The Rolling Stones - Aftermath POLL

Under My Thumb by a considerable distance

About half of this is garbage imo

Every track on this album is very good to great, IMO... with the exception of 'Goin' Home' which doesn't really need to go on for so long.

What to choose, yeah, I really don't know, I really don't know what to choose...

out of time

a weird number of low-profile songs on this often get stuck in my head out of nowhere: high and dry, it's not easy, i am waiting (when i'm waiting), etc

"Under My Thumb." Never had the album until I downloaded it 10 years ago. For me, it doesn't rank with the '68-'72 albums.

Oops, goofed--missed "I Am Waiting." That's my pick.

Out of Time is so good. Mean though.

Under My Thumb is probably the better song but it’s hard to love a radio staple as much as an album track. Mother’s Little Helper is a fairly extraordinary track too for the time.

I am waiting might be my pick though. Such vivid, memorable songs on this album.

wonder what Macca would pick?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c3/d4/12/c3d4123826bf1d5ac03663017b31d4c9.jpg

^^Ringo claimed that one working title for Revolver was After Geography, poking fun at the Stones' title.

The US version was the 2nd CD I ever bought, back in 1987. Paint It, Black would be the clear choice if it were here, but I'll go with my favorite album cut right now which is Think.

Paint It, Black

This was a typographical mistake on one of the issue single sleeve... surely it should never be used in the wild to refer to the song?

I'd rather vote for this in a heartbeat!

What I love about this album is it's blend of psychedelic pop mixed with roots rock... stuff like 'Mother's Little Helper', 'Lady Jane', 'Under My Thumb' are as colourful as anything in pop music at the time, but then you've got tracks like 'Doncha Bother Me' and 'High and Dry' which would have fit snugly on Beggars Banquet, and some more straightly-played and underrated pop in stuff like 'What to Do', 'Take It or Leave It' etc. It's quite a diverse record, and one I easily prefer over Beggars Banquet (but not Let It Bleed or Sticky Fingers) ...

The UK version of the album is quite a generous record for the time as well... it's 54 minutes long! Very unusual for that time - essentially a near double album crammed onto one record.

love this album, easily my fav of this era. had to go w/ "under my thumb" tho.

Xpost glumadich

Yes, but its so established, its the majority of the singles on Decca, and everywhere since.

my favorite song on this album is "high and dry" so that's what I voted for. Jagger almost in a rawer Davies mode lyrically, and Keith's 60's country shit just kills me - always loved "Country Honk," too

I know this is supposed to be the songwriting breakthrough, but I vastly prefer BTB as a pop album: you can tell Jagger-Richards had hit their stride, were having fun experimenting in a variety of modes.

that's weird, when i revisited both earlier this year i found between the buttons really unimpressive and aftermath really awesome throughout

"it's not easy"

those harmonies my god.

then "flight 505"

this was one of the very few "pop" albums in my mom's collection. i remember my mom telling me the rolling stones were really weird because they hadn't broken up, and they were still a band after all these years. in like 1984.

I love that 'Satisfaction' quote at the beginning of 'Flight 505' ... Between the Buttons is a painfully underrated collection of songs, but I wish they'd spent a little more time arranging/recording parts of it... there's really no excuse for the out of tune bass on 'She Smiled Sweetly', which spoils an otherwise wonderful song.

Because I had Hot Rocks growing up, I never bothered with the pre-BB albums, and even though I finally heard some of them (this one included) once I was more easily able to access music online, they're all kind of a blur to me.

That said, while this should basically come down to a toss-up between "Under My Thumb" vs. "Mother's Little Helper," I'll admit that "Out of Time" is one of those gems (along with "Backstreet Girl," from...Flowers?) that I regret almost missing, so I'm going to vote for that.

'Back Street Girl' is on the UK version of Between the Buttons and is indeed one of those '60s Stones songs which should have found a much wider audience by now.

Man, even the way this album starts is so classic... "what a draaaag it iiiiis getting ooooold" followed by that guitar swell and that 12 string-made-to-sound-like-a-sitar riff.

I always thought that was "What a drag it is getting up."

It's Not Easy, for the wonderfully lewd way Mick repeatedly
sez the word "hard". Makes me grin like an idjit every time.

i love the hooks in "Stupid Girl," so that. thou the real answer is "Under My Thumb."

I'm still unsure at what to choose, but 'Lady Jane' is definitely a contender... just a really beautiful song, and love the dulcimer and hapsichord.

tell me who's fault was that babe

this thread makes me happy

Yeah, 'Think' is so underrated.

Before Keith Richards discovered his trademark tuning and the Stones eventually found their defining sound, they were arguably a more interesting group, and in 1966 and 1967 they released a shitload of classic stuff. There's always been this theory that the Stones psychedelic period was a mis-step, but I disagree.

voted "Lady Jane" for the harpsichord and Elizabethan lyrics

this is my favorite era of Stones. i bought a copy of this album after seeing Rushmore for the first time. it's nice but i always preferred Flowers.

