Customer Reviews

Aftermath

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Consider where the Stones were up until this point. For the most part, earlier Stones records were 99% derivative of American blues/R&B. Aftermath changed all that. The album includes "Paint it Black" ("Mothers little helper" in the UK - I have both releases), Lady Jane (which is as English as you can possibly get - I'm surprised Masterpiece Theater hasn't discovered it yet), "High and Dry" - a seminal attempt at combining rock and country, the gentle and stirring "I am Waiting", "Under My thumb" - a staple of classic rock, and, of course, the experimental "Going Home", probably one of the longest tracks to be recorded at the time, and still very listenable. Brian Jones' unique thumbprints are all over this album and would never again be so prominent in future Stones albums. Other important artists of the period took note of the fact that you could creatively incorporate other instruments in pop songs besides guitars, bass and drums. The texture of pop music was forever changed because of the innovations brought to bear by the late Brian Jones on Aftermath. Note, the UK version included "Out of Time" and "Take it or leave it". I recommend this CD. This is classic '66 Stones, different from earlier releases and never to repeated in the future.

Aftermath is an essential record for every collector of rock masterpieces. You don't have to be a big Stones fan to pick up a copy of this. There is just one problem with this CD, it's the US version. There ones was a time when record companies thought they were free to change a great work of art for audiences on different sides of the Atlantic. Or maybe they thaught the lyrics of Mothers Little Helper weren't appropriate for the American Market. And it's obviously profittable that the real fans bought two versions of the same album. I would like to think those days are over, but unfortunatly they are not. Abkco still doesn't bring a decent copy of Aftermath on the market. We're waiting for the version that starts with Mothers Little Helper, includes the excellent Out Of Time, Take It Or Leave It and What To Do and has Paint It Black as an extra track.

This will always be my album of choice from the Stones. It's not only the best of the Brian Jones period, but superior over all their incarnations. For the first time it was a record written entirely by Jagger and Richard(s) without the inclusion of any blues/r&b/early r n' r cover tunes. It's a great showcase for Keith on guitar; listen closely on headphones for various layered parts, quite intricate. Brian Jones provides the odd instruments like dulcimer and sitar. The band stretches out on "Goin Home", one of the first really long rock tunes (11 + minutes). Their great pop sense is present in "Under My Thumb" alongside the menacing "Paint It Black" and "Dontcha Bother Me" and the scathing "Stupid Girl". Every track is a gem, especially some of the lesser knowns like "Think" and "I Am Waiting" which are hits in my mental jukebox forever. Indescribably essential.This one is always in my top ten all time albums when someone asks me for a list.

Aftermath to me was one of the best, if not the best, Rolling Stones Lp ever recorded. It was the first Stones Lp to consist of all original Jagger/Richards compositions. The Lp included the number one hit "Paint It Black" and the American top forty hit "Lady Jane", it also includes the very popular "Under My Thumb". Their are other underrated gems such as "Doncha Bother Me", "High And Dry", "I Am Waiting" and the ten minute "Goin' Home". Besides Mick Jagger and Keith Richard blossoming as songwriters, the late Brian Jones is beginning to flourish as a musician playing Indian sitar, dulcimer, marimbas, harmonica, keyboard and guitar, making Aftermath one of the most musically colorful Lp's the Rolling Stones ever recorded. It' a classic.

This is the July 2, 1966 American release, not the original April 15, 1966 UK release. This is also the original CD release, not the remastered SACD, which is much better. Most Stones fans consider this to be a vastly inferior album due to meddling by the record execs. At this time it was common for the execs to make decisions on what they thought would sell to the "American" market, which usually translated into holding back releases in order to create new packages to increase sales before the band faded into obscurity.

This American version replaced Mothers Little Helper with what was at that time a recent hit - Paint It, Black, while cutting Out Of Time, Take It Or Leave It, and What To Do.

Nearly everyone knows this music and now you can enjoy it the way it was meant to be heard. For the music itself, it's hard to improve on the review done of the UK Aftermath release by Brian Christie on Aug 29, 2002.

