List 41

[Lucky]

Here is the place to renominate the great albums that were not selected for the last list. There were obviously lots of popular picks. Don't give up on them!

Just as obviously, there are a probably a few others that haven't been thought of yet...

[Shawna]

In honor of my interview with Radney Foster - who has written tons of songs for tons of country music artists, including Keith Urban and the Dixie Chicks (and himself), which will be covered in the songfacts when they get uploaded this weekend - I would like to nominate

Are You Ready For The Big Show? ~ Radney Foster

Radney’s first live album, cut in Austin. Featuring the studio bonus hit, “Texas In 1880†(with Pat Green)

1. Tonight

2. God Knows When

3. Just Call Me Lonesome

4. School of Hard Knocks

5. Went For A Ride

6. I'm Used To It

7. Folding Money

8. Leaning On What Love Can Do

9. How You Play The Hand

10. Nobody Wins

11. I'm In

12. Bonus: Texas In 1880 - Radney Foster/Pat Green

13. Bonus: Tonight

"Nobody Wins" and "Just Call Me Lonesome" were my first experiences with this amazingly talented singer/songwriter. He's got a versatile voice, sounding a lot like Dwight Yoakam on "Lonesome," and the "digging around in my soul" really shows in his lyrics. He's wrenchingly soulful and honest.

[edna]

Let me be a pest...

Re-nomination:

"Transformer"

Lou Reed"

Released: December 1972

Songs:

1. "Vicious"

2. "Andy's Chest"

3. "Perfect Day"

4. "Hangin' Round"

5. "Walk on the Wild Side"

6. "Make Up"

7. "Satellite of Love"

8. "Wagon Wheel"

9. "New York Telephone Conversation"

10. "I'm So Free"

11. "Goodnight Ladies"

Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson.

One of the best albums in rock history. Beautiful songs and amazing arrangements. A must.

[Lucky]

edna you are my favorite pest....

[edna]

I love you too, Lucky...

[Shawna]

I'm flying high on painkillers. I love everybody!

[Elvish]

How about some Dead?...I'm not a real big Dead fan, but I do like this album alot...so give it a listen...can I nominate more than one album?

American Beauty ~ The Grateful Dead

1. Box Of Rain

2. Friend Of the Devil

3. Sugar Magnolia

5. Candyman

7. Brokedown Palace

8. Till the Morning Comes

9. Attics Of My Life

10. Truckin'

11. Truckin'

12. Friend Of the Devil

13. Candyman

14. Till the Morning Comes

15. Attics Of My Life

16. Truckin'

17. Bonus Track 1

18. Bonus Track 2

Who says discipline is a bad thing? No one who's heard American Beauty, the Dead's greatest studio achievement. Showcasing 10 concise, country-rooted gems that sound equally good whether you're hanging on the front porch in the afternoon or nursing a bottle after hours, this one could win over many an anti-Jerry. Bewildered by loss both personal and social--the hippie dream was quickly crashing by Beauty's 1970 release date--the band put its querulousness ("Box of Rain") and wry humor ("Truckin'") into the service of a masterwork. The most impressive cut of all may be "Ripple," Garcia's spiritual credo. --Rickey Wright

For once a truly beautiful album cover is more than matched by the record inside. The dead just refuse to keep within any normal limits, and I hope that it stays that way for a long time. Workingman's Dead was a lovely album, lush, full, and thoroughly real in musical and lyrical content. American Beauty is a joyous extension of the last album. If possible there is even more care on vocal wok. Everyone in the band sings, and sings well alone and together.

A complete contentment shines through the vocal work on this album. A full contentment. The instrumentation is rich with sound that moves through, under, and into the listener. Damn it all, the album is American beauty, of the best possible kind. The positivity of the Dead just can't be kept down. Look at the cover. "American Beauty" can also be read as "American Reality," thanks to Mouse Studios. If more of the American reality were this album, we'd all have a lot more to be thankful for.

"Box of Rain" takes plenty of time, and moves surely. The band isn't in any great hurry. Layers of music weave in seemingly simple patterns—deceptively simple patterns. Phil Lesh's singing is just right. The chorus is fine: "A box of rain will ease the pain/And love will see you through." "Believe it if you need it/If you don't just pass it on." Praised be Bob Hunter. Countrified Dead is so nice to listen to.

From "Box of Rain" they zip into "Friend of the Devil," which is a snappy little country number, with some extremely fine bass and acoustic guitar interplay. Jerry Garcia's voice now makes him a perfect wobbly cowboy.

