night. Imagine Carlos, Fogerty, Elton, Rod, Cher and, my gawd almighty, Celine Dion and Britney gettin' down with the Stones. For moi, having Penn and Teller open the show and going, hocus pocus/abracadabra, the Stones then appearing on stage as if through magical transportation, kickin' out the jams, would be one heckuva show. I know, crazy, but if we're predicting...why not? Isn't predicting a guess at the future?