Rolling Stones' VOODOO LOUNGE reconsidered

I'm sorry but I think Bridges is terrible. It is one of my least favorite Stones albums.

 

I'd tend to agree. It's certainly better than Voodoo Lounge IMO.

 

The only good songs in my opinion are Out Of Control and Saint of Me. It sounds more like a Jagger solo album in my opinion. It was very disappointing to me after Voodoo Lounge which I liked better than anything since Tattoo You. Jagger tried to have the band remain current with mediocre results.

 

I like a few more song from B2B than you, but I'm with you on the whole "Jagger solo album" comment. I have said this for years about ABB. Same story. I wish there was more of a band presence on both of those records.

Agreed on being a disappointment after VL because I liked VL better than anything since GHS. No joke. I put VL in the conversation of classic albums with SF, EOMS, LIB, and BB. VL is such a great record. I think you can see my comments a few pages back - it's a touch too long. Could have used a nice trimming down by 3 or so songs. If that had happened...we'd be talking about a classic album and I think most rock fans would agree. I already feel it's legendary and love it.

 

I would have added Jump On Top Of Me and The Storm to the album and deleted some of the tracks and it could have been even better.

 

It's good in some places and bad in some places. The style and texture are all wrong in some places (which is my main complaint for all post-Tattoo You Stones), but overall it has some decent songs.

 

A Jagger solo album crossed with a Keith solo album. Keith's songs (not just the ones he sang, I'm including stuff like "Flip The Switch" and "Too Tight" as well) reign supreme on Bridges To Babylon IMO. It says a lot that Keith's contributions are just about nonexistent on quite a few of Jagger's B2B songs. And, indeed, Keith doesn't play at all on "Saint Of Me". He does contribute some great, pissed off sounding guitar on "Already Over Me" and "Out Of Control" though

Jagger's insistence on staying "current" during the making of Bridges nearly started World War IV between him and Keith...Mick brought in the Dust Brothers, Keith brought in Waddy Wachtel and Jim Keltner- I think Keith had the better idea there.

 

Yes I know and Richards' solo albums are better than Jagger's.

 

Hell, Keith's solo albums are, in my not so humble opinion, better than a few Stones albums, even. Wandering Spirit is the only Jagger album I've heard in its entirety. Once...back when it came out.

 

I personally like most of the "Jagger" songs on B2B. I like "Flip The Switch" too but don't really care for "Thief In The Night" or "You Don't Have To Mean It".

I probably listen to more Steel Wheels and Voodoo tracks individually but i think B2B probably works better than VL as a single coherent album listening experience

 

Wandering Spirit is the best one in my opinion.

 

So I've heard...just seeing the videos for "Just Another Night" and "Let's Work" back in the day seemed cringeworthy enough to avoid ever hearing those albums for all eternity

 

eh...Jump On Top Of Me is so..."direct"....LOL.

The Storm is pretty cool tho.

 

This would describe every Stones studio album (except Blue & Lonesome) since Undercover.

 

Except that on Steel Wheels and A Bigger Bang (possibly a few Voodoo Lounge tracks as well) Mick and Keith actually sat down and wrote songs together, instead of just having a bunch of Jagger-penned songs and Richards-penned songs. No question though that Dirty Work, Bridges To Babylon and Voodoo Lounge tend to sound like two solo albums combined, that sometimes clash really badly

 

I like Wandering Spirit better than Keef's solo albums, which I do like... no use for Mick's other solo rekkids though...

 

I actually like Wandering Spirit as well. It is more consistent than some of the Stones albums.

 

The thing that bugged me about Wandering Spirit and Main Offender was the feeling that the two of them held that material back, keeping it out of the Stones catalog... Imagine if the best material from those had been a Stones LP! Coulda been the oft hyped "return to form, best since Some Girls" we've been hearing since '89

 

Love Voodoo Lounge . Saw the tour with Blind Melon as the opener.

Really all the Stones projects since Steel Wheels are very terrific. They're still evolving as a band which is cool. No, they haven't topped Let it Bleed or Exile. But neither has anyone else.

 

Might as Well Get Juiced, while not on VL, is perhaps one of the worst songs ever put out under The Rolling Stones name. The Stones could credibly do psychedelia, punk, funk, country, disco and new wave but techno was a bridge too far for them, and it's almost unlistenable. Bridges to Babylon is extremely unremarkable to me....It just sounds like a 1997 version of Steel Wheels.

 

I hear more of a Hip-Hop influence on "Might As Well Get Juiced" than I do Techno- after all, this was the period where Don Was had Charlie Watts drum along to The Chronic for drum looping purposes. Definitely another one of Jagger's "I was hanging out in the clubs last night and heard this stuff" kinda songs. Still doesn't make it a good song, though. Not as bad as, say, "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)" or "Fool To Cry", but not a great song. Much like the Rap section in "Anybody Seen My Baby?", the synths and beat of "Might As Well Get Juiced" instantly date the album to 1997 and indeed sound decidedly out of place on a Stones album- much more so than a sitar or pedal steel guitar ever did.

 

What's wrong with Fool To Cry?

 

I like it. It was the last one I bought.

Considering Blue and Lonely, might get that.

 

I disagree. The 80s Stones album went for "trendy" production values, and as such they sound very much of their time. Voodoo Lounge, like Exile, generally has a more organic, natural sound, and as such sounds less dated with the passage of time IMO.

 

No Baby Break it Down?

Out of Control is awesome live.