Ron Wood was a man seemingly born to one day join The Rolling Stones. His work with Rod Stewart and The Faces... the way he looked. So, this was his lucky day, following Mick Taylor's exit, in came Ron Wood. He's been there ever since, much to his credit. Ah, a word about 'Black And Blue' in general. If the previous Stones studio outing was almost a cartoon cliche version of the group, 'Black And Blue' almost veers too far in the opposite direction. Apart from a couple of tracks, well, one.... this album sounds almost completely unlike what we'd come to expect from the group. That's actually a positive, but another song or two in the classic Rolling Stones vein would have been welcome. Another positive is the sound of the thing. Clear sound and separation, good mixing. A well produced, professional record. But, back to that laudable, on the face of it, diversification that 'Black And Blue' displays. Well, when The Stones tackle the reggae classic 'Cherry Oh Baby' the results are far from pleasing. Oh, they do it well enough, I suppose - but it's not suitable Rolling Stones material, and following the majesty of 'Hand Of Fate', just further adds to the confusion this 'Black And Blue' album displays. Yeah, 'Hand Of Fate' is the most 'Stones' sounding song here, the one song that could squeeze onto your personal 'best of' Stones mix-cd from 'Black And Blue' and not sound horribly out of place. The other song here that's quite impressive is the funk of the opening cut. Lots of little guitar lines, a groove, repetition, but it works - it sounds convincing.
Two ballads, namely 'Memory Motel' and 'Fool To Cry' sound kind of nice. Both are very well done, both are almost affecting, but the material borders on bland. Plus, both songs are somewhat ruined by the vocals of Mr Jagger. He's rarely sounded less convincing or genuine than he does here, he hams it up - 'Fool To Cry' was the hit, and it's smooth in its mid to late Seventies radio-friendliness. Nothing wrong with either song especially, but the days of The Rolling Stones being the worlds greatest Rock n Roll band were seemingly gone forever. Ah, almost forgot 'Crazy Mama'. I knew there was more than just 'Hand Of Fate' here that sounded like The Rolling Stones we all remember. It's all through 'Crazy Mama'. It's a little ramshackle, but sometimes, depending on the circumstances, ramshackle Rolling Stones is the best way to be.
Hot Stuff / Hand Of Fate / Cherry Oh Baby / Memory Motel / Hey Negrita / Melody / Fool To Cry / Crazy Mama
Two ballads, namely 'Memory Motel' and 'Fool To Cry' sound kind of nice. Both are very well done, both are almost affecting, but the material borders on bland. Plus, both songs are somewhat ruined by the vocals of Mr Jagger. He's rarely sounded less convincing or genuine than he does here, he hams it up - 'Fool To Cry' was the hit, and it's smooth in its mid to late Seventies radio-friendliness. Nothing wrong with either song especially, but the days of The Rolling Stones being the worlds greatest Rock n Roll band were seemingly gone forever. Ah, almost forgot 'Crazy Mama'. I knew there was more than just 'Hand Of Fate' here that sounded like The Rolling Stones we all remember. It's all through 'Crazy Mama'. It's a little ramshackle, but sometimes, depending on the circumstances, ramshackle Rolling Stones is the best way to be.
Hot Stuff / Hand Of Fate / Cherry Oh Baby / Memory Motel / Hey Negrita / Melody / Fool To Cry / Crazy Mama