Pigpen drops by with "Operator." Pigpen songs are always enjoyable, because they're Pigpen songs. That would be enough, but they are often good too, which is an added bonus, and this one certainly is good. Pigpen growls as ever.

"Ripple" and "Brokedown Palace" are coupled by a vocal chorus, a little reminiscent of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but only in a complimentary sense. The songs meld together and are strongly pretty and sad, as is "Attics of My Life," which has some very, very nice harmony work.

The two songs that come closest to being rockers on the album are "Till the Morning Comes" and "Truckin." "Truckin" is just the story of the Dead—going on the road, losing old friends, gaining new ones, trying to keep everybody happy, trying to play some nice music for people, and succeeding on all counts.

The Dead are getting pretty big commercially now, and if ever a band deserved it, it's them. They have given us all something to treasure with this album. It's one for now, and one for the kids in 20 years too. American Beauty's like that, you know. (RS 73)

ANDY ZWERLING

[_Laurie_]

Thanks for the info Elvy!

[Farin]

Weezer (The Blue Album) ~ Weezer (1994)

Track listing

All songs by Rivers Cuomo, except where noted.

1. "My Name Is Jonas" (Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Jason Cropper) – 3:24

2. "No One Else" – 3:04

3. "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" (Cuomo, Wilson) – 4:19

4. "Buddy Holly" – 2:39

5. "Undone - The Sweater Song" – 5:05

6. "Surf Wax America (Audio only)" (Cuomo, Wilson) – 3:06

7. "Say It Ain't So" – 4:18

8. "In the Garage (Audio only)" – 3:55

9. "Holiday" – 3:24

10. "Only in Dreams" – 7:59

I Don't Think Weezer Ever Topped This!

As the title of this review suggests, I really don't think Weezer ever made a more consistent, more infectious, or more charming album than this one; their debut. It's got it all: loud, heavy, swirling, electrified guitars which create a lush wall-of-sound, infectious sing-a-long melodies which are as sweet as candy, charming & quirky lyrics (and vocals) that anyone feeling alienated -- or in more popular terms, anyone who feels like a "geek" -- can relate to...really, how can you go wrong here?

There's something very refreshing and nostalgic about Weezer's music -- you get the sense that they exhibit something of a vibe from the '50s and early '60s; meaning that they seem to exhibit the kind of stomach-turning (well, not stomach-turning to me, but to most "hipsters") vibe of artists like The Beach Boys (but not necessarily sounding much like them), or any other band/artist from the aforementioned time period that is highly associated with the Summer, or the beach, perhaps, yet they update -- and transmutate -- this vibe, to make it seem nearly-unrecognizable; in other words, they somehow manage to shake-up this aspect enough to make it fit in with modern times (with "slight" bit of irony and angst, but not overbearingly so), which makes Weezer's presence quite interesting and refreshing, considering what most of today's music scene is filled with.

You know the popular tracks here: "Undone (The Sweater Song)," "Buddy Holly" (probably my absolute favorite track here, ironically, considering it was a hit, and usually "hit" songs are not my favorites from albums), "Say It Ain't So" -- all excellent tracks. But, the rest of the album is just as strong in it's delicious treatment of loud, heavy guitars lurching out melodic noise, with the quirky, seemingly-harmless, "geeky" vocals; "My Name Is Jonas" is a highlight, as well as the beautifully-punchy, summery melodies of "No One Else." Really, the whole album is excellent from top to bottom.

Loud, heavy pop confections, which are soaked in melodies as sweet as candy, and quirky vulnerability to boot; You can't go wrong here. Recommended for any fan of alternative rock, or for fans who like their heavy-rock doses high in melody.

[Super Ry 71]

The Beatles - Beatles For Sale

1) No Reply

2) I'm A Loser (George: BEST SONG. )

3) Baby's In Black

4) Rock And Roll Music

5) I'll Follow The Sun

6) Mr Moonlight

7) Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey

8) Eight Days A Week

9) Words Of Love

10) Honey Don't

11) Every Little Thing

12) I Don't Want To Spoil The Party

13) What You're Doing

14) Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby

A 'marking-time album', I presume the expression is? Lack of easily detectable forward movement and all? Yes, the Beatles were tired and somewhat disspirited (at least, John and George certainly were, as it's their grumbling and bickering rather than Paul's or Ringo's that fills up much of the corresponding period as decribed in the Anthology). Tired of touring; disspirited through being so heavily pressed down upon by the whole business. Logically thinking, there's no way such a situation could not have affected their songwriting, and the drab autumnal colours and unusually scruffy haircuts (doesn't George's, in particular, look like it's begging to be grabbed by that strand and lifted off in one sweep?) seem to comply with that idea.

