I gave A Bigger Bang a spin this morning.
When I reached Streets Of Love I became reminded of how much bashing this song gets here.

Why?

I don't understand it. Sure, it's no Ruby Tuesday, but it's a well-crafted pop song with a nice chours and and I feel it's a highlight on this album.

When I saw it on the last tour, it was one of my favourite moments of the whole show.

So tell me, because I can't hear it, what is so horrible with Streets Of Love???

It is not horrible, it is a hundred percent Mick Jagger popsong, not typical for the Stones, that might be a reason why many people reject it. It worked pretty well live, but I never listen to it at home, while I enjoy other ABB tracks from time to time.

Isn't it obvious?

I liked the video to it especially the start of it when they walked onto the stage.Was that performed in Canada.

No it isn't obvious, that's why I ask, FreeBird.

It sounds like a present-day Aerosmith ballad from hell. Or a b-side Jagger solo tune. Horrible!

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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Blueranger
So tell me, because I can't hear it, what is so horrible with Streets Of Love???

If you can´t hear it what do you expect ?
It´s a highlight on ABB for you,fine - no problem.

For others ( include me ) it´s horrible,a shame,crap,whatever....
It´s simply that kind of a lousy pop song one wished never have had a listen to...

how much time do you have ?where should i start ?

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Blueranger

So tell me, because I can't hear it, what is so horrible with Streets Of Love???

The worst part of the song,IMO is the "Ouh Ouh Ouh Ouh" ......



I am a Frenchie ,as Mick affectionately called them in the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977 .

Quite like it really. That and Back of My Hand are the only things I still listen to of ABB. Thought it worked pretty well live too

It sucks.

It was amazing in the cool blue night at Berlin's Olympia Stadion in 2006. The song took on a new identity live.

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Blueranger
I gave A Bigger Bang a spin this morning.
When I reached Streets Of Love I became reminded of how much bashing this song gets here.

Why?

I don't understand it. Sure, it's no Ruby Tuesday, but it's a well-crafted pop song with a nice chours and and I feel it's a highlight on this album.

When I saw it on the last tour, it was one of my favourite moments of the whole show.

So tell me, because I can't hear it, what is so horrible with Streets Of Love???

To quote Jagger's own lyrics - it's 'awful bad'.

In concert, it was, as you say, pretty good but on record, its clumsily written mush.


What didnt help was that after keeping us waiting eight years for a new Stones album, THIS (being the first song released to radio stations and the first single in most countries) was what they chose to tell the world that they were 'back'.

...Talkin' about "opening Pandora's Box" once again...

Played live it sounded great....... but is Jagger's 100% stuff

its calculated, maudlin, derivative, un-Stonesy. plus it sucks.

I don't see what's so bad about it either. I know many people hate it, but I don't get why many of the same people liked the live rendition better. It's the same song with the same arrangement. What became better live, if people didn't like it from the beginning? I always enjoyed it, so for me there was never a problem. I like it when Mick is in the mood to write songs like that, even though the result varies in quality (The great SOL compared with the lousy Blinded By Love is a no-contest). Also, as Gaz pointed out, many fans were let down that this was the song they chose to tell the world that they were back. That's not entirely true since Rough Justice was packaged with Streets Of Love on a double a-sided single. It was those two songs together. Not just SOL. As far as I can remember, they got about the same commercial exposure. Rough Justice actually was pushed even more since it was played live through the entire tour, whereas Streets Of Love didn't debut until Europe '06. Moreover, Rough Justice was the first song on the album, and it was played at the Superbowl and at their most attended concert ever, so I think that it was more that song they used to tell the world about their return. And Rough Justice is a humdinger of a rocker. So now that I have succesfully turned the tables on this SOL thread in favor of RJ, maybe this thread will start bashing that song? :-)

JumpingKentFlash

>That's not entirely true since Rough Justice was packaged with Streets Of Love on a double a-sided single. It was those two songs together

Like I said, 'in most countries'. In the UK, the song that got promoted for radio (it was Radio 2's 'Record of the week') was 'Streets of Love'. I also think it was a number 1 somewhere (was it Spain?). The amount of 'commercial exposure' depended on where you live. I dont think 'Rough Justice' was a hit anywhere.

'Rough Justice' may be just a Stones-by-numbers rocker which was far from being the best song on ABB, but it would have been a far better choice as the 'preview' song to the exclusion of 'Streets of Love'. When that little initially hesitant intro kicks in, you know it cant be anyone else.

