Their Satanic Majesties Request Song By Song Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Zoot Marimba, Jul 29, 2017.

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  1. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Hello everybody, and now that my Friends song-by-song is finishing, I am now revisiting the Stones well, this time going to the Sixties to revisit possibly their most controversial album, the 1967 psychedelic detour known as Their Satanic Majesties Request. Released December 8, 1967, this album was made in the middle of total chaos, with Andrew Loog Oldham's departure and the subsequent lack of a producer, the legal battles that plagued Jagger, Richards, and Jones, and the frequent absence of members in the studio. When released this wound up alienating fans and was dismissed as a Sgt.Pepper knockoff, but in later years would be reassessed and now has a cult following as a flawed gem. Which camp do I call in? Read My story of this album to find out:
    Before we begin I want to hear how any of you came to discover this album, what your initial impression was, and how your feelings changed if at all.
    My Story:
    When I started building up my Stones discography I remember this album and knowing of it's reputation and had a morbid curiosity, so I got this for Christmas, and really just had a strange fascination with it, and even though I do have to be in the right mood for this record, it always gets played at least every two or three months.
    Also Some Ground Rules Before We Begin:
    1 - Please limit your comments to the song at hand, or songs that have already been discussed. You can let us know what your favorite song on the album is when we get to it.
    2 - Please support your stated opinions, simply because it leads much more fruitful discussion than "This rocks" or "This sucks".
     
  2. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    Let's get this going! Great idea for a thread, in that it's not a tired dinosaur of a record, but one that people have very differing opinions about which should stimulate some really interesting, fresh perspectives.
     
  3. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Discovering the Stones in the early 80s this was the visually most attractive 60s album. Especially since my father had a Stereo UK lenticular sleeve. Couldn't separate the record from the artwork and loved it's mix of baroque, sinister and eccentric. Now I've got a well worn green unboxed Stereo UK Decca and playing it is like a happening.

    Flawed it may be but it's also pretty cool:righton:
     
  4. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    I love "Sing This All Together". It's really different from anything in the Stones catalog, and well,... everyone else's catalog.

    I've got an original London stereo album with the lenticular cover and a sealed reissue from 78 or so, still with a lenticular cover, an original CD and the reissue CD.

    It's one of my favorite Stones albums.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2017
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  5. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    For me, "Sing This All Together" is similar to some of the Baroque pop songs by the Beatles and Kinks (as well as some earlier Stones songs like "Lady Jane") , and for that, I really like it.
     
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  6. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    Interesting. The Stones did do some baroque pop during this era, of course, like "She's A Rainbow", but "Sing This All Together" comes across to me as more of a freeform ethno-psychedelic jam, very driven by the exotic percussion. It was originally conceived as one long extended jam before it got split in two. They never did anything else quite like this, though arguably "Sympathy For The Devil" is similar in its genesis.

     
  7. sons of nothing

    sons of nothing Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    My all time favorite RS song, 2000 Light Years From Home, is on this album. I love Charlie's attack on this one. Combined with Brian's contribution on the Melly, it is probably the best song on the album. It's no wonder it was the B-side to She's A Rainbow, which is no slouch either. It really should have been an A-side release.
     
  8. Diamond Star Halo

    Diamond Star Halo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Yeah, this this song is really weak. It doesn't have much structure and it sounds like amateur hour, to be honest. Thankfully there are some really great songs to follow.
     
  9. RogerB

    RogerB Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    Looking forward to following this thread! When I first bought Satanic back in the early 70's I didn't care for it. I started my Stones collection with Exile when it came out. Then got the remaining "golden era" albums. Satanic was nothing like those!

    However, as the years have gone by I have grown to love it! I listen to it often when I want to hear some "different" Stones.

    And just for the record I never understood Satanic being called a Pepper ripoff. Satanic is far more psychedelic than Pepper ever thought about being. Just my opinion. YMMV.
     
  10. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    Yes, I'm a big fan of the Stones baroque pop things so I made a comp of all their baroque sounding songs. I have "She's a Rainbow" on it, but "Sing This All Together" never struck me as baroque either .
     
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  11. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    According to the Rolling Stones All The Songs the working title of Sing This All Together was God Bess You.

    I don't really care much for it. It sounds like they are trying too hard to be psychedelic.
     
  12. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    I've only come to truly appreciate this record in the last five years or so, probably because I never really gave it more than a cursory listen before that. I listen far more to pre-Beggars Stones now than anything else in the catalog, and to me records like Satanic Majesties, Between the Buttons and Aftermath rival any record released in the '60's.
     
