• Have something to say? Register Now! and be posting in minutes!

Omar's Album Reviews of The Rolling Stones' Top 500 Albums (and some other albums too)

gohusk

Well-Known Member
20,652
4,040
293
Joined
Jul 16, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 200.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Monk is my favorite jazz artist. I used to have him in my avi. He had such a unique style and was a brilliant composer. He's the 2nd most covered jazz composer next to Ellington who wrote > 1000 compositions. Monk wrote about 75. He was actually who got me into jazz.. to the extent that I am. I'm not an aficionado. But you're not unique as someone who likes jazz but not Monk because of his seemingly simplistic and odd style. Personally, I think his critics just aren't listening right, but if you tried you probably just don't dig him. Mingus Ah Um and Blues & Roots are my go to's for Mingus. Ornette Coleman's Shape of Jazz to Come is as 'out there' as I get with jazz. I made it through his Free Jazz, but I have no desire to listen to it again.

I'll give him another try. I honestly haven't listened to much jazz in a while (went back to the more mainstream stuff because I have like 5 minute bites of time to actually listen to something). But I usually go with the hardcore free jazz when I'm listening to something. I can see how guys like Coleman or Ayler can be grating to the ears with their plastic sax.
 

Omar 382

Well-Known Member
16,827
1,166
173
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Not on my radar but I'll give it a try.

My favorite albums from that time period were:

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Unkle - War Stories
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
Sasha - Involver
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Pearl Jam - Self-titled
Nine Inch Nails - Yearzero

I'll give Pretty.Odd a try, though. I find myself digging through old music so far this year. Not much coming out the past couple of months that I like
The only album I've heard off this list is The Cool, which I do love; but I view Food & Liquor as the better album. Actually, Food & Liquor is one of my all time favorite hip-hop albums. I didn't know you listened to any hip-hop? Anyone that trashes hip-hop should listen to Lupe's lyricism and the thematic content on Food & Liquor or The Cool. Some of my all time favorite songs are off of F&L, specifically


 

Omar 382

Well-Known Member
16,827
1,166
173
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
My mom can't feed me, my boyfriend beats me
I have sex for money, the hood don't love me
The cops wanna kill me, this nonsense built me
And I got noooo place to gooooo

They bomb my village, they call us killers
Took me off they welfare, can't afford they health care
My teacher won't teach me, my master beats me
And it huuurts meee soooul
 

Clayton

Well-Known Member
36,333
9,897
533
Joined
May 17, 2012
Hoopla Cash
$ 9,000.59
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
The only album I've heard off this list is The Cool, which I do love; but I view Food & Liquor as the better album. Actually, Food & Liquor is one of my all time favorite hip-hop albums. I didn't know you listened to any hip-hop? Anyone that trashes hip-hop should listen to Lupe's lyricism and the thematic content on Food & Liquor or The Cool. Some of my all time favorite songs are off of F&L, specifically


I like Food and Liquor. Daydreaming and Instrumental probably being my favorites but i do think the Cool is a better album. I really don't listen to all that much hip-hop, actually. Lupe is just in a sweet spot somewhere in-between Kayne and Kendrick Lamar and this was back in 2006 when the music scene was different. I think people were looking for cultured party music and Lupe worked great for that. When you're in the club and GoGoGadgetFlow is coming out of the speakers its just a totally accessible vibe that worked at the time.

Pretty.Odd. is a good album once you get past the first 10 minutes. Thats my 'one listen' review of it. B+
 

TheStarOne

Militem Octoginta
2,715
549
113
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
The Beatles opened the door.
Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Dion, Elvis,And Buddy Holly could only go so far. They were 50's rock music.
The albums, they created, were just a collection of individual songs. (a lot of them were great classics)

The Beatles created themed albums with rock mixed with symphonies, electronic sounds, and overdubbing with rerecording on the same tracks. It was simply way ahead of the times.
And the Beatles also created albums with multiple hit singles on them. (stupid to a certain degree)
They almost went broke by the way.

And one thing a lot of younger music fans don't understand.

The Beatles had no road map. Nobody had ever created music like they did, before them.
No previous group, had the Beatle's success worldwide.

