Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
This is the last album released by the Stones that featured Brian Jones, and was a great comeback after the previous flop of “Their Satanic Majesty's Request”. It strips away all the gimmick and flash, and gives pure rock and roll.
From the outstanding beginning of Sympathy For The Devil with great percussion and angry guitar, you already relaize that this album is something special. It calms down a bit after that masterpiece with the softer No Expectations, a primarily acoustic ballad. Personally, I think that the next song, “Dear Doctor” is pretty odd, with a quasi-country feel, but it has funny lyrics and of course, Mick Jagger's incredible voice.
That is folowed by Parachute Woman, which I think is one of the best songs on the album and has a really great rhythm. The next song is Jig Saw Puzzle which has a Dylan-esque feel, and amazing slide guitar by Brian Jones. This is followed by the INCREDIBLE “Street Fighting Man”, with radical, angry lyrics, and a stunning guitar riff accompanied with Charlie Watts' great percussion. Mick now tries (and basically succeeds) to be an old bluesman, with the acoustic Prodigal Son. I think that this song is kind of out of place on this album, but still a great song in it's own right.
The next song is a country-blues song “Stray Cat Blues” with a great Richards performance, and controversial lyrics about an “encounter” with a 15-year old girl “This ain't no hanging matter,
no, this ain't no capital crime”. The next song “Factory Girl” isn't so great if you don't like country, but its perfectly fine. The album closes with the relaxing ballad, “Salt of The Earth”, sung by Keith Richards with a gospel choir in the chorus, and beautiful piano.
This was a groundbreaking album in the Rolling Stones catalog, and firmly placed them in the family of Rock Royalty. If you consider yourself a Stones fan and you don't own this album, then please, please go get it. Please.
Avi L-S
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