#0070: The Rolling Stones - Aftermath [****]

It was policy in the 60s to release a different version of UK albums in the US.  The version I have of this is the US release and I'm not entirely happy about that.  Nevertheless, that's the version this review is based on.

This cut begins with Paint It Black.  It's not on the UK version cuz in those days the singles were not included on the album.  That says a lot to me about how music was marketed.  Singles weren't used to promote an album or if they were you had to buy the single as well if it was what motivated you to buy the album.  It's not like they didn't have room on the vinyl.  

Paint It Black is a great song but for me it loses its way half way through.  I've heard it many many times and when it comes on I think "Yeah, great" but I've never got to the end without losing interest.

That aside, these songs are slinky beat babies and if I had to pick something the Stones had over the Beatles it's that.  They were funkier.  Even the more obviously blues rooted tracks like Flight 505 have a quality that I cannot pinpoint to a specific instrument or rhythmic signature.  It's in the audaciously worded Stupid Girl, Under My Thumb, Think; an incorporeal funkiness that makes me buck and grind right here at the table.  

One exception to this is Lady Jane and it's here I was impressed.  Mick Jagger shows a versatility with his vocal I've been unaware of all these years.  The harpsichord, dulcimer and acoustic guitars produced a beautiful, mellow sound and the lyrics, while grandiose in their mock-Elisabethan court style somehow escape sounding pretentious.

The drums are a bit messy on High and Dry, otherwise a good country stomp.  It's Not Easy has a sneaky little organ jabbing almost indetectably low in the mix that puts a cherry on top of this already magnetically animalistic tune.

So far, this is a delight.  Then comes I Am Waiting.  It's got a functional chorus that kicks in with drums after a verse carried by guitar and dulcimer/harpsicord and I can't help but feel like I _am_ actually just waiting for that chorus.  Not so great, really.

The last track is Goin' Home.  It's 11 minutes long.  Long closing tracks seem to be very common on albums from this time and in my experience to date, they destroy all the good work an album may have done.  Why do they do it?  Is it self indulgence?  Is it to fill time?  Do they think it lends credence to their image as "artists" to be able to play the same pattern round and round for four song lengths?  

This album is no exception.  11 minutes of one of the groovy ones with some extended solos might've been something but it's just a very loose quasi-skiffle on the same bass note with Jagger improvising over the top.  

To put it in perspective it is at least tuneful, which is a lot more than I can say for other Closing Epic Offenders.  But it's soooo tedious.  And to think they cut 4 songs from the UK version in order keep this.  It beggars belief.

I went and found those four tracks and they were great.  Take It Or Leave It was borderline but still a damn sight more engaging than Goin' Home.

I wanna make sure I come back to this so I'm giving it a 4 but only on the understanding that I will be making my own hybrid playlist that excludes that last track.   And probably I Am Waiting now that I think about it.  There.  Perfect.

I was born too late, y'no?  Think of the suffering I could've saved everyone.