Uh, hello? Everything about that track is spine-tingling, starting with Charlie's sublimely simple backbeat, and I played it obsessively when it first came out. Hell, I reviewed the album for SR at the time, but until somebody mentioned it in the discussion section of last weekend's essay question (Thanks VR!) it hadn't ventured anywhere near my cerebellum's receptors in at least three decades.
What can I say -- I just don't get it. How can anything so beautiful just whiffle past the canyons of my mind?
Prevagen, with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish. That's gotta be the answer.
Heh.
Anyway, coming Wednesday -- another song which the memory engrams it generated had long ago dribbled out of my frontal cortex.
BTW, and all kidding aside, if I can work up the requisite energy, despite my obvious ancient infirmity, I'm gonna transcribe and post that Steel Wheels review sometime in the next day or two. I hadn't read it since forever, and I was pleased to find that it mostly holds up and is actually quite droll.
7 comments:
Steve - I agree with your assessment of this track. Many people slag the Stones' 80s output, but there are definitely some gems in there, IMHO.
1990-1992, I had friends working at Balducci's, and our watering hole was a Mexican restaurant and bar called the Black Rock Cafe with an amazing jukebox. It was amazing because I supplied them with the 45s, including "Almost Hear You Sigh," which at the time I thought was the best thing the Stones had done in years. That record got played constantly at the bar, even though it's not exactly bar party material. The bartender Miguel absolutely loved it and played it every time we showed up.
I'm one of those that slagged their eighties output, but I do remember thinking Steel Wheels was a vast improvement after the four that came before it. Retrospectively, it might be the last decent Stones studio effort.
I agree with you, Jeff. Steel Wheels was really good -- Mixed Emotions, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
'Steel Wheels' was clearly the last great Rolling Stones album and still holds up really well all these years latter.
'A Bigger Bang' could have also been great if The Stones had only made a little bit more effort to get it right and worked on the arrangements just a bit more. Also a really lame tittle to the album. Not too humble for a good but far from great album.
I'm look forward with both eagerness and dread to the new album. I have a feeling it will both overworked and half assed at the same time. That's The Rolling Stones for you!
Captain Al
A friend interviewed Roger Daltrey a few years ago, when there were rumors of Charlie quitting. Daltrey said, "Without Charlie the Stones are finished" - the same thing I felt the first time I heard them on the radio in 1964.
Their best post-Tattoo You effort. Steve Jordan co-write. Nearly perfect. Glad Keith left it for the Stones to record. There are a few other fine tunes in their latter day catalog. "Saint of Me" and "Out of Tears" come to mind. I liked Mick's Wandering Spirit CD a lot too.
Problem with the CD era Stones, other than just going through the motions, is that the songs go on way too long. An earlier fade on mediocre fare like Mixed Emotions, Rock and a Hard Place and others would have been welcome. And I never got off on a Bigger Bang for a second, especially after all the "best album since Exile" hype. A good portion of it sounds like a routine Jagger solo record. At least it was better than the completely forgettable new tracks on Forty Licks. I bagged on it at first, but I've come to like Blue & Lonesome for what it is. I also think Bridges To Babylon is underrated.
With regards to the above reference to Daltrey's comments about Charlie and the Stones: Keith Moon, John Entwistle. Hello! How is Half-the-Who not finished!
Steve Jordan was the obvious choice for the Stones. I'm curious to see what he brings to the studio. He pounds harder than Charlie with less finesse and I don't know if it bodes well.
BTW, you're welcome, Steve. Just think of me as another apple. An apple of the Isaac Newton variety.
Silky smooth like wine,
VR
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