2
The sheer brilliance of Paint it Black brought this up to a 3, and the deeply rapey energy of Under My Thumb pushed it right back down.
Aftermath is a studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. The group recorded the album at RCA Studios in California in December 1965 and March 1966, during breaks between their international tours. It was released in the United Kingdom on 15 April 1966 by Decca Records and in the United States on 2 July by London Records. It is the band's fourth British and sixth American studio album, and closely follows a series of international hit singles that helped bring the Stones newfound wealth and fame rivalling that of their contemporaries the Beatles. Aftermath is considered by music scholars to be an artistic breakthrough for the Rolling Stones. It is their first album to consist entirely of original compositions, all of which were credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Brian Jones emerged as a key contributor and experimented with instruments not usually associated with popular music, including the sitar, Appalachian dulcimer, Japanese koto and marimbas, as well as guitar and harmonica. Along with Jones' instrumental textures, the Stones incorporated a wider range of chords and stylistic elements beyond their Chicago blues and R&B influences, such as pop, folk, country, psychedelia, Baroque and Middle Eastern music. Influenced by intense love affairs and a demanding touring itinerary, Jagger and Richards wrote the album around psychodramatic themes of love, sex, desire, power and dominance, hate, obsession, modern society and rock stardom. Women feature as prominent characters in their often dark, sarcastic, casually offensive lyrics. The album's release was briefly delayed by controversy over the original packaging idea and title – Could You Walk on the Water? – due to the London label's fear of offending Christians in the US with its allusion to Jesus walking on water. In response to the lack of creative control, and without another idea for the title, the Stones bitterly settled on Aftermath, and two different photos of the band were used for the cover to each edition of the album. The UK release featured a run-time of more than 52 minutes, the longest for a popular music LP up to that point. The American edition was issued with a shorter track listing, substituting the single "Paint It Black" in place of four of the British version's songs, in keeping with the industry preference for shorter LPs in the US market at the time. Aftermath was an immediate commercial success in both the UK and the US, topping the British albums chart for eight consecutive weeks and eventually achieving platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. An inaugural release of the album era and a rival to the contemporaneous impact of the Beatles' Rubber Soul (1965), it reflected the youth culture and values of 1960s Swinging London and the burgeoning counterculture while attracting thousands of new fans to the Rolling Stones. The album was also highly successful with critics, although some listeners were offended by the derisive attitudes towards female characters in certain songs. Its subversive music solidified the band's rebellious rock image while pioneering the darker psychological and social content that glam rock and British punk rock would explore in the 1970s. Aftermath has since been considered the most important of the Stones' early, formative music and their first classic album, frequently ranking on professional lists of the greatest albums.
The sheer brilliance of Paint it Black brought this up to a 3, and the deeply rapey energy of Under My Thumb pushed it right back down.
Not a fan of the beatles but fine
I would love to suck on the vinegar tits of Mick Jagger. All that leathery goodness. Ooooh mama. Pour a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo on my thighs and slap me silly. Yee haw!
i mean it’s the rolling stones so of course they’re influential but not their best work. the songs were just incredibly repetitive to a very obnoxious point. nothing much to say other than that.
Shame that some of the more exciting instrumentals from the Stones have to be paired with their most alarmingly misogynistic lyrics
The beginning of the Stones really sounding like the Stones. Recording is still a little rough, although Brian Jones' use of whatever instruments were around lifts the sound into something fresher than most of their contemporaries. Going home is waaaaay too long, just a noodly blues jam. It shows the beginning of their dynamic playing style and playing off each other, but I'm not sure we needed 11 minutes of a under baked idea. I think I prefer either their earlier less polished and more bluesy records, or their later material where they are more confident in their own thing. And the misogyny is staggering. Women are either berated and belittled, subjugated, or raised onto pedestals (setting them up for failure?) I'm really not sure I could listen to this frequently.
If Mick Jagger has million number of haters i am one of them . if Mick Jagger has ten haters i am one of them. if Mick Jagger have only one hater and that is me . if Mick Jagger has no haters, that means i am no more on the earth . if world for the Mick Jagger, i am against the world. i hate #MickJagger till my last breath.. .. Die Hard hater of Mick Jagger . Hit Like If you Think Mick Jagger Worst singer & Dumb In the world
Between the feeling that this is the best Stones album I've listened to so far and my recent turnaround on Steely Dan, I've a suspicion that I'm simply getting back into a rock mood. But a couple songs into the B side (of the UK release, Paint It Black is a great song but not worth shortening the tracklist for marketing [I listened to it after finishing the UK version]) I was nodding my head to Out of Time. This one doesn't blend in the same way I complained Beggars did, and seems more interesting than Sticky Fingers in every category.