I would never agree, though, that there is absolutely no "progression" on Beatles For Sale. Oh yes, the obligatory magical number of six (covers) is back, not to mention that even some of the original material is pretty old - 'I'll Follow The Sun', in particular, is, like, one of their earliest attempts at songwriting from the Hamburg days - showing just how much time exactly they had in between touring, filming, and screwing. Likewise, there isn't exactly any serious development in sound recording techniques or, actually, the sound itself since Hard Day's Night. But if only for a moment we stop judging the Beatles by their own high standards and grant them the right to at least one or two albums that do not take us light years away from where we last finished, then you'll actually find quite a few nifty little tidbits about BfS that certainly weren't present earlier. For instance, the band's ability to create a "wall-of-sound" with something different from the traditional cymbal-heavy Ringo drum track - like George Martin's frantic boogie piano and John's echoey vocals on 'Rock'n'Roll Music'. Or a couple new sonic tones, like the "watery" organ on 'Mr Moonlight' or George's raffinated guitar ring on 'Words Of Love'. Or the false ending to 'What You're Doing'. Or Ringo's newly-found passion for the ultra-deep sound of the bass drum.

The most serious improvement, however, the one that really matters (and that every critic since the birth of rock criticism has used as the main argument in favour of this album) are the lyrics. Of the two (three?) songwriters, John at least has finally begun to demonstrate a certain care towards the verbal message, courtesy of one Robert Zimmerman whom he'd become a serious admirer of since having first heard The Freewheelin'. True progress takes time, and John was yet a bit reluctant to fully sink in the world of Dylan-like absurdist wordplay (well, not that Dylan himself had sunk into it at an age as early as 1964), but the main principle - that some of the words at least should be listened to for their meaning - is certainly followed on some songs at least, most notably on 'I'm A Loser': 'Although I laugh and I act like a clown/Beneath this mask I am wearing a frown'.

It's hardly a coincidence that the song also emphasizes John's harmonica playing - the instrumental breaks are divided in halves, one of which is John stretching himself on the small metal bar and only the other one is the typically jangly Harrison solo. For all of John's sympathy towards the instrument, only two or three earlier Beatles songs had distinct harmonica solos, most notably "throwaways" like 'Love Me Do' or 'Little Child'. This is, then, a very marked foray into the "singer-songwriter" world, and if I'd ever be asked to compile a sort of "John Lennon: The Man In The Music" anthology, there's no question that 'I'm A Loser' would be, like, the perfect opener for such a thing - both chronologically and symbolically.

That said, 'I'm A Loser' is far from the only song on the album to have this pessimistic feel. 'No Reply', 'Baby's In Black', 'I Don't Want To Spoil The Party' - sheez, you don't even need to listen, just one look at the titles is enough to see that something must have snapped in order for them to engage in so much gloominess after all the relentless joviality of Hard Day's Night. Most of the melodies for these ones have been worked on by John and Paul in tight collaboration, but the words are clearly John's, and it's all about lost love, lost love, and still a bit more lost love. They don't sound that gloomy; the melodies can be twisted both ways, and John always sings as if he were perfectly aware of putting on a show; there's no cheap imitation of a "look at me I'm so miserable even though my bank account is doubling every day" attitude. (For more details, see the demo versions of 'No Reply' captured on the Anthology series, the ones that eventually degenerate into laughter and goofiness). But, not being entirely sincere, they're not utterly fake either. That's the wonder of John.

The more Paul-dominated songs are predictably sunnier and, as expected, unbelievably catchy - especially the peculiar 'What You're Doing' which to me has always seemed the great lost pop gem of this album. Everything about it is immediately attractive: the unusual drum intro, the "looping" riff (one of the first of its kind, I think, although the principle was later on bettered by 'Satisfaction' and even by the Beatles themselves with 'Day Tripper'), the odd volume wobbles for the guitar-and-piano instrumental break, and the already mentioned false ending. Personally, I like it a lot more than the also cool, but somewhat overrated 'Eight Days A Week' - a bit simplistic and definitely unbalanced; the second longest song on the album (a swaggering two minutes forty-nine seconds! PROG ALERT!), it doesn't even find time for an instrumental passage, preferring instead to repeat each verse twice and thus presumably serving as the main inspiration (or, rather, "negative inspiration") for the Residents' Commercial Album fifteen years later. Charming pop melody anyway, charming enough to have had Procol Harum cover it. Curiously enough, yet another major art rock band - Yes - later covered yet another highlight off this "lowlight" album, 'Every Little Thing'. Well, guess if we're covering such a banal band as the Beatles, we might as well cover something other than 'Yesterday'.

