The Rolling Stones

This 1971 tour de force is one of the very best records of the '70s. Working from familiarly bluesy territory, the boys add country honk depression, honing the trademark combination of huckster cynicism and sonic authenticity that marks their best work. The ideas presented on Sticky Fingers were fleshed out and perfected on Exile On Main St.

<P ALIGN=CENTER>SIDE ONE "Brown Sugar:" It begins with some magical raunch chords on the
right channel. In the tradition of great guitar intros ("All Day and All of the Night,"
"Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown," and "Satisfaction" itself) it transfixes you: instant
recognition, instant connection. Suddenly the electric guitar is joined by an acoustic
guitar on the left channel, an acoustic that is merely strumming the chords that t... More >

You'd think some compensation was in order a year and a half after the fact, but that old evil life's just got them in its sway. From titles like "Bitch" and "Sister Morphine" and (the one Altamont reference) "Dead Flowers" through "Brown Sugar"'s compulsively ironic and bacchanalian exploitation/expose to the almost Yeatsian "Moonlight Mile," this is unregenerate Stones. The token sincerity of "Wild Horses" drags me. But "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and "I Got the Blues" are as soulful as "Good Times," and Fred McDowell's "You Gotta Move" stands alongside "Prodigal Son" and "Love in Vain." (Grade - A)