1001 Albums Summary

For me personally, The Stones have always been a bit of a hit or miss band. Mick Jagger, while as charismatic and instantly recognisable as they come, has never really been one of my favourite frontmen. So as this appeared as album 1/1001 in the journey, I was actually sort of glad as I've never actually listened to it in full. 'Let It Bleed' came after the largely praised and successful 'Beggars Banquet' a year prior, so the stakes were pretty high alongside controversy surrounding founder and guitarist Brian Jones being let go, replaced by Mick Taylor. So, is it a suitable follow up? But before listening, there is one thing that stands out to me… that album art. A multi-layered 'cake' consisting of a plate, film canister, clock face, pizza, and tire topped, amid white frosting with jewelled candies, with miniature figurines of the Stones themselves. Below it is a copy of the record being spun. I've always found it a very fascinating cover despite never actually giving the album my attention prior to this. When reading up on why the cover art is this 'cake', the album was originally to be named 'Automatic Changer', the feature on turntables that would allow you to stack records and have one drop and play after the previous had finished. Makes a little more sense. It's not an essential but it always helps an album when the art supporting it is iconic in itself and this checks that box. Good start. Next, you inevitably look at the track listing and see if there's anything you recognise. What gave me some confidence in enjoying this was seeing 'Gimme Shelter' as the opener. I know that song, I enjoy that song… actually I fucking love that song. But apart from that, I was going in blind. Now, where do you even start with 'Gimme Shelter'? Arguably The Stones' magnum opus, it surrounds the reality of war, apt given the time period of the Vietnam War. The intro is absolutely brilliant, with Keith Richard opening up with the iconic main riff, but what struck me immediately is the underlying Güiro that is performed by guest performer Jimmy Miller. The strokes of it run throughout and I think are a fantastic touch and adds texture. Jimmy also plays the maracas on this, further filling out the mix and adding to the texture of the track. Mick then comes in and gives a fantastic vocal performance for the first verse, the song writing while not directly pointing to war is an easy metaphor to understand. It's what comes next that really makes this song probably one of the greatest songs of all time and that is guest vocalist Merry Clayton's performance on the choruses. Belting her ass off to the confronting lyrics "War, children, it's just a shot away" and "Rape, murder, it's just a shot away" is just chilling. Her voice cracks, shrills and passionate performance really is one of the best vocal performances ever. Also within this track is an absolutely badass harmonica solo from Mick and ever present guitar solo from Keith. How do you even top a song like that, is it even possible? It's a song that is still sadly very relevant with war and genocide ever present in todays society. The rest won't be described as in depth but I will pick out things of note in certain tracks. 'Love In Vain' is a rework of the Robert Johnson classic. When you already have a strong base in the songwriting, it'll be hard for them to completely botch it. Luckily, the Stones' build upon it. Mick really shows his bluesy side here on the vocal performance, emotive, powerful and effective. Mixed in is some lovely slide guitar work from Keith and proficient mandolin plucks and strums from guest performer Ry Cooder. It's a really nice sounding track, retaining the poignancy of the original. Now for the first miss here, 'Country Honk', it's not necessarily a bad song perse but I cannot get behind how this one has been mixed. The fiddle is loud as all fuck, you can barely hear the vocals through the verses and other than that it's just a rather repetitive that becomes tiresome given how short it is. 