The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock 'N Roll

Let's Be Honest

I am the Stones Authority. This is only three stars, barely. It is not a great album. It's a great cover, but not a great album. There are a couple of songs that are some of my favorites, but only a couple. "Luxury" is my personal favorite from this album. "Time Waits For No One" is not bad either, but doesn't realize its potential in this production. And that actually is the problem with the whole album, apart from the title song from the album "It's Only Rock And Roll", the songs on this album in few instances realize their full potential. They are not bad songs, but they are just not quite there. "Dance Little Sister" does not do it for me - sorry my fellow Stones purists. "If You Can't Rock Me" is cool, but where would this song figure on a another Stones album? I do not think it would, and it is only notable here on this album because this collection is not strong. For an album titled It's Only Rock and Roll - there is precious little of it to be found here. October 8, 2008

A Stones Album

Honestly, I don't see why this album is so disagreed upon whether it is a good one or a bad one. To me, all the tracks on this album are superbly done. It's like the Stones were on a full winning streak with each song.

I believe it's Mick's last go with the Stones, and he definitely left quite a mark with this album.

Loved listening to it. September 13, 2008

Luv Ya, RockStar!

I don't care how old you get, you're still hot.

I used to compartmentalize my life ~ blog here; reviews there ~ but I now understand they are the same. Or, better put, the latter are more honest. You see, I have much stronger emotions for records than people. (Does Mick Jagger get aroused when he looks in the mirror? I know I do.) When loving is life, that sure happens, then, as I see it, people are best considered, remembered, honored and expressed through records. Does any of this make sense, or do I just tell Mark Prindle the news? Anyway. Back in the summer of '74 or so, there I was, loser teeniebopper, my girlfriend dropped me and, holed up in my room, my parents wanted me to "see" a shrink 'cause I didn't play sports or something or the other. Dour as it all seemed, I heard "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" over my 6-inch radio speaker and it saved my skin. Same thing now, I'm almost 50, failed career, failed marriage, in a New Age rehabilitation camp, can't relate to anyone, holed up in my room. But, late at night, hopped up on coffee & lollipops while I do my silly piecework, I'm all air guitar and microphone posing. My inscribed ipod has kept me sane. Still immature, still self-centered, still insolent, still alive. Which is more than anyone can say about Terry Knight but, you know, I believe he woulda understood. So, there it is, this is my first love poem to my ex-wife since, what, 12 years ago. Not that she would care but, hey, neither do I.

And, yes, I am sober right now. September 9, 2008

Good Rolling Stones' CD

This is one of the better Stones' albums after there long winning streak, culminating with "Exile on Main Street" and "Sticky Fingers." The Stones, then, included Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Mick Taylor, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Lots of their friends joined in this work, too, including Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins, Blue Magic, and the 6th Stone, Ian Stewart (among others).

The first three songs are all wonderfully played and sung. The CD starts off with a hidden gem, "If You Can't Rock Me." This is followed by a nice cover version of the Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." Then, the eponymous "It's Only Rock n' Roll." One interesting sidebar: I just saw from the notes included with the CD that the inspiration for that song was none other than Ronnie Woods, later to play lead guitar with the Stones after Taylor's departure.

There are really no duds on this CD. Other songs that I had forgotten over the years sound pretty good to me! "Till the Next Goodbye," "Time Waits for No One," "Luxury," "Dance Little Sister," and "If You Really Want to Be My Friend." The raucous and rude "Short and Curlies." The final cut is a raggedy and provocative tune, "Fingerprint File."

Anyhow, listening to the whole work again after a long hiatus suggests to me that this was an awfully good work, better than I had remembered. So, for Rolling Stones' fans, a good addition to their catalog.
September 6, 2008

TIME TRULY DOES NOT WAIT

Following the trippy decadence of "Goat's Head Soup" the Stones tried to come up with new material that had that classic Rolling Stones sound for 1974's "It's Only Rock and Roll." Although an uneven attempt, IORR is still a far cry from a bad album. In fact, most of it is as good as what any other rock band was releasing in 1974. Sensing that perhaps "Goat's Head" was a tad too murky and 'drugged out' to penetrate, the Stones kick off the album with 3 songs that were of upbeat tempo so as to rekindle the fire that was mostly absent from the year before. Let us not forget that this was the time when artists kept up a frantic pace of writing, recording, touring and releasing an album of all new material just about every year and if you take into account that "Exile" was a double album, this is the 5th record of new material from the Stones in 4 years. Today, it takes bands over a decade to accomplish that. In retrospect it's not hard to see that the Stones may have been a little run down by the mid seventies.

"If You Can't Rock Me" is a great opener, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" is a good cover of the temptations song (not as good as "Imagination" 4 years later), and the title track is a Stones classic. Some of the problems that began rearing their ugly heads on "Goat's Head" are present on here as well..and that's the fact that the songs are quite excellent, but sound like songs the Stones have already done better somewhere else. The record as a whole has a sound of the Stones trying to sound like the Stones.

The next song, "Till the Next Goodbye" is a slow acoustic ballad reminiscent of "Wild Horses" without any of the magic that made that track so good. In fact, I happen to prefer the B side to the single version of IORR titled "Through the Lonely Nights" over this song. After that we are treated with the achingly beautiful "Time Waits for No One", the Stones' best attempt at a reggae song in "Luxury" and a good Chuck Berry styled rocker in "Dance Little Sister".

"If You Really Want to be My Friend" continues in the vein of the soul ballads that were present on "Exile" ("Shine a Light", "Let it Loose") but never reaches the climax that those songs had and "Short and Curlies", as the title suggests, is a complete throwaway. The record does conclude on a strong note with "Fingerprint File" which is a funky wah wahed masterpiece played by Richards. It really closes out the record on a strong note.

This would be the swan song for Mick Taylor and a classic period in the Stones' history would come to a close. In many ways the Stones have become victims of their own success in that everything they release is compared to something from their classic period of 1968-1972 and that's just not reasonable. No one can run a marathon forever. Time waits for no one. "IORR" like it's predecessor "Goat's Head Soup" have been unfairly criticized for this reason. As they are, taken individually, they are GREAT rock and roll albums but they lack that extra something that makes a record classic. Somehow we've been trained to believe that, with the Stones at least, if it's not a classic it's not worth the time and nothing could be further from the truth. If you're a fan of their sound there is always something worth hearing on all of their records.

And "It's Only Rock and Roll" IS worth hearing if you're willing to forget the comparisons and just LISTEN to it based on it's own merit.

April 22, 2008

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