| September 6th, 2005 02:30 PM |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
...a new Stones album!
YAY!
So I was out in front of my fave CD store 10 minutes before it opened today. I wanted to make sure that the first thing they sold was a copy of A Bigger Bang. The doors unlock, and in I went. And right back out again! They wanted $15.88 for it!!! FUCK THAT!
As much as I dislike the big box stores, I ran across the street to Best Buy. $13.99! FUCK THAT!!!
So I jump back in my car and go down the street to Circuit City. $9.88. DING DING DING...we have a winner. It was 10:15 am. I asked the clerk if they had made any sales yet. He said..."I haven't. You're my first." YES, close enough for me.
I get home. I read the directions for unwrapping a CD. I swear, you need a fucking engineering degree to get all the shrink wrap and sticky plastic security seals off the fuckin' thing. After waiting for 8 long tears....it was finally time. I turned up the volume, and opened the CD player drawer. With a right hand quivering with excitement I put a brand new Rolling Stones studio album into my CD player. I grabbed the remote, and sat in my sonic sweetspot. I took a deep breath and hit play.
Before I go on, I want you all to know that I was a pretty good boy leading up to today. I had only cheated 3 times. I had listened previously to mp3s of Rough Justice, SOL, and Back Of My Hand. I had also listened to an mp3 of Oh No from the press conference...but I don't consider that cheating. It wasn't the studio version. I refrained from listening to the album in any kind of form over the computer. No downloads for me.
So this was it. It was time. Rough Justice hit my ears. I wasn't crazy about this when I heard it before. Sounded like Stones by numbers to me. The increased fidelity helped a little. This one is OK. I don't dislike it anymore, but I don't love it either. It's OK. So far so good. One in the plus column.
Then Let Me Down Slow starts. Uh oh. This....isn't good. At all. In fact, there are parts that actually make me wince. One in the minus column.
It Won't Take Long is next. OK, this is a little better. This is another one that is OK...I don't dislike it. It may grow on me with more listenings. I'll put this on the plus side.
Rain Fall Down. Are you kidding me? What the fuck is this shit? EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW. Minus side for sure. Can I give a double minus?
Streets of Love. Godammit! Two shitty songs in a row! Why is this happening???? This SUCKS hard. Double secret minus for this shit.
But then....Back Of My Hand! Now THIS is more like it! I liked the shitty mp3 that I heard...and I like this more now than then. See, there isn't another band in the world that can pull off a song like this today. Just the Stones. This is why I love them. Yeah. Good job on slide Mick. Really. I'm impressed. Who knew he had that in him?!? Love it. Plus column big time...Double secret plus even.
Aw fuck. She Saw Me Coming. Yuck. Dismal. Depressing. Hate it. Big minus.
Biggest Mistake. Well, no, not quite. I'd say rain Fall Down and SOL and She Saw Me Coming are bigger mistakes...but this tries real hard to get there! Zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Minus.
This Place Is Empty. No shit. After being subjected to RFD and SOL and SSMC and BM(HA! That's funny. It sounds like a bm too!)why WOULDN'T the place be empty!!! But this isn't too bad. It ain't great, and I'm sorta getting tired of crooner Keith, but this is OK. it sure doesn't suck like some of the other stuff I've heard so far. Plus.
Oh No Not You Again. Wow. This song is WAY better on the album than what I heard from the press conference. This one shot up real far in my book. I was kinda ambivilent about it before, but I REALLY like this. Mick spits the words out like a cobra spitting venom. The guitars sound ugly...ugly in a good way. Guitars that have evil intent. Yeah. This is the stuff. This one even picks up steam towards the end. It doesn't sputter at all. Big time plus!
Dangerous Beauty. Misnomer. This song is not dangerous, and it's no beauty. Ummmmm....no, no, I don't like this. There is no zip or zing to this one. It's nothing. Minus.
Laugh, I Nearly Died. No I just laughed. This song is dumb. What's with the chants? Ridiculous. Mick isn't even slightly believable in his delivery. Crap. Minus.
