The Rolling Stones
A Bigger Bang

Rolling Stones Records (Virgin/EMI)

The Rolling Stones are one of the few bands/artists left for whom I always make a point of buying their new album the day of release. My lifelong...or at least since age nine...devotion to the group still has me eagerly anticipating each new chapter of their legacy. And being as I came into the Stones' world rather late in the game (Emotional Rescue was their first album to enter my household on its first day on the stands,) I never would have guessed on that late June 1980 day that there'd still be at least another quarter century of Stones life and releases to go. And the anticipation of new Stones albums has never waned for me.

Of course, the production rate slowed down over the years...The rather deceitful act of releasing Tattoo You the very next year after Emotional Rescue (the first time since It's Only Rock And Roll that a follow-up studio album came the year after its predecessor) has not been repeated since (though occasional live albums fall closely behind,) and two year gaps turned into three or five year waits.

And now, here's A Bigger Bang, the first Stones studio album in...gulp...eight years! It marks the first time the Stones ever embarked on two world tours between albums.

So...after purchasing the album on its September 6 release date (the day after Labor Day, just as it was when I bought my first Stones album, Through The Past, Darkly in 1979...how well I remembered balancing the enjoyment of the songs with the sadness over returning to school the next day), I alerted my friends not to call me that night, as I would be undergoing a religious experience...listening to a new Rolling Stones album...and wished not to be interrupted.

No one did...and I had my religious experience...but never quite saw (or heard) God. After a few complete plays, my conclusion was that it was by no means a bad album, but not a masterpiece. But, like a lot of albums, repeated plays are revealing hidden charms.

One letdown I had with A Bigger Bang is the same one I had with their last album, Bridges To Babylon. When I first played Steel Wheels (1989) and Voodoo Lounge (1994), both albums had several cuts I loved on the first play, thinking "Wow, that was a great song!" My usual listening procedure with Stones albums, and other albums by the artists I hold in highest regard, is to first play the album straight through without repeating any songs...and it was hard for me to resist not playing "Mixed Emotions" or "Almost Hear You Sigh" back in 1989, or "You Got Me Rocking" or "I Go Wild" or "Baby Break It Down" during my first visit to the Lounge.

That didn't happen with Bridges or with this new album...Both certainly have several good ones, but nothing that knocked me out or made me think "I gotta hear that one again!"

The journey went thusly:

"Rough Justice" opens the set, and comes across like "Mixed Emotions" played a little faster. A likable track. The out of tune guitars in the intro didn't taint the song for me. One can easily imagine this one in the set of the current tour. Ronnie's slide guitar solo is ear-catching, to say the least.

"Let Me Down Slow" is my favorite on the album. Also on the faster side, it has a great descending note chorus: "Baby baby let me down real slow," and some nice high picthed harmonies leading out of (one of) the instrumental breaks.

"It Won't Take Long" is also a good rocker, akin to a slightly faster *Voodoo Lounge's* "Love Is Strong," but better.

"Rain Fall Down" is the album's first real question mark for me. It's a funky danceable number, clearly one of Mick's babies, like Voodoo Lounge's "Suck On The Jugular." (As is already evident, many songs on A Bigger Bang remind me not so much of the Stones' glory days but of their 1989 and beyond output.)

"Streets Of Love" is slower and softer, and is another of my favorites on the album. Once again, descending notes make up the chorus. That's obviously their new favorite trick. It worked on "Let Me Down Slow," and it works here.

"Back of My Hand" put the blues back in the Stones, almost like "You Gotta Move" but with electric guitars. Naturally, Mick plays some bluesy harmonica throughout.

"She Saw Me Coming," while enjoyable, may not be one of my absolute faves on the album, but an interesting thought struck me on the first play. Mick and Keith's vocals are blended in a 1970s Stones kinda way...In other words, when I hear the song, I picture Mick and Keith sharing a mike like in the 1970s stage shots. After a series of albums where the vocals were left pretty much to session vocalists like Bernard Fowler and Lisa Fischer, this one, for the first time in years, sounds in places like The Glimmer Twins! And it's a welcome return.

"Biggest Mistake," a song about a missed opportunity, is no mistake at all. Melodic, softer, with nice harmonies and a catchy chorus, it's another high point for the album. Sounds good.

"This Place Is Empty" is the first of the album's two Keefers. This acoustic guitar and piano based ballad is okay but not one of his best, and not the better of his two *Bang*ers.

"Oh No, Not You Again" is back to rock and roll. Full of classic Stones elements. Despite the title, this is not the album's much hyped anti-Bush song. That comes later.

"Dangerous Beauty" is a mostly one chord number, like a slightly slower "Take It So Hard."

"Laugh I Nearly Died" is another of the more interesting tracks, if not one of the best. It's a slow, softer, minor key number. A cross between "C---sucker Blues" (seek out the booted full band rehearsal version, rather than the more common acoustic master version to note the similarities) and "Fingerprint File" (not in tempo but in feel). The track also has an interesting triple Jagger sandwich of vocals. His normal voice, his low voice and his falsetto voice all sing together here and there, resulting in a rather interesting sound and blend. The song even ends with these voices accapella.

"Sweet Neo Con" is the aforementioned attack on the Bush administration. All power to the Stones for writing such a song...but in truth the song itself isn't all that great. The Stones have, numerous times in their career, proven themselves masters at brilliant original acidic lyrics, so I guess I expected lyrics more creative than "I think that you're a crock of shit." Additionally, backing vocals sound off, and Charlie sounds a little unsure of where the fills go at times. But Mick's harmonica playing is excellent, though it makes this already "Love Is Strong"-ish song sound even more like it.

"Look What The Cat Dragged In" reminds me of...of all songs..."What You Need" by INXS. I never cared much for that song, so I'm not wild about this one either. The lyrics contain a weird vocal reference to "Sgt. Pepper."

"Driving Too Fast" is another good ol' fashion Stones rock and roll number. "Shattered" came to mind a few times as I listened. Must be the flanged guitars.

Keith, as he did on Steel Wheels and Bridges To Babylon, gets the last word on a song called "Infamy" (the title is a pun, as he sings about a girl who has it "in for me") Phased guitars and harmonica help uplift an otherwise plain song into an enjoyable one. Even Keith sounds like he's enjoying this one more than "This Place Is Empty."

A few curiosities about this album: Oddly enough, Mick Jagger has a credit as bassist on no less than five tracks on the album. And Ronnie is missing completely from six songs. But by contrast, it was reassuring to see and hear that Charlie, who had some serious health problems not too long ago, is on every cut (and there's no mistaking his beat...you can tell it's him right away...You'll recognize his favorite cymbal throughout.).

And unlike on Bridges To Babylon, all guitar parts are played by members of the Rolling Stones. No Waddy Wachtell or Blondie Chaplin sneaking guitar parts in this time.

As I said, A Bigger Bang is an album that needs repeated plays to pick up all the hidden charms. Thankfully, it's an album that on the first few plays is just good enough to want to give it repeated plays.

I thank The Rolling Stones for another pleasant listening experience.

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