Yes. BtB. I know. This is the best since VL (Meaning: Better than BtB, but not better than VL).

JumpingKentFlash

My rate post Tattoo You (10/10):
Undercover 7,5/10
Dirty Work 7,0/10
Steel Wheels 3,0/10 (The worst, for me it doesn't sound like TRS!)
Vodoo Lounge 8/10
Bridges to Babylon 9/10
A Bigger Bang 7,5/10
A Bigger Bang could be 8,5 without LWTCDI, DTF, SNC!
After 2 months I still like it very much, but usually skip those numbers.

It's a good album album overall, probably the best since Undercover. In fact some of the songs could be put into Undercover (Look...Cat being one of them). I still think the production or the mixing is a bit annoying: I find the drums too upfront, as if the album had to rock by a hard drumming style. And I find the vocals a bit too upfront in some songs, too.

One of the songs I like most is Driving Too Fast: a simple, standard uptempo song, but Jagger sings the way I like: sleazy, not vocalising (sp?) very well, a little bit growling. And the music is pure groove... Look What The Cat is another gem for me, really like Ronnie's work on this. LINearlyDie features one of the best vocals by Mick since a long time ago. Rough Justice epitomizes (sp?) what the Stones sound is, with Mick singing how he should. She Saw Me Coming is pure musical fun, I like it a lot, too. Rain Fell Down has a nice groove too, and its bridge reminds me of Dance.

About It Won't Take Long, I don't understand why it seems to be liked so much: to me it's the Stones trying to sound as the Stones, and that's all: pure filler. I prefer Dangerous Beauty way better. Biggest Mistake could be a very good country-like song, with a catchy chorus if those poor and embarassing wooo-wooo-wooo vocal parts at the intro and bridge were erased or changed by any instrumental bridge (a pedal steel, perhaps?)

About the Keef's songs: TPIEmpty is a very good song in the tradition of his ballads, reminding me of All About You, but it suffers of having Keith whispering so near into your ears as if you were sleeping with him, and his breathe stinks. Why the @#$%& didn't they put the mic a little bit away???. Infamy: to me is pure filler. To do a good song with three chords, like Gimme Shelter, it has to have way more details than this one, which seems way too unfinished.

I really miss Ronnie's playing on many songs, where it seems he only added some fills here and there and Mieck seems to carry the song with his guitar.

But overall, better than I expected. I'm one of those who think the album would have been stronger if it was only a 12 tracks album, but...

By Stones standards: about 6.5-7 out of 10



[There'll be no wedding today...]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-10-28 12:57 by bruno.

You are absolutely right ChelseaDrugstore! But I only skip the "dozens of playing", not the content of the tracks when I listen... Here is what I >always< do. The 1st time is complete immersion on the headphones. Only distraction allowed is checking the liner notes occasionnaly. Next times I try to play it in different contexts: in the car, while shaving, or a few tracks at work and see how it captivates me and to which point it can distract me from working altogether (at the computer). If the stuff ever kicks in, of course then I will want to share the listening. But if it doesn't register, I shelve it and go on with my life (...and my other records!).
When you have an artist that obviously spent a good part of his life creating something, with blood and sweat so to speak, and the creation presents any layers of complexity (either in the writing and/or in the production when writing is un-complex), of course I will try to get deeper into it by playing the CD more often. Consequently my "verdict" will have to come later, with more playings.
For me, this is obviously not the case with aBB.

KSIE Wrote:
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> I gotta admit when I first listened to this disc
> it reminded me of Voodoo Lounge
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Agree wholeheartedly & I like em both. The Bang is best since but I still prefer The Lounge ever so slightly

Yeah odd beat, my ritual is pretty much exactly the same as yours LOL. Matter of fact those damn liner notes are almost as important for that first all-important aal-immersion listening party as the disc itself.
With ABB specifically it is very strange this time around. I am simply in a place in life nowadays where I listen less to the Stones. I listen to a lethal amount of music. But while the Stones are always present, they are not as overpowering as used to be. ABB while IMO excellent is still "new" Stones to me. And "new" Stones (ie post 89) is just not that high in my standings. So it has already fallen in the SW/VL/B2B/ rotation. They don't get a turn that often. I have to admit that AB has VERY quickly become just one of the pack. This used to not be the case. The new album remained the new one for a loooong time. So I do feel like I gave ABB the respect it derves intially, but that initial period did not last that long.