Listening to this the other night, and just thinking what a great narrative song with a fab sound, and just thinking how much I ADORE these mid 70s Stones songs, and how I miss that long melodic style, particularly noticeably lacking from ABB.

MM I suppose belongs to their long and successful list of country rock, but I think it also belongs to the rambling narrative melodic songs like Time Waits, Winter, Moonlight Mile, Can You Hear, Salt Of The Earth, Sweet Virginia...
any of the new offcuts, so I can enjoy them fresh on my turntable
I wish Mick would address himself to a similar vein of focus as Dylan does to Murder Most Foul....would really love a 12 minute ramble from the boys....Perhaps they could fill up the 4th side of their forthcoming opus with something like that...anyway as you can see this is a bit of a ramble as well....hope you're all having a pleasurable Stones weekend. SO FAR I've managed to avoid listening in full to any of the new offcuts, instead delaying until I have the vinyl....

I would put Wild Horses in that category too, maybe Think I'm Going Mad.

I agree, it is a wonderful, melancholy style that seems to have been lost long ago.

And no, Streets of Love or those two 'Already Suffering' versions on B to B don't match these heights. At all.

I would add Waiting On A Friend, Tops, Worried About You - also from start to mid 70ies.

Their quality in ballads has decreased incredibly since TATTOO YOU.

Since then there have been three that are excellent.

Almost Hear You Sigh
Out Of Tears
Laugh I Almost Died

The rest of them have been awful. Baby Break It Down is good, and some of Keith's tunes are ballads, I guess, which opens it up (All About You, Slipping Away, The Worst).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-07-25 18:34 by GasLightStreet.

It's a mighty - fine one, for sure.

Well I guess one man's coffee is another mans cuppa tea, when it comes to Out Of Tears, it leaves me cold. No emotions there, but Almost Hear You Sigh, live version of SOL (not the album version) and Blinded By Rainbows are excellent songs when it comes to touching the heart.

Already Over Me with its Aminor/sus-chord and country flavoured "no-hope-a la-Hank Williams" approach is a gem IMHO. Always Suffering is basically Locked Away with Mick on vox.

Memory Motel is a beauty, I would die of happiness to get it live one day. One of their finest songs for sure, I want more with both sharing the vocals.


Slipping Away should be played at every show, it's such a song of genius, simple, yet so amazingly hypnotic with its coda/outro of mixing the Dmaj with the A chord every 2nd bar. In the whole wide world only Keith Richards could write a song like that. EVER



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2020-07-26 13:58 by MadMax.

It's a terrific song and would easily make my own personal top ten Stones tracks. There's something deeply genuine and heartfelt about Memory Motel, the song title itself is evocative before you've even got to the deeply melancholic and nostalgic lyrics. It comes from somewhere deep and painfully real - the way Mick spits out the lines "Across in Texas is the rose of San Antone//I keep on a feeling that's gnawing in my bones" is as emotive as he's ever sounded. It's sad, broken and beautiful song, but there's light and warmth from the sweet electric piano and what I consider to be Keith's finest vocal contribution to a Stones record. The entire arrangement, balance and length of the song is perfect.

Actually, make that a top five Stones track for me. Magnificent stuff. Hell I love the entire Black and Blue record, probably my most played Stones LP.

Yes, in the 70's The Stones perfected the slow building ballad. Many great examples - "Memory Motel" is one, along with several others that have been mentioned (and some that have not). I would love to see them do more of these type of songs.

What? I thought the Stones sucked in the Seventies and they were lazy and listless and lost their mojo? lol

'Sleep Tonight' anyone? Would love to hear it live sometime...

Quote
MadMax
Well I guess one man's coffee is another mans cuppa tea, when it comes to Out Of Tears, it leaves me cold. No emotions there, but Almost Hear You Sigh, live version of SOL (not the album version) and Blinded By Rainbows are excellent songs when it comes to touching the heart.

Already Over Me with its Aminor/sus-chord and country flavoured "no-hope-a la-Hank Williams" approach is a gem IMHO. Always Suffering is basically Locked Away with Mick on vox.

Out Of Tears has some of Ronnie's best slide playing, and it's in a great bridge, and I thought it was one of Mick's better ballads in terms of his vocals. Blinded By Rainbows is a bit sappy (Baby Break It Down is a little better).

The 2 ballads on BRIDGES are horrible. Already Over Me is musically interesting even though it's borderline pedestrian for the Stones but lyrically it's asinine. Always Suffering is a perfect title for that song. It's a warm up for Streets Of Love.

Quote
guyrachel
Listening to this the other night, and just thinking what a great narrative song with a fab sound, and just thinking how much I ADORE these mid 70s Stones songs, and how I miss that long melodic style, particularly noticeably lacking from ABB.

MM I suppose belongs to their long and successful list of country rock, but I think it also belongs to the rambling narrative melodic songs like Time Waits, Winter, Moonlight Mile, Can You Hear, Salt Of The Earth, Sweet Virginia...
any of the new offcuts, so I can enjoy them fresh on my turntable
I wish Mick would address himself to a similar vein of focus as Dylan does to Murder Most Foul....would really love a 12 minute ramble from the boys....Perhaps they could fill up the 4th side of their forthcoming opus with something like that...anyway as you can see this is a bit of a ramble as well....hope you're all having a pleasurable Stones weekend. SO FAR I've managed to avoid listening in full to any of the new offcuts, instead delaying until I have the vinyl....

Reading this, maybe you did not join a concert of the 2015 ZIP tour. They had Moonlight Mile on the setlist. Although I'm more of a "rough" Stones music kind of person, I off course love all their music.
I was totally taken away by a beautiful rendition of Moonlight Mile accompanied by a beautiful video when I saw them in Raleigh NC on my birthday. A great birthday present!
They can do anything live if they really want to! Memory Motel was another beauty they did "for me" in Amsterdam 1998, not to forget She's A Rainbow!