Audio CD review:
The Rolling Stones - Flashpoint

The Rolling Stones - Flashpoint

Band: The Rolling Stones Title: Flashpoint Rating: Release Date: 17 November, 1998 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Continental Drift 2: Start Me Up 3: Sad Sad Sad 4: Miss You 5: Rock And A Hard Place 6: Ruby Tuesday 7: You Can't Always Get What You Want 8: Factory Girl 9: Can't Be Seen 10: Little Red Rooster 11: Paint It Black 12: Sympathy For The Devil 13: Brown Sugar 14: Jumpin' Jack Flash 15: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 16: Highwire 17: Sex Drive

Customer Reviews Paint it Black You Devil! Carlton miss this detail? I was just listening to this with my headphones on and discovered the production team decided to have a little fun with the listeners. How did Richard R. Pull out your copy of Get Your Ya Ya's Out! Listen to the audience just prior to Sympathy for the Devil and you will hear this goofy chick imploring Jagger with "Paint it Black. . . Paint it Black. . . Paint it Black you devil!" She really sounds pretty stupid. Now, put on Flashpoint and listen very carefully to the crowd noise after Ruby Tuesday. At the 3:19 mark, just before Jagger says "Listen to THAT". The casual listener believes he's telling his band mates to listen to the great crowd response to the tune just played. But, to the careful and knowledgeable listener, he's really directing your attention to the fact that they've mixed in the voice of that same goofy girl in the crowd noise. That's pretty hilarious isn't it? "Paint it black. . . paint it black. . . paint it black you devil!" I love funny little details like this. I wonder if they've put that on ALL the live releases? Now I'm going to have to buy them all dang it! Ok, so on with the review: THis is a VERY generous helping of the Rolling Stones playing much of their catalog live and playing it very well I might add. There's been plenty of tune-by-tune analysis by others so I'll just give you the hi-points of why I like this release so much and point out a couple of small annoyances. From a musically knowledgeable, semi-pro musician's perspective (that would be your's truly) Flashpoint is a very good live recording. The band is extremely tight, yet flexible enough to allow those one-of-a-kind moments that make each performance unique to become manifest. The musicianship is surprising good. I knew these guys could play but they are better than I'd given them credit for - and I'm one of those jazz-snob types who tends to "dis" most rock musician's abilities - boy was I stupid. There are no stinker tunes on Flashpoint, it's all very good stuff. The only criticisms I can muster is that in places it sounds all too grandiose, like a big production number (Jumpin' Jack Flash, Satisfaction). There are a couple of places where Chuck Leavell resorts to using that cheesy sounding Oberheim piano/strings setting that was prevelant in the 80's but really, the use of synth is kept to a minimum thank merciful God! Synthesizers are an abomination to what is supposed to be raunchy rock and blues music. Finally Wyman's bass line on Paint it Black gives the song a little too much of that Bulgarian folk dance sort of sound. If I were watching this live I might expect a bunch of guys with bushy handle-bar moustaches and furry hats to come out and start dancing that step where you sort of throw your boot-shorn legs with puffy trousers out front one after the other and start tossing one another around acrobatically. Leavell's use of the synth while playing that very Arabesque pattern in the Dorian mode (scale) certainly helps this little "Kausak fantasia" along. And yes, I do know that Paint it Black was actually inspired while messing around with a sort of Hebrew folk dance sounding thing during a studio rehearsal. Anyway, these really aren't big problems. If someone as persnickity and obnoxiously opinionated about music as myself can overlook 'em, you will too. Despite those little annoyances, this is an incredibly good live album. FINALLY we get a live version of Sympathy for the Devil that is worthy of public release, it is AWESOME. The Stones pretty much tear it up on every single tune, no fooling, though at times the tempo is a bit too fast - very typical of live performances, every band I've ever played in has this tendency. It's the "drummer can't contain his excitement phenomena" and all bands have this problem (except for those Industrial bands w/o drummers who use synthesized *wretch* percussion I guess). This is pretty much a greatest hits live (vol 1) release. There's lots of favorites and they are all played astonishingly well. I really love the fact that they included Factory Girl. It sounds great though the live production seems a touch over produced (very grandiose sounding in places) The stand out track is of course Little Red Rooster, because it features that blistering solo by Eric Clapton. It's interesting to compare this to the version from The Rolling Stones Now! released in 1965. Wood's slide guitar stays amazingly true to Brian Jones' slide work from all those years ago (compare the two slide performances at the "Hound's begin to howl" line. The audience is very much "into it" as well and is actually part of the entertainment. The "Can't Always Get What You Want" sing-along is superb. Flashpoint also seems to be available at a very reasonable price for a CD with 17 great songs and a very nice little booklet of pictures from the tour. So far, I own four live recordings by the Rolling Stones. Here's how I rank them as far as what appeals to me: 1. Stripped (harder to cover mistakes in an unplugged set so it's #1) 2. Flashpoint 3. Get Your Ya Ya's Out! See my review, GYYYO is very over-rated. 4. Got Live (if you want it) So that's it. I highly recommend Flashpoint, it's a wonderful greatest hits live package. My opinion rules because I know what I'm talking about. Buy this. POOR EXCUSE FOR A RELEASE OF THIS TOUR The Stones and fans talk about how important the 1969 tour was, new guitar player, new live sound, new quiet audience. I mean, c'mon. They were right, sure. But the 1989-90 tour was far more important. They basically got up and played song after song they never played before or at least not in many years. They never sounded that good live. They never stayed in tune thru the whole show before. Sympathy/Devil with the piano and congas just like the studio version. Where's all the songs from these shows???? Where's Undercover, 2000 Light Years From Home, Salt of the Earth? At least they included Factory Girl, good move. I'm glad I taped the Atlantic City show off the air. Much better than this. Why did I wait? What a mistake, but better now then never. I've left this sit on the shelf for years. A must for your Stone catalogue. . You can see a complete list of all The Rolling Stones discography, or go back to the The Rolling Stones tabs