I think these are classic Stones!
1. Oh No Not You Again
2. Rough Justice
3. Back off My Hand

The rest are fine, too, but these three are in the Best Of The Rolling Stones Cataloge.

forgot lind and dtf

ONNYA and RJ are maybe not "great songs" but they are brilliant examples of the classic "ramshackle guitar band" Stones.
And I have to admit, that's the Stones I love the most too.

BOMH is the Stones doing traditional blues in the way we all know they can... and which they hadn't done for far too long. Always welcome !

[That said, I've always loved Let Me Down Real Slow. It's a throwback to stuff they could have written for Between the Buttons. I think that's a genuinely great song.]

To say that these songs are classics is an insult to the greatness of their catalog. Plus, have you ever heard them live? Rough Justice and Oh No sound terrible in concert (at least the 15 live versions I have listened to). Back of My Hand is fine, but far from a classic.

I have to think about it.
Eeerh...

I have no inspiration today, I'll try tomorrow

*Oh No Not You Again
*Rough Justice
=> both belong in the tradition of Flip The Switch, Sad Sad Sad...typical fast Stones-burner, unfortunatelly they didn't get hits
third number: *Driving Too Fast

There hasn't been a classic by the Stones in more than 25 years..Start Me Up being the last one, and one that I don't really care for...

1962 Wrote:
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> I think these are classic Stones!
> 1. Oh No Not You Again
> 2. Rough Justice
> 3. Back off My Hand
>
> The rest are fine, too, but these three are in the
> Best Of The Rolling Stones Cataloge.


No way. All of them are pleasant enough, but are strictly "Stones By Numbers" and the sort of generic song they could have put together on auto pilot at any time in their career. Plus, ONNYA has some of the most trite lyrics on any song theyve ever done. In the 'best of their catalogue', youre talking about stuff on the level of Gimme Shelter. 'Back of my hand' is a good track, but its nothing they havent done before, and done better.

They're far from the best songs on that album IMO. 'Laugh I Nearly Died' is the most outstanding song on ABB by a considerable distance.

I cant believe Laugh i nearly died does not hardly get a mention i reckon its one of thier best songs to come out in years.

Agree, fab guitars.....

odean73 Wrote:
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> I cant believe Laugh i nearly died does not hardly
> get a mention i reckon its one of thier best songs
> to come out in years.


With the exception of Continental Drift, for me its easily their best since Tattoo You.

odean73 Wrote:
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> I cant believe Laugh i nearly died does not hardly
> get a mention i reckon its one of thier best songs
> to come out in years.

The band, clearly, do not agree with you...

when did it last appear in their setlist?

odean73 Wrote:
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> I cant believe Laugh i nearly died does not hardly
> get a mention i reckon its one of thier best songs
> to come out in years.

It's a wonderful number but its style doen't make it to belong to the Rolling Stones classic numbers.

ONNYA
Rough Justice
She Saw Me Coming

Adrian-L Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> odean73 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I cant believe Laugh i nearly died does not
> hardly
> > get a mention i reckon its one of thier best
> songs
> > to come out in years.
>
> The band, clearly, do not agree with you...
>
> when did it last appear in their setlist?


It never has. Then again, they presumably thought the same of Moonlight Mile, Sway and Loving Cup for around three decades and still dont think too much of Let It Loose, Winter or Soul Survivor - so what do they know?

1. Laugh I Nearly Died
2. Under the Radar (whatever the reason might have been to leave it off; I
think it is an integral part of ABB. Because I don't like the structure of
the album very much, I've fitted UTR in myself. I rarely play my official
cd...)
3. Dangerous Beauty (changes from time to time)

Jelle

Gazza Wrote:
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>Plus, ONNYA has
> some of the most trite lyrics on any song theyve
> ever done. In the 'best of their catalogue', youre
> talking about stuff on the level of Gimme Shelter.
> 'Back of my hand' is a good track, but its nothing
> they havent done before, and done better.
>
> They're far from the best songs on that album IMO.
> 'Laugh I Nearly Died' is the most outstanding song
> on ABB by a considerable distance.