Sweet NeoCon. I never should have listened to this. I liked it much more before I heard it. I'm still gonna give it a plus for giving a purple nurple to the right wingnuts, and for using the phrase "crock of shit". But it really isn't much of a song. It doesn't even sound finished. Plus...sort of.
Look At What the Cat Dragged In. OK, I kinda dig this. It has some odd timing, and a strange sort of groove. Not bad. This one will grow on me for sure. Plus.
Driving Too Fast. Hmmmmmm...trying too hard. Sounds forced. It may grow on me, but I kinda doubt it. I'm gonna go minus right now, but that may change after a few more listens. No, it probably won't...but I won't close the door on it yet.
Infamy. Yeah. Cool guitar effect. Nice word play Keith. Infamy...In for me. Well done. Keithisms abound. I think maybe he's had this one floating around for a while. One of the more polished sounding songs on the album. Good. It ends on a plus.
Add 'em all up and it's 8 +'s, and 8 -'s. A mixed bag. Some real high points and some very very low points. One thing that strikes me is that some of these songs sound underdeveloped. The rush to get this album out hurt. Some of these songs sound flat out unfinished. Why 16 songs? This would be an excellent 10 song album. Six of these songs are just bad. Real bad. Stinky bad. So bad that even the Stones have to know that they are bad songs. So why bother putting them on the album? I know I didn't need a 16 song album...10 songs woulda been plenty. A hotter, tighter set. As it is, A Bigger Bang is just too fucking spotty.
I guess Virgin spent a lot of money bribing music critics to get 5 star reviews. Remember, Goddess got 5 star reviews too! I'll give it 2 and a half stars. Those six lumps of shit that masquerade as songs just drag this album down way too much. I don't hate the album, mostly because I can fix most of it's problems.
1.) Rough Justice
2.) It Won't Take Long
3.) Back Of My Hand
4.) This PLace Is Empty
5.) Oh No, Not You Again
6.) Dangerous Beauty
7.) Sweet NeoCon
8.) Look What The Cat Dragged In
9.) Driving Too Fast
10.) Infamy
Do you see it? That's a pretty solid album, with only 3 real filler type songs. I'd give the above album 4 stars. Sixteen songs is just too many. Especially when six of those sixteen absolutely SUCK.
A Bigger Bang. A missed opportunity. |
| September 6th, 2005 02:33 PM |
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| jb |
I knew this would be another bomb....the Stones just can't write any meaningful music anymore...and I they had 8 yrs to put this crap together. |
| September 6th, 2005 02:37 PM |
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| Joey |
" I knew this would be another bomb....the Stones just can't write any meaningful music anymore...and I they had 8 yrs to put this crap together. "
< ----- I shall not buy the album based on SS's review.
[Edited by Joey] |
| September 6th, 2005 02:38 PM |
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| Moonisup |
This is the best review I've read. Agree on most songs, I just don't like Neocon.
I also said to a friend yesterday that it shoulda been a 10/12 song album.
Rik |
| September 6th, 2005 02:41 PM |
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| lotsajizz |
it's great! fuck you non-believers |
| September 6th, 2005 02:45 PM |
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| juggsy |
I think "Laugh, I nearly died" is one of Mick's strong songs. I liked this the very first time I heard it. His voice and pronunciations are great. You can tell he took a lot of time getting this vocal just right. |
| September 6th, 2005 02:45 PM |
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| egon |
SS,
go back to your room and play again.... and again, and again.... |
| September 6th, 2005 02:46 PM |
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| KeepRigid |
Actually, it would've rang up as $9.99 at Best Buy, and you wouldn't have had to spend the extra $5 on gas! |
| September 6th, 2005 02:49 PM |
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| Moonisup |
quote:
lotsajizz wrote:
it's great! fuck you non-believers
chuck won't bang you!
[Edited by Moonisup] |
| September 6th, 2005 02:50 PM |
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| Nellcote |
It's a keeper.
I decided not to go on the best price hunt with gas at $3.29 a gallon.
I got it @ Strawberries for $13.99, with a $3. rebate.
As far as your review SS....
It's like being an Eagle fan, I'll give you my new buzzline...Try it, works for most everything...
