Rolling Stones "Emotional Rescue" Song By Song Discussion

I'm not convinced anything on the album was intended to be funny, although I agree some of it is (unintentionally) comedic. However, I like those other two songs you mention

 

Just popped in the CBS CD, this thing sounds amazing. 3D.

Just got to the the title track, pumping.

This album is stunningly good...better than I remember, and last I revisited a couple years ago I considered it underrated.

Now, I consider it about as essential as anything else in their catalog, and, at least here on the CBS CD, is damn near audiophile.

Who mastered this thing, Vlad or Calbi?

It RAWKS.

 

Vlado Meller mastered it. The flat transfer CD is pretty different, so he did a lot of work to get it to sound that good, like he did for Goats Head Soup. I prefer the flat transfer of Black and Blue to the Vlado Meller CBS CD, however, due to the fatter bass on the original tape.

 

Vlado, and yes it sounds great. The Virgin is a big step down.

 

It's more of a fumble than a missed beat, we're not talking an "I'm Free" style f--k up or anything. It's right when Mick says "Nothin' on the telly" in the first verse.

Ah, shades of McCartney dragging in a couple of Apple Scruffs to do the harmonies on "Across The Universe" then!

Yeah, and I'm guessing those events informed Mick's lyric for "Indian Girl", as did the stuff going on in "Aaaaannnnngooooooolllllllaaaaaa" (Angola) in the late seventies. Mick knows his current events...

Yer all probably sick of hearing me say it but they should have replaced "Lies" with "Everything Is Turning To Gold"

 

That'such a great observation. It's only after you mention it that it's actually really obvious that these songs are cousins.

 

I sympathize with Jagger's storytelling on a lot of these songs. "Summer Romance" and "Send It To Me" have authentic blues sentiments. "Summer Romance" has Mick bemoaning the separation anxiety with the hot stuff he won't be able to see anymore. This song is the setup for "Send It To Me" in which Mick is desparate enough to pay for a mail order bride. It's absurd that Mick would feel the need to pay for a mail order bride, but this is what he has reduced himself to in his depraved state of blues.

"Indian Girl": this one is great with lots of warm feeling in the midst of the chaos of war. It's like an episode of M*A*S*H*.

Constantly comparing this album to the previous one is odd. The band members were at different stages in their lives after touring the album. Expecting More Some Girls in feel and execution is an unreasonable expectation.

 

In my case, I was just expecting a decent album and didn't receive it.

 

For all of the praise for Some Girls in this thread, it's amazing to me the ability to overlook the weak "Shattered". Nothing remotely as weak as "Shattered" on Emotional Rescue for me.

 

I prefer Shattered to almost every track on Emotional Rescue.

 

Shadoobie??

 

Playing the 2018 reissue from the new box set, packaging and vinyl are excellent IMO

 

Not a big fan of “Shattered” either (although several songs on Emotional Rescue are clearly worse IMO). Not to derail the thread, but I’ve never understood all the love for Some Girls. It’s no better and possibly worse than Emotional Rescue overall. Just more post ‘73 Stones product.

 

This thread gets more confusing by the day.

 

I always liked Emotional Rescue. To me, it sounds like a very similar album to Some Girls, so I shake my head when I read opinions saying some guys like SG but hate ER. It sounds like a few dudes came up with some catchy/goofy rock songs & recorded 'em. Some songs even make me smile. I love playing bass to ER & Miss You. I never really cared for Shattered.

 

Maybe repetitive and not your thing, and I admit to tiring of it myself. Bottom line, Shattered is a dead classic and probably the 2nd most successful track on Some girls.

I get the post 73 point, though my opinion is a little different. Good material after 73, but not the best era. I'd call the best era 64-73...JMO.... That said, your in a minority considering Emotional Rescue equal to Some girls. No need for me to try and give a why, We all have our own taste.

All good though, I have plenty of minority opinions.

 

Well, let's get back on track- I was spending the weekend painting our downstairs bathroom and trying to teach my five year old how to ride his bike...

Down in the Hole

Composers: Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Recording date: June 1979-January 1980 & April 1980
Recording locations: Pathé Marconi Studios, Paris, France & Electric Lady Studios, New York City
Producers: The Glimmer Twins Associate producer & chief engineer: Chris Kimsey
Never performed onstage



Probable line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Electric guitars: Keith Richards & Ron Wood
Vocal: Mick Jagger
Harmonica: Sugar Blue


Will all your money buy you forgiveness
Keep you from sickness or keep you from cold?
Will all your money keep you from madness
Keep you from sadness when you're down in the hole?

Cause you'll be down in the gutter, you'll be bumming for cigarettes
Bumming for nylons in the American Zone

You'll be down in the hole, yeah, down in the hole
No escape from trouble, nowhere to go

Down in the gutter, begging for cigarettes
Begging forgiveness, all that you know
You're down in the hole after digging the trenches
Looking for cover and finding out there ain't nowhere, nowhere to go, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere to go

None of your money will buy you forgiveness
None of your jewelry, none of your gold
Your black market cigarettes, your American nightclubs
I think I know where it leads

Something for nothing, all of your friends gone
Something for nothing, that's all that they know

There's something down in the hole, down, down, down in the hole
Something down, down, down, down in the hole


TrackTalk


Mick: Some numbers you play a lot, and then there's a number on this record called Down in the Hole which we actually made up (on the spot). And we only cut it twice, I think.
Ron: I think we let the tape run.
Mick: We did it twice. And there's other numbers which we did many times.

- Mick Jagger & Ron Wood, 1980

 

"Down In The Hole" is my favourite song on the album. Hey, I like it when the Stones play the blues, even something as off the cuff as this (note Mick's comment above about how the song was made up on the spot).

Listen to Keith (right) and Ronnie (left) on this track. IMO this is one their greatest examples of weaving.

 

Down In The Hole:

We now get to Down In The Hole, a more bluesy tune for this record.
Sugar Blue’s harmonica opens the track, and we get some fantastic playing from everyone involved. As @ohnothimagen mentioned, Ronnie and Keith do some fantastic interplay with each other, bouncing kicks off each other while Bill and Charlie hold down a stellar pocket. This may be more basic than what most people consider “headphone music”, but man, you really need to listen to this on headphones, because everyone really shines. Beyond Ronnie and Keith, Bill does some incredible bass on here, the Wymanizer doesn’t get near enough credit.
Best song on here, hands down.

 

Wymanizer? I love it!

 

I'm tempted to say Charlie underachieves on Down in a hole, but with all the weaving and lack of a dominant lead instrument, maybe Charlies dead minimal playing serves the song. I like the song lyrically and overall, but IMO it's the kind of thing that Led Zeppelin did better.

 

Great review.

 

Just keep Bill away from my Wyman!

 

Well, why not? Bill was a wymanizer Not, mind ya, that a lot of his ways with the women would go over too well in today's climate...

Yeah, but at least unlike a lot of Zep's takes on the blues at least "Down In The Hole" is original...

 

Zing!