Review Summary: Undeniably important, but also undoubtedly inconsistent. Feel free to apply your view on the half-empty/half-full theory on this one.
What an incredibly cheating title this is. With just four words, the band managed to trick everyone into thinking this was going to be an all-originals release, when in fact half the tunes here are covers. On the other hand, maybe they just got a bit cocky; after all, this was the first album by a British R&B act to contain several original efforts that by far surpassed the covers in terms of popularity and, thus, further establishing themselves as the premier rhythm & blues band of the era.
In general, this is a more “restrained” effort for the group. On earlier releases, the majority of the rockers were fast and frenetic, with just a few softer songs thrown in for good measure. Here, though, the only speedy number is
I’m All Right, while the rest of the material is a mixture of pop, blues, soul, dark balladry and mid-tempo rockers. While this approach has definitely astonishing results, it is also responsible for some of the record’s problems. What problems, you ask? Well, be patient and follow my lead.
What this album should, and probably will, be remembered for is the birth of the modern guitar riff; not the first
ever, of course, but the first one that mattered. Once upon a time, these magical sound waves that we call riffs were either too primitive (Kinks, Who, early blues and rock’n’roll) or didn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of a given tune (Beatles). But it took Keith and only Keith to upgrade this much-used tool into something that was fully fledged, both in sound and writing, as well as absolutely essential to the song’s essence and success. Could
I Feel Fine get its message across without its Bobby Parker influenced riff? Absolutely. Could
Satisfaction (or
The Last Time, for that matter) be as effective without the famous three-note run? Maybe, but not nearly as much. Fans may argue about Keith’s finest moment, but when it comes to his most
important one, there can be no argument; these are the two songs to look up.
Outside of guitar innovations, though, the group was also comfortable at creating dark baroque pop in
Play With Fire. At least eight months before
Rubber Soul hit the record stores and a full year before Ray Davies upped his game with
Face To Face, the Stones gathered a warm acoustic guitar, an eerie harpsichord and Jagger’s subdued, yet menacing performance, becoming one of the first rock bands to bring “seriousness” and “higher” forms of art into the forefront of their music (along with the Zombies’ efforts), not to mention the evocative put-down of an upper-class woman, a theme that even Dylan hadn’t touched in February 1965.
Speaking of Bob, he is certainly a major influence for Mick’s writing here.
Satisfaction has to be the first original rock song to express anger, displease and disapproval with brainwashing commercialism. By bringing social commentary to the forefront, the Stones managed to transform rock into a rebellious force to be reckoned with. And if displease with the status quo of the day wasn’t enough for teenagers to relate with, Mick had a back-up plan. The third verse of the song had to be the most offensive and dirty sex reference rock has seen yet; he can’t have sex because of menstruation. But it was also the most realistic to date, according to Jagger:
Quote:
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It’s just life. That’s what really happens to girls. Why shouldn’t people write about it?
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Apart from this glorious trio, though, the record has still some joy to offer. The only other original that stands out is
The Spider And The Fly, which might not be innovative at all, but is a hilarious laid-back blues shuffle with dynamic singing from Mick.
Mercy, Mercy is simply excellent, thanks to Keith’s and Brian’s (original, I might add) fuzzy guitar figures, the bouncy rhythm section and Mick’s sharp delivery, while
That’s How Strong My Love Is is bolstered by a powerhouse vocal performance.
The rest, however, are quite expendable. The band, slowly transitioning from a cover band to an ensemble of original songwriters, didn’t have enough material to fill half an album yet, so
One More Try and
Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man end up feeling like underdeveloped filler material. The biggest blow, though, is the cover material. Suddenly, the boys fancied themselves as soul and pop interpreters rather than hard-hitting rockers, resulting in generic, toothless renditions of
Good Times and
Cry To Me. Finally,
I’m All Right would have been a definite highlight were it not for its poor sound quality, but the group decided it was wise to put a live performance into a studio release.
To wrap this up, if their debut pioneered how a rock group should sound and play, this release showed how rock music should be
written. Filler material aside, the importance of the famous trio here cannot be underestimated and, in any case, there are twenty minutes of great music to be found, even if the remaining ten are somewhat unnecessary. Well, you can't always get what you want, right?
