Last year, when I learnt the Stones were to tour again, I was delighted. As their only appearance in the Netherlands was in a festival near the German border, I even booked a hotel at a nearby town and got ready for the day the tickets would be on sale. Alas, it was not to be. When I logged in around 12, it was already sold out (in less than two hours). Same with their gig in Belgium. I was disappointed of course, but at least I was lucky enough to catch The Stones during the Bridges to Babylon tour in Athens. It was their second appearance in Greece. The first was in April 1967, only a few days before the coup d'etat that saddled us with a fascist military junta for 7 years. Greece is now going through a similar period, only the CIA has been replaced by the EU (a euphemism for Germany & minions), elected government is blackmailed into submission rather than overthrown and tanks have been replaced by banks as weapon of choice.
Anyway, the Stones' Athens concert in '67 ended in violence when Jagger approached the crowd handing out red flowers, a gesture the police chief on duty found to be too subversive for his liking. The one I witnessed was a much happier affair, with the band playing their hits for an enthusiastic generation-spanning crowd. Truly one of my best memories as a concert-goer. Of course, I had already bought the album and learnt the songs. Despite the absence of any real classics, it's quite good. After the return to form that was "Steel Wheels", 1994's "Voodoo Lounge" was a semi-successful effort to recapture former glories by recycling riffs and melodies from the past. "Bridges to Babylon" on the other hand was a product of Jagger's constant attempt to stay modern, this time by adding elements of electronica. He hired producers Dust Brothers (Beck, Beastie Boys) and Danny Saber (Black Grape) to produce some tracks, while Keith chose others for his own songs and Don Was oversaw the record as a whole trying to bind the different elements together. Thankfully it still sounds like the Rolling Stones, with only "Might as Well Get Juiced" and "Gunface" veering too closely to electronica. Lead single "Anybody Seen My Baby?" does feature a rap sample but is an otherwise typical mid-tempo Stones ballad with a lusty Jagger vocal.
And, with a young Angelina Jolie playing the subject of his desire in the video clip, I think we can all share in that sentiment. Just before the album's release, Keith's daughter pointed out the song's chorus similarity to k.d. Lang's "Constant Craving". Despite never having listened to Lang's song, Keith and Mick acknowledged a possible unconscious debt and gave her a part of the royalties, thus making the Canadian songstress a good deal richer. Opener "Flip the Switch" is arguably one of the Stones' fastest songs, followed by a typical Stones rocker in "Low Down" and emotive, insecure ballad "Already Over Me". The aggressive electronically treated rocker "Gunface" comes from the other end of the emotional spectrum while reggae-ish "You Don't Have to Mean It" is the first of 3 songs featuring a lead vocal by Richards. Unlike Mick, he sure keeps getting better as a singer as he gets older. Uptempo funk rocker "Out of Control" was the album's second single and "Saint Of Me" the third. As if we needed convincing, Jagger explains he's not fit for Sainthood over a warm gospel/r&b melody augmented by electronic drum loops. The funky electronica of "Might as Well Get Juiced" is followed by acoustic ballad "Always Suffering" and rocker "Too Tight", while the album closes with a couple of fine, jazzy Richards ballads in "Thief in the Night" and "How Can I Stop". All in all, another well crafted but rather nonessential latter-day Rolling Stones album, notable mostly for its (thankfully cautious) flirtation with electronica...
Anyway, the Stones' Athens concert in '67 ended in violence when Jagger approached the crowd handing out red flowers, a gesture the police chief on duty found to be too subversive for his liking. The one I witnessed was a much happier affair, with the band playing their hits for an enthusiastic generation-spanning crowd. Truly one of my best memories as a concert-goer. Of course, I had already bought the album and learnt the songs. Despite the absence of any real classics, it's quite good. After the return to form that was "Steel Wheels", 1994's "Voodoo Lounge" was a semi-successful effort to recapture former glories by recycling riffs and melodies from the past. "Bridges to Babylon" on the other hand was a product of Jagger's constant attempt to stay modern, this time by adding elements of electronica. He hired producers Dust Brothers (Beck, Beastie Boys) and Danny Saber (Black Grape) to produce some tracks, while Keith chose others for his own songs and Don Was oversaw the record as a whole trying to bind the different elements together. Thankfully it still sounds like the Rolling Stones, with only "Might as Well Get Juiced" and "Gunface" veering too closely to electronica. Lead single "Anybody Seen My Baby?" does feature a rap sample but is an otherwise typical mid-tempo Stones ballad with a lusty Jagger vocal. |
A RS concert in '98 cost 12.000 drs ( €36)
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**** for Anybody Seen My Baby?, Already Over Me, You Don't Have to Mean It,Out of Control, Saint of Me
*** for Flip the Switch, Gunface, Always Suffering, Too Tight, Thief in the Night, How Can I Stop
** for Low Down, Might as Well Get Juiced
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