ABCKO acquired the Stones' catalog when Allen Klein became their manager in the 70s. The resulting legal battles produced releases that the Stones opposed (they took out full page adds asking fans not to buy them), including the controversial Metamorphosis releases (which are now available on CD for the 1st time ever). But the sad fact is that the Stones lost control of their great early material. With the recently remastered SACD releases, we at last have some idea of what they really sounded like in the studio. I guess if we had them 40 years ago they would have ended up Greatest Rock And Roll Band in the Universe instead of just our tiny little World.

All the tracks for Aftermath were recorded during 2 sessions at RCA Studios in Hollywood.

Dec 3-8, 1965 at RCA Studios in Hollywood
.....Doncha Bother Me (originally titled Don't You Follow Me for the unreleased album Could You Walk On The Water)
.....Goin' Home
.....Think
Mar 6-9, 1966 at RCA Studios in Hollywood
.....Paint It, Black
.....Stupid Girl
.....Lady Jane
.....Under My Thumb
.....Flight 505
.....High And Dry
.....It's Not Easy
.....I Am Waiting

The tracks recorded during these sessions that were not released on the UK version were Mother's Little Helper, Sittin' On A Fence, Sad Day, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Ride On Baby, Long Long While, Take It Or Leave It, What To Do, and both version 1 - the long version - and version 2 - the short version - of Out Of Time. In addition there were 3 tracks that have still never been released: Looking Tired, Aftermath, and Tracks Of My Tears.

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection.

I know, that this album gets great reviews (although still not as high as I think it would deserve them), but most of the songs regarded alone aren't that well-known and highly rated. But: Don't trust reviewers, who give this album two stars. AFTERMATH was a serious and interesting change in the music of the Rolling Stones. I also like the music they have done before this great album, but it was different. They mainly did cover versions of r'n'b tunes, and then they had the big breakthrough with own songs from the OUT OF OUR HEADS album, and AFTERMATH is their first album, on which all the songs get Jagger/Richards credits. Well, the credits are reported to not be completely right, Jones, Watts and Wyman shall have come with the idea to PAINT IT BLACK to the other two band members. Anyway, the song is a fantastic kick-off track with strong drums, virtuous sitar playing and one time melancholic, then again aggressive vocals. All in all, it's the darkest song the Rolling Stones have ever done, a psychedelic classic. LADY JANE profits from glass-clear acoustic guitars as well as from desireful vocals. HIGH AND DRY is a refreshing country escape. STUPID GIRL and UNDER MY THUMB come more close to the Stones how we all know them with their lyrics about dominance, are two of their hardest-rocking songs ever and helped further in defining their own, typical sound. THINK and I AM WAITING are especially underrated, in fact they build up a continuing tension with their one energizing rhytms and the cooling down melodies between. GOING HOME with 11 minutes is unusually long for a Rolling Stones song. However, it's a fine, playful song for the end and the epos of the album. I think, that with this album, also the Rolling Stones contributed to what at that time was called "acid rock" and influenced early hardrock and heavy metal. No, against what other people say, it aren't only tracks 1)-4), that are good, it's everything, you just have to give this more sophisticated, complex sound enough tries, then it really grows on you. And this even was just the beginning of psychedelic music to be introduced into the Stones' sound under the growing influence of guitarist Brian Jones and the growing drug consumation of the band. Four songs of the English original (among them the classics MOTHER'S LITTLE HELPER and OUT OF TIME) were left out on the American version, and still it's a masterpiece. Yes, at least for for me, AFTERMATH belongs to the best Rolling Stones albums as well as for example LET IT BLEED, even if they are quite different. There seems not to be a kind of music, that the Rolling Stones haven't played and played well, that's what makes them my favorite band.

The reviewer from Corona, CA is entitled to his opinions (who called this "The Most Overrated Stones Album") but I think he's wrong! This is the 1st Stones album with all original compositions. True, it could've afforded more of the songs on the UK release (most of which can be found on Flowers and More Hot Rocks). But the Stones prove that even with experimentation (much of which is provided by Brian Jones who was at his creative peak on this)as on Paint It Black, Under My Thumb, Lady Jane, and I Am Waiting, the Stones still rock out on Stupid Girl (a song way ahead of its times at the time), Flight 505, It's Not Easy, and Doncha Bother Me. There's even a c&w track High & Dry. I myself have no problem with Going Home. I think it should be remembered more for new experiments, all original compositions, rather than leading up to their overrated psychedellic phase.

