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REVIEW
A pretty even album, not a bad song on this one. Surprisingly Mick Taylor's last
LP with the band; as usual he plays some nice guitar here, including his solo on
"Time Waits For No One", which is the best guitar riff on the album. Ron
Wood makes his first appearance with the Stones on the upbeat title cut, "It's Only
Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It), a song he started writing for a solo album of his, and Mick
Jagger and company helped him finish it - then it became theirs. Wood would join the
Stones for good two years later.
"Till The Next Goodbye" is a another winner. Jagger sings this one with a
almost dirty sounding voice, and the guitars sound so fine! Then "Time Waits for No
One" follows next, with fine results, the band sounds almost perfect here, even if
this isn't the usual Stones sound that we are used to hearing.
"Fingerprint File" is one of my favorites on this album with Jagger/Richards
hitting the bull's eye again with a well written and true song about government spying and
its control over people. Sang in an almost rap like matter, before anyone really
knew what rap was.
"Luxury" is a neat little reggae number that makes you want to sing along, and
"Short and Curlies" is another fun one to hear.
All in all, It's Only Rock 'n Roll has a very good feel throughout, the kind
of album that leaves a smile on your face when it reaches its end.
- Keno, 1998
2018 updated review is
here.
*Old Ratings vs. New Ratings
The oldest ratings that you see here are from
back in 1998 when I first rated the album for this site. Since time does change
one's point of view, I decided to listen to and rate the album again, doing so
in late 2005. In November, 2018, 20 years after the first ratings were made, I
rated all of the songs for a third time. Also note that I did not look at the
old ratings from 1998 until after I placed my new ratings here in both 2005 and
2018.
To listen to some sound clips from
IT'S
ONLY ROCK 'N ROLL or to buy it click on:
It's Only Rock 'N Roll ..: :
To read others reviews about this album, go here.
To see how It's Only Rock 'N Roll's songs was voted on by fans, go here
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