"IT'S ROUGH JUSTICE FOR YA"
[Edited by Nellcote] |
| September 6th, 2005 02:51 PM |
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| Tom |
I love the album and disagree with you, maybe you need to listen again
"The He-Man Bigger Bang Hater's Club" is next? |
| September 6th, 2005 02:53 PM |
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| Thing One |
If you gave jb a crayon and a kazoo, he could come up with something almost as good as Sweet Neo Con. But you would have to promise to buy him ice cream first. |
| September 6th, 2005 02:59 PM |
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| time is on my side |
I just now listened to it for the first time and had exactly the opposite reaction. GREAT ALBUM!!!
Also, in my opinion, it's kind of ridiculous to make judgements or reviews after one or two listens. It's nothing more than instant analysis nonsense (whether it be good or bad, music can change over TIME- it can grow on you or it can grow bitter). I'm going to be withholding my judgement or review until some TIME passes and I've given the CD a chance.
However, my first reaction was very positive- not a bad song in the bunch. As in all things in life, to each their own (it just goes to show you how different people's taste in music really is).
[Edited by time is on my side] |
| September 6th, 2005 03:23 PM |
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| tumbling dice |
A great record . We are not living in the seventies,it´s impossible make another Exile, The Times,they are changing!! |
| September 6th, 2005 03:43 PM |
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| pdog |
quote:
Thing One wrote:
If you gave jb a crayon and a kazoo, he could come up with something almost as good as Sweet Neo Con. But you would have to promise to buy him ice cream first.
Jb is not an emotional punching bag.
Tell your Mommy to stop calling me! |
| September 6th, 2005 03:48 PM |
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| nankerphelge |
I am on listen #2
First listen was mixed
I like some of it alot
I can't stand some of it
Most of it I am on the fence on.
Wasn't what I had hoped for.
But good to hear something new!
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| September 6th, 2005 03:48 PM |
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| Gazza |
quote:
jb wrote:
I knew this would be another bomb....the Stones just can't write any meaningful music anymore...and I they had 8 yrs to put this crap together.
a bomb based on what? SS's review?
Read the rest of the reviews, clean the shite out of your ears and go back and play with yourself |
| September 6th, 2005 03:52 PM |
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| Moonisup |
;p I think it's a crime not to like ABB!
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| September 6th, 2005 04:12 PM |
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| ResidentMule |
the albums's good, but I wouldn't give it 5 stars, or even 4. I'm actually in some way glad I cheated and listened instead of getting all my hype from reading the reviews, because they were dead wrong. almost every review I've read said it was a great album without qualifiers - as in not just great compared to the last few, but good enough to stand on its own instead of just deciding Exile would be a better bet. it isn't by any means. I know its not the classic era, I know there's no Mick Taylor (in fact I'm more happy to have Ronnie than I've ever been), but this record just isn't all that solid. there's a lot of songs I like on it. I'm sure there's a few that in a couple of years will really strike me, but as far as albums go, I liked Bridges considerably better, no matter how little it sounded like classic Stones. Voodoo's also aged very well on me too, I'll just have to see how this does, but I'm in no rush to compare this record to Voodoo Lounge, let alone Some Girls, because I want to give myself the chance of actually enjoying this one
overall, the album's just too clean for me to consider it a classic by any stretch. there's some great playing in the parts you'd expect from an average band. cool guitar solos, really obvious vocal hooks, etc - but none of the richness of the random great licks thrown around on better albums
1. Rough Justice - great riffage from Keith. Ronnie plays well too. I'll rank this one up there with Start Me Up
2. Let Me Down - good song. not an edgy tune by any means like they should've done if they wanted this record to live up to the hype and kick it off with a bang. one of the easiest songs on the album for me to get into though.