AFTERMATH was the fourth UK and sixth US LP. Recorded at the RCA Studios in Hollywood it was issued in April (UK) and June (US) 1966. It was a significant release as for the first time all titles were composed by Jagger-Richard. This CD is in the US format and suffers as a consequence from the absence of two particularly strong songs that appear on the UK release. The two tracks Mother's Little Helper and Out Of time are however available on the Flowers compilation.

Compensation for the loss of these tracks comes from the inclusion of Paint It Black (just listen to Bill Wyman's bass line playout) which was a number one single on both sides of the Atlantic. Other highlights, musically, are two outstanding tracks Under My Thumb and Stupid Girl. The downside of these latter two tracks is the rather chauvinistic lyrics which for today's listener are to be regarded as definitely not PC.

There is also a softer side to the Stones in evidence on Lady Jane and to a lesser extent I Am Waiting. Both these tracks are enhanced by Brian Jones playing Dulcimer. It is the use of this and indeed the Sitar work on Paint It Black which re-inforce the view that his musical influence remained a force within the group despite the predominance of Jagger and Richard in the writing stakes.

This CD also contains one of the most innovative tracks of the period. Lasting for 11 minutes and 35 seconds going home is a blues jam which holds interest throughout it's running time.

To sum up, what we have here is a flawed re-issue albeit one that in the absence of the UK original track listing is nonetheless an essential element in the Stones catalogue.

One final thought remains. When will the Stones early catalogue be revamped and re-issued as it should be - that is with the original UK track listing.

Perhaps the greatest Stones album ever made, you're not a true fan if you don't have this album. It's a mystery how this album didn't appear in Vh-1's top 100 Rock Albums of all time. It should have been in the top ten on the list.
The true genuis in the album is the way Brian Jones shines on almost every song. On "Paint It, Black", Jones shows George Harrison how sitar is meant to be played in a rock song. "Under My Thumb" is brilliant, and Jones' marimbas (african xylophone) give the song its brilliant tempo. Furthermore, whether its not clear who it is that plays harmonica on "Goin' Home" (Jagger or Jones), its Brian Jones who taught Mick Jagger to play the instrument, and their style is so much alike Jagger mimics the same sound even today. Also, take a listen to "Its Not Easy", and its Jones and not Keith Richard singing backup.
Other great works on the album include "Stupid Girl", "Doncha Bother Me", and "Flight 505". All the songs take on their own identity, yet are brilliantly packaged together on the album. The only weird inclusion on the album is "Lady Jane". It really doesn't fit together with the other songs, but again Jones work on dulcimer creates a gem you're glad was included on this album. Yes, it is a shame they didn't include "Mother's Little Helper" as they did on the UK version; but remember the UK version didn't have "Paint It, Black" either. One last note, don't forget to give a listen to "I Am Waiting". Its a terrific song that somehow gets lost among the others. However, it did find its way in the movie "Rushmore", and rightfully so.
Buy this album, and you'll realize why the Stones were never the same without Brian Jones. For better or worse is up for debate, but with his departure the sound of the band was definitely changed forever. The only mistake of the album is Jones receives no writing credits for what was clearly his work on the album.

"Aftermath" is aptly named. After the initial surge of excitement, culminating in the hedonistic "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", the Stones embarked upon a more adventurous, if slightly erratic, musical path, commencing with this album.

The album includes two of their hit tunes (Lady Jane and Mother's Little Helper), but its best track is "Out Of Time", a derisive rejection of anything not "in". "What To Do" veers away from the band's blues roots by cheekily blending Beachboy-style harmonies with a country-flavoured rhythm, while "Under My Thumb" goes for the jugular in its dark portrayal of sexual politics.

The band's blues roots were still evident on "Goin' Home", an extended jam, a form becoming increasingly popular with "progressive" Rock groups.

While "Aftermath's" bitter aftertaste may require several plays to be fully appreciated, the Stones' canon of 60s music would be of infinitely lesser value without it.