12 X 5

Released

October 17, 1964

Around and Around

(Chuck Berry)

*Quoted from Five By Five (EP)*

                It’s definitely an interesting cover, and I’m not sure if I like it. Everything’s fine, except Jagger, and I don’t even know how to explain why. I guess it’s because I’m comparing the original to this cover too much. I guess it’s just another example where Jagger seems a tad out of place.

I’m not sure if I agree with this being the first song on the album. It’s a good song, just not the best Chuck Berry cover the Stones have done, excluding the ending. The ending is nice

3.5/5

Confessin’ The Blues

(Jay McShann and Walter Brown)

*Quoted from Five By Five (EP)*

Good harmonica solo. Blues is hard to rate correctly, because you’re not really supposed to stand out in blues. Everything needs to mix together well.

3.5/5

Empty Heart

(Nanker Phelge)

*Quoted from Five By Five (EP)*

A little complaint, not relating to the Rolling Stones themselves, is how this was mixed into stereo. I don’t like it (I’m listening to the Singles 1963-1965 box set, not sure if it was re-released onto CD in any other place). Other than that first few seconds of intro, nothing too extraordinary.

The mix is still a little weird.

3/5

Time Is On My Side

(Norman Meade and Jimmy Norman)

*Quoted from (Single) Time Is On My Side / Congratulations*

Hmm. There’s a nice organ. I think this is a pretty popular song in the Rolling Stones discography. I’m trying not to let that skew my opinion right now. So here it goes; it’s alright. It’s a fun song, and that the vocals mix in well with the backing vocals, but other than that I can’t really take anything else out. But it does get a good score.

Good Times, Bad Times

(Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)

*Quoted from (Single) It’s All Over Now / Good Times, Bad Times

The second song released on record by the duo of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. And all I can say is, meh. I think that’s the bass you can hear twanging on the string. That’s a heavy bass.

2.75/5

It’s All Over Now

(Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack)

*Quoted from It’s All Over Now / Good Times, Bad Times)*

What makes that guitar solo impressive is that it’s being played in such fast speed. Still, Lennon made fun of it. What a guy. Anyway, good song. I don’t feel like 4/5 is right for it, and a 3.75 is too low. (There’s also a nice little story about how his song came to be on Wikipedia, it’s a good read.)

On my second time listening to this, I’ve noticed that bass. That is a funny bass.

3.9/5

2120 South Michigan Avenue

(Nanker Phelge)

*Quoted from Five By Five (EP)*

Organ.

But let’s expand. It’s a great jam, and everyone is together and fits nicely. Expanding finished. Also, this version is the same as the one on my Box Set version of Five By Five, but they’re the same length. So that’s wrong. Why would you do that.

4.5/5

Under the Boardwalk

(Arthur Resnick and Kenny Young)

In all honesty, it would’ve been fine if The Rolling Stones skipped this song. No one went to a concert and said “man, these rockers would do a great version of Under the Boardwalk.” However, it is surprisingly good, although the guitar is pretty lacking. The Stones should just skip Soul covering.

3.75 / 5

Congradulations

(Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)

*Picture*

Huh.

Not much to say here, but I am having a hard picking between a 2.75 and a 3. Maybe because I think a “3” is in the middle, but it’s not. Ratings are evil.

3/5

Grown Up Wrong

(Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)

Average song. Nothing more, nothing less. At least nothing more that I can think of.

3.4/5

If You Need Me

(Wilson Pickett and Robert Bateman)

So in my review of this song in Five By Five, I said I liked this song, even though I should hate it. Also in this very album, I said the Stones should stop doing Soul. But even though this is a cover of a soul song, they turned it into a nice rock song. Or at least R&B. And it’s still good, and should’ve been the opener to this album as well.

4.5/5

Suzie Q

(Dale Hawkins, Stan Lewis and Eleanor Broadwater)

This is hardly a cover. This is a imagination of the original. And I’ll tell you, what a great song to end an album. Short but sweet.

4.5/5

40.3/60 (Hey, 12 songs, with a score of 5. Woo)

An improvement over their last album, definitely. Slowly moving away from the world of covers and into the world of songwriting, with 5 songs credited to either Jagger/Richards or their pseudonym Nanker Phelge. And just because the album technically got a 40.3/60, or a 61%, that does not mean anything because ratings suck. I’ll probably start using a rating system out of 10 to make the scores look better and to give me a bigger range. Everyone seems to love this album though, and I can see why, but right now it’s not impressing me too much.