Love this album. Hadn’t listened to it in awhile.
The beginning of something special
Amazing that this album came out around the time of Rubber Soul. It shows a similar experimental style and has such breadth while staying distinctly Stones. Jagger and Richards wrote all these songs (no covers) and this album shows how good they were.
The algorithm has brought this not longer after ‘Let it Bleed’ and ‘Bring it all back home’, and has me thinking about what makes a record dated, like this one, and near-contemporaries, like the other two, not. It’s the difference between being planted into a past moment by a work, where it feels live, and looking back at that moment - it’s the distance. Forgive me; this doesn’t explain why I think ‘Aftermath’ is a relic, whereas ‘Let it bleed’ is resurrection on tape (sorry Ian Brown). Might be a materialist matter: this record contains novelty techniques that few would use now: stereo flourishes that do little other than call attention to themselves, dulcimer faux-baroque, recorded-in-an-oil-drum echoes, and unrelenting misogyny. The fuzz-bass on ‘Under My Thumb’ is brilliant, though! Still a great album. And once I start concentrating on Watts’ drumming, it’s happy trance time!
it's the stones - what more can i say? vocals go from playful to calming, incredibly solid guitar played in interesting ways. lots of awesome harmonica! great song structures and writing in general. very warm sounds, obviously a sense of nostalgia stemming from how timeless and iconic this band's sound is. "lady jane" is beautiful and i love the harpsichord. "under my thumb" has a great lead melody and a driving rhythm that immediately causes foot-tapping. "out of time" is great. the vocals are great and the harmonies make me smile. cute bell sound and great bassline. fun rolling drums and off-beat guitar, a really nice song. really consistent and easy to listen to - to the point where some songs blur together, although perhaps with repeated listens they might start to stand apart. first impressions led to no immediate stand-out songs.
loved it
really good album. It aged very well!
very fun and popular
good
Best Stones' record and one of best rock albums of all time. Just perfect, from start to finish
Can't go wrong with the stones!
Classic Stones
The classic Brian Jones era Stones release. Gorgeous mid 60’s classic
Pure Stones. Breakthrough album. THank you.
5/5 - Classic stones
Excellent. Love the stones.
love several songs on it, it's not boring, pretty good album
Paint It Black and Under My Thumb you say? Yes, of course I am giving it a 5. Bet Charlie Watt hated it though, absolutely hated the Stone that fella, absolutely loved the jazz.
So good! Great early Stones!
A classic
Great listen, happy this one came appeared.
godt !!
I really liked the album. Chill but upbeat music, cool music!
Love the rolling stones
Its probably top6 Stones albumes 4 m3
Vinilo, sin duda.
Love it…60’s music at it’s finest, and it only gets better
6th May 2022 Listened while working in the front room before going camping for the weekend with sav and sally in tonbridge. Classic, blues roots on their shoulders with Jagger yelping and squealing at his best.
This is where the Stones really start to step it up and creatively branch out in the recording studio. Undoubtedly inspired by The Beatles "Rubber Soul" doing the very same thing the year before. I mean, The Stones started recording this album 3 days after "Rubber Soul" was released. I don't think that was a coincidence. They were in a sort of musical "space race" with The Beatles at the time. Beatles comparisons aside, this is a great album, and where they really start to come into their own as songwriters. They certainly have a distinctly darker perspective - which can sometimes come across as overbearing and sometimes as refreshing, depending on my mood. Although "Mother's Little Helper" was one of the first Stones songs I really fell in love with, I think I prefer the US version for its inclusion of "Paint It, Black." What a way to open an album.
Sonzao massa dale
Innovative, an instant classic with so many signature and hummable hooks. The opening track with it's eastern influence is arresting to the ear.
Never listened. Some meh songs in there but love the sound. You can def see the jazz and blues "influence" they borrowed from here.
Never listened to the Stones much, but this was great! Old school rock and roll
Fantastic album, so many good tracks, catchy lyrics, great melodies
excellent sound, great masterpiece.