'Live With Me' has an absolutely lethal bassline from Keith, some horns that punch through nicely in the transition from chorus to their own solo which is performed by guest performers Leon Russell and Bobby Keys and almost all ruined by Mick Jagger's horniness. Good song though, just a very average sex-centric 60s piece of songwriting. The title track 'Let It Bleed' opens with a cheeky little piece of signature Keith slide guitar, more to come. Ian Stewart plays the piano on here which is a sorely needed element and something to focus on when Mick is busy yelling in your ear "Yeah, we all need someone we can cream on, Yeah, and if you want to, well, you can cream on me". Bloody horny bastard. Keith continues to slide his ass off on here and the solo is awesome. Again, musically this is fantastic but there are quite a few lines on here (and also probably on the woman's chest Micks ranting on about here) that just make me eye roll. Great song nonetheless. "Midnight Rambler" kicks off with a nice bluesy riff, some more harmonica from Mick which is all contained in a rather dark and gloomy sounding mix. I like how this one sounds a lot. The songwriting is loosely based around The Boston Strangler which makes the sound of it all very appropriate. It has some nice tempo changes, tension and release moments, fantastic instrumentation and honestly warrants the 7 minute runtime. This track offers an interesting approach to kick off the B side of the album. "You Got The Silver" is a bit of an awkward one. Keith takes over on vocals here, not to say it's a bad performance but his songwriting is rather cliched and cheesy here. Instrumentally still solid, just not a huge fan of this one. Did you know these fellas loved drugs and sex??? Well, "Monkey Man" spells it out to you in a rather humorous way. This song has a fantastic intro, bright vibraphone hits from member Bill Wyman (who sadly hasn't gotten much recognition from me over the course of this, welcome to the life of a bass player) and Jimmy Miller comes back into the fold on Tambourine. Instead of the stupid direct sex-centric lyrics, Mick lays down the metaphors surrounding the rock'n'roll lifestyle of the late 60's. Saving the best part for last, the general instrumentation here. My word does this song sound timeless. Keith goes down the slide once again to great effect and the underlying piano playing from guest performer Nicky Hopkins helps fill out the song nicely. Brilliant track To close this album out is "You Can't Always Get What You Want", which is also the longest on the album by a fair margin clocking in at 7:28. A song of desire vs need. It opens with an intro provided by the London Bach Choir and sounds absolutely lovely. Next, a beautiful pairing of French horn played by guest performer Al Kooper and Keith on the acoustic guitar. Al Kooper also plays the organ, which is audibly recognisable at the start of the 2nd verse. So much goes on in this track, more maracas, more slides, more tambourine and Mick throwing in a fantastic vocal performance on top of it all. The outro is so grand and maximalist which feels like the right way to end an album like this. It's progressive, from a very mellow and beautiful intro to an absolute stormer of an outro. What a closer. So, what are my final thoughts on this? I think it is great, I think it is probably worthy of being in a book like this but I also think there are some issues within. The instrumentation over the course of the whole album is pinpoint, no one feels out of their depth, the guest performers have been pulled in for a reason, they're proficient at what they do. The few issues I have are with Mick's songwriting at times being way too on the nose (and Keith's effort just being a bit bleh) and the really odd mixing on country honk. It's an average length for an album of the time. A 40 odd minute run that fits onto a single LP. 9 tracks that most of which are worth your attention. Pretty good stuff. My Track Ratings Gimme Shelter: 5/5 Love In Vain: 4.5/5 Country Honk: 3/5 Live With Me: 4/5 Let It Bleed: 4.5/5 Midnight Rambler: 4.5/5 You Got The Silver: 3.5/5 Monkey Man: 5/5 You Can't Always Get What You Want: 5/5 AVERAGE TRACK RATING = 38.5/45 x 10 = 8.6/10 'ALBUM' RATING = 9/10 TOTAL RATING = 8.8/10

Explain this Atheists: How the fuck did these blokes predict that Mookie Blaylock would be an All-Star and make the All-Defensive first team twice?? Bro would pick your pocket then laugh about it. He was a quality college baller but it was still early doors for him. Now, why is Mookie relevant? Mookie Blaylock was their original band name and Mookie wore the No.10 jersey. Hence, the debut being titled "Ten". "Ten" was released during the peak of grunge and given there was an abundance of bands trying their luck, success wasn't guaranteed. It would take something special like this release to help Pearl Jam be acknowledged as a part of the 'Big Four' during this era. The cover art is the members standing in a circle with their arms risen, hands meeting in the middle. Bassist Jeff Ament stated this signified being together as a group and entering into the world of music as a true band...a sort of all-for-one deal. Ok, seems reasonable enough and a suitable choice for a debut. It's never been a personal favourite cover but it is