The Rolling Stones – Goats Head Soup (1973)

The Rolling Stones – Goats Head Soup

Many have speculated as to what specifically caused the demise of the Rolling Stones’ glory years; the period from 1968 to 1972 that saw the Stones release their four arguably perfect albums: Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. Maybe it was due to Bill Wyman’s diminished role on this release, which may have given Mick Taylor’s the go-ahead to diminish his role completely after the following album. Maybe it was due to producer Jimmy Miller’s spiraling drug habit, something even the Stones admit fault to. Or maybe it was just too much for too long; too much sex, too much drugs and too much consistency. Regardless, Goats Head Soup is extremely accessible, the album is crisp, clean and filled with interesting turns from each member - most notably Mick Jagger, who probably had the most to gain from this album’s  focus on song and structure over the freewheeling Exile . The album is unique in its collection of non-rockers; the songs that shine the brightest here are the softest and sweetest, perhaps best indicated by the chosen lead single, the heart wrenching “Angie.” That attitude is exemplified best by Nicky Hopkins, whose beautifully lush piano on “Coming Down Again” and “Winter,” elevates the album above any by-the-numbers rock n’ roll record. Besides its general melancholia, Goats Head has another overarching conceit. Although recorded in Jamaica, Los Angeles and London (due mostly to the group’s reputation as tax exiles and repeated drug arrests) the album is most reminiscent of New York City. In fact, I don’t know if a song more accurately captures New York City circa 1973 than “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker).” The album further name checks the city on opener “Dancing with Mr. D” and the raunchy closer “Star Star” née “Starfucker.” New York would eventually become home to the burgeoning punk movement, whose sounds would later be adopted by another Stones' release, 1978’s Some Girls. That album really would serve as the band's swan song, the last emergence of sheer greatness before their inevitable decline. Critics have been dissecting the demise of bands like The Rolling Stones over and over on every possible level for decades, and Goats Head was seen as the first chink in the band’s armor, cementing what was viewed as the initial decline of the golden era. There is truth to that idea but it doesn’t give this album the credit it deserves. Although it pales in comparison to what came before it, on its own Goats Head showcases what the biggest band in the world could do even as they were falling apart.

~9.0