70. Rolling Stones - Aftermath (1966)





















Track Listing

1. Mother’s Little Helper
2. Stupid Girl
3. Lady Jane
4. Under My Thumb
5. Doncha Bother Me
6. Goin’ Home
7. Flight 505
8. High And Dry
9. Out Of Time
10. It’s Not Easy
11. I Am Waiting
12. Take It Or Leave It
13. Think
14. What To Do

Review

I quite like this album, there are however some problems with it. Firstly some of the lyrics are quite annoying and a bit sexist as well, Under My Thumb is a good example of a song that sounds particularly spiteful, but is a great track musically speaking.

So there is this duality here between great track musically with lyrics I really don't care for. Lady Jane is another great example of a beautiful track that is marred by pedestrian lyrics. Still, it makes beautifull use of the harpsichord and really manages to get an Elizabethan feeling to a Stones track. Another problem is that some track really don't leap out at you. The extra long Going Home is a nice track with some nice instrumental bits but it really doesn't deserve its eleven minutes running time.

And if there was any argument between the comparative greatness of the Beatles versus the Stones this kind of solves it. This was put out the same year as Revolver and is nowhere are fresh sounding or innovative, this isn't to say that it is bad, which it is not; it is actually a great album, but it is just that.

The Stones still have some very bluesy songs like on earlier albums, but they start being replaced more and more by rockier tunes. The American version of this album included Paint It Black, but also ommited loads of songs on the UK version, so I would advise you to get the UK one and you can get Paint It Black anywhere really. So, stream it from Napster or buy it from Amazon UK or US.

Track Highlights

1. Lady Jane
2. Under My Thumb
3. Out Of Time
4. Mother's Little Helper

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

Do get Paint It Black as well.

Oh, the Stones should have stopped making crap a long time ago.

From Wiki

Once again, two editions of the album were released. The first release of Aftermath appeared in April of 1966 as a fourteen-track long-player, and is considered by many to be the definitive version. Issued between the non-LP single releases of "19th Nervous Breakdown" and "Paint It, Black", Aftermath proved a big smash, spending eight weeks atop the UK charts.

In the US however, fourteen tracks was considered too many. With a substituted cover art, the American edition of Aftermath, released that June, features a subtly re-shuffled running order that eliminates "Out Of Time", "Take It Or Leave It" and "What To Do" (all later released in the US), while replacing "Mother's Little Helper" with current #1 hit "Paint It, Black".