serviceable. But all of this background information means fuck all if the music is nothing of note… right? We kick things off with "Once", an intro containing some nice percussion, droned out vocals from Eddie which then kick shit into gear with an immense main guitar riff and heavy drumming. It tells the tale of man who "once upon a time, could control myself" but descends into madness and turn into a serial killer. Intense songwriting choice for an opener but I think it pays off massively. I understand many peoples gripes with Eddie as a vocalist but my word is this a good start. The almost rapped pre-chorus is cool. A tight solo follows into a belter of a performance from Eddie on the final chorus, strained and passion filled. Great start. Next… Explain this Atheists "Even Flow" has what debatably could be one of the most recognisable intro riffs of all time. Now, this is an occasion of which I could agree with the gripes surrounding Eddie's vocal style as through the verses in this, his delivery of certain lines sound awkward to me. His performance on the chorus is better. The guitar work on this one is absolutely marvellous, duelling lead and rhythm parts from Mike and Stone which harmonise in parts are just brilliant. Dave Krusen's drumming here is tight and rocksteady, audible on the bridge. It's iconic, it's great What's up with these iconic intro riffs?? Well next up we have "Alive" which has a nice duelling between the electric main riff and an steady acoustic chord progression under it. Dave's drumming is also of interest in this intro, with the open hi-hat punching straight through the mix. Eddie tells a personal story of which his mother tells him the man who he thought was his father was actually his stepfather, his biological father no longer alive. A strong piece of songwriting, an absolute barnstormer of a chorus which then leads into more great guitar play. Eddie croons as he does best in parts here then explodes again for the final chorus before another tight solo from Mike which has Dave thrashing the living shit out of the kit. Absolute brilliance, one of their best with no real gripes from me here. "Why Go" reverses the approach, the intro is done through a tight drum pattern from Dave and a thick bassline from Jeff. The main riff here is rather subdued, a palm muted affair that doesn't really come to life until the chorus riff. However the same dark storytelling resumes. It is about a girl who was put in mental hospital against her will and without any mental illness. “Why Go” refers to the lack of motivation to go back home after spending time unjustly in this place. Eddie's performance is solid, nothing outstanding though and the droned out backing vocal through the chorus I find rather odd to be honest. The star of the show here is again the solo from Mike. Good, doesn't really compare with the first three tracks though and CERTAINLY NOT the next two that follow. Did you think you would get given a reprieve from the dark storytelling here? May I offer you an opportunity to double down with "Black" instead. My fucking word what a song. Who said a song about a relationship falling to pieces had to be done through a soppy slow ballad, clearly not Eddie. Again, easily recognisable intro riff which kicks the song off, a clean guitar riff might I add here which is a rarity here. Again a lovely duelling lead and rhythm pairing are present with some underlying piano playing courtesy of guest performer Rick Parashar. The distorted guitar lick leading into the chorus sounds fucking great. It's the back half of this song that makes it seriously incredible. Eddie belts and croons his ass off, a nice lead solo from Mike is played over the main riff and the doo-doo-doo's harmonise with it and work perfectly. A very well written and played song paired with an absolutely unreal vocal performance, especially on the back half. Special, special song. Could anything top "Black" for me, well surprisingly yes. For me personally, "Jeremy" is far and away my favourite Pearl Jam ever released and it begins with that goddamn bassline and some sharp cymbal work from Dave. The song takes its main inspiration from a newspaper article about a 15-year-old boy named Jeremy Wade Delle from Richardson, Texas, who shot himself in front of his teacher and his second-period English class of 30 students on the morning of January 8, 1991. Eddie details who Jeremy was and I think the chorus solely being "Jeremy spoke in class today, Jeremy spoke in class today" is an absolutely chilling and genius line. Aside from the story behind it, again some seriously good duelling guitar work is on display as well as guest performer