I'm not a fan, but I love that most people seem to adore it. To me, it brings down the party vibe of Hackney Diamonds.

Besides, you forgot to list Sleep Tonight - that song is beautiful.

Agree with Illusion though - one of his all time very best.

It's 'OK'

In my opinion, it's better than This Place is Empty, Infamy, You Don't Have to Mean It, and the turgid, Thief in the Night. However, it isn't the equal - for me, anyway - of his solo-vocal recording's from Let it Bleed, through to Voodoo Lounge

Agree that tell me straight is a great song. It catches a mood. Its short, but it says all that has to be said.

The best?

I used to have a tape, that became a CDR, that now is a playlist with all the songs sang by Keith with the Stones. Fact is, there is not a bad one. Love them all. True some more than others, but which one is the best it changes every time.

Yet, along the years, Run, T&A and Sleep are the ones that for sure and by large have been played the most. And I don't think that Tell me straight will change things


C

One from the higher end of Keith's catalogue. I love the guitar figure, and the gnomic questions, it goes deep in a typically minimal way, and the backing vocal from Mick adds a special layer. Love it. As much as I love BtoB Keef songs too ...

I'm a big fan of it.

Some folks really get this side of Keith, with his ballads and torch songs.

Some other folks don't... which is fair enough if it's just not your thing..

I like "Tell me Straight" but the top is "How can i stop".
High class, amazing song.

Hope he did Not SLIPPING AWAY!

He has had many years to polish and perfect it.

I've always been a fan of Keith's ballads, and for me they are among the standouts on the albums. 'Sleep Tonight' is a beauty, even better was 'Slipping Away'. One of my all-time favourite Stones tracks, 'Slipping' is just a gem.

'The Worst', 'Thru and Thru' - two of the high points on Voodoo. 'How Canm I Stop' from Babylon. There is just something special in the way he composes ballads; character, ambience, atmosphere.

'Tell Me Straight' is quality, maybe not quite 'Slipping Away' but almost. Full of bittersweet mood, atmospheric Keith ballad that keeps me coming back.

Best song of the album along with "Angry".

The fast bubblegum tune "Angry" is 100% Mick. The slow profound "Tell Me Straight" is 100% Keith.

Says a lot about their respective personality...

we can only hope to hear this song and enjoy the moment

Sure, I can drink that Kool Aid...the last 30 years.

But for me his greatest is You Got The Silver. Happy is also unimpeachable and BTMMR is the archetypal Keith song, especially lyrically.

Little I know of VOODOO LOUNGE. I recall the main vocals of "Baby Break It Down" was by Mick. Or what does "Keith Song" really means?

But "Tell Me Straight "is a beautiful song, and it works in the album as well as the "Keith Songs" - you know, him singing main vocals - once did when there was one per album.

- Doxa

I think it,s a boring song

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Doxa
Little I know of VOODOO LOUNGE. I recall the main vocals of "Baby Break It Down" was by Mick. Or what does "Keith Song" really means?

But "Tell Me Straight "is a beautiful song, and it works in the album as well as the "Keith Songs" - you know, him singing main vocals - once did when there was one per album.

- Doxa

The riff on Illusion is lifted from Baby, Break It Down - (probably) hence the assumption of Keith being the writer of that riff

I think "Tell Me Straight" would be an energy killer in a stadium environment, much like "The Worst" was a bit, though I like both songs. Something like "You Got The Silver" has just enough energy combined with the pulling the heartstrings to not drag, whereas "Tell Me Straight" just pulls at the heartstrings, which is great, but better for a smaller venue I'd say. And for me "Tell Me Straight" doesn't come close to "Thief in the Night", "Locked Away", "Slipping Away", or "Sleep Tonight". In fact on first listen it kinda seemed like a half-baked demo though I've grown to appreciate it more.

You got the silver is fantastic,Before they make me run is really great,Coming down again is beautyful,Happy I wanna hold you,Little T and I,plus many others is much better than Tell Me Straight

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DandelionPowderman

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Doxa
Little I know of VOODOO LOUNGE. I recall the main vocals of "Baby Break It Down" was by Mick. Or what does "Keith Song" really means?

