WHAT A DRAG IT IS GETTING POLLED – ILM Artist Poll #16 – The Rolling Stones (Extended deadline: April 1st)

xps Hand of Fate is a wonderful track.

yeah, i slighted it by saying only that it's "worth a listen". has been bouncing around my head for hours after one listen this morning. catchy tune, great riff and tone, good lyrics. main problems are that it's at least a minute too long, and i don't like the solos. that and there's a weirdly empty quality to the sound, loose and airless at the same time, that's initially off putting, but the swagger manages to cut through anyway. always makes me want to hear what they'd have done with it circa exile.

I often wish Wayne Perkins had joined the band instead of Woody ("Worried About You"). What tone!

I can barely put into words how I feel about this song, but know that I love it more than any other Stones track (and probably more than most songs I've ever heard by anyone). Plz consider giving it points on your ballots!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKNSm8_CTOY

1st cut gets me down to 130 songs

damn, feel for u, WMC. mine was around 70s, then when up to 90 on a second pass. getting it down past 40 was a kind of hell, like using a knife to select your favorite fingers.

re "she smiled sweetly": it's not one of my favorites, but i think it'll do just fine, JF, what with the massive wes anderson boost and all. "ruby tuesday" seems like the perfected version, and i cut that, too.

I always forget it was in The Royal Tenenbaums (I've only seen that one time, back when it was in theaters).

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you all to vote early and often for Have You Seen Your Mother Baby

i'm with whoever said upthread that it's nearly impossible to pick tracks from BtB and Aftermath (my faves on most days, too) on account of the fact that the songs come off better in their natural environment. but "Back Street Girl" **cking slays me no matter where or when
and on the most hated note "my girl" is the worst thing they ever recorded

I'm leaning in the direction of obnoxiousness instead of bad songwriting on the most-hated ballot.

Fair, but I voted a poor cover version. Not saying which song, but UB40's version was better.

Ballot ready, but I'm going to ponder it for a couple of days before I send it.

This is the biggest discography by far for the single-artist polls, right? I wouldn't be surprised to see #1 votes as far down as the #150-200 range, if the ballot count goes over 50.

do you really think "Winning Ugly" will get that many #1 votes?

This is the biggest discography by far for the single-artist polls, right?

Naw, James Brown's was/is way huger. Problem was, said huge discography seemed to intimidate people into not voting.

I'm not convinced about JB vs RS! I'd bet a shiny dollar that more RS songs will get votes than JB songs did, but that would only work if the number of ballots were the same for both polls. The Stones song list is 450+.

There are something like 1200 songs listed here for Prince: http://www.princevault.com/index.php/A-Z_song_list

I don't know if it's possible to accurately calculate James Brown's song list, given live versions and multipart singles. But, at the very least, he matched the Stones year-for-year, album-for-album, and started a good 5+ years before them.

ok, I'm full of beans

I'd really like to see everyone's first draft lists after posting our 20, but that would probably get unwieldy real fast

Child of the Moon is another revelation to me...it would have made such a better album closer than Salt of the Earth, which is such a dud

Salt of the Earth is a wonderfully insincere closer, just what the album needs. If anything's wrong with it it's that it's too obvious in making things explicit.

It didn't feel insincere when they played it at the Concert for 9/11 or whatever...is it really tongue in cheek? sorry to sound naive!

Salt of the Earth is the fucking great.

(no the)

never heard "salt of the earth" as ironic.

Child of the Moon is another revelation to me

yes! love it so much & felt like i was the only one.

...but i guess i'm wrong abt "salt". i dunno if it's precisely insincere, but it's definitely quite cynical.

we love you is insincere

no irony...and it's got nothing to do with Jagger changing one key verse (guess which...?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZGPcRyyvc0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELoTflLRskQ

If you hear Salt of the Earth as insincere then to me it just means your jadedness is maybe getting out of hand, idk

in fact it sounds so strange

but that jaded faded junkie nurse, oh what pleasant company!

"salt of the earth" both is and is not insincere, and that's where it gets its power imo. it takes a lot of positions all at once, both occupying and eviscerating the "let them eat cake" position while also expressing both compassion and contempt for the masses. if it helps, bear in mind that e.g. many tea partiers are salt-of-the-earth types.

I think that's right, & that you can hear the Jagger / Keef songwriting dynamic at work in that (though I should read up to see if that's right)

OK, I can hear that, the both positions at once, but I still hate it!

"salt of the earth" both is and is not insincere, and that's where it gets its power imo. it takes a lot of positions all at once, both occupying and eviscerating the "let them eat cake" position while also expressing both compassion and contempt for the masses.

Yes. I'd argue that this has been Jagger's power from the beginning.

before Bowie and Ferry he was the first to conflate notions of "irony" and "sincerity"

I'll take that, roger

we love you is insincere

― Iago Galdston, Sunday, March 25, 2012 6:40 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark

maybe, but it is great and it is on my first draft of 20.

we love you is insincere
― Iago Galdston, Sunday, March 25, 2012 6:40 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark

maybe, but it is great and it is on my first draft of 20.
― Flat Of NAGLs (sleeve), Sunday, March 25, 2012 10:06 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I meant that as a compliment! It's one of the great FU songs, and is in my top 20 too

still working through my own ballot, somewhat surprised. going in i would have expected to rate "rocks off" over "tumbling dice" but it's not workin' out that way. and was certain that "let it loose," which I love dearly, would rate over "shine a light." still will i think but dear lord the leadwork in "shine a light" is really something else.

oic (xp)

I'm up to Beggar's Banquet now

"we love you" is almost certainly getting one of my satanic majesties-era slots. 9 year old me would go for "dandelion" or "she's a rainbow" or "2000 man" for the opening lick alone but damn. for your consideration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6D3jE4A24o

2000 Man is fab, 2nd best on the album after the mighty Citadel

both likely gonna be on mine

Vegas has installed Gimme Shelter as the favorite, at 5 to 1.

"salt of the earth" both is and is not insincere, and that's where it gets its power imo. it takes a lot of positions all at once, both occupying and eviscerating the "let them eat cake" position while also expressing both compassion and contempt for the masses. if it helps, bear in mind that e.g. many tea partiers are salt-of-the-earth types.

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Sunday, March 25, 2012 6:56 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

[...]

before Bowie and Ferry he was the first to conflate notions of "irony" and "sincerity"

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, March 25, 2012 7:05 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, this read makes the most sense to me, because it doesn't come across anywhere near so black-hearted as it would if you figured the whole thing was a pisstake, but that "when i look into the faceless crowd" refrain does put a big kink in the apparent sincerity of the rest. like the compassion (or attempted compassion) is in earnest, but mick can't help admitting that he's looking down from above. i like the honesty of this.

dagmn, "we love you" is so fucking great! killed me to cut it, but i did. agree that it's one of their very best SM-era tracks. like "child of the moon", it's probably gonna get screwed due to not appearing on any of the studio albums or hot rocks.

also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6o2ZpHZWos

cut down to 25. have somehow managed to let "saint of me" hang around despite having already jettisoned "paint it, black." am i a disgusting savage y/n?

ps worth noting that keef does not appear on "saint of me" but me'shell ndegéocello does.