And they created music they liked, and didn't care if others, didn't like it.

And the period of time, the Beatles were formed.....That's another part of the puzzle, to discuss at another time.
They rode the TIDAL WAVE OF the 60's.

3 assassinations
Civil Right's Movement
The Vietnam War
the sexual revolution
Woodstock
peace demonstrations
drugs

and the innocence of the 1960s, won't ever be recreated.
 
Last edited:

Sir Robin Of Camelot

You seem angry. Miserable, even.
11,833
9,417
533
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Horn driven jazz really does it for me. Even with a guy like Cecil Taylor who I love you have a guy like Jimmy Lyons playing with him. Haven't listened to Monk in over a decade but when I first started getting into jazz I tried to get into Monk but just couldn't do it. Maybe I was listening to the wrong stuff or maybe I just gave up on it too early. But the reason I brought up that album is because all the guys on the recording paid a huge part. As far as sax players go Wayne Shorter and Eric Dolphy were always my favorite.

The cool thing of being in band back in high school was being introduced to all these greats and gaining an appreciation for music above and beyond "the radio". Learned to appreciate the entire genre - sax, piano, horn, whatever. I played French Horn but started on Trumpet so I was introduced to Miles Davis early on. I dug him - but dug Maynard Ferguson and Bill Chase way, way more. Just finished transferring all of my Ferguson vinyl to Digital. Sure brought back memories.

And - I'll put "Pure Music" by Bill Chase up with anything. That damn album is amazing.
 

Sir Robin Of Camelot

You seem angry. Miserable, even.
11,833
9,417
533
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Wasn't as big a fan as others but I do understand the importance. An absolute game changer.

 

Omar 382

Well-Known Member
16,827
1,166
173
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Exile on Main St.[:] 2/5 stars. Rank on RS Top 500 Albums: 7

220px-ExileMainSt.jpg


First off, I just want to say that I am a big fan of The Rolling Stones. The previous two albums I have reviewed of The Rolling Stones are Their Satanic Majesties Request (3.5/5 stars) and Sticky Fingers (4.5/5 stars). So I'm not trying to trash them or anything. They're probably my second favorite band after The Beatles (Queen may have something to say about that though).

That being said, this album is largely trash. Don't get me wrong, there are some good songs. My favorite songs off the album are "Rocks Off," "Tumbling Dice," "Happy," and, probably my favorite, "Let It Loose." None of these songs, however, are masterpieces to me, i.e., I wouldn't include any of them in my top 250 songs of all time. Not even close, really.

Outside of the songs that I do like, there are songs I don't like but can at least appreciate what they were trying to do ("Shine A Light," "Shake Your Hips") and then there are songs that are just complete and total filler. Like, what the fuck- "Turd on the Run," "Ventilator Blues," "Stop Breaking Down," and "Soul Survivor" don't belong on any Rolling Stones album released pre-1985, much less one that is considered their magnum opus and the ~7th greatest album of all time. I've listened to this album on and off in its entirety multiple times over the last month, and I can never get through more than 5 or 6 songs at a time because of all the filler thrown in. Add in that the "high's" of the album are not even all that high ("Let It Loose," which I consider the best song on the album, probably doesn't even make my top 10 Rolling Stones' songs of all time), and you can see why I am not such a fan.

I did want to comment on one thing I thought that was cool that I heard. On "Let It Loose," there are times when, to me, it sounds like Mick Jagger's vocals are unintelligible, like he's just shouting gibberish. I think it was really cool, and for some reason, it came to me that Jagger's voice sounded like an instrument, like his voice was added as part of the instrumentation on the song. Does anyone else get this, or just me?

Anyway, this album really is a let down. I almost feel like RS Magazine said "Hey, we have to put a Rolling Stones album in the top 10, they're one of the greatest bands of all time. Hey, let's put that one that was nearly universally panned upon released but has received critical reappraisal in the decades since! We'll look so arty."

