Start Me Up....or don’t get me started

There have so far been AOR, bubblegum pop, and soundtracks...I’ve had my views on all of them but I don’t think any views have been especially controversial. Perhaps that is about to change.

96 The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You - Streaming on Spotify

The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You, Spotify Album

The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You, iTunes Album UK

The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You, iTunes Album USA

The Stones, of course, are legendary...from ‘62 onwards they were are the very forefront of the “British Invasion”. The Who brought the rock, Yardbirds brought the blues, the Hollies brought the harmonies and the Beatles brought the innovation. The Stones brought....???and there we have it! I was not a teenager in the 60’s, all these bands came before my time and I can only make a retrospective evaluation...I was not there to enjoy the hysteria and Mick’s swagger. I have never been able to figure out exactly what the Stones brought to the party.

Now don’t get me wrong I like the Stones and they have some truly brilliant highlights. Paint it Black, Gimmie Shelter, Wild Horses, Satisfaction, Sympathy for the Devil, Angie, Brown Sugar....you can go on and on with killer hits, but I can just never pinpoint anything distinctive or innovative for them to have such iconic status....perhaps other than Mick’s voice and swagger. In my attempts to see all my favourite living legends play live, the Stones never even get a look in. I’d love to hear your thoughts.....make a counter-argument, tell me why they are so great.

All that said, I’m not ignorant to their work. I’m at least familiar with most of their albums, especially those that came out in the 80’s. I can, therefore, at least put this one in context and share my thoughts.

The geek in me has to admit to loving “Start Me Up”....the song used to launch Microsoft’s Windows 95 (and making the stones a crap ton of money in the process). To my mind, this is still the standout track in this funny old compilation and I use that word deliberately as all the songs are recordings of outtakes from the 10 years that preceded the album’s release. I have to say that as a casual listener you would not guess. Most of the songs still have identifiable blues rock roots.

Hang Fire rattles along nicely, Slave is blues’y, Little T&A gives Richards chance to pretend he can sing 😉, Black Limousine is unadulterated blues. Waiting on a Friend is a great closer with some superb sax work. Re-listening a few times before I wrote this was certainly no hardship but outside of that first killer track I was never excited. I’d love if there could be just a little more something distinctive .... just like the rest of the stones career....Ho Hum.

More later.....

97 Boston’s Third Stage... the laws of diminishing returns

And so (after a work imposed break), hopefully back on track in numerical order we arrive at the first of what I’m sure will be a few entries for the mega-group REOSpeedForeignerBostonJourneyKansasWagon 😜.

98 Boston, Third Stage...Streaming on Spotify

Boston - Third Stage, Spotify Album

Boston - Third Stage, iTunes Album USA

Boston - Third Stage, iTunes Album UK

I have to admit (and forgive me if there is a theme emerging here) we were VERY unkind to the American mega groups / arena rock groups of the 70s and 80s. I don’t know who of my friends originated the name “REOSpeedForeignerBostonJourneyKansasWagon”? ..... but it’s a funny joke and does fairly accurately bring to mind that certain type of polished, tuneful and radio friendly American rock. Are they all the same?....well clearly not. A little maturity and the passage of time have allowed me to appreciate some of the great tunes these bands pumped out. It’s not like I actually disliked these bands at the time either, I simply preferred my rock to come with some harder edges and attitude. It would be really interesting to hear readers comments on bands or styles where your views have mellowed over time.

Third stage is a really curious beast. A VERY long time after “Don’t Look Back”, as a non-devotee I’d almost forgotten about the band, but it was immediately identifiable Tom Schulz’s incredibly distinctive sound…crafted by months or years of fine tuning in the studio.

“Amanda” was the big hit in the UK….and it does stick out as much more standalone than the rest of the album…a true ‘arms in the air’ stadium ballad. The rest of of the album seems much more themed, with Tom reflecting on hitting middle age. There are real standouts though…. “The Launch” and “Cool the Engines” are full of energy and “Can’tcha Say” is full of those amazing guitar harmonies we all know from the band….there is really no duff tracks on here.

But…. Outside of the lyrical territory, there is nothing really new here. You could easily argue that this is as good as the first album, but it’s just all so familiar that it has far less impact. The first time most of us heard those guitar harmonies on the first album, it was a real wow moment….here it’s just….well it’s just Boston. I’ve loved becoming re-aquatinted with this to write the blog…but a year from now, if I fancy some best in breed American Oriented Rock (AOR) action…ill be reaching back for the self titled debut. By the time the 4^thalbum rolled round I’d given up altogether (I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it all the way through)…it’s interesting that in reality this is Boston’s only 80’s album given they have always sounded so 80s.

Diminishing returns indeed but I still like the spaceship!

More soon