Flowers isn't really a proper album, though.

Mick found his poncey persona at about this time which is a side of him I always enjoy

this, between the buttons and flowers is peak stones to me

^^ think i’d add satanic majesties to the mix but same

it's two different bands for me almost, this run and then the 70s stuff

It's too bad that "Goin' Home" is pretty much a waste of space, considering how mindblowing it must've seemed for a high-profile rock act to record and release a way-extended track in early 1966.

Yeah, 'Goin' Home' is one of the tracks I know won't be getting my vote - I like the idea of the track, just not the execution. It was one of those "let's keep the tape rolling, guys" moments, but save some great vocals from Jagger it doesn't do an awful lot.

i only ever had the U.S. version of this.. never heard "what to do" or "take it or leave it".. nothing else here besides "under my thumb" really does it for me. i guess "out of time" is ok.

(sorry)

actually i do really love the arrangement of stupid girl, particularly the marimbas (?) and backing vocals during the middle 8

ha whoops i was thinking of "yesterdays papers"

Heh, 'What to Do' and 'Take It or Leave It' are both great... don't get why they were left of the US configurations, but then - like The Beatles' - the US configs always look bizarre to me.

I used to play in a Brit Invasion cover band and did a bunch of these songs, and Mother's Little Helper was really fun to do, so that.

"Out of Time" is cool and i also really like Chris Farlowe's version, maybe even more. it's more Spector-y.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpDjbul0WyE

There were two versions of 'Out of Time' - there's the one that appears on Aftermath (where the riff is played on vibes) and the other one is more like the Farlowe version but with Mick singing.

The earliest LP pf theirs I care about is Beggars. Not sure why but it’s hard for me to go backwards in their catalogue from that point. The production is just so lousy and thin and a lot of the melodies and tropes are undistinguished.

Pretty sure the first time I ever heard "Out of Time" (not a radio hit) was the opening credits of Coming Home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8GzIdqTlVQ

The undistinguished melodies of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction', 'Ruby Tuesday', 'Let's Spend the Night Together' and 'Paint It Black' ...

A lot of not all ffs.

I was thinking of the non-singles, but even when you consider Satisfaction and Spend the Night, these are really just three-chord white boy blues songs with Fischer-Price level production. Compare them to Sympathy and there's a world of difference. Mr. Jimmy really did well by them.

Ruby Tuesday, Lady Jane, I am Waiting - not sure exactly what's off about the ballads, but they seem kind of...forced? Disingenous? Like Mick is playing the child when in reality he's the dude getting his back scratched in the hotel after the show.

you need some backstreet girl in your life

A lot of not all ffs.

― The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Friday, November 24, 2017 10:20 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I could have went on for far longer, tbh.

I was thinking of the non-singles, but even when you consider Satisfaction and Spend the Night, these are really just three-chord white boy blues songs with Fischer-Price level production.

Even the non-singles - hell, take your pick from any track on this album! Also, pretty sure that 'Let's Spend the Night Together' has more than three chords in it and isn't a blues.

The Jimmy Miller era records are good, of course, but that doesn't mean the 1965-1967 stuff isn't. If you're gonna tell me with a straight face that '2,000 Light Years From Home' is badly production then I'll show you a good bullshitter.

*badly produced/a bad production - whatever.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Under My Thumb by a considerable distance

― Οὖτις, Sunday, November 19, 2017 4:13 PM (one month ago)

same

I like both "High and Dry" and "I Am Waiting" better than "Thumb." this album is ridiculously good

i went with “out of time” but it was out of total indecision. prob should’ve gone for “high and dry”

one more for Out of Time

Voted for this, love BJ on the dulcimer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95t86ER1YIk

Out of Time but hon mentions for UMT & Waiting

actually i think the version of Out of Time i prefer is on that the Singles collection.

As with the early Beatles albums, the U.S. versions of the Stones albums are the ones I grew up with (courtesy of my dad's record collection), so this track list is all wrong to me. Aftermath is supposed to start with "Paint It Black"! Out of this bunch, I'll throw a vote to proto-punky "Stupid Girl," even though it is also awfully mean.

'Think' is a fave deep cut as well.

hard to choose but I had to go with 'Mothers Little Helper'. 'Lady Jane' would've been my second choice though. 'Under My Thumb' is great but for me it's tempered by hearing them continue to do it over the years, whereas 'Helper' is still sort of pure 60s psych-era in my mind, if that makes sense. I think Buttons (US tracklisting) is nearly as classic as 'Aftermath', though the production is a little underwhelming at times, and they left off this track which would've been a great closer after 'Amanda Jones':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juekkLWxEWI

I almost voted for "Lady Jane" (love that wonky E7 chord when it gets to "just heed this plea") and then "Out of Time." Finally pulled the trigger for MLH.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I Am Waiting 10

Delighted to see this!

Such a great album.