Rolling Stones mid 70s Poll (post-Exile, pre-Some Girls)

You a stawfucka stawfucka stawfucka stawfucka staw

I thought "Star Star" (and "Short and Curlies," for that matter) were puerile when I was 15.

I think that these three albums are distinguished by solid performances but a lack of actual songs. The Stones weren't yet at the don't-give-a-shit point of their career--they were still a band coming off of Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St.--but they were clearly exhausted with the process of songwriting, and needed to produce content in order to keep the brand going (and having a reason to tour). So, at best, we get half-baked things like "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" (the song), which actually has a provocative lyrical conceit, and is tightly performed, but which they were obviously in such a hurry to complete that they just slapped the most generically anthemic chorus possible on and called it a song.

haha i love the chorus of that song but tbh 90% of that is probably the tape-bleeding delivery on the opening IIII KNOW!!!

I think that these three albums are distinguished by solid performances but a lack of actual songs.

This applies to about half of Black and Blue and It's Only Rock'n'Roll, but there's plenty of "actual songs" on all of these albums.

Before Goats Head Soup's release, Mick Jagger advertised it as a RETURN to "songs" following the freewheeling Exile.

Goats Head Soup, which is also actually one of their best albums of the '70s, even if it is a minor step down from the preceding two.

If so then I've been right in my decision to not bother listening to any 70s Stones albums released after it.

The thing about Exile on Main St. is while it definitely has some stunning all-time moments, about a quarter of the LP isn't all that great.

xpost:

Some Girls is worth a listen.

1/4 of 2 sides is still 1 1/2 albums of juice

I can't think of a song on EOMS that wouldn't have improved GHS, though admittedly they would probably have sounded shit if actually recorded at the GHS sessions.

Aerosmith snagged the vocal delivery of "Casino" and threw it on "uncle salty"

I can think of several. Like, 'Hide Your Love' and 'Silver Train' are, to me, the two "lesser" tracks on Goats Head Soup, and stuff like 'Casino Boogie', 'Shake Your Hips', 'I Just Wanna See His Face', 'Sweet Black Angel', 'Turd On The Run' are of the same quality.

Goats Head Soup doesn't sound shit either, if anything it's far more produced than Exile On Main St. and there's a thickness to the sound that Exile doesn't have.

Exile is perfect

Goats and Only sound like shit. Too much...mid range? But on Black they get some of that treble back, and then Some, which has the crispiest snare ever

xpost:

I disagree. It's a great snapshot of where the Stones were at at the time, but it definitely has its flaws.

Well it's perfect to me, I can listen to the whole thing through and never once get bored

and have a big boner the whole time too

Nah, Goats Head Soup sounds just fine... but while we're on the subject of GHS vs. EOMS, then it's always been a source of amusement that GHS gets slagged for one of the reasons EOMS gets praised. GHS actually has the druggy vibe that people say that EOMS has.

... yes, the wrong drugs.

I can think of several. Like, 'Hide Your Love' and 'Silver Train' are, to me, the two "lesser" tracks on Goats Head Soup, and stuff like 'Casino Boogie', 'Shake Your Hips', 'I Just Wanna See His Face', 'Sweet Black Angel', 'Turd On The Run' are of the same quality.

You're right that 'Hide Your Love' and 'Silver Train' are lesser but wrong about everything else. Actually I don't even mind "Silver Train" that much! Honestly though, "Winter" is a great track, "Angie" is a good song that I have no need to ever hear again, and that's about it. I'm not really much of a Stones fan though tbh.

... GHS makes me less of one.

I like the sound of GHS. I just don't think that, "Winter" aside, its in support of much.

So, at best, we get half-baked things like "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" (the song), which actually has a provocative lyrical conceit, and is tightly performed, but which they were obviously in such a hurry to complete that they just slapped the most generically anthemic chorus possible on and called it a song.

Jim Lea from Slade was told by Mick Taylor that IORAR was an attempt to emulate Slade and their big stomping choruses, which makes sense. T.Rex groove + Slade chorus= Stones Glam

"i just wanna see his face" and "sweet black angel" are both understated masterpieces. None of the minor tracks on GHs compare xp

So, at best, we get half-baked things like "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" (the song), which actually has a provocative lyrical conceit, and is tightly performed, but which they were obviously in such a hurry to complete...

So much so that they replaced Taylor, Wyman, and Watts with Ron Wood, Willie Weeks, and Kenney Jones.

(iirc, Jones told Watts he'd felt weird playing on a Stones song, but Charlie said, "I don't mind. Sounds like me, anyway.")

Winter is unimaginative and boring af

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4290/34814383074_e36601ea7f_b.jpg

XPS ...and it was recorded during the sessions for ILX meme I've Got My On Album To Do (hence the different lineup).

"i just wanna see his face" and "sweet black angel" are both understated masterpieces. None of the minor tracks on GHs compare xp

― Treeship, Saturday, September 30, 2017 7:21 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

LOL!

I'm blasting Goats Head Soup right now as it happens... the combination of the wah-wah, the horns and the numerous hooks on 'Heartbreaker' is giving my ears pleasure like you wouldn't believe.

"I just want to see his face" is a monumental piece of recorded sound, treeship so otm

Heartbreaker is absolutely filthy

Heartbreaker is OK, it's the only song that isn't two minutes too long.

'I Just Wanna See His Face' is the very definition of filler, and the recording is awful.

'Can You Hear the Music?' just came on... christ, love those ascending/descending piano arpeggios, the lazy groove and the hazy guitars of this one. Also, the flute buried in the mix and harmonising guitars that wouldn't sound out of place on a Queen record.

Don't want to talk about Jesus

ah, this picture alone is better than anything on Goats Head Soup

― droit au butt (Euler), Saturday, September 30, 2017 12:15 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No it isn't and stop lying.

― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Saturday, September 30, 2017

It is and he's not.

when I listed the worst Stones singles, four of them came from this period, including the #1.

It isn't and he is...

...and in no way are 'Angie' and 'Dancing With Mr. D' anywhere near this bands worst singles.

I have no investment in the band's mythos, and BTB is worse song for song than their Ford years interlude. To my ears these three albums represent the typical slump after several years of excellence. Good tunes and performances on the three, no question. But a plodding self-referential nothingness like "It's Only Rock and Roll" formed the template for "You Got Me Rocking" and every other attempt by the band to prove that it wasn't being pneumatic, and the ballads bring out the worst in Jagger's affect.

Do you mean Between the Buttons or Bridges to Babylon there?

'It's Only Rock'n'Roll' isn't a favourite of mine either - 'Time Waits For No One' and 'If You Can't Rock Me' are the highlights of that album for me.

'I Just Wanna See His Face' is the very definition of filler, and the recording is /awful/.

Ok geir

^ This is ILMspeak for "I have no response"

Bridges to Babylon.

filler - this word means nothing

Recording is awful - ok who cares

"i just wanna see his face" and "sweet black angel" are both understated masterpieces. None of the minor tracks on GHs compare xp

Treeship otm. Twaddle like "Can't You Hear The Music" strikes me as a failed attempt at recapturing the undefinable haze of "Just Wanna See His Face."

xxpost:

In that case, I agree - Bridges to Babylon isn't a favourite.

Between the Buttons is easily a top five or six Stones album for me.