Friday, April 4, 2014

*Partial-Review* Aftermath (US)

Aftermath (US)

Released
June 20, 1966

Paint It Black


(Jagger / Richards (and Bill Wyman uncredited!)
So for the US version of Aftermath, we get a bit shorter, stereo version of the previous single Paint it Black, released a month earlier. One thing I noticed about the stereo mix is that I hear the bass near the end a lot better, with it being beautiful.
10 / 10

The exclusion of Out of Time, Take It or Leave It, What to Do, and Mother’s Little Helper

So here’s the original scores for these songs:

·         Out of Time – 8.25

·         Take It or Leave It – 8.5

·         What to Do – 7.5

·         Mother’s Little Helper – 10 / 10

In my opinion, there were more filler that could’ve been taken out that wouldn’t be missed as much. I also understand the removal of Mother’s Little Helper; they would release that as an American single later, and they did get Paint It Black on this. Other than that, the exclusions made sense if they were going to replace them with something. But they just removed 10 minutes worth of music for whatever reason. So the total album gets the score by way of songs’ scores of 90.95 / 110, but I’ll add a little bonus for putting Goin’ Home at the end of the album because it’s nicer there, so the final score is

91.25 / 110

Or a slightly larger score than the UK version of Aftermath, and I’ll just say both albums are technically the same, but I’d go with the UK version just for the extra amount of songs and the better Paint It Black B-side.

*Review* (Single) Paint It Black / Long Long While

*This is part of my ongoing, personal project of listening to every Rolling Stones material released, posted onto this blog for everyone to read and for opinions to flourish. The rating doesn't mean much, because I hate ratings, but might as well.*

Paint It Black / Long Long While

Paint It Black


(Jagger / Richards (and Bill Wyman!)
So what can I even pick out of this to talk about? The sitar? The guitar? The fact that everything fits so nicely together to make what could be The Stones first venture into psychedelic rock? Everything is just so nice: the demanding drum, the beautiful sitar provided by the man of exotic instruments Brian Jones, and what could be the best use of Mick Jagger’s voice on all their records, in this dark psychedelic masterpiece.
10 / 10

Long Long While


(Jagger / Richards)
So this is the kind of song I don’t necessarily like from The Stones, but in a shocking turn of events I like this song. The chorus is pretty cool, and the organ is a nice touch. And, oh, that guitar.
8.25 / 10

18.25 / 10

A fantastic single, pretty much on-par with the US version of the Paint It Black single, and it seems the US is getting more blues than the UK at this point.

*Review* (Single) Paint It Black / Stupid Girl

*This is part of my ongoing, personal project of listening to every Rolling Stones material released, posted onto this blog for everyone to read and for opinions to flourish. The rating doesn't mean much, because I hate ratings, but might as well.*

Paint It Black / Stupid Girl

Paint It Black


(Jagger / Richards (and Bill Wyman!)
So what can I even pick out of this to talk about? The sitar? The guitar? The fact that everything fits so nicely together to make what could be The Stones first venture into psychedelic rock? Everything is just so nice: the demanding drum, the beautiful sitar provided by the man of exotic instruments Brian Jones, and what could be the best use of Mick Jagger’s voice on all their records, in this dark psychedelic masterpiece.
10 / 10

Stupid Girl


(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)
*Copied from Aftermath (UK)*
This song made me chuckle at first for how it sounded, and then I chuckled for how the lyrics are written. And then I chuckled again about the lyrics themselves. It’s a harsh song, but the lyrics are written so silly, and then sung with the amount of passion not associated with harsh, and it’s funny. At the same time, there’s probably some emotion Jagger put into this. Some truth that we should probably know with all that touring with crazy fans.
As a B-side to such a song as Paint It Black, the only thing it has in common is the psychedelic rock ties (an organ on this and a sitar on the other.)
8.75 / 10

18.75 / 20

Oh yeah, it’s a brilliant single. Even when the B-side doesn't fit the mood much, both sides provide excellent music.