Review #41: Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
#41: Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
As I said in my Exile review, I always thought I loved the Beatles much more than the Rolling Stones. I just love a pretty melody, and the Beatles’ only deliver pretty melodies, even when they’re at their edgiest. Plus, there is not a single good-looking person in the Rolling Stones. (I said what I said. Trust me, their feelings are not hurt.)
But this is the second Rolling Stones album that I listened to on the road, and it completely changed how I felt about them. These were hands-down my favorite road trip albums. If I ever finish listening to these (I won’t), the next time I do a road trip I’ll listen to every Rolling Stones album.
FAVORITE SONGS:
“Gimme Shelter” — Okay, the amazing female singer in this is Merry Clayton, and when her voice cracks when she screams “Murder” my brain breaks right in half. Fun fact: Clayton also sings on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and features in 20 Feet From Stardom about backup singers.
Another fun fact: I was singing this song for hours. HOURS. Whenever an album came on that I started to zone out during (looking at you, #45, Sign O’ The Times) I would just scream-sing Merry Clayton’s part from “Gimme Shelter”, because I can only hit those notes at the top of my lungs.
“Love in Vain” — This song is slow and Mick Jagger’s voice is so off-putting, so I should hate this song, but the WILD finger-picked guitar solo is just too cool.
“Country Honk” — This song confused the hell out of me when I first heard it, because I’ve only ever heard “Honky Tonk Women.” Turns out that this version of it was the original arrangement? I kind of love it, anyway — the violin and guitar are so sweet! Did NOT enjoy the occasional honking of cars in the background, at least not while driving through a construction zone.
“Live With Me” — This one is just fun.
“Let It Bleed” — Mick Jagger’s voice in this cracks me up, but this song definitely rocks.
“Midnight Rambler” — The use of harmonica on this album is so amazing. This song is 7 minutes of the same thing in different tempos. I could have listened to it for 30 minutes.
“You Got The Silver” — You got the silver/you got the gold. Why does that make my heart melt? Also I love the slide guitar at the end.
“Monkey Man” — Points for unhinged lyrics!
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” — LOVE the kid’s choir. After all that honky tonk stuff, the opening acoustic guitar and horn parts are really moving. This song is just ultimately really simple and moralizing and is still this whole orchestral masterpiece. This album just blows me down.
LEAST FAVORITE SONGS:
???
IS RS FULL OF IT?
Nope, not at all, “Gimme Shelter” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” are two of the greatest songs of all time, period, end of story.
Review #40: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, David Bowie
