Literally, every review I have ever read pans Still Life. Why? I have loved it since it was released. Still Life was the live document of the '81-'82 tour which was the most hyped and adored concert tour of my lifetime, universally praised by every rock critic of the time. It also gave the Stones version of Going To A Go-Go to the world which is no small thing. How about 20 Flight Rock! The fast version of Let Me Go! The ragged glory passion of Time Is On My Side!

I understand that it is ragged but that is the source of its power. '81-82 was the last tour that the band was confident enough to go out with their core and a few key sidemen and just rock out instead of orchestrating "Perfect" concerts aided by a small army of backup singers, horns, Blondie, etc. It may not be perfect, but I will take the scruffiness of Still Life over the polish of Flashpoint any day.

In my opinion, the only thing wrong with Still Life is the great tunes they left off it. This is one record in the catalog that screams for an expanded, deluxe edition.

Hey, I like the movie too. I actually took a date to see it in the theatre when it was released.

Your thoughts?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-12-12 19:21 by cbtaco19.

agreed cbtaco19....love the '81 tour....too bad they didn't make it a full show double lp....expanded edition....great idea (though i doubt that the Stones care at all)

you said it...the problem is what's not there, not what is. And you neglected that they cut the guts out of Imagination (they did this again with SFTD on Flashpoint).

The bottom line is that if you want to listen to something/anything representative of this great tour, you have about 30 BETTER, mostly COMPLETE soundboards to choose from. There's virtually NO reason to even own the damned thing, much less listen to it.

For me the highlights of the 81 shows on a regular basis (WTWCD, LIB, SSC, HF) aren't even included on this. The Stones just plain suck at putting out live albums.

A dreadful release.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-12-12 19:26 by T&A.

Re: Your thoughts on: Still Life
Posted by: Leonard Keringer (IP Logged)
Date: December 12, 2005 19:21


agreed cbtaco19....love the '81 tour....too bad they didn't make it a full show double lp....expanded edition....great idea (though i doubt that the Stones care at all)


Right! But, we know that they do care about $$$. To me, this is the great mystery. They have milked the re-packaging, re-issue scheme like no other band in history and my goodness, there must be diminishing returns eventually. Have you seen the new black slipcae / digipack packaging of the classic albums by Virgin in the record stores lately? How many times can they sell the same thing to the same people? Uh, speaking as one of those who bought Bigger Bang on the day of its release and the lame DVD version, I guess plenty

My point being, that despite Mick's dismissiveness about the vault, they are simply too greedy to ignore it forever. Dylan, Springsteen, The Beatles, Nirvana and Led Zeppelin have made too much money on vault releases to not tempt them. Even Neil Young is jumping on the bandwagon.

Forget about a potential box set for a minute and consider the 2003 release of Zeppelin's How The West Was Won. That excellent 1972 concert recording went to #1 on the Billboard chart and achieved platinum sales (a triple disc, no less). I know in my bones that an official release of the 1973 Brussels Affair material, marketed / hyped in the same manner as the Zeppelin stuff would achieve even greater sales.

So frustrating.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-12-12 19:48 by cbtaco19.

i'm with ya on this issue cbtaco19....just hope they don't wait too long to release some real rarities

Well, when your 16 years old...your first love is your first love.
Young and satisfied... in -82, "then along came this album"...

It´s got a special place in my heart - that´s the beauty of music, you never know exactly why, really. It was there -the right time, the right place. And - it made me continue to search for more...

Cheers

Bjorn

i agree, i would like to see some professional retouching of some classic 72-73 bootlegs to hear them in high definition.

however, as far as still life goes, the early 80's tour might have been a great show, but the sound of this album is horrible in my opinion, the good performances become completely lame, due to a very thin and weak sounding album. it neither has the boom of a stadium, nor the clarity that a good pro sound board recording should have, so it fails to take advantage of what makes for a good live album soundwise. it just sounds life less, hence the name still life i guess.

the track selections are gutsy though and i do like that.

i liked still life to...but most fans were let down when it wasn't a 2 lps..
also they cleaned it up too much..thats why the stones are bad at releasing live albums...jagger is to consumed to make it too perfect, too clean..
anyway as i get older the more i like it....

That record made my life: since them I´m on!

I love Still Life too..

now if we could get them to release Let Spend the Night Togther on an official (english language) DVD, I'd be very happy

the shoot 'em dead, brainbell jangler!

The firts 2 songs UMT and Let´s spend the...

are Rocks most perfect openers for any live album!!!!!!!!!!!1

I don't have it.

cc

Still Life has a special place in my heart, it came out about the time they played in Gothenburg 1982, my first two gigs. My first vinylcopy I played till it was unplayable. I love it.

