Which wins this album battle regarding K-mans solo efforts? Comments on each? Fav tracks? MEZ

Definetly i think that talk is cheap was far superior- it came out in 1988 and it sounds less like filler material then main offender

TIC is supposed to be the better one for some reason. Maybe because it was Keith's first, it scored big on the College charts (and this was at a time when the Stones were NOT cool) and it had the anti-Jagger "How do you sleep" type cut. But IMO "Main Offender" is much better. Speaking of filler that second side of TIC had plenty of it. There were some jams that were just that, and not that good. It really surprised me when Keith with Winos played "Whip it up" at one of those big award shows when receiving some award.
On MO I love "Hate it when you leave" one of Keith's best songs ever. The incredible guitar workout of "999" which was very much the "Big Enough" of it's own album. "Demon" and "Yap Yap" (which for some reason reminds me of "So Cruel" by U2)and the 1/2 punch of "Ruinning Too Deep" and "Will But You Won't". Listen to that guitar symphony, that buildup at the end of WBYW. With Babi Floyd screaming his head off in the background.
TIC does have the two vintage Keith guitar songs "Take it so Hard" and "How I Wish", the soul groove of "Make No Mistake", the melancholic "Locked Away". I saw "It Means A Lot" at the very first Wino show and it blew me away. (Elmo Lewis knows...) But TIC was weakened by the really kind of weak "You don't move me", "Whip it up" and "Rockawhile".
While Drayton and drummer Jordan were already in full force on TIC I thouyght it took until MO for Waddy Wachtel to really shine.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

Could Have Stood You Up is tons of fun.

Spent a fair amount of time listening to and rediscovering Talk is Cheap last Spring. When I first purchased the album (actually several years after it was released), I gave it a few spins, largely dismissed what I heard, and shelved it for quite a few years. When I came back to it, I was astonished to find what I would consider to be the heart and core of the Rolling Stones sound.

Clearly Richards needs Jagger to bring in the commercialism and modern sounds, but it was a pleasant experience to hear all that brewed off. Setting aside the filler material, the album reminded me a great deal of Exile.

"You look like a leper dressed as Sergeant Pepper"

Have not heard Main Offender. I remember when Talk is Cheap came out. I was a huge Keith fan, had really high expectations but was also worried that he might be a bit sloppy. Put the vinyl down, started playing and I was blown away. Great songwriting, great music, it met all my expectations and more. I've listened to it recently, I can't say I like it as much, but still think it was a great effort - I like it better than any of the Stones albums that came out since then.

One a slight tangent, I never understood why "struggle" was the 2nd single - it got a lot of airplay on MTV at the time, and I thought it was by far the worst track on the album.

It strikes me that the Stones had an extraordinarily creative period post-Tattoo running up through Voodoo Lounge, but it makes me wonder what could have been had the solo albums, Dirty Work, and Steel Wheels been merged into 2 or 3 albums.

It is all very speculative as Mick and Keith went there own ways for quite a time (which did bring the band a new dimension of media attention), but it strikes me as a shame that numerous musicologists talk of the Stones' declining creative powers following Some Girls and Tattoo You, when the reality may actually be the creativity was too broadly dispersed.

"You look like a leper dressed as Sergeant Pepper"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-02-07 06:25 by JamesBurton.

MAIN OFFENDER has its moments, especially the underrated HATE IT WHEN YOU LEAVE, but TIC blows it out of the water.

Talk Is Cheap is far better, even though I like Main Offender as well. Too "many" fillers on Offender:

Yap Yap
Running Too Deep/Will But You Won't (they're so alike!)

On Talk Is Cheap I dig every tune.

Talk Is Cheap. Locked Away is one of my favourite tracks. I like Main Offender too (esp. I Hate It when You Leave + Eileen). What's good about Talk Is Cheap is that it covers a spectrum of different types of music.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-02-07 12:43 by Beast.

Eileen is probably one of the best Keef songs ever.I would probably go for Main Offender.

Two comments struck me:

Chelsea's opinion on You don't move me: this is my no 2 fav Keith trak (1 being happy)

Beast & Star appreciation on Eileen: this is the lamest Keith openG trak, ever!

C

<But TIC was weakened by the really kind of weak "You don't move me", "Whip it up">

Those are my two favourite tracks on the album (together with Make No Mistake)

i prefer TIC! i also thing that it contains far less fillers than MO! My favourities are: "Take it so Hard","Rockawhile", and "Big Enough". On MO: "Wicked as it seems" and of course "Hate It when You Leave".

to say that "You don't move me" is a weak song is ridiculous,not worth a discussion at all..

talk is cheap far superior.main offender, keith was running out of riffs.hate it when you leave is great and the version from boston 1993 is great.

It's almost a tribute to Keith that he has hard supporters for almost every one of his songs.
But for someone who waltzes along and dismisses an opinion as ridiculous - buzz off.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

yeah, buzz off....right :-)

CD, you're right. That first show at the Fox was da bomb! I like both, but maybe TIC a little better because of "It Means A Lot". The best of these two CD's and Mick's first two would have made an Exile-quality double CD. Just my opinion.

Main Offender

i love em both, but TIC just takes the title

Love'em both, can't choose. Favourites:

TIC: You don't move me
MO: Demon

I'm partial to Main Offender. Love "Hate It When You Leave". Keith is truly the soul of the Stones.

Love them both..TIC shades it though.

Wicked As It Seems is the best solo song in my opinion but,I prefer Talk Is Cheap as an album.

TIC hands down

Talk Is Cheap, no contest. Not a bad song on it & several greats whereas only 'Hate It When You Leave' & 'The Demon In Me' do it for me on Main Offender. It's very samey.

Talk wins. A lot of the songs on MO sound like early versions, sketches of what later is gonna be a good album. PLus the songs sound too much alike.