Well, Gazza, I'm as much of a sucker for a desperate soul tune as anyone, but as much as I want to love it, "Laugh" is a lyrical dog:

"I've been to Africa, looking for my soul
And I feel like an actor looking for a role"

and

"I'm so sick and tired
Trying to turn the tide, yeah
So I'll say my goodbye
Laugh, laugh
I nearly died

I've been down to India, but it froze my bones
I'm living for the city, but I'm all alone

and

hate to be denied
How you hurt my pride
I feel pushed aside
But laugh, laugh, laugh
I nearly died

Been travelling far and wide
Wondering who's going to be my guide

Living in a fantasy but it's way too far
But this kind of loneliness is way too hard
I've been wandering, feeling all alone
I lost my direction and I lost my home..."

"I've been down to India, but it froze my bones?"

"...an actor looking for a role?"

Moon-June-Spoon--I can't even believe that Jagger would put his name on some of this stuff (to say nothing of "Neo Con" and some of the others on the record). And the turgid, overwrought performance...I'm sorry, I wanted so badly to like this one and found it so useless.

"Rough Justice"--easy to say it's the "Stones-By-Numbers," but it really does rip and it's actually pretty funny. It's a mistake to compare it to "Gimme Shelter"--instead, try all the basic rockers: "Hand Of Fate," "Silver Train," "Sparks Will Fly," Summer Romance," "Hang Fire" and so on. It certainly surpasses anything in that class and I'd actually go further--"Rough Justice" can easily stand aside, say, "All Down The Line" as a Stones rock'n roll number. Set the "Exile" mystique aside and think about that...

"Back Of My Hand"--It's a blues. It's not about musical innovation, it's about feeling and performance. And this is an excellent performance with excellent lyrics. It's timely and utterly timeless all at once. I'm relieved that Jagger can still sound this invested in anything, frankly. It might not be "No Expectations" or "Love In Vain," but it's a hell of a lot more important than "You Gotta Move" or "Down In The Hole" or "Black Limo" (all of which I love, actually.)

"Let Me Down Slow"--I appreciate the "Between The Buttons" reference above. This tune reminds me of "Let's Spend The Night Together"--except with way better guitars and way funnier/sadder lyics. An easy-to-overlook gem.

"A Bigger Bang" has a few great moments. They's be easier to appreciate if they weren't surrounded by a whole lot of filler..

ABB has lots of great moments IMO.

They'll probably never make another hit in the vein of SMU again (Closest we got was the LARS cover I think), but ABB has some songs in the category right under it. Counting songs like SMU, BS, JJF as A+ classics, I'd say that songs like RJ and BOMH are in the class below it (A- classics). These two songs are by far the best on ABB no question. Back Of My Hand is their best blues track ever along with The Storm. The two songs that aren't good on the album is LMDS and BM. That is, as some people call it, Stones by numbers. SSMC is great. So is LIND, DB, LWTCDI, DTF (Amazing one too), TPIE, ONNYA, SOL, IWTL and RFD. I wouldn't call any of these Stones by numbers. There's great things in the catalogue from 1989 onwards. "Break The Spell", "Sad, Sad, Sad", "Mixed Emotions", "Slipping Away", "Hold On To Your Hat", Almost the entire Voodoo Lounge, Out Of Control, Saint Of Me, Flip The Switch, Don't Stop, Losing My Touch, The Storm, and all the ABB songs that are great (As mentioned above). It's really a shame that so many people expect them to go out and make songs like it was 1972 today (That's the same as saying that they aren't allowed to evolve as a band).

Ending with this question: If people feel this bad about A Bigger Bang, why do they wish to have more songs played live from it?

