For the first few years of their history, the songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards honed their skills while their band, The Rolling Stones, became known for their covers of rhythm-and-blues classics (much like many of their contemporaries of the day). With each successive release, the number of originals on the records increased.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So Aftermath<\/i>, the 1966 release from the Stones (and the sixth album in \u00a0<\/p>\n This release is best known for two of the Stones\u2019 biggest early hits, \u201cPaint It, Black\u201d and \u201cUnder My Thumb,\u201d two songs which clearly showed the days of being an r&b band were all but done. Yes, these songs have been pummeled into submission by classic rock radio –\u00a0 but, no, I\u2019m not sick of hearing them. In fact, the chances in instrumentation that Brian Jones \u2013 definitely an unsung hero in the Stones\u2019 early days \u2013 on these two tracks sets them apart from so much of the other music that was being created in the pre-psychedelic era. I mean, using sitar on \u201cPaint It, Black\u201d? Marimba on \u201cUnder My Thumb\u201d? Dulcimer on \u201cLady Jane\u201d? Outstanding!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Of course, if the songwriting were weak on these tracks, the instrumentation wouldn\u2019t mean a thing \u2013 and, fortunately, the Jagger\/Richards combo works its magic. The third track, \u201cLady Jane,\u201d is a surprisingly gentle number from the Stones that, from my vantage point, shows a suitor giving up relationships with other women to settle in with his beloved. Almost semi-autobiographical from the Stones, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Actually, Aftermath<\/i> shows the Stones kicking down another pre-set notion \u2013 namely, their view of women. Listen closely to \u201cUnder My Thumb\u201d or \u201cStupid Girl\u201d (the first Stones track to actually make it onto a disc, to my knowledge, that contained an expletive). If anything, the image of the Stones as rock\u2019s bad boys (at least as compared to the Beatles) comes through loud and clear here.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n One track that I think gets precious little attention is \u201cThink\u201d \u2013 a song I know I\u2019ve heard played somewhere (and to whoever had the foresight and courage to do so, thank you). Sure, the sound is a little muddy \u2013 the same thing could be said for a lot of this disc \u2013 but this one easily counts as a \u201ccoulda, shoulda, woulda-been\u201d hit single.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n If only all of Aftermath<\/i> were as strong \u2013 in fact, the first half of the disc contains some of the strongest material the Stones had done to date. But the second half of the disc shows that while the Jagger\/Richards partnership had matured, they still could write some real clunkers. Take \u201cHigh And Dry\u201d and \u201cFlight 505\u201d for example \u2013 though I give them some credit for daring to take the latter song and give it a not-so-happy ending. Likewise, \u201cGoing Home\u201d \u2013 admittedly a precursor to the musical workout that \u201cMidnight Rambler\u201d would be \u2013 is a simple three-minute blues song stretched to over 11 minutes for no good reason. Three words: boring, boring, boring.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Oh, don\u2019t get me wrong, Aftermath<\/i> is most definitely the first real album that features the Stones coming into their own skin, but it\u2019s definitely a feeling-out process, and they hadn\u2019t quite hit the comfort level themselves yet. For that matter, I personally don\u2019t think they\u2019d find that for some time \u2013 what with upcoming experimentations with psychedelia and lineup changes. But, those are stories for other reviews.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s too easy to suggest people check out the numerous best-of compilations for the songs we all know and love. While Aftermath<\/i> is a difficult listen at times, it\u2019s got some definite gems hidden among the rough patches, and is still well worth your time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5665],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-40109","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-rolling-stones","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40109"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}