Walter Gray on the cello. It is all capped with the iconic climax where Eddie belts something along the lines of "AH AIGH AI AI AY YEAHHH", sounds good to me mate. Top tier, their best in my eyes. So that's the A-Side down and well, it was pretty stellar. "Why Go" is the weakest on that side but that is only because it has 5 behemoths strategically sandwiching it. "Oceans" is the first track on the B-Side and… it's alright. Comfortably the shortest track on the album, clocking in at 2:41, it may also be the weakest on the album. Eddie details that he doesn't want a lover of his to stray away as he will return to them. I don't know about this one to be honest, it's a little cliché with the use of 'ocean' terms and metaphors. It's also nothing really special musically. The acoustic guitar work sounds nice and is honestly maybe the highlight of this, or maybe the underlying bassline of loses any audibility after Eddie intensifies his vocal. It's decent but never a song I'd come back to. Next up is in my opinion maybe the most underrated song on the album, "Porch". I absolutely love Eddie's fast, almost rapped delivery through the verse. The guitars are crunchy as all fuck through the chorus, nearly ear piercing. The underlying bassline is ever present and sounds great, the double tracked guitar solo sound fantastic. The little drum fill before the final chorus booms and the little guitar licks in that chorus while Eddie belts combine for a brilliant little track. "Garden" kicks off with the opening and main riff for the track, a lovely clean one at that. The verses are fine but my word does Eddie put on a killer performance for one of my favourite choruses on the album. With what is meant to be with reference to the Gulf War, Eddie belts: "Yet I'll go with my hands bound. I will walk with my face, blood. I will walk with my shadow flag Into your garden, garden of stone, yeah." On first listen it took my attention immediately. Aside from this, some chunky distorted guitars come in for the 2nd chorus and progress onward. A lovely solo intersects and acts as the bridge with more duelling guitars, you really need to listen to this through headphones for the isolating channel experience. This continues through to the final chorus which is a culmination of everything, Eddie belting, guitars soloing either channel, a chunky main riff played under it and some ever steady drumming. Fantastic song. We then run into a bit of an oddball, "Deep". The guitar driven intro is fun but simultaneously sounds like an AIC rip off. The subject matter stays dark, describing a man that is contemplating suicide by jumping off a building, in too deep to stop himself. I can't pinpoint exactly what about this song doesn't do it for me but I suppose not everything has to click. The main riff is ominous, dark and near disorienting, the storytelling is there, the slick bridge transition is cool and the drum fill finish the song off nicely but as a whole it's just a good track, not amazing. So, how do you cap this album off? With an appropriately titled "Release" of course. Eddie's approach on the first verse here took my interest. It's noticeably in a deeper and more guttural sounding register. Do I necessarily like it? Fuck knows, but it's interesting and makes sense given what follows. He belts "release me" and that's where the switch to typical Eddie occurs. The guitar effects give the track a unique atmosphere. What I don't understand is why the 'hidden' track is latched onto this and done where the transition is rather odd. Would've rather it just cut at the end of "Release". Good song and a suitable closer to the album nonetheless. My final thoughts on this and especially what to score this are somewhat convoluted. It's a great debut, do not get that twisted. Eddie has moments of magic and some where I can see the hatred toward his vocal style being justified. Instrumentation is superb for the most part. I do not like how it closes with the transition to the hidden track and I just feel like that the drop off from Side-A to B is rather significant. "Ten" also has been attributed to significantly influencing the post-grunge/dad rock/butt rock scenes that many hate and I can also see that. It's great, but I feel it may very well be the weakest amongst it's big four counterparts. Also, they could've fucked off "Oceans", then they would have an album called "Ten" that actually has 10 tracks, idiots. Track Ratings Once: 4.5/5 Even Flow: 4.5/5 Alive: 5/5 Why Go: 4/5 Black: 5/5 Jeremy: 5/5 Oceans: 3.5/5 Porch: 4.5/5 Garden: 4.5/5 Deep: 4/5 Release: 4/5 AVERAGE TRACK RATING = 48.5/55 x 10 = 8.8/10 ALBUM RATING = 8/10 TOTAL RATING = 8.4/10