It is interesting to compare this album to what many consider to be the Beatles' most well-known work in Sgt. Pepper (4/5 stars). On first listen of that album, I wasn't sure whether or not I liked it (actually, looking at the OP, you can see I didn't), but at least it was something different and had a lot of different content and material to bite into. This album sounds like it could have been released by a Rolling Stones tribute band as original material and no one would know the difference. And I'm not saying that originality always beats going with the formula, but good original music beats bad formulaic music every time.
 

beardown07

Upstanding Member
69,654
19,387
1,033
Joined
Apr 9, 2011
Location
Pinacoladaberg
Hoopla Cash
$ 4,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Exile on Main St.[:] 2/5 stars. Rank on RS Top 500 Albums: 7

220px-ExileMainSt.jpg


First off, I just want to say that I am a big fan of The Rolling Stones. The previous two albums I have reviewed of The Rolling Stones are Their Satanic Majesties Request (3.5/5 stars) and Sticky Fingers (4.5/5 stars). So I'm not trying to trash them or anything. They're probably my second favorite band after The Beatles (Queen may have something to say about that though).

That being said, this album is largely trash. Don't get me wrong, there are some good songs. My favorite songs off the album are "Rocks Off," "Tumbling Dice," "Happy," and, probably my favorite, "Let It Loose." None of these songs, however, are masterpieces to me, i.e., I wouldn't include any of them in my top 250 songs of all time. Not even close, really.

Outside of the songs that I do like, there are songs I don't like but can at least appreciate what they were trying to do ("Shine A Light," "Shake Your Hips") and then there are songs that are just complete and total filler. Like, what the fuck- "Turd on the Run," "Ventilator Blues," "Stop Breaking Down," and "Soul Survivor" don't belong on any Rolling Stones album released pre-1985, much less one that is considered their magnum opus and the ~7th greatest album of all time. I've listened to this album on and off in its entirety multiple times over the last month, and I can never get through more than 5 or 6 songs at a time because of all the filler thrown in. Add in that the "high's" of the album are not even all that high ("Let It Loose," which I consider the best song on the album, probably doesn't even make my top 10 Rolling Stones' songs of all time), and you can see why I am not such a fan.

I did want to comment on one thing I thought that was cool that I heard. On "Let It Loose," there are times when, to me, it sounds like Mick Jagger's vocals are unintelligible, like he's just shouting gibberish. I think it was really cool, and for some reason, it came to me that Jagger's voice sounded like an instrument, like his voice was added as part of the instrumentation on the song. Does anyone else get this, or just me?

Anyway, this album really is a let down. I almost feel like RS Magazine said "Hey, we have to put a Rolling Stones album in the top 10, they're one of the greatest bands of all time. Hey, let's put that one that was nearly universally panned upon released but has received critical reappraisal in the decades since! We'll look so arty."

It is interesting to compare this album to what many consider to be the Beatles' most well-known work in Sgt. Pepper (4/5 stars). On first listen of that album, I wasn't sure whether or not I liked it (actually, looking at the OP, you can see I didn't), but at least it was something different and had a lot of different content and material to bite into. This album sounds like it could have been released by a Rolling Stones tribute band as original material and no one would know the difference. And I'm not saying that originality always beats going with the formula, but good original music beats bad formulaic music every time.


goddamnitsomuch


how long 'til you come back and proclaim this a masterpiece?


Ventilator Blues is dope af!? Not every song needs to be a radio-favorite.
 

Sir Robin Of Camelot

You seem angry. Miserable, even.
11,833
9,417
533
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I LOVE Exile. Absolutely LOVE it. Gritty and greasy and groovy and bluesy and just plain ol' basic blues rock & roll.

Gonna have to disagree with you here Omar... at some point you'll need to reassess this one.
 

Omar 382

Well-Known Member
16,827
1,166
173
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
goddamnitsomuch


how long 'til you come back and proclaim this a masterpiece?


Ventilator Blues is dope af!? Not every song needs to be a radio-favorite.

I LOVE Exile. Absolutely LOVE it. Gritty and greasy and groovy and bluesy and just plain ol' basic blues rock & roll.

Gonna have to disagree with you here Omar... at some point you'll need to reassess this one.

giphy.gif


FWIW- I did listen to the album 5 or 6 times over a month or two's span. That's what I'm doing with all these albums; chewing on four or five at a time until I feel ready to review them.
 