JumpingKentFlash

I'd just prefer that they played a) more of it and b) a few of the better and as yet untried songs (LIND, LMDS, Dangerous beauty, Mistake, SSMC etc)

1.Laugh, I Nearly Died
2.Oh No, Not You Again
3.Rough Justice

Gazza Wrote:
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> I'd just prefer that they played a) more of it and
> b) a few of the better and as yet untried songs
> (LIND, LMDS, Dangerous beauty, Mistake, SSMC etc)


Ah yes. Understandable, but what if they don't regard those songs as good as you do?

JumpingKentFlash

JumpingKentFlash Wrote:
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>: If people feel this bad
> about A Bigger Bang, why do they wish to have more
> songs played live from it?


wouldn't bother me at all if they played nothing from it...

keefstheman Wrote:
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> There hasn't been a classic by the Stones in more
> than 25 years..Start Me Up being the last one, and
> one that I don't really care for...


Classic, no. But Undercover has some moments, Voodoo Lounge gets too bad of a rap imo, and Bridges has two great songs. (I loathe Steel WHeels and Dirty Work)

As far as ABB goes, Rain Fall Down is the only one worth ever playing again. That doesn't mean it's a classic to me at all, but it's the best of the CD (Which isn't saying much).

I agree though, there hasn't been a real classic since Start Me Up.

JumpingKentFlash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gazza Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I'd just prefer that they played a) more of it
> and
> > b) a few of the better and as yet untried songs
> > (LIND, LMDS, Dangerous beauty, Mistake, SSMC
> etc)
>
>
> Ah yes. Understandable, but what if they don't
> regard those songs as good as you do?

Fail to see the point. I was answering your question by expressing my own personal preference

I dont think they necessarily pick songs because of their quality anyway, but how they think they'll go over in a concert setting. It would be a bit of a stretch to believe that Mick thinks You Got Me Rocking is better than Gimme Shelter, yet which of the two gets played more often?

Adrian-L Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> odean73 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I cant believe Laugh i nearly died does not
> hardly
> > get a mention i reckon its one of thier best
> songs
> > to come out in years.
>
> The band, clearly, do not agree with you...
>
> when did it last appear in their setlist?


Oh, come on. That's no criterion for a good song. How long did it take to get Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Sway and As Tears Go By live on stage (or Out Of Time, Time Waits For No One and Emotional Rescue)?

I'm still not sure about classic songs on ABB. But my favourites are Rough Justice, Oh No Not You Again, Back Of My Hand, Laugh I Nearly Died and Driving Too Fast followed by Sweet Neocon, Rain Fall Down and Look What The Cat Dragged In. Yes, I like the album very much

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I dont think they necessarily pick songs because
> of their quality anyway, but how they think
> they'll go over in a concert setting. It would be
> a bit of a stretch to believe that Mick thinks You
> Got Me Rocking is better than Gimme Shelter, yet
> which of the two gets played more often?


It's a weird conflict. People bitch that they play warhorses too often, but leave Gimme Shelter and Street Fighting Man out of the set, and people suddenly ask where they are...

JumpingKentFlash

Nearly weird as our individiual tastes on songs, but it makes the world go round so they keep on telling us.

Have a good weekend.

JumpingKentFlash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gazza Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I dont think they necessarily pick songs
> because
> > of their quality anyway, but how they think
> > they'll go over in a concert setting. It would
> be
> > a bit of a stretch to believe that Mick thinks
> You
> > Got Me Rocking is better than Gimme Shelter,
> yet
> > which of the two gets played more often?
>
>
> It's a weird conflict. People bitch that they play
> warhorses too often, but leave Gimme Shelter and
> Street Fighting Man out of the set, and people
> suddenly ask where they are...



thats natural when you have so many jaw-droppingly brilliant songs to choose from - and a good enough reason for the 'warhorse rotation' argument.

Have a great weekend too Odean...

JumpingKentFlash

odean73 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I cant believe Laugh i nearly died does not hardly
> get a mention i reckon its one of thier best songs
> to come out in years.

i just can't take MJ's vocals on this one (waaaaay over the top)- and I've tried, mostly out of respect for Gazza! Also, it seems more of a sketch of a song, musically....

if there's a "classic" on ABB (and there's probably not) - it's SSMC...