  13. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    And mine as well. Amen, brother.
     
  14. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Yeah if anything I hear more Syd than The Beatles in this album.
     
  15. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block



    I'm not blaming you guys of course, but before it starts can we please pretty please not get into the Pepper/Satanic comparisons and just stick to the Satanic songs ?

    There have been plenty of Satanic threads and sure enough, they always seem to degenerate at some point into an angry back and forth debating the two albums.

    Pepper has nothing to do with this thread. Let's just have fun talking about THIS album. :D
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2017
  16. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    I believe you forgot to wear your badge when checking in here. ;)

    [​IMG]
     
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  17. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    If you're talking to me, you just report to the principal's office right now buster. :D
     
  18. pizzaland

    pizzaland Child of the 1960s

    Location:
    Cleveland OH

    I bought the LP when it came out and repaired to a friend's house to give it a listen - we were puzzled at first, but after a few spins, the album started to grow on us. "Aftermath," for me, was a big departure from the Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley songs that graced the Stones albums that preceded it and it took a few listens to appreciate that album, too. "Satanic," following "Between the Buttons" (IMO the only Stones album that contained songs that were clearly influenced by the music their contemporaries were making), was a trippy departure from the pop music on "Buttons". As has been noted by Mick Jagger, it is amazing that anything at all got recorded, since the band was dealing with the drug busts and also were seeking to end their relationship with Andrew Oldham. If "We Love You" and "Dandelion" were added to this record (and "Sing This All Together" reprise omitted, it would have made a stronger album. Still, so many great songs - "Citadel," "2000 Man," "She's A Rainbow," "2000 Light Years" and the rest of the album is a fun listen for me, too. One thing is for sure - they never sounded like this again!
     
  19. lennonfan1

    lennonfan1 Senior Member

    Location:
    baltimore maryland
    I've always thought Sing This...had a very African sound. Tribal.
    I love this album part 22.
     
  20. RogerB

    RogerB Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    I like Sing This All Together. The listener realizes immediately that this ain't gonna be a normal Stones ride!

    Not among the best songs on the album but a very good beginning.
     
  21. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Great thread idea. I was not a fan of the album until a few years ago when I tried to learn most of the guitar arrangements. I have gained respect for it since then. I am looking forward to adding some technical mumbo jumbo.
     
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  22. Jayce

    Jayce Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    My favorite Stones album - and my first, purchased at the Paramus Park Harmony Hut on May 8, 1981. I was 13. I remember the date because I came home and watched Fernando Valenzuela shut out the Mets 1-0 at the height of Fernandomania. Listened on headphones and loved it immediately.

    Bought it because earlier that day, I had seen it referenced in Nicholas Schaffner's The Beatles Forever, which said that the Beatles were on the cover.

    Re: "Sing This All Together" - I love the loose, percussive, world music vibe, and what I always thought of as Henry Mancini Pink Panther horns.

    The album sure has its detractors, but I absolutely love it.
     
  23. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request - 50th Anniversary Special Edition [2 LP/2 SACD Combo] - Amazon.com Music

    I thought the people reading the thread might want to see that this is up now on Amazon.

    50th Anniversary Special Audiophile Edition limited hand numbered.
    Special Edition foldout packaging includes restored original Lenticular, not available for over 30 years.
    180gm Vinyl and Hybrid SACD versions of both Mono and Stereo versions of the album.
    Both recordings newly remastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering.
    20-page book, with essay by Rob Bowman, includes Michael Cooper's photos from original cover shoot.
    Lacquer cutting by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios.

    No extra bonus tracks are listed on their posted track listing.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2017
  24. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    :goodie::goodie::goodie:
     
  25. Dave Hoos

    Dave Hoos Nothing is revealed

    "Sing This All Together"

    I still have the vinyl copy I bought of this album...probably around 1984 or 1985. The title of the album always intrigued me, and when I saw the cover in the shop, I just had to have it. Having read copious amounts on the Stones durimg my first couple of years of discovering the band, I knew the reputation of Satanic Majesties. Also, the fact that it comtained both "She's A Rainbow" and "2000 Light Years From Home" made it an easy purchase. The opening bars of "Sing This All Together" still sound completely different to the start of any other Stones album, before or since. It seems to take me to another musical place altogether.

    I think it's a good opening number as far as setting the mood for the album, without being a great, or even a particularly good song. It's okay. I do like the initial blast of the horns and that feeling that the track is marching slowly towards a completely different side to the Stones that anyone had heard before.

    Star rating - 3/5
     
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