The
Rolling Stones come back with ‘A Bigger Bang’ (2005) and a new world tour
taking them right the way through to the summer of 2006. Who would have thought
that when the band were formed in 1962, that forty three years later they would
be still going and even more incredibly the biggest grossing rock ‘n’ roll
band in the world? The Stones hold the record for the top 2 most attended North
American tours of all time.
It’s been a long, sometimes arduous, but mostly magical
journey. Including many internal fights, mostly between the self titled Glimmer
twins Jagger and Richards, although sometimes involving the others. The dapper
Charlie Watts was once summoned from his bed as Mick Jagger wanted his drummer
at one of New York’s prestigious parties. Charlie got dressed, arrived at the
party, decked Jagger with one punch and informed him that Jagger himself was
purely the singer in Watt’s band.
Founder member Brian Jones was fired from the band, and then
mysteriously found drowned in his own swimming pool soon afterwards; marriages
and divorces have been commonplace, except for the long lasting marriage of Mr
and Mrs Watts. Original keyboard player Ian Stewart met an untimely early
death. Charlie Watts has recently recovered from throat cancer. As well as to
many runs in with the law to mention.
Mick Taylor replaced Brian Jones on lead guitar but after
five years just faded away, to be replaced in turn by Ronnie Wood who, after
over thirty years in the ranks, is still looked upon as the new boy. The bass
player retired.
When the band hits the road these days, there are over
thirty active musicians on stage, with a support crew of hundreds. All the
world tours are sold out, and all albums go straight to number one, and are
certified platinum, although all efforts at solo albums have met with
disastrous commercial results. To cap it all, to the world’s disbelieve,
particularly that of Keith Richards, the singer in the band is now officially
known as Sir Michael Jagger.
Which brings us to ‘A Bigger Bang’, The Rolling Stones
27th Studio album. There have, of course, been dozens of compilation albums,
live albums, and exploitation albums from their Decca days. But this is their
first since ‘Bridges of Babylon’ (1997); before that there was ‘Voodoo
Lounge’ (1994), both of which, although selling well, were poor albums by the
Stones own standards. (Try and name one song from either album...)
In 2002 the Stones went back on the road supporting the
release of a double album of greatest hits - ‘Forty Licks’ (with two rather
patchy new songs). The tour was enormously successful, and the Stones were in
top form, as can be witnessed by watching the ‘Forty Flicks’ ‘DVD. But
over 80% of the songs were more than 30 years old. Which proved the point that
the Stones could still cut the mustard without having any new product to show
off. As three of the main participants were all well into their seventh decade,
where also was the point?
Then at the beginning of 2005 a new tour and album were
announced. Everybody immediately gets excited by the news of a Stones tour:
would this be the last one? Except for us here in Thailand who of course know
even if they book a concert it will only be cancelled without reason on the day
of the event!
But a new Stones album did not at first generate the same
buzz. That was until people started to hear it. The Stones have come out with
an absolute corker of a rock ‘n’ roll album. “A Bigger Bang’ is going
to rank along side other great Stones albums such as ‘Sticky Fingers’
(1971), ‘Let It Bleed’ (1969) and ‘Emotional Rescue’ (1980). It is also
the longest Stones album since ‘Exile On Main Street’ (1972) and,
importantly, their most rock ‘n’ roll album since ‘Some Girls’ (1978).
Don Was, who has almost become the fifth Stone, produced the
album, keeping the sound very live and in your face. “A Bigger Bang’ is an
ambitious wide-ranging collection of songs, hard hitting rock and blues,
running to sixteen Jagger/Richards originals. There is not a filler amongst
them; all of the songs here could easily fit into the present world tour set.
The album begins exactly as any Rolling Stones album should
with a smack straight between the eyes from the guitar of Keith Richards with
the testosterone calling card explosion of ‘Rough Justice’, a ribald
licentious rocker with Sir Mick getting all bawdy, and Keith Richards’
incendiary bottleneck sliding around like an aroused python. You can hear the
sweat running down the frets of the combined guitar necks. Charlie Watts of
course commands the rhythm section giving the others a rock solid base to work
from.
It is to the Stones credit that they still sound like the
most rowdy ramble rousers on the block, and certainly the guys you want to keep
your daughters away from. There are plenty of highlights, including the classic
blues of ‘Back Of My Hand’, the first single, ‘Streets of Love’, and
Jagger sounds fantastic on songs like the bitchy rocker ‘Look What The Cat
Dragged In’ or like the dumped sad case on the jilted love tale of ‘She Saw
Me Coming’. Only Mick Jagger could sing the ballad ‘Streets Of Love’ with
his over pronounced English.
Quite what a bunch of lads from Dartford England are doing
preaching to the American President for on ‘Sweet Neo Con’ I am not sure
but it is a good tune. Perhaps it is a bit of a sign of the times when rocker
‘Driving Too Fast’ sounds a bit like a cross between ‘Jumpin Jack
Flash’ and a lecture on road safety. Just for good measure there are also two
Keith Richards sung songs. Keith resurrects one of Kenneth William’s finest
wordplays on ‘Infamy’ and steals the show with the best lyric on the album
“Come on honey bare your breasts and make me feel at home” on ‘This Place
Is Empty’.
The Rolling Stones have been top of the tree for touring
rock ‘n’ roll bands for forty years now. ‘A Bigger Bang’ will put them
back on the top of the recording artists as well. Many a good tune played on an
old fiddle.
Another new book from Christopher G Moore, the prolific
Canadian author, but resident in Bangkok for many years. Gambling on Magic
(ISBN 974-92942-5-4, published by Heaven Lake Press) is due to be released in
paperback in October this year, so you can be first in the queue if Moore is
one of your favorite authors.