I like it. I also like Bridges. I think both CDs are pretty great.

I new from the moment I heard it that this was not a Keith/Ronnie dual guitar album. I could never fully recover from this disappointment. Mick plays fine, BUT he is not a guitarist for them!!! ARRRR! So why is he just as loud as Keith on every track! I realize he wrote most songs but still why not include the WHOLE band while practicing and recording.

Maybe Ronnie was not able to, but I don't think he was invited till most songs were laid down, then he overdubed.

Most songs are missing the counter riff to Keiths.

ABB would have never existed without Mick so cheers to him for that.

A 10-11 song version of ABB including UTR and WDWTGH would have been better. (these 2 songs are better then 12 off the album)

Agreed.

ABBA stinks.

Fag music!!

ABB is just mediocre like the majority of the albums the Stones have released since Tattoo You. I'll be the first to admit to being a little taken in especially after hearing the samples from Amazon but after a couple of listens i was secure in my mind it was no better than anything else the Stones have released in the last 20 years. Dirty Work is better in my opinion - at least there's a bit of grit plus a raw Jagger vocal where he actually sounds full of vitality.

'Staring down your tits' sums up the reason an album like ABB will never be taken as a seriously great piece of work unlike the Stones earlier albums.

I have not grown tired of ABB and I've been listening to it since it was released. I only skip about 20% of the songs compared to the previous 3 albums where I have to skip 70%-80%. Sure, if it was up to me I would take a different direction production wise and a few song choices. Would I change anything about Sticky Fingers or even Black And Blue?--no.

Abb is very good! But they just wont tour behind it!!They might as well ..could have toured Dirty work way back in the 80 ties!!

Its a mixed bag for sure. Should probably have been a ten tracker. Driving too fast, Sweet neo con, streets, Look what the cat, and Infamy are turkeys....BUT..Rough Justice, ONNYA, this place are amazing. And It wont take long is simply classic. As good as it gets IMO

Chas Wrote:
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> I have not grown tired of ABB and I've been
> listening to it since it was released.

How do manage to get any sleep?

Tattoo You was the last Stones disc i bought, i have Bigger Bang because i won it on the radio haaaa

I wouldnt say it 'stinks', i like it actually, its a fun record, Rain Fall Down is very good, Oh No & Rough Justice are a riot, the Mick songs (Biggest Mistake, Streets) and Keith songs (TPIE and Infamy) are good...not great, not earth shattering, but good...

I've seen them every tour since 1978 and I'll be there until its over, i could care less if they have a disc to tour around or not... they have plenty of incredible, timeless music they can draw from and i never get tired of hearing it...

Seen 4 shows this tour, usually i only go to 1 when they come to town, so the unvarying set lists suck a bit that is for sure, but i love them, i'll take what i can get, they wont be around forever...

ABB is the best thing since Undercover & sliced bread.

I thought I had all their albums....what year was Sliced Bread released? I'm guessing sometime in the mid-80's - I feel asleep for a period there....

LOL. You feel asleep in the 80-ies?! You missed out on Back to Zero & Winning Ugly then!!

Great titles - are they any good?

StonesTod Wrote:
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> I thought I had all their albums....what year was
> Sliced Bread released? I'm guessing sometime in
> the mid-80's - I feel asleep for a period
> there....


Sliced Bread is what this band [www.amazon.com] is now calling itself after two members were sliced to bits by enraged music lovers while the band played "Baby I'm-A Want You" at the Iowa State Fair in June, 2004.

I still think ABB is a classic, assuming you make your own version that omits such filler as SOL, Biggest Mistake, Infamy, etc.

its not exile on main st but it is good and has some cool tracks!!!

ohnonotyouagain Wrote:
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> I still think ABB is a classic, assuming you make
> your own version that omits such filler as SOL,
> Biggest Mistake, Infamy, etc.

correct. in my case, the "etc." portion runs 14 songs worth.

Good point, ohno, I called my new version "A Better Bang". Dropped a few losers and added "Under The Radar", "We Don't Wanna Go Home", "Don't Stop", "Stealing My Heart" and "Keys To Your Love". Much stronger without SOL and Neo-Con.

