Review Summary: A bunch of solid rockers. From the Rolling Stones. A good bunch it is, then.
Shadoobie! After the so-so reception of
Black And Blue and its dazzling diversity, the Stones were officially old farts. So, what was the saving move that would re-establish them as “trendy” and hip with new audiences? That’s right, a punk rock/disco album! Alright, so these numbers hardly approach true punk and there’s only one disco tune found here. But it didn’t make any difference for the audience, as
Some Girls is their most commercially successful album in America and one only needs to see a few of their performances from that year to understand the impact the album had for the group’s fame.
When dealing with the actual music on the album, there is no room for disappointment. It may pale next to
Black And Blue when it comes to variety in moods, rather preserving the band’s clichéd image as a rock’n’roll unit and nothing more, but it’s not just
any band we’re dealing with, is it now? The rockers just smash everything along the way, brimming with unstoppable energy and fire, while the only ballad here reaches for emotional catharsis with the simplest of means. Trademark Stones, what am I telling you?
It’s best to debunk the “punk” myth surrounding the album as quickly as you can, though; the punky influence is mostly narrowed down to the "barking" of Jagger and especially to the way the guitar arrangements are structured, as the over-abundance of riffs that exists on other prime Stones records makes way for rapid chord bashing and, as Keith likes to call it, “guitar weaving” between the two players. If a tune like
Respectable had been conceived seven years earlier, it would probably feature an iconic riff from Keith and several stand-alone solos from Taylor, playing with antitheses, but now? Now one guitar completes the phrases of the other through fast rhythm patterns, sort of like two people reaching a conclusion together; the one feeds off the other to make a statement.
As a result, you may not be able to tell the difference between Keith and Ronnie on the first few listens, but that’s the point; to create one guitar body through multiple, short and catchy phrases appearing out of nowhere. The best interplay, of course, has to be
Beast Of Burden with its cascading, breathtaking trade-offs between the guitarists, making the simple, but incredible riff sound like a nuanced, classy symphony of the highest order. And if you missed that trademark riffing from Mr. Richards after all that chord cluttering, just roll back to
Miss You and it’s alright! Probably the finest disco anthem a rock band could possibly create, it soars and fascinates on so many levels, whether it’ll be the intoxicating sax section at the end, right after Jagger’s manic scream, or the atmospheric backing vocals found throughout.
Elsewhere, the record strays into deeply heartfelt tongue-in-cheek country with
Far Away Eyes, pop rock with the delightfully Keithian
Before They Make Run or even semi-rap during the closing
Shattered. And I guess that’s it, folks! The rest of the album is excellent, fiery rock’n’roll, but there is a very tiny amount of classics to make me even consider of rating it higher. The songs are extremely catchy, moving and entertaining, but apart from
Miss You,
Respectable and
Beast Of Burden, few moments here can rank among the band’s finest material.
Whatever the lack of classic material may be, the record cannot be described as something less than “excellent” in any way. It's the Stones on auto-pilot in a great way, actually. There is nary a trace of filler to be found here, as none of the tracks overstays its welcome, not to mention that nothing here can be rated as merely “good”. It’s just that, wonderful as the record might be, the cathartic feeling one gets from the better records is largely not at an all-time high here. It is high enough to provide forty perfectly diverting minutes of rock supremacy, though, so I better stop jabbering right here and go get me a girl with faraway eyes instead.
