Review: Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang
Label: Virgin
Released: September 6, 2005
Here's the thing about the Rolling Stones, they've become the world's greatest Stones cover band. I'm not going to spend any time with the specifics of the music here, I'm going to focus on the feel of the album. It's second-rate Exile-era Stones material. If you liked the Stones in the early 70s, you'll probably like A Bigger Bang too. However, while it's a perfectly good rock record, it lacks the adventure and spontenaity of the Stones early work when they were defining themselves as a band. Now, I understand that they aren't going to constantly re-invent themselves and that's fine. But what's so pathetic is that they write and play these songs as if nothing has changed in 30+ years. Personal growth will feed musical growth, yet Mick still sings lines like, "And once upon a time I was your little rooster/Am I just one of your cocks?" Wow, what a clever double entendre. Is that really from the same guy who, a few short years ago, gave us Goddess in the Doorway? Unfortunately, yes. Actually thinking about the Stones' two decent albums of the last 25 years, A Bigger Bang and Voodoo Lounge, versus Mick's Goddess in the Doorway and Keith's Main Offender makes something very clear about the band (or rather its members): The best they have to offer isn't when they work together. I think there's a very simple explanation for this too. As solo artists, Mick and Keith put who they are that time into the songs, but as a band they're too busy being who they were a long time ago. A Bigger Bang might be a good album if it weren't such a fraud. Hey guys, we all know you did Exile and Sticky Fingers. You don't have to remind us. But who are you now? Just a bunch of old guys pretending that they still matter.
Rating: 5/10
Released: September 6, 2005
Here's the thing about the Rolling Stones, they've become the world's greatest Stones cover band. I'm not going to spend any time with the specifics of the music here, I'm going to focus on the feel of the album. It's second-rate Exile-era Stones material. If you liked the Stones in the early 70s, you'll probably like A Bigger Bang too. However, while it's a perfectly good rock record, it lacks the adventure and spontenaity of the Stones early work when they were defining themselves as a band. Now, I understand that they aren't going to constantly re-invent themselves and that's fine. But what's so pathetic is that they write and play these songs as if nothing has changed in 30+ years. Personal growth will feed musical growth, yet Mick still sings lines like, "And once upon a time I was your little rooster/Am I just one of your cocks?" Wow, what a clever double entendre. Is that really from the same guy who, a few short years ago, gave us Goddess in the Doorway? Unfortunately, yes. Actually thinking about the Stones' two decent albums of the last 25 years, A Bigger Bang and Voodoo Lounge, versus Mick's Goddess in the Doorway and Keith's Main Offender makes something very clear about the band (or rather its members): The best they have to offer isn't when they work together. I think there's a very simple explanation for this too. As solo artists, Mick and Keith put who they are that time into the songs, but as a band they're too busy being who they were a long time ago. A Bigger Bang might be a good album if it weren't such a fraud. Hey guys, we all know you did Exile and Sticky Fingers. You don't have to remind us. But who are you now? Just a bunch of old guys pretending that they still matter.
Rating: 5/10
posted by bob_vinyl at 11:14 AM
2 Comments:
I have always liked the Stones, but I have to say that the new stuff is pretty lame. To quote our two year old daughter, "Stinky Stones."
To quote the Great Denis Leary...
"All these rock stars should've been killed, man. Every single God damned one of them. Right after Jon Lenin died, we should've gotten the Partridge Family bus and driven around and killed them all one by one, you know? Elvis Presley should have been shot in the head back in 1957. Somebody should've walked up behind Elvis in '57 with a 44 magnum, put the barrel of the gun right up to his brain stem and just pulled the trigger, so you can remember Elvis in a nice way. Wouldn't it be nice to remember Elvis thin, with a big head of hair? Maybe that gold lame gold lame gold lame suit. Wouldn't that be nice? Because how do you remember Elvis? You know how you remember Elvis. He was found in the toilet with his pants around his ankles and his big fat hairy sweaty king of rock and roll ass exposed to the world and his final piece of kingly evidence floating in the toilet behind him! Creepy! One of his aids had to walk in and go, "Damn, Elvis is dead. I'd better flush the toilet. Oh man I should've saved that! I coulda made some money off of that! Damn man! A ding dang do!"
Otter
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