Ever notice that omits and vomits are just one letter apart.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-06-29 21:48 by Elmo Lewis.

I like the Stones when they were a little dirty sounding with a hint of mystique ohnonotyouagain. I also preferred Jagger's vocals when he was younger.

ABB is just too clean and hi- tech as well as lacking in substance. This is probably a reflection of the times (modern recording techniques) as much as the Stones choice to 'clean' their sound. Crisp and lean is a perfect description.

I think you're right, ET. Digital really cleans it up. I like it dirtier and raunchier.

Elmo an intoxicating dense track like Let It Loose could never be recorded in the modern era - that thick dense sound which is sometime impenetrable is the essence of the Stones - and it's the reason their early singles and albums never get boring. There's always a little more to be found which is almost out of grasp. Take that away and the Stones sound just shallow and predictable and unexciting.

ET: excellent last post. could spruce it with some political/offensive language...but not bad as is.

Agree 100%

For me digital sucks. It's too clean. Take it back to drums and guitars and vocals. It doesn't get anymore complicated than that.

The definition of filler,as I understand it,are tracks that were included on an album only to bring the total number of songs on the album up to whatever total # of songs the artist wanted to include.If that's the case,the artists are the only ones who can state which songs are fillers.It's one thing to say that you don't like a song or it doesn't suit your taste or whatever but,do any of us actually have knowledge as to why certain songs were included by the artists?
One guy posted that Biggest Mistake was filler however,while the song has its shortcomings,Richards actually singled it out as what he considers one of the top songs on A Bigger Bang so,it actually isn't filler.

J.J.Flash Wrote:
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> You couldn't have listened to it a million times.
> if you listened to it all day every day since
> release, that's only 121,878 times possible.
> Unless you listen to it on 8 different cd players
> simultaniously. Don't exaggerate to that extent on
> this site!


Out wrote> I'm sure bigfrankie REALLY meant a million times. JJ Flash you must be really bored to have sat there and figured this out. Still funny, though.


Ok maybe I'm the Wilt Chamberlain of IORR!!! But I've probably listen to it 900,000 times and it still STINKS.

Actually, I think ABB is actually neither very clean nor very hi-tech, considering today's capabilities and the stones' resource$. What's interesting is that they used somewhat high-tech recording capabilities--the portable computer recording gear--to produce a fairly dirty recording. In this case, "dirty" is not necessarily that interesting, and to me the album pushes the line between "inspired/spontaneous" and "rushed/slipshod." Let's not be fooled by the fact that it's all digital into thinking that it's a sparkling recording--it actually sounds more garage than anything since the Paris days. That could be a positive, but I'm not so sure in this case.

The "new" post TY-Stones-albums: (my ranking)

1. Undercover
2. Dirty Work
3. A Bigger Bang
4. Steel Wheels
5. Voodoo Lounge
6. Bridges To Babylon

Of course, Stripped is by far the best, but I don't count it as an ordinary album to compare with the others.

A stones album is like a french wine, with the time it will be better!
ok! we want the stones Now! But you know the stones music is immortal and we will listen it until the day we die!
How many stones album (not only exile) came out and they say:"...it stink!"
For me it is positive, when you listen the first time an new album of the stones and you think: "what is that...!!! What that noise...?!?"You don't understand what you are listen....(like Exile)
It appens to me when I hear the first time ABB in my care on the highway,
(you can imagine: driving to fast....)
What that stuff??!!!! but then with the days,...mhmmmmm, tasty!
When I listen BtoB the first time I have not this disturbing feeling...
It was OK at the first listen...and for me it is not a good sign for a new album
The only bad think with ABB, it is too much Jagger album, and need more Keith presence and creativity.

Don't take it bad, but my theorie is: you like ALL the stones stuff and if you don't...(no matter, it's ok, you can do nothing for that, and it is respectable)
if you don't, you don't really like the stones deeply...in your blood.
But hey, no problem! just listen to INXS...(laugh)

For me Happyness is Keith Richards playin' his guitare!

Excuse my poor english writing...
Salut.

ABB doesn´t stink! Considering the circumstances it is great! It shows that the Stones are still capable of creating very good songs! (maybe not all on ABB are being part of this category, but many are!)