The Rolling Stones : ( Definitely Not ) Sucking in the Seventies

Re the recent Japanese card sleeves of a number (5 I think) compilation albums including Sucking in the 70s do these reissues use the 2009 remastering?

 

The more I listen to The Stones the more I realize they haven't recorded a truly bad track until Anybody Seen my Baby.

 

"Sticky Fingers": A
"Exile": C +
"GHS": A
"IORR": C
"B&B": C
"SG": A

 

I like that one. I always felt they knew which songs to pick as lead-off singles at least. They are a great singles band and a solid album band. I like all of their albums though some a bit less than others. Having said that, I can't say I have nay favorite albums I like have with any other band. While I agree their peak was between 68-72, the majority of the rest isn't that far behind for me then there's a few in the lower end which I enjoy whenever I listen to them. I usually listen to their whole discography rather than select albums over and over.

 

You don't like k.d. lang? It's a great single, whomever wrote it. May be the last "current" RS single that I recall getting radio play.

 

I've not listened to music radio since... the 80s? But I seem to recall that one got a semi-chilly reception.

As the debut single off the Stones' 1st album in 3 years, obviously it received attention, but it kinda felt perfunctory, not because people loved the song.

I liked the song - though I enjoyed it more as "Constant Craving"!

 

With regard to modern Stones singles from '82 on:
Well, it got played on my Texas radio stations more than I recall "Rough Justice" getting played, though that one got some radio time. I guess it might be considered filler compared to Mixed Emotions which at least sounded autobiographical (i.e., more authentic) and seemed a bigger deal when it was released in the 80s.

 

Oh, "Mixed Emotions" was a huge deal in 1989. Even though it'd only been 3 years since the last Stones album, that was a rocky period in which everyone thought the band had disintegrated.

Even as early as 1986, the rumors flew. I remember when I bought the "Let It Bleed" CD that summer, the clerk said "great band - too bad they broke up!"

Which they never did officially, of course, but it sure looked bad. I saw Keith solo in 1988 because I thought that might be my only chance to see any Stones live!

Even though not that much more time elapsed between "Dirty Work" in 1986 and "SW" in 1989 vs. "DW" and "Undercover" in 1983, the gap felt much longer.

So a new Stones song from a band we all thought broke up was big, big news!

 

Plus... simultaneous news of a major tour, the first in how many years? This was good marketing, a bittersweet single about the ongoing Jagger-Richards relationship that wasn't bad musically, coupled with a tour. They knew how to market!

 

Those album gaps 83'-86' & 86'-89' were firstly 2 1/2 years and then 3 1/2 years but I totally get where you are coming from.

 

And... Staten Island! I can't forget New Jersey!

Biz Markie rules.

 

i think there was a affair between jagger and bowie ?

 

Yeah - I said "not that much more time". A year isn't that much more time!

But it felt like an eternity between "DW" and "SW" given all the nonsense that happened between the albums!

 

Sticky: A+
Exile: A+
Soup: A
I.O.R.R.: B+
B&B: A
Girls: A
Rescue: B
Tattoo: A-

Excellent thread, and awesome responses--along with the associated hustle & flow back and forth. They began securing Their Legendary reputation with BANQUET and BLEED; They secured it with that spate of albums They cut between 71 and 73. No one—whether in music, film, or whatever the medium—can run a flawless chronology, but They came close—the “lesser” albums like I.O.R.R. and B&B are not weak by any stretch; in fact, ninety-nine percent of the other bands/artists working would slit the throats of their firstborns just to have anything off said albums. They have achievements like STICKY and EXILE that alone give them a massive one-up on the competition, and it’s my impression that it’s difficult for The Faithful to divorce Their passions for those two albums especially when discussing other works—this is no criticism, but rather, a testament to the superlative quality of those early 70s offerings.

Random Related Thoughts:

1 - RESCUE and TATTOO are 70s albums as far as I’m concerned since the bulk of the material for these albums dates back to the autumn 72 SOUP Sessions in Kingston, Jamaica. Strictly a subjective judgment—your mileage may vary.

2 - They have a bit of a Fleetwood Mac stripe to Their skin as They manage to make some goddamn compelling and provocative music—that the music is polarizing makes it even more seductive. Think Keef going heroin chic, Woody entering the fold, and all the drama that went on between Dec. 74 and up through the recording of B&B. Crazy, but absolutely intoxicating music—and events.

3 - Albums like I.O.R.R. and B&B make more sense—especially to younger Stones fans who weren’t around to see Them lay it out out on the line in the Seventies—when one ingests the incestuous products being churned out at this time; concentrated listenings to things like Woody’s first two solo albums put something like B&B into perspective.

4 - STICKY is the proud owner of my favorite Stones album cover for two reasons: one, it was the album that introduced the world to the iconic Tongue & Lips logo; two, the crotch shot of Joe Dallesandro clad in Levi’s 505s had to instantaneously instill fear in the hearts and minds of mothers (in 1971). This IS a good thing.

- siyt

 

Off topic but I have to say, Charlie Watts - wow! I love ‘70s Stones and I appreciate his drumming much more than I did at the time. Such finesse, such swing, so underrated.

 

Hey! That’s not off topic at all. I feel Charlie is underrated as well!

 

Differences between our ratings.

Goats Head Soup A-
I.O.RR - A-
Black & Blue - C
Some Girls - A-
Emotional Rescue - D

The rest I concur.

 

That's a serious decline, down in the hole.

 

I never heard that song on the radio, but I spent a week at a hotel in Asbury Park in 1982 or 1983, where SOMEBODY really liked it and kept playing it on the poolside jukebox. The crowd was mostly Latina lesbians who worked the pool area in bikinis and pumps. I could never figure out who was doing it.

(I welcomed any respite from "Flashdance (What a Feeling)")

 

Can i mention Bill Wyman's solo albums? both hilarious in a good way, Wyman's vocals are really quite innocently sweet

 

I find the lack of Dance Little Sister in this thread disturbing.
That's one of the grooviest tunes the Stones ever did, and its absolutely one of their greatest hits of the decade.

 

My ranking comparisons for Stones LP's of this time is in step & uncannily near identical to yours!

 

Hits?

 

And The Singles Collection box!

 

Sticky Fingers A+
Exile A++
Goats Heap Soup B
IORNR B+
Black and Blue B-
Some Girls C+
Emotional Rescue C-
Tattoo You A-