Customer Reviews

Stripped

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stripped is yet another live album by the Stones, but it is very different from their previous live efforts. They play in an almost unplugged type setting, focusing on their acoustic based songs. Also, their are alot of album cuts from the Let It Bleed to Exile On Main Street period like the masterful "Dead Flowers", the great "Shine A Light" and the bluesy "Love In Vain". They do excellent takes on bigger hits such as the majestic "Wild Horses" and the beautiful "Angie". They dip way back into their catalog for cover versions of songs from their first couple of albums including "Not Fade Away" and "The Spider & The Fly" as well as an early Jagger-Richards number, "I'm Free". They had never recorded a Bob Dylan song in their long history, but they finally do here and it is appropriately "Like A Rolling Stone". It is a spirited version of the song. Stripped is a nice surprise from the band and a great listen.

In the early 1990s virtually everybody from Eric Clapton to Nirvana released an Unplugged record. The Rolling Stones didn't. In several of the songs recorded for Stripped (1995), Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood play electric guitars. So all those who had some appetite for an unplugged Rolling Stones record were probably left a little unhappy.
That said, Stripped is a really nice live record especially for their hard-core fans. Most of the live records that the Stones have released over time, from `Get yer ya-ya's out! (1970) onward (with the possible exception of Still Life, 1982), were centered around classic Rolling Stones hits such as Honky Tonk Women, Satisfaction, Sympathy for the Devil, Jumpin' Jack Flash and, more recently, Start me up. Stripped represents a step in a different direction as most of the songs recorded live for this album are the sometimes unjustly neglected Stones B-Side. The Stones recorded one song from their 1969 album. Interestingly what they played was Let it bleed instead of Gimme Shelter or You can't always get what you want. There are three songs from Sticky Fingers (1971), but two of the them (Dead Flowers and Love in Vain) are not neraly as well known as Brown Sugar. Two of the songs that appear on Stripped were originally released in Exile on Main Street (1972). But even in this case, the Stones opted for Sweet Virginia and Shine a Light, instead of performing the superfamous Tumbling Dice or Happy.
But the overall quality of Stripped is great and record is nice treat not only for Stones fans. A final note is order, this is the second record with Darryl Jones on bass and it just shows how well he blended with the rest of the band not only in studio but also in live performances.

Stripped was released Nov 10, 1995. It was recorded earlier the same year during the Voodoo Lounge tour and it was the Stones 7th live album. The tracks on the album were actually recorded as follows:
.....May 26/27 at the Paradiso in Amsterdam (Keith said this was the best show the band ever did)
.....July 3 at the Olympia in Paris
.....July 19 at the Brixton Academy in London (probably their most famous club show)

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:

There is a Japanese import version of the CD that includes one additional live track, Black Limousine (which was also released on a Japanese CD single). In addition, there was a special UK version of the CD (often referred to as a CD+) that included material from the CD-ROM Voodoo Lounge (which was released simultaneously with the Stripped album), interviews with the band, and live video clips of backstage jamming on Shattered and Tumbling Dice, as well as part of the live recording of Like A Rolling Stone and the complete lyrics for all the songs on the album.

The album has strong fan support because it is a thoughtful album with a focus on musicianship. It includes their first Dylan tune, Like A Rolling Stone, which was also released as a CD single and Wild Horses, also released as a CD single, both released only in the UK. It also has one new song from their early setlists that they had never released....Willie Dixon's Little Baby. Other songs from the same shows that were recorded for Stripped but which were released on CD singles and did not appear on the album are:
.....Black Limousine (UK Like A Rolling Stone single)
.....All Down The Line (UK Like A Rolling Stone single)
.....Live With Me (UK Wild Horses single)
.....Gimme Shelter (UK Wild Horses single)("Old Gods" author Stephen Davis calls this the greatest single performance of their career)
In addition there were two songs that appeared only on the interactive CD+ version of the album:
.....Shattered
.....Tumbling Dice