Voltaire26

Detroit Born and Raised
21,695
8,807
533
Joined
Apr 24, 2010
Location
Somewhere North of Canada
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
goddamnitsomuch


how long 'til you come back and proclaim this a masterpiece?


Ventilator Blues is dope af!? Not every song needs to be a radio-favorite.

I LOVE Exile. Absolutely LOVE it. Gritty and greasy and groovy and bluesy and just plain ol' basic blues rock & roll.

Gonna have to disagree with you here Omar... at some point you'll need to reassess this one.

I'm gonna side with @Omar 382 here ... it's good, but not great ... kinda like the Rolling Stones themselves. The Rolling Stones are a very good, but they have been around so long and have been very good for so long (since 1962 and I became aware of them in 1965) that they have to be considered great!!! Definitely Hall of Famers, The Rolling Stones are reason enough to have a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
 

Sir Robin Of Camelot

You seem angry. Miserable, even.
11,833
9,417
533
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
giphy.gif


FWIW- I did listen to the album 5 or 6 times over a month or two's span. That's what I'm doing with all these albums; chewing on four or five at a time until I feel ready to review them.

You tried... that's all one can ask. That's the thing about music. As Frank Zappa told Alice Cooper once about his (Zappa) music, "You either get it or you don't".
 

Wazmankg

Half Woke Member
76,329
27,576
1,033
Joined
Jul 3, 2013
Location
SE Mich
Hoopla Cash
$ 581.82
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I LOVE Exile. Absolutely LOVE it. Gritty and greasy and groovy and bluesy and just plain ol' basic blues rock & roll.

Gonna have to disagree with you here Omar... at some point you'll need to reassess this one.

This ^ It is their masterpiece. I love it from beginning to end. I probably listen to the whole damn thing once a month or so. Keith should have let Mick sing lead on Happy is my only quibble.

But when it was released it was generally considered a big letdown and was panned by many critics, so Omar's opinion is understandable. It doesn't have the "radio-friendly" hits some of their previous albums had. But most if not all have reassessed and changed their opinions over the next several years. Jagger hates the way it's mixed, fwiw.. probably doesn't like the way his voice is buried at times. I didn't love it when it first came out.. but I did like it and obviously it's grown on me over time. I saw them at RFK about a month after it was released. Stevie Wonder, who was just emerging as an adult musical force, opened. Great show.
 

Wazmankg

Half Woke Member
76,329
27,576
1,033
Joined
Jul 3, 2013
Location
SE Mich
Hoopla Cash
$ 581.82
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I did want to comment on one thing I thought that was cool that I heard. On "Let It Loose," there are times when, to me, it sounds like Mick Jagger's vocals are unintelligible, like he's just shouting gibberish. I think it was really cool, and for some reason, it came to me that Jagger's voice sounded like an instrument, like his voice was added as part of the instrumentation on the song. Does anyone else get this, or just me?

Definitely.. and Jagger's vocals were brilliant throughout the album. His best ever. He's buried in the mix on a couple of songs. But this album is this their best with Mick Taylor just as a band musically, I think. They were tight af, but still at their loose & relaxed best. Songs you find to be filler just sound like great jams to me.
 

Omar 382

Well-Known Member
16,827
1,166
173
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Between The Buttons [U.S. Version]: 2.5/5 stars. Rank on RS Top 500 Albums List: 357

R-963703-1330742257.jpeg.jpg


Not getting the love for this one at all. It's halfway decent as a whole, but the last 8 songs suck ass. The first 4 songs are all really good, my favorites being "Let's Spend the Night Together," "Ruby Tuesday," and "Connection." I would include "Ruby Tuesday" as a masterpiece (barely), but as mentioned before, after those 4 songs, the album sucks. They all sound the same- like filler on a bad Stones album.

I like the Stones, but when they're off, they're off. I heard some debate that Brian Jones was more of a creative force than Jagger/Richards. If this album is his lasting impact- meh. I'll take Sticky Fingers (4.5/5 stars) Stones.

