Rolling Stones - Brussels Affair 1973 - What's the story ?

Hi,
I have been a fan of the Stones for several years and probably own most of their studio output on CD or vinyl, as well as some concerts on CD or DVD (including the Ya Ya's box set). I don't have any bootlegs. I've seen them live in London on various occasions, in the 70s, 80s, and 2000's. I wouldn't however call myself a fanatic...
I have seen references in various threads to the acclaimed Brussels Affair.
As I understand it, this was a recording of concerts they did in Brussels in late 73 as part of their Goats Head Soup promotion tour. It wasn't released, ostensibly for historical contractual reasons (Decca/Klein etc), but in the last few years has appeared in three formats: a download available from google music; bootlegs; and a very high priced 2 CD, 3 Lp box set.
The track listing seems to include Brown Sugar, Gimme Shelter, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Star, Dancing with Mr D, Do do do (Heartbreaker), Angie, Can't Always get what you, want, Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Women, All the Down the line, Rip this joint, Jumping Jack Flash, and Street Fighting Man. So, a mix of Goats Head, the four preceding classic albums, and one or two singles staples.
A quick check on eBay UK shows a box set available for about $1500 (yikes....), a picture disc for about $ 110, and a (?) Japanese 2 CD for about $ 20 but with 8 days bidding left.
Some reviewers have called this the best ever Stones live recording, not least because it had the Stones at their peak, with Mick Taylor still in the band and performing superbly.
Some say the sound quality of the first CD is great, but that of the second CD not so great.
The Stones seem to be releasing officially more and more of their live material - the DVD, CD and LP of the Marquee, London concert in 71 (for shorthand, Sticky Fingers live...) next month, alongside the new Sticky Fingers discs with bonus material. The price of that is really cheap...I have pre- ordered the LP and DvD version of the Marquee for less than $ 20.
So,
Why the fuss?
Is the Brussels Affair as good as it is cracked up to be ? Is it better than, say, Ya Ya's ?
Is it really essential, or just the Stones on very good form as in many concerts ?
And why isn't it being released officially for a sensible price alongside the Marquee/other recent live stuff ?
Is it contractual ? If so why, it's the same vintage as Marquee (post 70, one 71, the other 73) ? Surely the box set wouldn't sell if the master tapes were no good or disintegrating ?
Is it being issued in Japan as part of the Marquee package in limited edition ? Why this way, and Japan only ?
I posed this question in shorter form on another Stones thread. A Forum resident thought it worthy of a separate thread. So with thanks to wiki for some of the background, here it is.
Look forward to responses, and thanks for your interest.

 

Yes, it's better than "ya yas" and probably more authentic, as "Ya Yas" contains re-recorded vocals. I have no idea, why they finally released it in this limited and extremely expensive formats. But they probably know, that it's extremely popular among collectors and thought that there is a huge demand. And they chose the way to make the big money with few copies. I still believe, that some day it will appear for a reasonable price. So far try to find a free download on the net or search the flea markets....

 

Wow, that's expensive! Yes, it's fantastic, my favorite official live release. I bought it off google when it came out. Mick Taylor and Bobby Keys stand out to me in the recording. I recall reading busloads of French fans went to the show because they weren't allowed to play in France at that point after their time at Villa Nellcote.

 

Whoever prices up the Stones releases, Sticky Fingers Box sets - too expensive, The From The Vault series - very cheap, The Brussels Affair - too expensive, must be, err, stoned?

 

I can only hope that by stopping the downloads of all the archive releases in the USA and Western Europe that Eagle Rock is going to release Brussels, Tokyo Dome and others on cd/dvd just like they did with Hampton and LA Forum.

 

I bought this via download when it was released, and would ABSOLUTELY purchase a resonably-priced CD or LP of it

 

I recommend getting the vault download AND one of the grey market CD's. This was originally a King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcast, and that version is from the afternoon show (mostly) while the official Vault release is the evening show (mostly). The band was playing exceptionally well, maybe the best they ever sounded in the Mick Taylor era. SO, yes - essential.

 

I recorded parts of the King Biscuit broadcast way back when onto (believe it or not) an 8-track that I played a billion times in my car. Fast forward to the internet age and finding a good copy of all the songs broadcast (different plays of King Biscuit featured different songs) was not that hard to do.

I compiled a cd of all the songs and gave a copy to a friend who, after listening to it on his way to work one morning, procalimed that "Midnight Rambler" was like a "religious experience." And for me that sums it up - they play like a band possessed. Probably just coked out, but FWIW, they are on all cylinders throughout.

I bought the "From The Vaults" download and, as others said, some of the takes are different, but just as good. I would LOVE to get a lossless physical copy at a reasonable price.

 

My favorite live Stones show until they release something from 1972 on cd.

 

Get Your Ya Ya’s Out is my 2nd favorite album. Only Yessong’s rates higher, but that is cheating of course.
Amazingly enough, the Brussels Affair is as good as Ya Ya’s, as the band was on fire that night.
It was an actual Stones catalogue approved download a couple years ago. If it is not any longer might mean an actual official CD release is coming. I would buy it again just for the cover.

