Customer Reviews

Still Life (Reis)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Still Life (American Concert 1981) was originally released June 1, 1982, it went to #1 in both the UK & US. The album includes the single hits Going To A Go Go (backed by Beast Of Burden) and Time Is On My Side (live version)(backed by Twenty Flight Rock). Both Going To A God Go and Twenty Flight Rock had not been recorded previously and were not issued on any other albums. Most people know the music, so in my reviews I try to give you data on the sessions and interesting facts connected with the songs and the album. Here we go:

The album was recorded at during the 81 American tour in NJ (11-5), Chicago (11-25), Largo, MD (12-7/8), Tempe (12-13), and Hampton Roads (12-18/19).

Interesting notes include:
.....the Dec 13 Tempe, Arizona concert at Sun Devil Stadium was filmed and became the movie Let's Spend The Night Together (still available here on Amazon.com)
.....Before the Rosemont Horizon shows in Chicago the Stones showed up at the Checkerboard Lounge to jam with Muddy Waters in his last recorded performance before he died in 1983 (videotapes of the show are still popular in the bootleg market)
.....The Stones rehearsed for the tour during August and September at Longview Farm in Brookfield, MA. It was the 1st major corporate sponsored tour, entertaining >2 million paying fans and grossing $60 million.
.....Mick was not getting along with Keith and Woody at this time....they called him "Brenda" and things got so bad that the tour contract required Mick to stay off the stage when Keith did Little T&A.
.....Keith hated the cherry picker that Mick used during the concerts, but when Mick offered to dump it if Keith would give up drugs for the duration of the tour, the cherry picker stayed
.....On Sep 14 the band did a gig as "Blue Monday and the Cockroaches" at the 350 seat Sir Morgan's Cove in Worcester, MA.....5,000 fans had to be held back to avoid a riot...the club finally opened the doors while the Stones did a short set that could be heard outside

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson, from Stephen Davis' "Old Gods Almost Dead," and from my own collection.

The critics always pan this, don't listen to them. There is nothing profound here just a really good rock concert. Let Me Go is a great, faster improvement over the Emotional Rescue version, Just My Imagination is fabulous and even the golden oldie Time Is On My Side is put forth with ragged passion.

This was the last tour that the Stones were confident enough to just go out and play with a few choice sidemen, not a huge posse of background singers and other players to cover up their slips. The magical key to a great Stones song is backup vocals from Keith and we get that here in spades.

My only criticism of this record is that it's too short. There were lots of great songs from this tour that should have been included. She's So Cold, Beast of Burden and Let It Bleed come to mind.

This is a great live album. I think Rolling Stone magazine was certainly too picky, and many others are over critical. You can't compare this album to older releases like "Ya-Ya's" or "Love You Live" because a lot of the material on this album was contemporary of the time, and sounds great. Highlights are definitely "Satisfaction" (possibly the BEST version!), "Under My Thumb", and "Start Me Up." The only problem is that the film companion to this album, "Let's Spend the Night Together" (unfortunately no longer available), has far greater versions of "Let Me Go" (10x better), and "20 Flight Rock" than this album's, and the film also has live gems like "Hangfire", "Neighbors", and "Let it Bleed", which should have been included on this album. If you can, try and get the video, because when combined with "Still Life" you've got a great live Stones set.

If you haven't read one of my prior reviews on these 2009 "remasters" (notice the quotes) by the Stones, than I'll say it again. I really want to get the point across to fellow Stones fans and newbie fans who are just starting to discover the magic of the Stones.

In late 2008, Universal Music acquired the rights to the Rolling Stones' catalogue from 1971-2005, which had been owned by Virgin Records since 1994, and prior to Virgin's acquisition, had been owned by Columbia Records from 1984-1994 (and if we want to get technical, every album from 'Sticky Fingers' in 1971 to 'Undercover' in 1983 were released on the Atlantic label, so it is safe to say these recordings have changed hands a fair share of times, but that's another review altogether).

Curious, I went out to my local CD shop and bought a few of these new remasters. I had read horrible things and on the contrast, great things. I bought 'Tattoo You,' 'Steel Wheels,' 'Dirty Work,' 'Sticky Fingers' and this one, 'Still Life (American Concert 1981)' just to see what I thought. Well, let's just say I was itching to sell them almost immediately.

First of all, whoever remastered these should be shot. The sound quality on all of these are absolutely disgraceful. The crowd noise on 'Still Life' is almost deafening, and it really gets in the way of the music. The original 1990 Columbia pressing and the 1994 Virgin remaster sound great (I own the Columbia version, which is what I am comparing this to, and a friend owns the '94 Virgin version, so I have heard them both). This one is a classic victim of the loudness war.

Mick's vocals are muddled, Bill's bass parts are deafening. I could keep going on and on, but I won't. The bottom line is this: If you see these 2009 Rolling Stones remasters, DO NOT buy them under any circumstances. These are cheap, MP3-quality discs that sound terrible on great speakers and even $10-$20 iPod speakers. They are loud, overcompressed, and if listened to enough at full volume (I'm sure) deafening. Don't say "that's how rock and roll is supposed to sound" -- it's not. The loudness war is a terrible thing, and all of these 2009 remasters fall victim to it.

For an example: On the Amazon page for the 2010 'Exile on Main Street' remaster, somebody in the Customer Images screen has demonstrated how bad and how loud all of these 2009 remasters really are. Go check it out. Search the customer images section of the 2010 remaster of 'Exile.' If you can't find it, search 'B0039TD7RC' in the search box (this is the remaster's ASIN code).

