As you may know, I grew up during the heyday of grunge, but that style of music never spoke to me at all. (Actually, I was so utterly alienated by grunge that I spent years unable to understand what it was that made people hardcore fans of any band.) I picked up an album here and there over the years as a song caught my fancy, but it wasn’t until I bought that copy of Cross Road that everything started to come together for me to really become a fan of rock music.
Posts Tagged ‘Rolling Stones’
Random Song: Tumbling Dice
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011Artist: The Rolling Stones
Album: Exile on Main Street
The Stones are masters of rock and roll. Those guys have got the blues roots–but they’ve also got the rock and roll soul that you need to put out a song like this one.
Top Ten Songs for Fixing a Rotten Day
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011I always wind up turning to music when I’ve had a bad day. Sometimes it’s a concert DVD, and sometimes it’s just turning on the computer and letting Windows Media Player shuffle until it hits the right song.
So, I present the top 10 songs that I turn to when I’ve had that truly rotten day… (more…)
It looks like I may get my wish…
Monday, February 28th, 2011According to the set list from the Madison Square Garden shows that I’ve seen, I may get my wish for a new Rolling Stones cover during the tour this year. (Lee-Ann has the set list over at Blame It On The Love, so I won’t repost it here.)
Random Song: Angie
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010Artist: The Rolling Stones
Album: Goats Head Soup
I usually associate the Rolling Stones with ripping, fast-paced tracks like ‘Paint It Black’. This is a beautiful song, but not one of the Stones’ most memorable tracks, as far as I’m concerned.
Paint it Black at the O2
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010Who would’ve thought that Bon Jovi would do a cover of ‘Paint it Black’ during one of their shows at the O2 right after I did a Random Song pick for it?
Anyway, a couple of days ago I was checking out the latest videos over at Blame it on the Love from the shows at the O2 in London, and one of them just happened to be a clip of Bon Jovi doing one of my all time favorite songs–’Paint it Black’.
Now I did get to see the band do ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ during the Lost Highway tour–they did it mixed in with ‘Keep the Faith’ during that tour. And for some reason, Bon Jovi seems to do a pretty good job when they’re covering the Stones. Now, don’t get me wrong–’Sympathy for the Devil’ is a great song, and it certainly beats a lot of others that I’ve heard. But it doesn’t quite hold the same place in my heart as ‘Paint it Black’. There’s just something about that pounding riff that ‘Paint it Black’ is built on.
Now, as for the Bon Jovi version, the video that I saw sounds a little funky. I suspect that it’s the addition of Dave’s keyboards that give it that odd edge. In the Bon Jovi performance though, it’s Jon’s vocals that really make the song.
This is one song where the more gravelly aspects of Jon’s voice really play into the bluesy, dark vibe of the song. Plus, Jon really puts his all into it. He really makes you feel it, and that makes for a good performance. Plus, for some reason, the Bon Jovi performance really changes the focus of the song over to center on the lyrics. In the Stones versions of it (I have both the studio version and a live version) the emphasis seemed to be more on the riff than on the vocals.
All together though, it sounds like the fans at the O2 that night really got a treat.
Random Song: Paint It Black (live)
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010Artist: The Rolling Stones
Album: Flashpoint
This is one of the odd songs where I really enjoy the live recording more than the studio recording. Flashpoint was one of the first Stones albums that I bought for myself, as opposed to borrowing my parents’ records. I went through a phase where I was really interested in the dynamics of the live performance and how it changes the songs.
In the case of this song, the live performance gives a much grittier feel to a naturally dark song. The live version has a slightly looser but somehow more intense groove than the studio version.
I love this song because it’s one of the few live tracks that I’ve encountered that truly captures the feel of a live performance. It’s just a straight up performance of the song without the polish and perfection of the studio recording. Also, whoever handled the sound mixing on the recording did an excellent job of managing the level of crowd noise. Some live albums almost completely remove the crowd noise, leaving something missing. That allows the music to stand out more, but in some ways, also leaves the most vital part of the live performance out of the equation.
Plus, I get a kick out of how you can hear somebody in the crowd repeatedly yelling out their request for this song throughout the album. That person must have had an enormous set of lungs to stand out from all the crowd noise in the background of the recording.
If you’re looking for my commentary on Bon Jovi’s performance of ‘Paint it Black’ at the O2, that’s in this post: Paint it Black at the O2.
Random Song: It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll (But I Like It)
Friday, March 26th, 2010Artist: The Rolling Stones
Album: It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll
I remember this song from my childhood. My parents had a copy of Made in the Shade on vinyl, and that was how I grew up listening to it. To this day, this song sounds completely strange to me whenever I hear a modern digital copy. It just doesn’t sound right without the scratch and crackle of the old album.
For some reason, I never really cared for songs where rock musicians tried to be profound. But I sure always liked songs like this one that deal with the basics: sex, drugs and rock and roll. Couple some breakup defiance with a good hook, and I’m all set to go. And the Rolling Stones have justly earned their legendary status.
I can’t help it. This is one song that I like to dance along with, even though I can’t really dance. Something about the guitar in this song just calls to me. It’s not a showy, epic guitar part, but it works in perfect harmony with everything else in the song. Especially in the way that it mimics and complements the raspy quality of the vocals. This song comes together into a single coherent entity in a way that a lot of musicians can only dream about.