In 1999, 68-year-old country music icon George Jones released Choices, a ballad of a man looking backwards over his life, coming to terms with years of alcohol and turmoil, and perhaps finding some peace. I'm not particularly a country music fan, but I've always loved that song. It seemed to me to be the essence of old age, taking stock of your life and using your memories to improve the time you have left.
When I saw the Rolling Stones had titled their latest single Angry, I wondered if we might get a Rock and Roll equivalent from the band's remnants, two men who turn 80 years old this year and one who is 75. Perhaps a reflection on the angry youth who wrote of things such as slave ships, underage sex, and sliding a knife right down your throat. Lord knows there was more than enough anger to go around in the 60s, when this band was on top of the world, and The Rolling Stones both reflected and created their fair share of it.
Based on the last 40 years of Rolling Stones material, I should have known better. This song continues the "Why are we bothering to do this?" vibe that started with 1983's Undercover. It's competent, workmanlike, but forced, and completely unnecessary, sprung from the same well of innovation as a factory worker who has to get up and turn a screw for eight hours.
The 60s are long gone, and along with them went this band's insight, originality, and creative hunger. Mick Jagger still has his unique frontman voice, and Keith Richards can still stum a mean guitar lick. After all, there is a certain amount of talent that comes from performing for close to 60 years, but this song not only fails to be a worthy successor to Sticky Fingers or Let It Bleed, but were it from a new act, it would be at best a mediocrity soon forgotten. It doesn't help that the song is being promoted with one of the most unconvincing video performances in music history, a piece of eye candy, supposedly a fan, who is roughly half the age of the Stone's last decent album.
The Rolling Stones had one of the greatest winning streaks in Rock and Roll history. From Beggars Banquet through Exile On Main Street, no one did it better, and probably no one ever will. Enjoy the memories of that time that are in your music collection, cherish that music the way it deserves, play it until you wear out the vinyl or degrade the digital code that carries it. But forget Angry. It's not even an echo of their past greatness. It is simply a day at work.
2 comments:
Best years of the Stones were the Mick Taylor years, (1969-1974) downhill after that.
You are not incorrect sir.
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