This has been turning into a Beatles/Stones album review thread lately. I have a couple more from the Beatles coming (actually, solo albums), but then I'll write about some other stuff I've been listening to.
 

Omar 382

Well-Known Member
16,827
1,166
173
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Magical Mystery Tour: 3/5 stars. This one was a bit of a let-down, but the singles saved it. It sounded like every song was made in the mold of a catchy chorus, and then the verses were forgotten about. And while they are catchy and good every now and then, listening to "You say goodbye/And I say hello/Hello, hello" over and over and over gets old. Most Beatles albums get better with time, but with Magical Mystery Tour, my first listen was my favorite.

Still, with songs like "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane," and "All You Need is Love" it's not bad at all. MMT is kind of like Lyndon B. Johnson- The greatest bad President we've ever had (except MMT wasn't even bad. Neither was LBJ, IMO, but I like that saying).
Going to have to revise this one.

Magical Mystery Tour: 5/5 stars. Rank on RS Top 500 Albums List: N/A

maxresdefault.jpg


3/5 stars for this album is just criminal. THIS is the Beatles at their best IMO. Yes, homages to different genres (The Beatles (4/5 stars)) and complicated psychedelic (Sgt. Pepper (4/5 stars)) and progressive (Abbey Road) music is cool from them, and I can appreciate it all. But this album is what I like most about the Beatles: short, simple, upbeat pop-rock soaked in psychedelic instrumentals.

This album is like Revolver (5/5 stars) but for kids. That's the best way I could describe it. Where Revolver was complicated, MMT is simple. Where Revolver is pessimistic, MMT is optimistic. Where Revolver is angry, MMT is happy.

I can't believe I didn't appreciate this one more on first listen. I think that I thought that the album was so simple that it wasn't worth my attention; but its simplicity is the genius of it, IMO. And I do like Revolver better, but this is a top 5 album for me.

Certified masterpieces are "I Am The Walrus," "Hello, Goodbye," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane," and "All You Need Is Love." That's five songs that would be included in my top 250 songs of all time, which may be a record for any album I've listened to. And all the other songs are great too. The only ones I wouldn't count as great are the instrumental "Flying" and "Your Mother Should Know," and I still really like "Your Mother Should Know" FWIW ("Flying" is just ok to me).

I love this album.
 

Voltaire26

Detroit Born and Raised
21,695
8,807
533
Joined
Apr 24, 2010
Location
Somewhere North of Canada
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Going to have to revise this one.

Magical Mystery Tour: 5/5 stars. Rank on RS Top 500 Albums List: N/A

maxresdefault.jpg


3/5 stars for this album is just criminal. THIS is the Beatles at their best IMO. Yes, homages to different genres (The Beatles (4/5 stars)) and complicated psychedelic (Sgt. Pepper (4/5 stars)) and progressive (Abbey Road) music is cool from them, and I can appreciate it all. But this album is what I like most about the Beatles: short, simple, upbeat pop-rock soaked in psychedelic instrumentals.

This album is like Revolver (5/5 stars) but for kids. That's the best way I could describe it. Where Revolver was complicated, MMT is simple. Where Revolver is pessimistic, MMT is optimistic. Where Revolver is angry, MMT is happy.

I can't believe I didn't appreciate this one more on first listen. I think that I thought that the album was so simple that it wasn't worth my attention; but its simplicity is the genius of it, IMO. And I do like Revolver better, but this is a top 5 album for me.

Certified masterpieces are "I Am The Walrus," "Hello, Goodbye," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane," and "All You Need Is Love." That's five songs that would be included in my top 250 songs of all time, which may be a record for any album I've listened to. And all the other songs are great too. The only ones I wouldn't count as great are the instrumental "Flying" and "Your Mother Should Know," and I still really like "Your Mother Should Know" FWIW ("Flying" is just ok to me).

I love this album.

This is an odd album with an even odder movie that went with it. Whereas, I agree the album was great, the Beatles appeared to be having fun, the movie was rather lame. As always, whether I agree or not ... good review ... you're a much better reviewer then the pretentious idiots at Rolling Stone Magazine.
 
Top