It's Only Rock 'N Roll (1974)
1.If You Can't Rock Me
2.Ain't Too Proud To Beg
3.It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)
4.Till the Next Goodbye
5.Time Waits For No One
6.Luxury
7.Dance Little Sister
8.If You Really Want To Be My Friend
9.Short and Curlies
10.Fingerprint File
 
Known as "The World's Greatest Rock and
Roll Band", here they wear that moniker on their sleeves. It seems like
they're having a bit of fun with that distinction when you look at the
cover. Even the hit song It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)
seems to fall in with the parody. It sounds, though, as if they're
trying too hard to live up to their expectations. This is one of the
most polished releases in the band's catalog, and as they've proven
before, polish is one thing that these guys definitely did not
need.
When you listen, for example, to a track such as Luxury, note
that they have everything right where it should be - a good riff, strong
melody and a very good reggae hook in the under currents. But then you
have to wonder just how good this song could have been had they
not been so meticulous in their craft and just cut the song after a few
takes, leaving the rough edges intact as they did so well on albums such
as Exile on Main Street. The same could be
said for the funky Dance Little Sister. Yes, it's danceable, and
yes it's good, but could have been so much better. As a matter of fact,
this flaw is most evident in the album's opener If You Can't Rock
Me, a song designed to grab you forcefully into the album, yet it's
so calculated that it never quite lives up to expectations.
Of course they continue to explore seventies soul music, and these songs
are the best here. The Billy Preston influenced If You Really Want
To Be My Friend is the strongest thing featured and the closer
Fingerprint File is a lot of fun, even though the subject matter
is a bit scary - it echoes Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
from their last album Goats Head Soup. Also
memorable is the somewhat country influenced Till the Next
Goodbye.
Other tracks are a bit of a mixed bag. Time Waits for No One
feels a bit out of place for the same reasons discussed above, and at
six and a half minutes, it can wear on you. Short and Curlies,
an off the cuff fast blues tune is supposed to be humorous (I think),
it's just stupid. The whole album, really, is a great example of "what
could have been…".
Unfortunately, this was Mick Taylor's last album as a Stone. As the
most invisible member of the group's history, Taylor contributed a lot
to the band and presided over the best part of the group's history.
Most observers felt that he never felt comfortable being a Stone, and
his exodus didn't surprise anybody. Since he left, he's done a lot, but
reminds basically out of the limelight, which is probably just where he
wants to be.
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