Goats Head Soup - Rolling Stones (The) (CD 1994)

There are several different kinds of Rolling Stones fans. You got the people who think they did nothing worthwhile beyond the 1960 s, for instance. Then there are those who basically feel that they went to Baltimore in a breadbasket throughout the 1980 s. And let us not forget the strangest of all the various and sundry Stones disciples- those who still believe, and always will, that Mick, Keith, and the other undead creatures behind them onstage are unable to make music that is anything less than a gentle massage to the prostate gland.

I d probably put myself more in the second category, but perhaps it d be more accurate to say that I belong in another classification altogether: the guy who buys Stones albums because he thinks their titles are cool. Of course, doing so led me down a wicked road on Their Satanic Majesties Request, which was neither Satanic, majestic, nor likely be requested by yours truly for a second listen. Beggars Banquet also disappointed me once I got beyond the two or three tracks that didn t bore me into a white boy blues stupor. Yet somehow, despite my bad experiences with Stones albums that failed to live up to their nifty names, I still went ahead and purchased Goats Head Soup, the very title of which speaks directly to my love of exotic cuisine.

Released at some point in the very early 70 s, when the Stones were already oversexed, strung-out, and quite the horror to behold, Goats Head Soup is actually not as bad as some of its predecessors. The band always had a tendency to dress each release up with a few good tunes and a whole bunch of crap, but several of the lesser knowns on this one are not so bad. I, for one, personally believe that the cool bluesy groove of Dancing With Mr. D ranks up there with their best, and has probably the darkest (and therefore coolest) lyrics of any Stones track this side of Sympathy For The Devil. Kind of a voodoo-inspired ode to death, I think.

The closest things to hits on here are the tough funker Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) and the pretty Angie, which I ve since learned was NOT written about David Bowie s wife- it was supposedly inspired by Anita Pallenberg, the hot model that Keith Richards stole from former member Brian Jones. As for the other, it might be about the joys of buying fertilizer, for all I know. Both are what I d call Jagger-Richards essentials, which is not a term I apply to just any old sludgy three chorder.

With the exception of the almost entirely unmemorable quartet of Silver Train, Can You Hear The Music, Hide Your Love, and Coming Down Again, the rest make up a handful of pleasant surprises. Star Star is a filthy rocker that bashes groupies the way it should, Winter has Mick sounding as if he actually has a heart (and a string section behind him, to boot), and and 100 Years Ago tricks us into thinking it s a ballad before jamming up a bit. Really not that bad of an assortment, and certainly nowhere near as coma-inducing as the Mississippi Delta rip-offs that they filled so many of their other albums out with.

If we re excluding greatest hits collections, I don t really know if there s such a thing as a perfect Stones album . They knew how to write a great song here and there, but they certainly win all kinds of awards in the inconsistency department. However, Goats Head Soup is more than just a delicious album title- there aren t any real clunkers on here, and at least half the album is honestly up-to-par or better. They were getting back to the rockiness after much dabbling in psychedelia and the kind of blues that only fellas of color ought to play, and even though I can kind of hear the drugs getting to them a little bit, there s a bit of sleaze, a touch of emotion, and an attention to detail on here that you d certainly never find on some of their other recordings (OK, maybe the sleaze can pretty much be found on everything they ve ever done).

I should also point out that as creepy as I find Mick s face on the cover, it s probably one of the better photographs I ve ever seen of the man. Opting for the one of him to grace the front over that of Keith, Bill, Mick Taylor, or Charlie (has this guy ever NOT looked bored to tears? Jesus!) was a pretty smart move on the part of someone, though the goat head floating in a giant pot would ve made a lot more sense conceptually. Oh well, I can t always get what I want.