The covers are also well done, and this time count me partial, since three of them at least are great pieces o' woogie-boogie that rock me pants down. Besides 'Rock'n'Roll Music', representing the final and utmost downfall of former elitist and classical music aficionado George Martin as he stoops to pushing the keys in an almost Jerry Lee Lewis-like fashion, one shouldn't also forget the cutesy, but delightful rendition of Carl Perkins' 'Honey Don't', featuring one of Ringo's finest vocal performances ever - once again it makes me wonder why people keep blaming his capacities when he practically makes the song his own; and finally, George paying tribute to same Carl Perkins with 'Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby', also done in an echoey manner which makes this version grander and far more "massive" than the original wimpy rockabilly performance. (And I'm saying that in order to justify the existence of these versions rather than denigrate Carl's originals, mind you).

There's also a slow rock'n'roller here - 'Kansas City', learned by the boys from Little Richard and therefore given to McCartney to bellow it out in fine fashion; and Buddy Holly's 'Words Of Love'... well, I've already said it but I gotta repeat myself: that sure is the sweetest guitar tone ever to be heard from George Harrison's guitar. Oh, what I'd give to hear it on one other song at least. But neither Big Star nor Badfinger agreed to give me the pleasure, which is probably the greatest accusation I could ever produce for the entire power pop scene.

In any case, it's interesting to see the tendency: the further the band progresses, the more they try to get away from covering material by contemporary artists and the more they concentrate on the music of their teenage days. And the better results they get, because clearly, rock'n'roll material was far closer to their spirit than Motown, no matter the quality of the recording. Proof? The sixth cover - 'Mr Moonlight', arguably one of the, if not the weakest link in the band's entire catalog. It's not that there's anything badly wrong with the performance; it's just that there's nothing particularly interesting about it. Might as well have been done by Manfred Mann or an even more faceless outfit of the epoch. With an arrangement and a pace so lacklustre, John's hoarse wailing in the middle-eight only makes matters worse. Come to think of it, maybe that is why Beatles For Sale is so often given the cold shoulder? Just because it's got the most boring Beatles track ever on it?

[Mike]

1. The Endless Enigma (Part One) (6:42)

2. Fugue (1:57)

3. The Endless Enigma (Part Two) (2:05)

4. From The Beginning (4:17)

5. The Sheriff (3:23)

6. Hoedown (Taken from Rodeo) {Aaron Copland, arranged by Emerson / Lake / Palmer} (3:47)

7. Trilogy (8:54)

8. Living Sin (3:14)

9. Abaddon's Bolero (8:08)

A Prog-rock favorite, one of the best from ELP.

Their third album. One song stands out, "From the beginning", but don't sell this one short. It's inventive and inspiring. Give it a listen.

[Foolonthehill]

:bow::bow::bow::bow:

[edna]

wow, an amazing classic...

[babyteen]

Here are my recommendations for "Music Of Choice".

JT --- James Taylor

Tango In The Night - Fleetwood Mac

I Wanna Play For You - Stanley Clarke

Rhythm Nation 1814 - Janet Jackson

That's The Way Of The World - Earth Wind And Fire

Philadelphia Original Soundtrack

That's Why I'm Here - James Taylor

Bye Bye Love Original Soundtrack

Deeper - Pete Belasco

The Bonnie Raitt Collection - Bonnie Raitt

Gorilla - James Taylor

Deja Vu - Crosby Stills Nash And Young

[Lucky]

babyteen, those are great recommendations.

May I ask that you pick one or two (checking that they haven't yet been selected, there's a master list available), and provide us with a review, letting us all know what you feel makes the album(s) outstanding? If you are feeling terribly prolific, by all means, review them all!

We have 5 nominations thus far, not counting babyteen's. I suppose now is as good a time as any, to bring this up....

Carl has asked if we can freshen up the MOC forum. Now at first, I was a bit stumped, as to how you freshen up what is essentially a thread of lists. So, Martin and I put our heads together, and have come up with a few ideas. Here's what we've got...