Good stones album some of my favorite stones songs
The Stones have always been the bad boys against the Beatles loveable mop-tops image. I'm finding i'm steering more to the dark side now......... This album is full-force and full of powerful hits, sneering lyrics, cold dark imagery. All these years later it can still evoke anger and controversy. The album begins with the newer progressive works and then finishes with the older style blue/pop numbers they were known for. This was a turning point.
Aftermath shows a much more mature Rolling Stones who have found their sound and are moving beyond their roots as a straight blues band. The songwriting is better, the playing is tighter, the music is more exploratory, and the album is incredibly cohesive. Even their long jams are better structured and more interesting.
Great, the ending song "Going Home" made me give five star.
Such a killer record. Always worth coming back to this one.
Uit de tijd dat het nog een stel jonge gasten met een boel branie waren. Het klinkt na meer dan 50 jaar nog altijd fris. Het heeft stijl, het rockt, het is creatief, het komt aan. Goed gedaan van de heren.
"Aftermath" is the fourth British and sixth US studio album by The Rolling Stones. It was recorded in California and with their previous success allowed The Stones more recording time. It is also considered their artistic breakthrough with all original compositions credited to Jagger and Richards. Many think artistically influenced by what The Beatles were doing. Lots of background on this album. The music itself goes outside of their previous Chicago Blues and R&B styles into pop, folk, country, pyschedelic, baroque and Middle Eastern especially with Brian Jones' use of the sitar, dulcimer, Japanese koto and marimbas. Lyrically, Jones and Richard explore themes of love, sex, desire, power, dominance, hate obsession and modern society. Some of the lyrics, even at that time, were viewed as misogynistic. One of the reasons was the women with whom Jagger, Richards and Jones were involved with and included love triangles, bad relationships and drugs. There were two different versions of the album released; due the US market, the US version is shorter. It also contains the song "Paint It Black" which the UK version does not. This album was also a big commercial success both in the UK and US. Since the randomizer showed the UK album cover, I listened to that version. The album begins with "Mother's Little Helper" about a housewive's dependence on drugs to get her through the day. Needless to say not the last drug song The Stones would write. That Eastern guitar riff. Rolling bass. "Stupid Girl" is about a bad relationship Jagger had and some put in the misogynistic category. The organ and electric piano are prominent. The third song "Lady Jane" continues the change of styles with this one more baroque pop. Jones' dulicer and Richards' acoustic guitar at the forefront. Hey, a romantic courtship..something positive. And then we come to one of the more challenging drinking game-songs around in "Under My Thumb." One must take a drink of their cocktail of choice every time Under My Thumb is said, which is 14 times. No, I didn't do it today....yet. Great groove. Jones' marimbas. Jagger still seeking revenge from a bad relationship. The first two songs on the second side, "Flight 505" and "High and Dry" return The Stones to more of the blues form. Poor Mick as he continues his women misery in "Out of Time." Brian Jones also continues his brilliance with the use of marimbas and a vibraphone. Maybe my favorite song on the album. I don't know exactly what Jagger is singing about but "I Am Waiting" is another great example of The Stones going into different styles: folk, baroque pop of sorts. I don't remember hearing "I Think." I must have. It is probably their most simple and straight-forward rock-pop song on the album. Great song and actually charted in the UK. I once owned (the US version) this on cassette, long gone now. I need to own this again. I know I didn't appreciate it at the time but the change of styles and especially Brian Jones are both fantastic. A must listen.
Classic
For me great combination of their bluesy-music they started with and the later style as in Beggars' Banquet.
first truely great stones record
What good enjoyed
Gran disco.
Vinilo, sin duda.
"Going Home" made me love the album. I can hear how the musicians feel the pleasure of playing the song. It's interesting to read about the history of the Aftermath. I didn't know that there were such big differences between UK and US markets.
Love most of the Stones music and this album has some greats for sure! The production of this recording has some fun stereo imaging emphasizing instrumental separation! Cool stuff!
A 5 for the UK version ("Mother's Little Helper" & "Out of Time") & a 5 for the US version ("Paint It Black.").
Can listen at any time. All great. All.
Mega!!!
Legendary album, wasn't sure if I should listen to the U.K. or U.S. version, so I listened to them both. A lot of the Stones' best known songs are on here, and the rest could be blues classics in their own right.
