Rolling Stones Album: A Bigger Bang
Release Date: September 5, 2005
Label: Virgin, Rolling Stones
Popular Songs:
Songs You Need to Listen To:
Review Written By: Andy Trcka
October 17, 2019
A beautifully solemn hymn synonymous with Good Friday that I’ve always cherished is “Were You there.” One year, at services with my parents, theirs was the lone church in the world that didn’t offer “Were You There.” The void was noticeable, almost bruising. Eventually a year passed and we found ourselves in a nearly identical pew with “Were You There” filling the space. It felt as if time had both stood still and sped past hurriedly. An extraordinary sense of permanence enveloped me. A full two years passed since I last heard that song but it seemed like a matter of minutes. For me, similar to “Were You There,” A Bigger Bang was released in a moment of unbounded permanence.
The Stones and other bands I follow were active in the mid-2000s. For example, U2 had a pair of albums and released Live at Slane Castle – an absolutely fantastic concert recording. I remember listening to Slane Castle with my Dad and Brother LOUDLY courtesy of a PBS Member Drive. Ryan Adams was releasing music almost hourly throughout the 00s. The 2000’s were the final waning moments before streaming took over – albums were still the predominant vehicle for enjoying music. Everywhere I looked, bands I loved were dropping music. Permanence…it just felt like this deluge of releases would last forever!
There was a torrent of new Stones material starting in 2002 with Forty Licks, which the Stones describe as “a career-spanning retrospective.” This retrospective featured the new song, “Don’t Stop.” The tour for Forty Licks spawned 2004’s Live Licks. As was the format of the time, the 4 DVD set – Four Flicks came out in 2002. Angering some folks, Four Flicks was exclusively available through Best Buy. Ignoring the hullabaloo of how it was released, Four Flicks featured loads of great content, especially the theatre show. In a theater setting they played some really enjoyable and unique songs including “Love Train,” “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” and “Nearness of You.” You could feel them relax and play what they wanted to play. Also in the 2000s the majority of the Stones catalog was digitally remastered. If you are one of the rare types still thumbing through cd’s, I recommend passing on any Stones cd not remastered. Sure many of the offerings I’ve mentioned are rereleases, but gees…there was a lotta Stones stuff to dive into in the 2000’s! There was no shortage of Monday midnight visits to the local record store. For now, let’s shift our attention to the contribution in this period of all new content – A Bigger Bang.
Nearly a decade (eight years) separates A Bigger Bang from its predecessor Bridges to Babylon. At 16 tracks this is a lengthy album. The duration is understandable because eight years is a long time. The boys must have had pent up creativity! I believe two things to be true about this effort: it is both a good rock album and a less than stellar Rolling Stones album. For starters, let’s look at some of the positive aspects of A Bigger Bang.
A Bigger Bang flows really well. Don’t be surprised to find yourself doing a Mick-esque sash-shay. You’ll also have plenty of moments to exhale and relax. As most decent albums do, there’s plenty of smooth tempo changes. The tracks shuffle together in an acceptably contrasting and complementary manner. In both the layout and sound quality, it’s evident they took care constructing this album. It was also packaged thoughtfully as the vinyl came with a complimentary cd. A sonically pleasing album that is packaged well…you might ask, what else could a Stones fan ask for? The answer is grit, raw emotion and distinguishable influences.
Thinking back to the Stones early releases, it was fun and easy to identify influences: pop, soul, rock, blues, etc. With the noticeable exception of the blues-leaning “Back of My Hand,” influences on A Bigger Bang are difficult to discern. A listener is more likely to compare moments of this album to other Rolling Stones efforts. For example, “Laugh, I Nearly Died” and “Rain Fall Down” would fit seamlessly into Emotional Rescue. “Look What the Cat Dragged In” sounds like it fell out of Dirty Work. Unfortunately, Dirty Work is a sound not frequently worth revisiting. Being the third album produced by Don Was and the Glimmer Twins (Mick and Keith), it makes sense Bang has a familiar feel. Perhaps indicative of the Stones thoughtful attention to detail and the rapid development of recording technologies in the new Millenium – there’s a certain staleness to this album. The sound quality is almost too clean as there is not so much as a single misplaced note. Gone is the rawness of 12 x 5.