1. Last month we ended up choosing two selections by classic Guitarists. That led us to think that maybe we'll experiment further with themes. We'll announce at the opening of the thread, what the theme is for that list. It could be Classic Artists, Greatest Hits, Singer/Songwriters, New Releases, Female Artists, Modern Artists (such as 90's/00's artists) etc. You get the idea. We'll select two albums that fit the theme for the final list, using the criteria already in place.

2. Secondly, we'd like to feature a great review from the album reviews section. Albums from that forum are often chosen, but the review itself, and the member submitting the review are not always recognized. We'd like to change that.

3. I have asked, and secured permission to post links to Amazon for the submitted albums. That way, people can hear samples of the suggested albums, and make a more educated vote, when the time comes. If any of you would like to add an Amazon link to your existing post, let me know, I'll gladly edit it for you.

Don't forget, if your submission is selected, it goes on the Main Page, for all visitors to the site to see. It's your chance at 5 minutes of fame!

Lastly, we need your input. We'd like to hear what you think of these ideas. In addition, if any of you have ideas yourselves, please let us know! There are a couple of other (exciting) things still in development, and we'll let you know about them, as they progress!

[Lucky]

BACK IN THE HIGH LIFE ~ STEVE WINWOOD

I got the idea for this submission from Carl's interview with Will Jennings, one of the songwriters on this album. If you are a Traffic fan, but more importantly, a Winwood fan, as I am, this album is just what you're looking for.

Back In The High Life, demonstrates just how fully developed Winwoods' talent has become over the years. Without losing his rock n roll edge, he's taken the songs on this album to a new level. The songs encompass not only his rock n roll roots, but his smooth soulful stylings, as well as adding bits of reggae, jazz, and dance beats. Take a listen to some of it here.... Back In The High Life

Track listing:

1. Higher Love

2. Take It As It Comes

3. Freedom Overspill

4. Back In The High Life Again

5. The Finer Things Steve Winwood

6. Wake Me Up On Judgement Day

7. Split Decision

8. My Love's Leavin'

[_Laurie_]

I like the idea of a theme....I like so many types of music, it's hard to randomly just pick an album to post...it gives me some kind of guideline to go by, makes it much easier to pick what you like....

[Foolonthehill]

Strange Days

The Doors

1 Strange Days (3:09)

2 You're Lost Little Girl (3:05)

3 Love Me Two Times (3:17)

4 Unhappy Girl (2:00)

5 Horse Latitudes (1:35)

6 Moonlight Drive (3:03)

7 People Are Strange (2:12)

8 My Eyes Have Seen You (2:30)

9 I Can't See Your Face In My Mind (3:26)

10 When The Music's Over (10:56)

I don't like The Doors a huge amount, but I do really like Strange Days. Something about it's weirdness just makes me like it. Anyways, lots of great songs, a well rounded album.

[Mike]

[Jenny]

I like the idea of categories. I think it will expand the amount of albums that people nominate. I know with me, I don't think an album is "classic enough", but if placed in a category, that may help its chances. The Amazon links will help, too. Great thinking there, guys.

[Super Ry 71]

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

Track Listing:

1) Gimme Shelter

2) Love In Vain

3) Country Honk

4) Live With Me

5) Let It Bleed

6) Midnight Rambler

7) You Got The Silver

8) Monkey Man

9) You Can't Always Get What You Want

All right - if bleed we must, then let it bleed, guys! This album is bleeding so strong that it gets my vote for the best Stones album ever and one of the greatest rock albums ever made by mortal man. Brian Jones was already gone by that moment (he's credited for harp playing on 'Midnight Rambler', but that's an embarrassment), and Mick Taylor still hadn't quite arrived, so Mick and Keith get the praises for this album. Nine songs on here, each one a small independent world, and even if the album is structured as close to a rip-off of Beggar's Banquet as possible, it's no big problem. What I like about it especially is that everything is taken in the right proportion, every single idea is developed up to complete perfection and never overdone. The long songs are not boring, the short songs are not overlengthened, the sexy show-off and obscenity is still limited to a fairly sufficient amount (at this point they were still using metaphors to conceal the Rude and the Raunchy), and the melodies are even more well-crafted than those on Banquet!

First of all, it features two of the darkest and dreariest songs ever. 'Gimme Shelter' is a song about storms and floods (very convenient at the time, too, since everybody took it as an anti-Vietnam War protest song), set to a spooky Keith guitar line and backed up with scary vocals, plus Mick is aided by Mary Clayton whose angry, gospelish vocals on the chorus really give this song an epic feel. Indeed, the Stones aren't really known for their 'epic' renditions, but if there is one definite epic to the Stones' catalog, that would be 'Gimmie Shelter', the most ominous, dreary and shiver-sending piece of music they ever did - in fact, it might as well be the spookiest, the most dread-inducing piece of music I've ever heard. Black Sabbath can kiss my ***; compared to this, all their Satanism and darkness sports a blatantly goofy and fake character. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the Stones never mastered a truly impressive live rendition of it - because it is hardly possible to imagine the song without its storm-imitating production.