Interesting notes include:
.....the tour included 126 shows seen by 8,000,000 fans and grossing a half *billion* dollars, making it the largest, most successful tour by anyone ever
.....Dylan really did write Like A Rolling Stone about the band, he has always been a great fan of theirs and they have spent a lot of time together over the years
.....there are two bootleg boxed sets that some people have said had to have come from the Stones themselves (one bootlegger even included a track of himself haggling with Mick over the price of the tapes). They are known as Voodoo Brew and Voodoo Stew and offer rehearsals and alternative mixes of the Voodoo Lounge and Stripped recordings.
.....an incredible and little known interactive CD-ROM (called Voodoo Lounge) was released simultaneously with the Stripped album. It requires gamers to find hidden doors during a party in the Voodoo Lounge. The doors lead to a private lounge where the Stones are waiting to personally show you their favorite blues artists performing on video (Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Bill Broonzy, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Redding, T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush, Son House, Buddy Guy, Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Hank Williams, Little Walter, Robert Johnson, & Elmore James,. The CD includes 9 songs not on Stripped (Love Is Strong, I Go Wild, and Sparks Will Fly, Blinded By Rainbows, Jump On Top Of Me, Out Of Tears, Thru & Thru, The Works, You Got Me Rocking).

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, with some of the notes from Davis' "Old Gods Almost Dead." Both books are available from amazon.com.

The energy level may be a little low due to the acoustic nature of most of this live album, but the musicianship is way high. You could think of this album as semi unplugged. The boys are on their game that's for sure. Marvelous slide and lead playing from Ron Woods, while Keith puts in some of his best and most soulfull vocals I've ever heard him do and of course his guitar playing is impeccable. Charlie Watts is a freaking rock, he's the man. And then there's Mick who puts in some of the best singing I've heard him do in years. His harmonica adds a really nice touch on many of the songs. The keyboard playing by Chuck Leavell both piano and organ are just great. The band sound like they're having fun and are really feeling the music. Like I said the energy isn't at the high level of Get Yer Ya Ya's Out but the playing is tighter, funkier and soulfull. These guys just keep getting better with age. If this album were longer I'd have given it 5 stars.

During the Rolling Stones last tour, Philadelphia Inquirer rock critic Tom Moon urged the band to perform the "back country" of its career: the 30 years' hit singles carrying their legendary live shows (which became perfunctory in concert) then set aside for the blues, folk and hard country album tracks fortifying their greatest period. It would be a tour for hard-core Stones, hard-core rock fans.

Moon acknowledged the Stones always left concert room for some of these songs but never spent an album recreating them until 1994's exquisite "Stripped." This set, originally part of MTV's "Unplugged" series and titled "Butt Naked," builds around the acoustic/electric guitar fight throughout its anthemic start-me-up "Street Fighting Man." It's one of rock's least publicized musical stories; parallel to Southern blacks' migration to Chicago and other northern cities, expressed musically by everyone from Bob Dylan and Rod Stewart (and current Stone Ron Wood) to John Mellencamp and a generation's alt-country roots rockers.

Bob Clearmountain's clean-sounding engineering on "Stripped," taken from intimate Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo, and Lisbon venues, draw from Stone strengths. Mick Jagger's vocals remain weary in "Angie," (featuring Chuck Leavell's tasteful piano) "Wild Horses," and "Sweet Virginia," venomous in "Dead Flowers" (featuring excellent Wood slide guitar) and "Let It Bleed," and sneering throughout a rousing "Like A Rolling Stone." This cover returns Stax-Volt R&B to that overdone anthem through Leavell's Booker-T style organ and a bluesy harp solo. (A video version of "Stone," with "Shattered" and "Tumbling Dice," is featured on "Stripped"'s enhanced CD.)