Vilhelm
Nordic Stones Vikings

cbtaco19 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Re: Your thoughts on: Still Life
> Posted by: Leonard Keringer (IP Logged)
> Date: December 12, 2005 19:21
>
>
> agreed cbtaco19....love the '81 tour....too bad
> they didn't make it a full show double
> lp....expanded edition....great idea (though i
> doubt that the Stones care at all)
>
>
> Right! But, we know that they do care about $$$.
> To me, this is the great mystery. They have milked
> the re-packaging, re-issue scheme like no other
> band in history and my goodness, there must be
> diminishing returns eventually. Have you seen the
> new black slipcae / digipack packaging of the
> classic albums by Virgin in the record stores
> lately? How many times can they sell the same
> thing to the same people? Uh, speaking as one of
> those who bought Bigger Bang on the day of its
> release and the lame DVD version, I guess plenty
>
> My point being, that despite Mick's dismissiveness
> about the vault, they are simply too greedy to
> ignore it forever. Dylan, Springsteen, The
> Beatles, Nirvana and Led Zeppelin have made too
> much money on vault releases to not tempt them.
> Even Neil Young is jumping on the bandwagon.
>
> Forget about a potential box set for a minute and
> consider the 2003 release of Zeppelin's How The
> West Was Won. That excellent 1972 concert
> recording went to #1 on the Billboard chart and
> achieved platinum sales (a triple disc, no less).
> I know in my bones that an official release of the
> 1973 Brussels Affair material, marketed / hyped in
> the same manner as the Zeppelin stuff would
> achieve even greater sales.
>
> So frustrating.
>
>
>
> Edited 1 times. Last edit at 12/12/05 19:48 by
> cbtaco19.

If they do want to "open the vault," they'd best get to it. The number of people who know and care when it comes to things like Brussells Affair -- and would shell out bucks to buy them -- is not exactly getting larger every day.

Still life is the only ever officially released bootleg. The sound the swing is like on a bootleg with the audience and everything.
It's stays like Get Yer Ya .... on its own

lodge Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Still life is the only ever officially released
> bootleg.


Apart from the fact that it's edited like hell.

But I really love UMT from that. The perfect way to get a show started.

Pity it was never actually played like that of course. It usually just started off jamming a bit. The articulated opening riff seems to come by edit.

One of my favourite live albums, along with GYYYO and Live Licks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-12-12 21:29 by Limbostone.

my first Rolling Stones album, no "Still life" no Stones for me....

I was 13 years old, stones just played in turin 11 july 1982

Fast, loose and sloppy. That's the only way that I can describe Still Life. It's a good album imo, but not great.

bring that disc out all the time..one of my first stones TAPES..so I had to later buy the disc!

Fast , lots of phaser...i like it very much
listened to thousand times :-)
exspecially the 81 version of time is on my side - imo the best version ever

-----------------------------------------------------
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

As much as the Stones are my favorite band, LED ZEP would outsell them by at least 3-1. If the Stones had broken up 20 years ago, maybe they'd have a shot, but they are too dismissed by the general public now as greedy old men and that unfortunately tarnishes the catalogue too. Back the main topic, I love STILL LIFE too.

The sound quality on that album was not very good. The sound of the 78 soundboards are much better than an official release from the 81 tour. Was it poorly recorded......how could the band's sound have changed so much in a 3 year period. The guitars were muddy and messy instead of sharp and crisp.

Shawn20 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> how could the band's sound
> have changed so much in a 3 year period. The
> guitars were muddy and messy instead of sharp and
> crisp.


easy - '78 was a peak - 3 years is a significant period...enough for noticeable decline. It's amazing to me (and many others) that the Stones declined to issue a live product from their two best tours (72 and 78).

But at the time the 81 tour was hailed as a great musical comeback from the 78 tour.

not in my book. 81 was a bigger deal...but size don't matter. 78 blows 81 away musically...like you said - a quick listen to Handsome Girls vs. "you pick the 81 soundboard" is all that's required.

There are lots of fine boots from this tour
so I don't bother with Still Life too much anymore.......

I recall the slagging from Rolling Stone the 78 tour took. The 81 tour was given the magazine's tour of the year and the Stones were named the artist of the year by Rolling Stone. I did not see the Cleveland show....so I cannot relate to the fact the Stones played so badly. The show I saw in New Orleans in 78 was the best.....and it was a stadium show.

recordings don't lie - '78 was a monster

T&A Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> recordings don't lie - '78 was a monster

Listening to the recordings certainly gives the nod to the 78 tour.

Dont love the movie to fragmented, love the videos and the boots and tapes,and the woman, Fast playing most of the time.(charlie?)But,1978 tour is much better and deserved more a live album then the 81-82 tour,Nowadays after every tour, there a live album, right!