3. Won't Take Long - great riff in the beginning, too bad it didn't follow it up with a stronger song
4. Rain Fall Down - shit. a funky tune like this could've served the album well except I don't remember funk being this boring. has Goddess In The Doorway written all over it - clearly was intended to be on a Jagger/Clifford project
5. Streets - pee break song. not as awful as most say, just not worth listening to the whole thing
6. Back Of My Hand - pretty cool. it doesn't have the real grit to pass for an Exile type blues
7. She Saw Me Coming - cool groove. very much like Crackin Up. the song's a bt too repetitive, but its still good to hear the band doing something this loose
8. Biggest Mistake - I like it as far as pop ballads go. too bad we already had one of those on the album, but at least this one doesn't sound completely like a cookie cutter song
9. This Place Is Empty - cool Keith track. up there with You Got The Silver, with a great slide part by Ronnie (oh, wait, the notes says its Mick --awesome)
10. Oh No Not You Again - didn't like it at all at the press conference, starting to shake those memories by now
11. Dangerous Beauty - great one. I would say this is one of the tracks that belongs on everybody's edited version of the album
12 Laugh - its no Gimme Shelter but I gotta give em credit for a real origional song. I really like the chord change in the 'I'm So Sick & Tired' part - it makes me believe this is an actual Jagger/Richards song otherwise by the rest of it I would assume it to just be Mick's idea
13 - Sweet Neocon - such a missed opportunity. sounds like a scrap song with the worst lyrics Jagger's capable of (well, almost)
14 - Look What The Cat - everything in the song sounds very un-Keef. riffs don't sound like anything I've ever heard him do before - and I really like it in a weird way. gets a point off for Mick's rhyming 'house' with 'mouse'
15 - Driving Too Fast - classic riff. sounds the most like the Rolling Stones of anything in a decade
16 - Infamy - a good Keith track though not good enough to close out another album. I was hoping for something a little more special from Keith but this still works
also, did somebody say something about a deluxe edition around Christmas? do you think it might have some actual artwork or pictures or something. its too small of a thing to make a real fuss over, I would just like some pictures to entertain me while flipping through the lyrics, particularly for NeoCon |
| September 6th, 2005 04:15 PM |
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| jb |
I shall not buy the album based on SS's review. |
| September 6th, 2005 04:21 PM |
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| gypsy |
quote:
KeepRigid wrote:
Actually, it would've rang up as $9.99 at Best Buy, and you wouldn't have had to spend the extra $5 on gas!
I think SS is like a little kid and suffered from temporary ADD this morning.
Other than that faux paus, his review of the album is on the ball. I couldn't agree with him more. |
| September 6th, 2005 04:24 PM |
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| Moonisup |
quote:
gypsy wrote:
Other than that faux paus, his review of the album is on the ball. I couldn't agree with him more.
that's 3!! |
| September 6th, 2005 04:26 PM |
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| Saint Sway |
was pretty cool going into Virgin store today and hearing the instore dj playing the new tracks mixed in w/cool old songs like Dance Little Sister.
was even cooler spotting some fellow freaks in the store singing along with ONNYA. Including some 50 yr old bald guy.
yeah rock on! |
| September 6th, 2005 04:33 PM |
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| texile |
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Jim DeRogatis
Too little 'Bang' for your CD buck
September 6, 2005
Advertisement
One of the hoariest cliches in rock criticism is that every new Rolling Stones album since 1978 is "the best" since that year's "Some Girls" -- the band's most inspired, least produced and most immediate recording. This claim is certainly in evidence in many reviews for "A Bigger Bang," the band's first album of new material in eight years.
The sad truth, however, is that the Stones have not made a beginning-to-end great album in 27 years, and they aren't likely to, since they just don't seem to care enough to write songs that are as unforgettable, groundbreaking and passionate as those they produced during the first 14 years of their career. "A Bigger Bang" is just another piece of product from Rolling Stones Inc., better than some of their recent offerings ("Voodoo Lounge," "Bridges to Babylon") but ultimately adding nothing substantial to one of the best catalogs in rock history.
CD REVIEW
THE ROLLING STONES
"A Bigger Bang"
**1/2
Frankly, if this disc wasn't stamped "Rolling Stones," no one would care.
The good news here is that producer Don Was keeps things stripped-down and simple, with no disco frills or elaborate production tricks. When the band is rocking out, as on "Rough Justice," "Oh No, Not You Again" or "Rain Fall Down," this is a perfectly acceptable, faux-Stones, bluesy garage-rock record. But plenty of bands, the Redwalls and the White Stripes among them, have done better in this vein of late.