Thematically it is tired. By the time you arrive at “She Saw Me Coming” and “This Place is Empty” you’ll have heard these tunes numerous times. Essentially they are Voodoo Lounge’s “The Worst” repackaged. “Driving Too Fast” continues the trend began in the mid-’80s of being preoccupied with TOO much of something: “Too Much Blood” and “Too Tough” from Undercover, Steel Wheels’ “Too Tight,” and Dirty Work providing us with “Too Rude.” I gotta ask, how can a rock band be too rude? Isn’t rudeness/aggressiveness a key component of rock and roll?
Their foray into the political sphere with “Sweet Neo Con” has a disingenuous feel. The sincere, guttural agitation of 1968 was perfectly encapsulated in “Street Fighting Man.” Sadly the mid-2000s were also a difficult period as America again found herself in another seemingly endless war. Unfortunately the anger and agitation so poignantly demonstrated in “Street Fighting Man” is tamped down and ineffectual in “Sweet Neo Con.” It just seemed like they wrote the song simply because it was the spirit of the times. In interviews surrounding the album Mick failed to strongly offer an anti-war stance.
The following few sentences paraphrase numerous conversations with Joe (my brother). I contest these are faults simply because this is a Stones album. If this were an effort put forth by almost anyone else, A Bigger Bang would be noted as nothing else but a very solid rock album. Unfortunately, history and lofty standards dictate this is both a good album and a dull Stones effort. The Stones weren’t the only band or artist who experienced this double-edged type of review in the 00s. Classic artists from Neil Diamond to Paul McCartney released stuff and more often than not, their releases were heralded – typically receiving four or five-star reviews. Historically, 4 or 5-star ratings were difficult to come by in Rolling Stone magazine. In the 00s they were a regular occurrence. They were a regular occurrence because like the Stones’ A Bigger Bang, they are quality works, but also not on par with parts of their iconic catalogs.
Please don’t regard this as a negative review. It is not! Below you’ll see a list of 6 really enjoyable songs from this record. Surely you’ll agree, records worthy of a sour review don’t feature 6 good songs! Regardless of its faults, this is a solid album. Its polished sound makes it a perfect fit for a dinner get-together or cocktail party. It’s an entertaining record that will only add to the energy of a room. It’s a good album, just not a monumental Stones album.
My favorite “lick” on A Bigger Bang is “Streets of Love.” It has an approachable melancholy semblance and Mick seems to genuinely feel the lyrics. While the premise of “She Saw Me Coming,” isn’t anything new (the confession to a significant other that the singer is trouble, a harbinger of pain to come), the song is fun and easy to sing along to. A number of Bigger Bang tunes would be great to hear live, but given the opportunity, I’d choose “Let Me Down Slow.” “Let Me Down Slow” is a quality mid-tempo rocker that features fine guitar work by Mr. Wood and Mr. Richards. Other enjoyable tunes include “This Place is Empty” and “Biggest Mistake.”
There’s three straight forward, quick-paced rockers on this album: “Oh No Not You Again,” “Dangerous Beauty,” and “Rough Justice.” Of these fast movers I enjoy “Rough Justice” the most. Stylistically it isn’t anything original and could be inserted into any Stones album from 1983 onwards, but it is still enjoyable. “Rough Justice” is occasionally played on tour. My affinity for A Bigger Bang is framed by my youthful status surrounding its release. It also benefits from the energy provided by the vast content provided by bands I enjoyed in the mid-2000s. Please understand accepting these qualifications is also not to accept it as a mediocre product. Admittedly, when I pull this sucker off the shelf I think equally as much about enjoyable moments in my mid 20’s as I do the songs themselves. But there’s nothing wrong with that – affection can distort objectivity and objectivity is unnecessary when digesting an album. Give A Bigger Bang a listen – you won’t regret it.
gramsghost.com 