What are SD’s thoughts on this often overlooked '67 Stones foray into psychedelia?
Badly underrated at the time, more so today. It’s a far better album than most people seem to think.
I was 18 when it came out, had already been a huge Stones fan for four years, and initially I thought it was “ok”; I never lost my taste for it though, and as time passed I came to appreciate it more and more. Today I think it’s a great album, even with one or two overlong “psychedelic noodling” areas.
(Sir Michael himself has acknowledged that the record would have benefited from a better producer. Or any producer, as it turned out.)
It’s hardly their best work, it’s chasing a movement, and yet it has on it imo one of their very best songs:
She’s A Rainbow I love that
I’ve never really thought of the Stones as an album band - save perhaps Let it Bleed which I think works as a collection - but they were an absolutely stellar singles band in their heyday, with a generous sprinkling of additional gold on the long-players.
It was not my favorite album of 1967, although I liked it. For one thing, up until then the Rolling Stones had been kind of distinctively different, and this album just went along with what lesser bands (okay, my opinion) were doing. I mean, I had favorite tracks on this album, but not as many favorite tracks as on most other Stones albums up to that time. Were they trying to one-up the Beatles, or one-up Ultimate Spinach?
I think everybody in the rock world went a little crazy in 1967. Sgt. Pepper’s was not my most favorite Beatles album, either. And then things got worse.
ETA: Okay, but I’ll tell you what, this Satanic Majesty’s album cover was UNPRECEDENTED at freaking out mothers all over the country, mine including. Making them think, “Oh, hey, okay…the Beatles are maybe not so bad.”
2000 Light Years is a great song.
I like it. No need for comparisons with anything else that they or anyone else was doing.
Here’s a shout out to two of the Stones’ contemporaneous singles, Child of the Moon and We Love You (the latter evidently a satire of All You Need Is Love). Check them out if you’re not already familiar.
Who remembers the original lenticular cover?
Still own that one!
Not a bad album. Not Let It Bleed or Exile On Main Street, but more than adequate.
I also.
We Love You has been one of my top five Stones songs since the day I first heard it. Terrific song, also noteworthy for the backing vocalists being Jagger, Lennon, and McCartney.
“We Love You” is my favorite.
“She’s a Rainbow” and “2000 Light Years from Home” work. “On with the Show” too.
“In Another Land” does NOT hold up at all. The tremolo, or whatever they’re doing to Wyman’s voice makes me cringe.
Oh, wait: “We Love You” isn’t on this album.
Oh and I forgot this one: - YouTube
I agree that the Stones didn’t think in terms of albums the way Lennon and McCartney did. Aftermath was a great album almost all the way through, but Between the Buttons, Majesties (where is that apostrophe in the thread title coming from? and Hilarity N. Suze, shame on you), and *Beggar’s Banquet *all have a couple of fine songs with the rest just for Stones fanatics.
One of the great aspects of that period was that Nicky Hopkins started doing session work with them. He plays that marvelous tinkling piano that sets the tone for “She’s a Rainbow” and also the thumping barrelhouse of “We Love You.” He really should have been made a permanent member of the Stones, but bad timing and his poor health squashed that.
Though I’ve been a Stones fan since I was nine, strangely enough I didn’t discover this album until AFTER I’d heard the Ace Frehley (KISS guitarist) cover of “2000 Man,” when I was maybe twelve.
I once read a 1968 interview with Mick where the interviewer cited a review of the album as full of “sleeping and dreaming” (not in a bad way). Mick says something, then stops and says, “What was that? Dreaming and waking up? That’s cool.”
No, but it clearly should have been. Recorded during the same sessions. Same applies to “Child Of The Moon”.
What because I thought the white album sucked? I admit there were good songs on it. There were not two LPs’ worth of good songs on it though…not really even one LP’s worth of good songs. My opinion only.
ugh, really? I didn’t need to know about that.
Wasn’t “Child of the Moon” recorded in ‘68 (B-side to Jumpin’ Jack Flash), and so would have been on Beggars Banquet, if anything?
Anyhoo…I remember being 13 and noticing that John Paul Jones did some string arrangements and played some piano parts on Satanic, almost a year before Led Zeppelin got going.
Lest we forget, the whole album isn’t just psychedelic haze. “Citadel” rocks out.