+ another review by Steve Shymanik
No matter what you may think of the Rolling Stones -- dinosaurs still out to make the big bucks, guys who don't know when to quit or musicians who still get a thrill from doing what they do -- you can't knock them for trying. And after seeing them in the flesh at a club show this past August in Toronto (note: 15 hours in an overnight line), I realize that you can't fake having fun, which is what they were reveling in on that evening. As run of the mill as their world tour in support of their last studio album Bridges to Babylon was, the band, now five decades in, managed to surprise even diehard fans with their Licks world tour, revamping set lists depending on the venue and having three different formats. Many thought it was a great way to wrap it all up. But Mick and the boys are having none of it. Instead, they've returned with probably their strongest album since their post-Steel Wheels return. Yeah, okay, is that saying a lot? Well, Let It Bleed or Beggars Banquet it ain't. There are several tunes on it though that will bring those gems to mind. And Danny Sabre is nowhere to be found on this effort!
The 16-track album, the band's largest since Exile on Main Street opens up with one of the rowdier singles they've made in "Rough Justice", the punchy lead single for this side of the big pond. The song opens up with Keith Richards delivering one of his finer recent riffs and with Mick Jagger talking about once being a rooster but now being "one of your cocks". Charlie Watts, who has recuperated from a bout with cancer, is as always airtight. The chorus also has a bit of swing to it as Ronnie Wood and Richards work off each other. Perhaps it comes off so well due to the fact the album was basically Richards and Jagger stuck in a room and tossing ideas off each other -- simple, rather barren and to the point. Unfortunately this high pace falters with the mid-tempo "Let Me Down Slow" that sounds like it was dusted off from the band's Voodoo Lounge sessions. It's not bad, but seems to be a let down somewhat. That and it's not quite as tight as it could be as they flesh out the conclusion for a hair too long.
Perhaps the best thing about the album is that it's the Stones sticking to what they know. You won't find any samples, electronic touches or dance beats on these tunes. Instead you get a tune like It Won't Take Long that still has some bite, sounding like Love Is Strong on high-speed dubbing. A surprising ditty is "Rain Fall Down", a likeable little ditty that has enough funk in it to draw comparisons to their Undercover days, particularly "Too Much Blood" or "Pretty Beat Up". Here they ride the groove for all its worth with great results. The other single currently out, for the opposite side of the pond, is the ballad "Streets of Love", which will be a complete hit or horrid miss with people. The tune is basically a solo Jagger tune whose lyrics are okay at best. He tries to hit some high notes during the chorus with Richards adding riffs that are buried in the mix. I'll always take "Angie", "Love in Vain", "Moonlight Mile" or "Out of Tears" over this any day of the week, but to each his or her own. The highlight of the album has to be the return to the blues that they offer up on "Back of My Hand", an incredibly pleasing song that has that creepy, stalker-like white British blues feeling that grows and grows in the vein of "Midnight Rambler". Harmonica and slide guitar only polish up this Delta delight.
With 16 songs, there are some lowlights, especially the slow soulful sway of "Laugh, I Nearly Died" and perhaps the aptly titled "Biggest Mistake" that tries to blend pop with a pinch of country with very limited and less than impressive results. Richards' first of two songs is "This Place Is Empty" that has him performing it better than "The Nearness of You", but the country-soul isn't going to strike a chord with many. One sleeper pick is how strong "Oh No, Not You Again" is delivered, much stronger and quite tighter than the band's ragged premiere at their New York press conference earlier this year.
The record does conclude with some high points, starting off with the rather caustic and terse "Sweet Neo Con" which doesn't actually name Dubya or Cheney but you'd have to be a complete idiot to not infer who the group is talking about. "One thing is for certain/ Life's as good as Haliburton" Jagger sings over the standard 4/4 beat of Watts. And after a slightly above average "Driving Too Fast", Richard ends the record with "Infamy" which he sings as "in for me". While not the strongest song on the album, it's close, recalling his solo work circa Main Offender before the Glimmer Twins got back in each others' good graces. If this is "the last time" as far as albums or tours go, the Rolling Stones have far from embarrassed themselves with this latest studio effort.
— 12 September 2005