But "Tell Me Straight "is a beautiful song, and it works in the album as well as the "Keith Songs" - you know, him singing main vocals - once did when there was one per album.

- Doxa

The riff on Illusion is lifted from Baby, Break It Down - (probably) hence the assumption of Keith being the writer of that riff

It's also repeated in another song on Crosseyed Heart, but for the life of me I can't remember which one right now.

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Barkerboy2

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DandelionPowderman

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Doxa
Little I know of VOODOO LOUNGE. I recall the main vocals of "Baby Break It Down" was by Mick. Or what does "Keith Song" really means?

But "Tell Me Straight "is a beautiful song, and it works in the album as well as the "Keith Songs" - you know, him singing main vocals - once did when there was one per album.

- Doxa

The riff on Illusion is lifted from Baby, Break It Down - (probably) hence the assumption of Keith being the writer of that riff

It's also repeated in another song on Crosseyed Heart, but for the life of me I can't remember which one right now.

And furthermore, the early BREAK IT DOWN bootleg versions have Keith on vocals.

I much more prefer Coming Down Again than all his newer songs...

Donut forget - all about you

Just Keith singing and playing piano, i know it's written by Merle Haggard but Keith does a soulfull vocal on it.
Take Me Back Home.
[youtu.be]

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harlem shuffle
I think it,s a boring song

Maybe not boring but just easy done song to put in the album. No history telling lyrics... but well better than nothing.
And must be perfect in stadium by expectations created by fans

Tell me Straight is absolutely top shelf. I love it.

Rod

It's a great mash-up of Thru and Thru and All About You. It's short and well constructed, far better than those interminable ballads at the end of BtoB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-05-14 15:05 by peoplewitheyes.

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rogerriffin

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harlem shuffle
I think it,s a boring song

Maybe not boring but just easy done song to put in the album. No history telling lyrics... but well better than nothing.
And must be perfect in stadium by expectations created by fans

The lyrics is one of the strong features of the song, imo.

It can be interpreted as Keith singing to his maker: How long do I have left? Or to a lover: How long do we have left? Or both. A stroke of genius, imo.

The verses are absolutely beautiful. The bridges with Mick are more simple, but it works.

I agree with Skippy - it's (one of) the best Keith tracks in 30 years. How Can I Stop is slightly better, though.

Tell me Straight is built around the beautiful guitar figure providing the basis for great verses. It works. The singing, setting and production is also great. But the song lacks additional truly great elements to make it take off to be on par with Keith's greatest solo songs from 70s and 80s. Nevertheless it's impressive to have the spark to do this at the ripe age of 79. I hate to admit it but I'm not a big fan of Keith's later day ballads.

The only song on HD i enjoy. His best, and possibly their best since Thief in the night.

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LeonidP

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Barkerboy2

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DandelionPowderman

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Doxa
Little I know of VOODOO LOUNGE. I recall the main vocals of "Baby Break It Down" was by Mick. Or what does "Keith Song" really means?

But "Tell Me Straight "is a beautiful song, and it works in the album as well as the "Keith Songs" - you know, him singing main vocals - once did when there was one per album.

- Doxa

The riff on Illusion is lifted from Baby, Break It Down - (probably) hence the assumption of Keith being the writer of that riff

It's also repeated in another song on Crosseyed Heart, but for the life of me I can't remember which one right now.

And furthermore, the early BREAK IT DOWN bootleg versions have Keith on vocals.

But so has "Love Is Strong", "You Got Me Rocking", etc. I guess there are two different senses of "Keith's song": him being the main composer of the song and and him singing a tune. There are damn many "Keith's songs" in the former sense... (However, it is this sense Mick and Keith describe the origin of their songs usually, being Mick's or Keith's).

- Doxa

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ekelundh
Tell me Straight is built around the beautiful guitar figure providing the basis for great verses. It works. The singing, setting and production is also great. But the song lacks additional truly great elements to make it take off to be on par with Keith's greatest solo songs from 70s and 80s. Nevertheless it's impressive to have the spark to do this at the ripe age of 79. I hate to admit it but I'm not a big fan of Keith's later day ballads.

Me neither. Dont care for the ballads but really like the moody wibey hypnotic style of Thief and Tell me (despite it lacking something)