The trouble comes when the Glimmer Twins try to vary the sound, as on the uninspired blues vamp "Back of My Hand" or the anemic drone "Laugh, I Nearly Died." Both are dreadful enough to make you hit the fast-forward button after the first chorus.
The much-debated "Sweet Neo Con" is the only thing that's really new: the most overtly political song ever from a band that has hardly ever gotten specific about politics during a four-decade career. Mick Jagger takes dead aim at President Bush, and he scores a bull's eye: "You ride around your white castle on your little white horse / You lie to your people, and blame it on your war, of course / You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite / You call yourself a patriot, well I think you're full of s---."
Unfortunately, the music doesn't pack nearly as much conviction as the lyrics. And with Jagger declining to discuss the song in the handful of interviews he's deigned to give (he declined to speak to the Sun-Times) while the band avoids playing the song in concert on its current tour, "Sweet Neo Con" plays as a cheap bid for easy headlines on the back of one of the most controversial and emotional issues in America today.
Jim DeRogatis
i'm still at work and am bracing myself - because i've been holding out to hear in it's entirety....
i hope i disagree with you sir, jb - but damn - i usually AGREE, so i shall see,, |
| September 6th, 2005 04:43 PM |
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| Angiegirl |
quote:
texile wrote:
well I think you're full of s---."
I won't take any reviewer seriously who hasn't got the liberty to say 'shit'.
That said, I don't take any reviewer seriously that isn't me. |
| September 6th, 2005 04:46 PM |
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| time is on my side |
quote:
Moonisup wrote:
that's 3!!
There's an old saying I remember from way back WHEN and it has a lot to do of what's going on here- can't please everybody so you might as well please yourself.
It probably wouldn't make any difference at all what the STONES released. You're going to find some people who are going to love it, you're going to find people who think it's average to below average even hate it, and, hell you might even find someone who won't even listen to it based on someone else's review.
These people are just being honest in their reviews and they're certainly entitled to their opinions whether or not they think the album is good or bad. Fortunately, whether or not an album is considered critically acclaimed is not based on what a few people think one way or the other. It's based on consensus of opinion and only over a period of TIME.
I will repeat though what I said in my above post. I do find it absolutely ridiculous to believe that anyone can definitely define an album such as A Bigger Bang after one or two listens be it high praise or negative vibes.
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| September 6th, 2005 04:54 PM |
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| Moonisup |
"I will repeat though what I said in my above post. I do find it absolutely ridiculous to believe that anyone can definitely define an album such as A Bigger Bang after one or two listens be it high praise or negative vibes."
I've listened to it 7 times since saturday, and for me it's 6/10. Maybe in 2 years I think it's 8/10 don't know. When I post a review or an opinion of ABB, it's just the feeling of the moment.
What I don't like is that people see me as a criminal for not giving ABB high praise  |
| September 6th, 2005 05:01 PM |
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| time is on my side |
Let me go further. I can dig up some old reviews of albums such as Exile on Main St or Sticky Fingers that were lukewarm at best. If we lived in an internet age at that time, I'm sure you could find some big STONES fans who, after immediately listening to the album, would say they found these efforts disappointing. Did those reviews or that instant analysis define these albums??? Wonder if I pulled up critical reviews of those albums now and still find the same magazines giving it the thumbs down.
Am I comparing these albums to ABB??? Of course not. The band that made those albums doesn't exist anymore. This is a different band in a different age. The point is this instant analysis BS often misses the mark again whehter it be on the good side or the bad side. Only TIME will tell. |
| September 6th, 2005 05:40 PM |
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| exile |
opinions are like assholes....everyone has one.
I totally disagree with SS review
I think this is a great album, its certainly the album I have been waiting for and totally exceeded my expectations.
Im not going to write a song by song review but its safe to say it has not been off my CD player in 3 days.
I suggest SS give it another listen
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| September 6th, 2005 05:49 PM |
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| nankerphelge |
It needs more cowbell
 |