Wonderful album! I was raised on Beatles records, not Rolling Stones records, so it's great discovering an early Rolling Stones classic. I listened to the U.K. version as well.
cool
So... Which version should be rated here? The US album, with the iconic "Paint It Black"? Or the UK L.P., which doesn't have that hit single, yet harbors the equally iconic "Mother's Little Helper" and "Out Of Time"? Fortunately, both versions include the bittersweet melody of "Lady Jane", the long yet fascinating blues dirge of "Goin' Home" and the stellar hooks of "Under My Thumb". I guess I should probably take a star away from the LP because of the misogynistic lyrics of that latter song. Yet I always take the contentsof those lyrics content as the self-delusion of the immature male protagonist singing them. And so I refuse to take those words very seriously. Maybe I'm in the wrong here. And maybe it's because the album is so good musically speaking that I can't face the truth. In that case, I'm probably as self-deluded as the young man in that song. 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5, then. Number of albums left to review: 463 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 254 (including this one). Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 125 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 160
Album 148 of 1001 Rolling Stones - Aftermath Rating : 5 / 5 Favorite Track : Paint It, Black I like the classic Stones. Their early years are my favorites. This is the first with all original tracks, including 2 of their bigger hits. Never go wrong with early Stones.
Some classic songs here. Some exotic instruments. Nice sound.
Cool album, with some of the Stones darker more experimental stuff on there.
A mix of 60’s pop shuffles with some delta style blues.
4.5 stars. Fantastic album. Classic rock defined. Standouts are "Paint It Black" and "Under My Thumb".
This is quintessential 1960's rolling stones The opening with Paint it Black in the US version is widely different with Mother's Little Helper in the UK version. I think I like the UK version better.
This is one of those albums I've kind of heard already, because it's full of bangers that have appeared *everywhere* over the years. Heard in the order they were designed to, it becomes even more apparent just what a revelation this must have been upon release. The Stones have always been cool to me, and this just cements that coolness even further.
Such a great and innovative album of solid stones.
Some of my favorites
Pegou-me totalmente ao começar com Paint it, Black. Melhore expressão do rock produzido pelos Stones.
4.5/5
Good
Easy 5, pas besoin de trop réfléchir. C'est bien d'un bout à l'autre, c'est varié, vraiment absolument rien à redire.
I've never considered myself a Stones fan, but that may have changed after listening to this album. I loved it all. Obviously, I was familiar with Paint it Black, but I also feel like that song in particular was a bit ahead of its time. I had no idea the song was that old. And it certainly stands out on this album, IMO. That said, the whole album was quite enjoyable. I'll probably listen to this again.
The first super solid stones album with wonderful Brian Jones contributions.
I also want to paint it black.
Great album. Love it!
a bit too easy
UK version > US Version
1966. Key Songs: Under My Thumb, Paint It Black
7/10
Not my favorite stones, but man did it set a tone
2nd guy in looks like Mark Hamill Paint It, Black: hey i know this one, good start. added to my old music and borderlands playlist
Pretty goods. Very versatile sound. They feel genre-fluid within just this album
Thought "Mother's Little Helper" might be feminist-adjacent, then "Stupid Girl" came on and dismissed the notion. And Under My Thumb. Jfc. The rest of the album was good though. I love British rockers and the Rolling Stones are fun.
Going home's a bit long isn't it? Stormer, but every now and again I thought of Jagger and felt a bit sick.
Classic 60s/70s rock, nice bunch of well-known Stones' songs. Overall good.
Some real stinkers on this one lads. 3.75
Not really many notes. They sound like the beatles, and i thought it was strange that the UK release had 4 more songs and took off Paint it black, which was the biggest hit they've ever had.
Very enjoyable. Always liked Paint it black but never listened to the rest of the album. I should listen to more Rolling Stones.
They are good
I’m a Stones fan, but admittedly have not listened to this album in its entirety. Under My Thumb has always been a favorite of mine, it other stand out tracks include Mother’s Little Helper, Doncha Bother Me, and Out of Time. Not their strongest album, but still an entertaining listen and I love how the instruments are panned to either the left or right in these older recordings.
It’s really good music. Well made. Just a little slow overall for my liking. It’s music I’d listen to again though if I were in the right mood.
Necesitaría que Paco Navarrete me ayude a entender algunas cosas pero es sin duda un gran disco. 4.01 apenas pero vale. La que menos entiendo es la de 11 minutos que seguramente fue todo un gesto de valentía de los vatos pero ... No sé
Fun stuff. Cool perspective.