 

My 2 cents is that it is a Great Recording of the band in top form.........BUT........
there are a lot of un 'fixed' boo boo's scattered around, Like Charlie forgetting where the hell he was in a song (Dancing With Mr. D for example). Also the last two songs are played so fast that their unlistenable to me. Literally a wall of Mush, not musically enjoyable at all.
Third, the whole downoaded concert is 79 minutes long. So once again, by putting it out on two cd's, it's unnecessary and a rip off because that whole show fits on an 80 min. cd. So even if your buying the Japanese Marquee package if you minus the Marquee DVD and CD, say about $20 for that, you end up paying $61 for two cd's that are each around 40min long each.
I cancelled mine as I have the FLAC version on one cd and I just can no longer justify spending good money on 'stuff' just to have it.

the beave

 

I would highly recommend seeking out a liberated digital copy of the original 'Nasty Music' double live vinyl boot. In my opinion, it's the best version of the Brussels show with some of the NYC '72 thrown in as filler. When the vault release came out, I was disappointed to hear that they had selected different tracks than the ones that appeared on the boot.

It's absolutely better than Ya Ya's and probably the best live Stones you'll ever hear. The 'Keep Your Motor Running' and 'Philadelphia Special' boots from the 1972 are tied for 2nd behind Brussels '73.

 

The official version was a welcomed addition to the collection, but (for the most part) they released the wrong set.
The show that's been available all these years was a far superior performance in my opinion.

The only thing I dislike about the afternoon show is the out of tune guitar on Gimme Shelter, which is why the early broadcasts substituted the version from London instead.

 

You can get the official (2011 remix) version on two CDs as a bonus with the upcoming Japanese 4-disc deluxe Marquee Club Live in 1971 release. Includes a Blu-ray or DVD along with a CD of the Marquee Club show. This is the easiest way to obtain an official physical version of the Brussels Affair.

DVD flavour
Blu-ray flavour

 

Brussels 73 is definitely "essential" Stones! My favorite "go to" Brussels is the Vinyl Gang, Europe 73 Gold CD release. Raw, powerful, and, completely
satisfying! I've heard many other versions that were a little to clean sounding for my tastes. I like my vintage Stones raw and nasty!!

Is it better than Ya Ya's? I would hate to live without either one of them! There's a certain laid back, slow chugging blues, vibe that I love about
the 1969 tour that is captured beautifully on Ya Ya's ! As one poster above mentioned some of the Brussels songs are a little rushed for my taste. I prefer
JJ Flash on Ya Ya's instead of Brussels, for example. But I've always enjoyed JJ Flash more as an opener than a closer.

They are both stellar performances by the band at the top of their powers!!

 

It's their greatest live recording, period !

 

It was issued several times as a King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcast back in the 70s. I have my original KBFH broadcast tape from the June '75 broadcast at the radio station for which I once worked. I never returned the tape to KBFH, they were very lax about returns of the broadcast tapes back then.

When the Stones issued it officially a couple years ago, they pulled a "fast one" on us by including tracks from the rarely-booted 2nd Brussels show, which sent collectors scrambling to buy the legit release even if they already had the original broadcasts/bootlegs in high quality.

Also bear in mind that the original "Brussels '73" bootlegs and KBFH broadcast wasn't actually all from Brussels: a few songs were from London near the beginning of the Fall '73 tour, I think from 9/9/73 IIRC

 

Agreed it is their best live document. period.

However, I would love a box set release of both Brussels shows (1st and 2nd) as I concur that the 2nd show performance is better. It should be noted that there is a reason why Jagger included the "Midnight Rambler" from the 2nd show onto the official release, because it is arguably the single greatest performance by the Rolling Stones ever. It just completely rips my head off every time.

 

Same, I put it up there with the best of the '69 shows, Leeds '71, and my favorites from '72: Ft. Worth, Philly, Pittsburgh, and NYC. Some of the '73 Australian/New Zealand gigs and London & Europe in '73 as well (MT's last stand).

 

(...) The 'Keep Your Motor Running' and 'Philadelphia Special' boots from the 1972 are tied for 2nd behind Brussels '73.[/QUOTE]
I beg to differ: This really is a question of your personal preferences. I for one prefer the Stones in STP '72 mode to the slightly more showmanship-like efforts from the '73 European tour. A tad more Keith in the mix. Less soloing from Taylor, less posing from Jagger. Keep Your Motor Running, comprising tracks slated for the never released 1972 STP live album, could easily be considered the best Stones bootleg release in terms of sheer musical quality. Still, Brussels '73, especially the releases augmented with a few tracks from 'Wembley, is one of the most essential items in any ambitious Stones bootleg collection.

 

I beg to differ: This really is a question of your personal preferences. I for one prefer the Stones in STP '72 mode to the slightly more showmanship-like efforts from the '73 European tour. A tad more Keith in the mix. Less soloing from Taylor, less posing from Jagger. Keep Your Motor Running, comprising tracks slated for the never released 1972 STP live album, could easily be considered the best Stones bootleg release in terms of sheer musical quality. Still, Brussels '73, especially the releases augmented with a few tracks from 'Wembley, is one of the most essential items in any ambitious Stones bootleg collection.[/QUOTE]

I'm with you, I love '73 but for me '72 was the peak of that line-up...

 

Best live album in rock history. I'll take the bum notes, feedback, and other imperfections over studio touch-ups any day.

 

Lots of us would. I can't understand why they refuse to put out a version for the guy who doesn't want a watch, autograph or a book. ( or marbles, scarf or coasters for that matter)