'Midnight Rambler', on the other hand, is a much more 'intimate' song: it features almost seven minutes of pure thrill, during which Mick sings some mean lyrics about a maniac killer, plays some terrifying harp lines, and leads us through a slow mid-section punctuated by acute drumbursts before speeding up again and ending up with the lines: '...I'll stick my knife in your throat baby and it HURTS!' Cute, isn't it? Just don't play this song around midnight if you're one weak-hearted person! This one, on the contrary, got several quite superior live renditions, primarily the one captured on Ya-Ya's. Here, however, it again sounds different, with a spooky 'midnight' atmosphere: the harp lines often end up sounding like a wolf howling, and the dreamy, subtle guitars are frightening! How atmospheric!

Ballads-wise this is one super album, too. 'Love In Vain' is a great old blues cover, with Ry Cooder (wasn't it?) on mandolin, and it's oh so oh so oh so beautiful. Keith unearthed it from the Robert Johnson archives, and somehow perceived the beauty of it - but, while I haven't heard the original, I may have to suppose that the true potential of the song was only unearthed by these Brit boys. The mandolin is tear-inducing, and its interaction with the gentle, soft slide guitars creates one of the most hard-hitting emotional masterpieces the Twentieth Century has seen. And if that's not enough, there's also the very first song featuring Keith on lead vocals for all its entirety: 'You Got The Silver' is a touching and nice ballad, tons better than all the weird wailing stuff he's been throwing at us since Goats' Head Soup. This one is really catchy and memorable, and not any less heartfelt or moving.

Then, just to remind you that this was still 1969, and not 1998 or anything, there is still that old psychedelic line hanging around. 'Live With Me', for instance, is a terrific rocker with simply crazy lyrics. Some say that the lines 'my best friend he shoots water rats/And feeds 'em to his geese' refers to some of Keith's habits at his Redlands residence; regardless of this, the song features a ferocious bass line and the first ever saxophone solo by Bobby Keyes whom you still can see walking around these RS fellows even now. And 'Monkey Man' lyricswise belongs to Satanic, not here; however, Keith's riffing is so mature here compared to those earlier days! Ronnie Wood is said to have admitted the riff on 'Monkey Man' is his favourite Keith riff of all time; I may not agree with him, but I sure can understand him, as it was somewhere around this time that Mr Richards really turned into that aggressive riffage machine that we all know and love him for.

Any social comments? Sure! There's the title track, which says anybody can bleed on Mick if he's not feeling right, and the closing 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' is probably a bit overlong because of the lengthy chorus section in the introduction, but it really don't matter much to me: yet another great song, 'tis all. And to top it off - we have a re-mastered 'Honky Tonk Women' presented as a country ditty (which, by the way, was the original design; as far as I know, the 'hard rockin'' version owns its existence to Mick Taylor)! And it works, even with the silly fiddle replacing the guitar: it's a pity they never tried this version onstage. Due to the lack of fiddle, perhaps?

Any further proof that this is the Stones' finest moment? Well, see, this album is so great there is no obvious classic on it, no outstanding piece overshadowing all the others. Beggar's Banquet? 'Sympathy For The Devil'! Sticky Fingers? 'Brown Sugar'! Exile? 'Tumbling Dice'! All of these tracks symbolize the entire record. While no track from Let It Bleed ever entered the Stones' 'golden stage dozen': occasionally, 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' entered their encore set, but I wouldn't call it a 'crowd-pleasing' number all the same. But that's not because they're inferior: it's just impossible to choose. Still, most of these tracks (except 'Country Honk', naturally, and, for some strange reason, 'You Got The Silver') got enough onstage play - even 'Monkey Man' was unearthed for the 1994-5 tour, and it was great! So go ahead - if you don't own this record, rush out to buy it and you'll be glad you did. This album closes off the Sixties, and still stands as one of rock music's greatest accomplishments.

[Lucky]

Just one of the best albums of all time.

[_Laurie_]

Beatles, Stones, Doors, oh my,......We've got some classics here!

[Lucky]

The Dead, and Lou Reed too!

[_Laurie_]

Whooo hooo! :guitar: