Recently I have been listening to Brussels Affair 1973 a lot. I think the sound is magnificent for a soundboard recording!!! Also the band is on fire, just listen to Jumpin' Jack Flash!! The song rarely sounds so tight on the boots I have listened. I guess this is one of the best bootlegs of the 1970-1975 around. How do you think about it??? Or do you think it's the BEST Stones bootleg ever to come out?

Think most of us agree with this............

__________________________

It could well be but I think I like the Australian tour bootlegs from that year just as much.

I've often wondered how Brussels (aka Bedspring Symphony) would have done in sales if it had been released on Rolling Stones Records instead of to the radio stations as a free broadcast. Was it King Biscuit?; can't remember that point. In any event, that broadcast had people paying attention to the Rolling Stones, even people who never paid much attention to the Stones prior. It truly had people awe struck.

1972 is better; they got too caught up with Billy Preston

For two reasons I think Brussels is the most significant Stones recording of the post-Brian era. It documents so well what has never been sufficiently released to the general public, i.e., the band playing live with Mick Taylor on lead guitar. And it is hard to get past the wonderful sound quality. Having said that and with a couple of exceptions I think I could go through the setlist song by song and find other performances I like better. Many of those would be in '72. And the '72 setlist was solid from top to bottom. I do not feel that strong about the GHS songs. Taylor is the only reason I listen to them. Having said THAT...I realize I am quibbling.

P.S. The exceptions would be the unsurpassed TD and the legendary SFM.
P.P.S. If the quality of the Frankfurt 2nd show was as good as Brussels THAT show might have been the "Brussels" of the tour.

The best Stones bootleg period. I like '72 too but I just don't see the comparison.

When (I don't say If) the band gets around to releasing it as part of a vault-release series, I think it will enter the cannon and stand side by side with Beggars, LIB, Ya-Ya's, Sticky and Exile. It is certainly a better listen than GHS.

Mick Taylor rightly gets the credit whenever this recording is discusssed but Keith, Jagger and Bobby Keys are pretty tremendous too.

If you compare the live recordings from 69-70 / '72 / '73 there is a progression where Mick Taylor moves from tasteful restraint to being utterly unleashed.

I like '75-'76 too but I wonder what Mick Taylor would have been like had he stayed. Completely off the rails or able to elevate the band again?

All that said, I think Handsome Girls is easily the second best Stones boot and I don't see Mick Taylor fitting into the Some Girls era as gracefully. I think Ronnie was the right man for that job.

what about the latest releases of this show I think one is called "just about midnight' and I think there was SOD release a few months ago. Has the quality got better? than for lets say "bedspring symphnoies"

aslecs Wrote:
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> 1972 is better; they got too caught up with Billy
> Preston

They sucked the life out of Preston because Jagger was really bored and cynical and Keith was in smack land. I suspect the '73 UK/European tour would have been an even lower point if it hadn't been for Billy's enthusiasm.

I know everybody (including me, in the past) has trashed Preston's live contributions '73 - '76, but I know see his two song set in '75 as a highlight. It really got everybody in the hall up and dancing. Mickette was hardly missed. In fact, when Mick came out and swung over the audience it was like a shower of dirty water.

Some thoughts:

a) I like both the 72-US and 73-Winter tours over the 73-European one.
b) For example, I prefer the Philly Special boot over the Brussels one.
c) And the big question: If all the London 73 gigs were available in the same sound quality as Brussels, would you still be liking it over the english ones?? I think the Wembley Arena shows are better than Brussels.

[There'll be no wedding today...]

Brussels is the best, Always will be

I just blew thru a few Brussels tracks and while its good there is something about it that I think makes it sound rigid. Yes its crisp, too crisp but it sounds too tight. Its hard to describe but for me they sound confined and not very loose. Like they were trying to be too careful as though they were recording for an album..Does anyone get that?

Relationships get to critical points. You break-up or adapt. By '73 Taylor was getting bored and I think he wanted to make HIS mark and get HIS due. It is understandable for a man at that time in his life. Looking back on it he overestimated his ambition. But I do not "freeze" him in time when I speculate what would have happened if he stayed. Once he got past the need to make "his" statement, he is player of broad abilities. I would LOVE to hear him on the SG songs. There is one intriguing example: the BOB from KC '81. His little ditty adds interest and makes the song swing. It's an example of the on-the-spot "liveness" he brings to the stage. I admit I have no way of backing this up, but I think with Taylor SG may truly have become a classic record. I'm not sure how much "feel" you'd give up. The texture would be different, but I it would be more interesting and probably even beautiful.

If released, one of the Wembley shows being the "Brussels" of the tour? Yes, it's possible. A killer YCAGWYW was played there.

For the most part the arrangements during '72-'73 are crisp. Perhaps that's what Taylor was getting tired of. What is interesting to me is listening to what Taylor finds to play within that structure. The variations are subtle and exquisite. To my ear the latter day sound is muddled. To each his own.

The Sicilian Wrote:
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> I just blew thru a few Brussels tracks and while
> its good there is something about it that I think
> makes it sound rigid. Yes its crisp, too crisp
> but it sounds too tight. Its hard to describe but
> for me they sound confined and not very loose.
> Like they were trying to be too careful as though
> they were recording for an album..Does anyone get
> that?


I know exactly what you're talking about. For that reason I'd pick Happy Birthday Nicky as better sets/boots. Wilder and rawer sounding, but still some beautiful playing. MT is always on, but it's Keith's playing that makes 73 Oz my pick.

"NASTY MUSIC" never, ever leaves the car.

The best music The Stones ever recorded.

We keep calling it Brussels Affair, but Europe '73, or Nasty Music would be more correct names, as Brussels Affair is a CD from 1988 copied straight from vinyl...apart from the 3 first tracks which is from radio.
THere are better Brussels/London releases.

ANyway, those London/Brussels recordings are the best Stones live recordings ever, IMO.
Some Stones live recordings can ¤compeat¤ to Brussels/London, but they can't surpass it.
I love that slick speedy arrogance from Europe 1973, it's different from the 72 feeling where things were more R&R..and I love that tour too of course.
Maybe the average show in 72 and Winter Tour 73 were better...Sept/Oct 73 had some sloppy shows, but when they got the steam going..like in Frankfurt, London, Brussels and Rotterdam...they were mindblowing

Hey Guys,

I've been "enlighting" people to this gig since I got my hands on it back in
the 70's. The versions of: Tumblin Dice, Angie and Midnight Rambler and my
all time faves. Keith must have just taken a GIANT line of COKE when he ripped
into that groove he lays down on MR, never heard that tempo in any other versions, fastest I've heard and Taylor jumps right in to push Bill & Charlie into this all-time Classic!!

NOBODY has ever sounded better!!!

MLC

Well, it is definitely a Stones classic, but I also like the From Lakeland to Oakland compilation. Mick in between songs is simply awesome.....

What's often forgotten is that the sound of the various "Brussels" compilations comes from the fact that these are from compressed FM broadcasts. Arguably, that processing makes the band sound better than they actually did at the venues, even though the playing IS brilliant.

I think the depth and sheen is what attracts the listener. Hell, it IS impressive, as I remember hearing a couple of the radio broadcasts way back when.

As for best capturing the Stones' true onstage sound, though, I'm still partial to "Handsome Girls", which was just 5 years later. It's a whole different feel.

I prefer the Welcome to Australia boot to Brussels. But I think that a lot of boots covering that timespan are worth mentioning and could on any given day be my favourite. It's really hard to pick a winner between boots like Welcome NY,Leeds Lungs, Philly Special, Rocks Off and Fort Worth Express. Heartbreakers in Buffalo and the boot from Odeon, Birmingham 73 are IMO strong competitors to win the title.

mrrockandroll Wrote:
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> Recently I have been listening to Brussels Affair
> 1973 a lot. I think the sound is magnificent for a
> soundboard recording!!!


well the recordings are from FM radio source which is why its so good

Also the band is on fire,
> just listen to Jumpin' Jack Flash!! The song
> rarely sounds so tight on the boots I have
> listened. I guess this is one of the best bootlegs
> of the 1970-1975 around. How do you think about
> it??? Or do you think it's the BEST Stones bootleg
> ever to come out?


I think if you had a poll amongst Stones fans for the best bootleg, this (or some version of it) would be the runaway winner without any doubt

MT made their sound breathe. Brussels is exceptional.

Yes I would agree that Brussels is no.1. But a close second is Oakland Opening nite Jan25th,1999

Erik_Snow Wrote:
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> We keep calling it Brussels Affair, but Europe
> '73, or Nasty Music would be more correct names,
> as Brussels Affair is a CD from 1988 copied
> straight from vinyl...apart from the 3 first
> tracks which is from radio.
> THere are better Brussels/London releases.
>
> ANyway, those London/Brussels recordings are the
> best Stones live recordings ever, IMO.
> Some Stones live recordings can ¤compeat¤ to
> Brussels/London, but they can't surpass it.
> I love that slick speedy arrogance from Europe
> 1973, it's different from the 72 feeling where
> things were more R&R..and I love that tour too of
> course.
> Maybe the average show in 72 and Winter Tour 73
> were better...Sept/Oct 73 had some sloppy shows,
> but when they got the steam going..like in
> Frankfurt, London, Brussels and Rotterdam...they
> were mindblowing

I'd always perfer this '72 raunchy R&R feeling.

Some tracks from London (Empire Pool Sept. 9) are mindblowing indeed and all those Brussels Affair/Europe 73 tracks seem to be almost "perfect".

But apart from Mick Taylor, I also sense a slight shift into "Showbizz" territory (continued in '75) - that ended up with "going through the motions" in '76. Don't you think?

If I look straight at those "Brussels" tracks, I can always find a more heartfelt and rocking version from '72 (only exceptions being Gimme Shelter&Happy from London).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-03-02 12:24 by Greenblues.

Greenblues Wrote:
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> But apart from Mick Taylor, I also sense a slight
> shift into "Showbizz" territory (continued in '75)
> - that ended up with "going through the motions"
> in '76. Don't you think?

Well, 76 was the least best 70s tour, and I see what you mean..one can see some kind of connection there, but one can do a "bad version" of just about anything, a bad version of the 72 concerts would be silly too.

> If I look straight at those "Brussels" tracks, I
> can always find a more heartfelt and rocking
> version from '72 (only exceptions being Gimme
> Shelter&Happy from London).

It's interesting that everybody has their own "favourite" from Brussels/London, that surpass even the 72 versions....but the favourites changes; Happy, Gimme SHelter, TDice, Midnight Rambler, Street Fighting Man...almost every song, apart from Brown Sugar and All Down The Line.
But I don't mean that 73 is better than 72, I just think that the performance of the exact Brussels/London tracks can't be more rocking, not even the 72 versions...they can be "as good", but not better.
And the same goes for the best 73 shows....
On average, 72 was better than 73, though, there were some sloppy shows in 73.
73 was more of an "act", but when they got ¤really¤ into the act, like London, Frankfurt etc, it was a Killer-act, better than the real world.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-03-02 12:46 by Erik_Snow.

That was a good one, Erik. I think you nailed it. I'm completely disarmed now!

Sohoe Wrote:
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> I prefer the Welcome to Australia boot to
> Brussels. But I think that a lot of boots covering
> that timespan are worth mentioning and could on
> any given day be my favourite. It's really hard to
> pick a winner between boots like Welcome NY,Leeds
> Lungs, Philly Special, Rocks Off and Fort Worth
> Express. Heartbreakers in Buffalo and the boot
> from Odeon, Birmingham 73 are IMO strong
> competitors to win the title.

Its got to be B.ham odeon 73 but then i am biased. <could do with a couple of smileys here>

I grew up knowing it as "bedspring Symphony". I'd bought it (first) on double cassette around 1988 from a used record shop. Come to think of it, it was my first boootleg I'd ever bought of the Stones.

I thought the performance was better than any of the official live records - by far. I thought that the versions of Shelter, Rambler, Heartbreaker and the FLash/SFM climax were unbeatable for their sheer sonic awesomness, and I've yet to find a better example nealy 20 years later.

Oh sure, Leeds, H.B. Nicky, Philly '72, etc all have their places, but something about 'bedspring' has that special element of discovery which knocked out the Beatles from my #1 favourite spot (st the time) and sentanced me to a life of eternal fandom.

No matter how I feel about the 'modern day Stones', the Stones in their peak ARE Rock'n'Roll to me, and Brussels is their dinosaur bone of proof.

aslecs Wrote:
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> 1972 is better; they got too caught up with Billy
> Preston


not on the Aussies tour - alot better than the US '72 tour...