Overall, these 2009 remasters just blow. The 2002 ABKCO remasters weren't bad (call me crazy, but I actually do prefer the original 1986 CD pressings, but that's just personal preference), but the 2009 Polydor remasters are bad on all levels. The Rolling Stones have been called the "greatest rock and roll band in the world," and in many cases they are. But you wouldn't know it from these dreadful remasters.

'Still Life' is a magnificent live album (I know a few Stones fans who disagree, but I have always loved 'Still Life' and I always will) that should be heard and probably owned by all Stones fans. But whatever you do, stay FAR AWAY from these 2009 remasters and stick with your 1994 Virgin and/or your 1990 Columbia pressings. This is the case for all of the Stones' albums from 1971-2005: the original pressings sound FAR better. Go to those instead.

Great live album, horrendously remastered. Enough said.

NOT RECOMMENDED.

A lot of these songs are from the concert they gave that was broadcast live on (now defunct) ON TV. I didn't have ON TV in 1981, but I listened to the simulcast on the radio. But I didn't know it was going to be on when I turned on the radio in my kitchen as I made dinner. I turned on the radio to here "Let's Spend the Night Together" playing. And I thought, THIS BAND IS DOING A TERRIBLE RENDITION OF A STONES' SONG. I didn't think the band was the Stones!! They sounded too terrible. But then half way through the song, I realized it WAS the Stones. Being a Stones freak, I taped the show, anyway. Then when STILL LIFE came out, I saw it was from the same show. And it had that flacid live feel I'd heard on the radio. Mick's voice sounds NOTHING like his voice on the studio albums. IT SOUNDS LIKE A DIFFERENT, AND NOT VERY GOOD, BAND. The Stones get really sloppy when they play live, and it drives me nuts. I really only like their studio albums. STILL LIFE shows why.

From my view, this presents the Stones as the height of their musical power (albeit at the height of tensions between the Glimmer Twins). I know that reformed Stones purists think that the band ended with Tattoo You (orthodox Stone purists believed the band ended with Mick Taylor), and zealot purists still buy the new albums that the band puts out. Without taking any of those positions, this is simply the band when the guys were still young (and Jagger didn't look like Barney Fife yet) and one dude in football pants could hold an entire stadium of people in the palm of his hand. Some wouldn't like the arena music here as much as the early 'raw' stuff (like the Get Your Ya Ya's Out album), but I like this era: Mick is mastering his choppy and almost flippant delivery of lyrics, and Keith is sufficiently backed up and is allowed to just deal out the chords that make every song sound like a Stones song. The gems here are Twenty Flight Rock, Under My Thumb, Let Me Go, Just My Imagination and the frenetic rendition of Satisfaction. Sit back, pretend that Reagan is still in his first term, and enjoy.

Back on the 1981 tour, "Tattoo You" had just been released, and this album chronicles a strong outing by the Stones. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, Mick wore football pants and the Union Jack at the same time...who else has the swagger to pull that off?

Anyway, like some folks have said, critics usually say this album isn't worth its salt. I disagree. Listen to the different take on "Under My Thumb"...it changes from a marimba-laced groove tune to a hard rock classic. What's more, the disc offers a fast-paced, energetic version of "Shattered," as well as "Goin' to a Go-Go," a Smokey Robinson classic that became a staple of that tour. Too bad we missed out on "She's So Cold" and got "Let Me Go" instead.

In addition, "Start Me Up" was truly a new song on this tour, and it shows with the energy and excitement that comes through on this version. At one point, Mick asks the crowd, "Are you ready to rock and roll some more?"



I know I am. Get this one ~LBS

Recorded during The Rolling Stones' 1981 tour, Still Life includes both live songs from then-recent albums and old gems, as well as a number of covers, including The Miracles' "Going to a Go-Go." The best moments come first with the Stones' own: a terrific version of "Under My Thumb" and a good one of "Let's Spend the Night Together," each among my favorite Stones songs ever. The opening signature to "Thumb" is one of the best. I've always been amused by how the Stones combine a melodramatic, earnest music line with such mean lyrics--or do they acknowledge they are mean? Anyway, Mick's singing in this one, the best cut of this album, is excellent--is he committed? "Satisfaction" also rocks, necessarily at a faster pace, along with "Let Me Go" and "Start Me Up." The slower classics are represented by a fine version of "Time Is on My Side," again with good singing by Mick. Overall, a good live CD. "Still Life" is worth checking out.

A lifeless live CD. The highlight is 20 Flight Rock. Outside of that, this is a very wealthy band going through the motions. This is possibly their worst live album ever, even more so than Got Live If You Want It.

The Rolling Stones-Still Life ****

Wile it isn't as widely popular as the 'great' Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!; Still Life is still an exciting live record, and superior to Ya-Ya's in many ways, and for me personally I think I might like it more.

While I can't for the life of me understand why if this was the Tattoo You tour of 1981, in touring support of the album of the same name, why only one out of the ten songs on the album are from that album, those being 'Start Me Up' of course being the choice for the record. The rest is made up mostly of old rock and r&b tunes the band grew up admiring, and early Stones hits.

So with this is superior to Ya-ya's is well, it's a hell of a lot more fun, and isn't that what a concert is supposed to be is fun. While Ya-Ya's is a classic, the energy isn't as in your face as here. That is also why I prefer to listen to this one as well. Ya-ya's had a better selection of songs, and some classic versions of them, and truly is superior over all but for a good fun listen from a time that was other wise lame for The Stones, Still Life is a nice addition to a live Rolling Stones collection.