I felt like it was time just to do a regular old review of a great old album. This is a great album. And in a relative sense, it is old. Perfect! Let's get started!
Towards the end of the album, about when 'Beast of Burden' kicked in, I was struck with a sense of awe and amazement. I sat in silence as I heard something that was probably as good as
Exile on Main St. That was probably the most unexpected thing about the album, the sheer quality.
After hearing it, and hearing all the other acclaimed albums by The Stones, I honestly can't tell who was a better band, The Stones or The Beatles. Without a doubt, The Stones are a better
rock band, and are probably the best
rock band all time...if they aren't the definitive first, they definitely are tied at number one with someone else for the title of greatest. I've always found it funny that these middle class Britons are the some of the best interpreters of American Rock and Blues we've ever had.
The album has a spectacular opening with the song 'Miss You' and has the best opening track on a Stones album since 'Gimme Shelter' on
Let it Bleed. It's a danceable yet for some reason seedy sounding blues song. I love Mick Jagger's vocals on this song, and the tone of his voice. His voice is one of the most distinct in rock.
'Just My Imagination(Running Away With Me)' is one of my favorite tracks from the album. For a song that isn't too experimental or out there, it's hard to describe it in terms of mood or tone. It's just a really good rock song and love song.
'Some Girls', the title track, is a venture into hard blues sound and cool distorted guitars, and it sounds like they're doing an homage to Zeppelin, except their homage goes further than Zeppelin by explicitly talking about the sex they are having(although to say Led Zeppelin was subtle with their innuendo is completely off):
Quote:
White girls they're pretty funny
Sometimes they drive me mad
Black girls just wanna get f*cked all night,
I just don't have that much jam
Chinese girls are so gentle,
They're really such a tease
You never know quite what they're cookin',
Inside those silky sleeves
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It's a classic move by The Stones, to sprinkle a swear into an album back when it was taboo(off the top of my head I can think of another, Rocks Off on Exile)
'Far Away Eyes' is a great little country song, with a bit of black humor at the beginning, but eventually abandons it's cynicism and becomes a song of longing and love. That's something that happens in a lot of Stones songs. You can hear the sarcasm in Mick Jagger's voice whenever he does an exaggerated Southern Accent. He's done it in previous songs. But almost immediately he sheds the cynicism and replaces it with sincerity. To listen to the Stones is to hear a battle between their cynical sides and their sincerity.
The Stones always did sad songs really damn well. The best song on the album is 'Beast of Burden.' In fact, it's the best damn Stones song, period. There's a current of immense sadness pulsating just under the song. There is a weariness in his voice, sang with an authenticity that convinces me this song, though not written to be this way, ends up being a sonic auto-biography of how the band was feeling at that moment. They're pretty damn fed up and tired. Tired of all the partying, of the decadence, the excess, of everything.
When I hear the song, I hear him snapping back coupled with a desperate plea, aimed at a girl who just rejected him. “I'll never be your beast of burden” is a line sang with sad honesty. Mick is admitting, 'Hey, I don't want to be your guy, I don't want your damn burdens, and I know you don't want mine, so let's just f*ck and we can part ways.'
It's either sarcasm or insecurity that this line is sang, and is also a great friggin' hook: “Am I hard enough? Am I rough enough? Am I rich enough? I'm not too blind to see.”
The Rolling Stones made this album as a rebuttal. Punk was targeting the old guard, like The Who and The Stones, and calling them relics, despite being two giant inspirations of the punk attitude. The Stones proved with this album that they were still as essential as they ever were. I can imagine Keith Richards telling those upstart punk bands to piss off,
this is how you do things.
Rating: 10/10