Keith Richards contributes trademark riffs throughout and vocally brings Memphis soul to the fore in "Slipping Away." Despite their original hits becoming pro forma tour after tour, the Stones' respect for and command of their influences remains high; the Bo Diddley beat is poured over Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" ( Jagger replicaties Holly's vocal yips) while the classic blues "Love In Vain" and Willie Dixon's shuffle "Little Baby" get the deserved respect. All songs feature Charlie Watts' trademark commanding drumming; it is gratifying seeing him now recognized as the Stones' strongest asset.

While seeing a Stones concert is essential to any rock and roll experience, the many Rolling Stones live albums have sold that experience short. 1970's infamous "Get Your Ya-Yas Out" came closest to the blues and bile of being there; consider this highly recommended Stones souveneir an older, cleaner, no less meaner model.

This album feels like you invited Mick and the boys into your living room for a little jam session. Me and my 6-string like to jam right along with them from time to time. This is a great album for those of us who haven't cared for the last 15+ years of the Rolling Stones. I still love 'em; but I love 'em best when they play the old songs I love so much. This one is chock full of classics that weren't radio mainstays: "Sweet Virginia," "Spider and Fly," "Let It Bleed," and maybe my all-time favorite Stones tune ever, their cover of Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain." A great version of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and beautiful, soulful renditions of "Angie" and "Wild Horses" make this a must-have. I love the Keef mess-up at the beginning of "Love In Vain," and Ronnie good-naturedly cracking on him about it! Great blues album that is living proof the Stones are at their best with acoustic guitars in-hand.

This 1995 live album is one of the best Stones albums ever. The album is more like an MTV Unplugged special, but with some electric guitars. It features early songs like " Not Fade Away ",
" I'm Free " and " The Spider And The Fly ". It also features excellent versions of the big hits " Angie ", " Wild Horses ",
and " Street Fighting Man ". And no Stones live album would be complete without at least one song sung by Keith Richards, in this case the bluesly ballad " Slipping Away ". The album also features 3 songs from rehearsals : an excellent performance of
" Love In Vain ", a great version of " Sweet Virginia ", and a
cover of the blues song " Little Baby ". This a must - have for any Stones fan.

The album title says it all - The Stones in "stripped down" mode ... and, boy, is it excellent!

This has got to be their most intimate album ever recorded. Listening to it honestly makes me feel like I've got a front row seat in the nightclub where it was recorded .... and loving every moment of the sounds coming out of my speakers.

Good job, fellas ... 7th live album or 1-6, this one's a keeper!

It may seem at first glance that this would be a truly raw live set raunchier than, say, even "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out" but in actuality the songs come out very polished. Songs that were produced during periods when the group was less pop-concious, like "Sweet Virginia" or "Shine A Light" (both from Exile On Mainstreet [1972]) come out as slick, clean tunes. The set has been titled "Stripped" but in actuallity this music sounds as crisp and clean as it ever will. Jagger seems to follow the lyrics close enough as opposed to other live sets where he seems to stray, sacrificing lyrical accuracy for glam posturing. Keith and the rest of the band are in top form and sound as good they ever have, and so do the songs. One who is daring might say that most of these songs sound better now than they did upon their original release. Songs like "Street Fighting Man" that may not seem to be wise candidates for an acoustic-based set are handled well. Nevermind the corny album cover, this is probably the last of the best of The Stones live or otherwise.

While the Stones have excelled often in the studio and their live shows are platinum entertainment events, the musical quality of their live performances has been spotty over the years, the demands of musicianship often being subservient to the controlled chaos and subpar sound quality of arena rock. While the Stones have released lots of live performances, only two of these albums are among their greatest: Get Your Yayas Out, which captured the extraordinary addition of Mick Taylor to the lineup after Brian Jones' death, and Stripped, which has the purity, clarity, emotion and musicianship of these artists at their very best. The tunes span the Stones' full career, but every version of these classics is a rediscovery and reinvention, with the band almost giddy at what they are spinning out. This album is well worth the listen.