Dear Kent, I agree with you that RJ is a decent rocker from a decent album.

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Gazza
>That's not entirely true since Rough Justice was packaged with Streets Of Love on a double a-sided single. It was those two songs together

Like I said, 'in most countries'. In the UK, the song that got promoted for radio (it was Radio 2's 'Record of the week') was 'Streets of Love'. I also think it was a number 1 somewhere (was it Spain?). The amount of 'commercial exposure' depended on where you live. I dont think 'Rough Justice' was a hit anywhere.

'Rough Justice' may be just a Stones-by-numbers rocker which was far from being the best song on ABB, but it would have been a far better choice as the 'preview' song to the exclusion of 'Streets of Love'. When that little initially hesitant intro kicks in, you know it cant be anyone else.

Everybody knows that SOL was the attempt at a radio friendly unit shifter. No doubt about it. It was pushed like that in Denmark also, and I think, everywhere. It just seems that Rough Justice was pushed with more force and in a more traditional way. The commercial push that SOL got seemed like The Stones had sent out the single to many a radio station and told them that this was their new single. The result, of course, was that the radio stations just played the first song on the Cd, or the one that they thought to be most commercially accessible. That was of course SOL and not RJ, and it just goes to @#$%& show that the average Joe, has next to zero understanding for the finer things in life. BTW I have a question regarding the term "Stones-by-numbers": If they made a cover version of a typical Chuck Berry song (like they have done many times), would that be a "Berry-by-Stones-by-numbers"? :-)

JumpingKentFlash

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windmelody
Dear Kent, I agree with you that RJ is a decent rocker from a decent album.

Dear? Is there something about your sexuality that you'd like to share with us at this point in time? (You're a guy, right)? :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

JumpingKentFlash

Probably

I dont think RJ is a bad song. Its decent enough without being exceptional. Its a 'standard' Stonesy rocker. (Unlike SOL, I actually preferred the studio version)

Ain't no hangin' matter or anything.

AS for the 'radio friendly unit shifter' well, yes, but then artists in their 60s dont tend to shift many units of singles anyway, so things like that are a bit pointless. May as well stick to the audience you do have instead of trying to appeal to some invisible or disinterested one.

If I adress somebody in written English I often use the word "dear". Dear Sir or Madam.The word dear does not have any sexual content as far as I know.

don´t know what´s horrible.

love this song.

and want many more like this.

pop is better than rock. and mick is wise enough to know that.

Love the song and I agree, it's much better live; unfortunately, I only saw it performed live once. The audience was totally into it, as I recall. I was pleasantly surprised at that. I think it's the folks who dislike Mick's solo material that complain about this song, you're right Windmelody. It IS a popish tune but so what??

It's not believable to begin with but then again a lot of their songs aren't anymore - lyrically that is. It's trite and pompous to boot - and it's BORRRRING. It's beyond generic - it's flat, it's below average - it's not even pedestrian. Remove this along with Rain Falls Down and Sweet Neo Con and suddenly the album is much better.

Yeah - and it was the trailer? Rough Justice sounds much better blasting out of the speakers than Mick's caterwauling chorus of this asleep and crashed ballad.

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Gazza
As for the 'radio friendly unit shifter' well, yes, but then artists in their 60s dont tend to shift many units of singles anyway, so things like that are a bit pointless.

Yeah, but tell that to Mick Jagger. He seems to be the one pushing for commerciality in The Stones, wereas Keith, and probably to an extent Ronnie and Charlie, push for a more rootsy feel. See back in the olden days (you know: When yore was the favourite passtime) Keith did the same push for the roots, and Jagger was in on it. But Jagger was also the guy who wanted new sounds (which is, of course, a bit of a stretch 'cause Keith also searched for new sounds. Case in point: David Dalton's First 20 Years book, page 161 - The entire Keith interview). The Stones always had, and still have that. New and old stuff mixed together. So the dynamics are the same and that's what still makes The Stones interesting. To me anyway. That was a detour!

JumpingKentFlash

The problem is Streets Of Love isn't interesting, it's malignant.

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skipstone
caterwauling chorus

That term should enter the English dictionary right now! No discussion. Get it in there NOW!

JumpingKentFlash

a bad song is a bad song is a bad song - live or in studio. SOL is so bad that it makes most averagely bad songs sound good by comparison.

RJ is also a bad song.

Oh, and ABB is a bad album.

And...this is a bad thread.