Rock and roll is phony and false, and it's sung, written, and played for the most part by cretinous goons.
Frank Sinatra (1915 - 1998)
The Rolling Stones. A Bigger Bang is the band’s newest CD and the early reviews were glowing, but I am here to tell you that the CD as a whole is typical of the Stones during the last 15 years or so. There are four good songs and one honorable mention on this CD. The good songs are:
- “Rain Fall Down” – This has a nice catchy beat and a bit of a bluesy feel. It does not sound like a typical Stones song. It’s not hit material, but it’s very listenable.
- “She Saw Me Coming” – I love this song. It too has a slightly different beat, a little reggae-ish.
- “Oh, No Not You Again” – Listening to this on the CD, I thoroughly enjoy this song about a troubled boy or girl friend who keeps returning.
- “Neo-Con” – Again, not typical Stones fare, rather bluesy and of course I personally like the lyrics.
- “Look What the Cat Dragged In” – this is worthy of a honorable mention. This is typical Stones of late, which means it is nothing special, but I found myself reciting the chorus over a couple of times and Daughter liked it immediately.
If you are just a moderate Stones fan, I would suggest down loading the above songs. Keith’s two contributions “This Place is Empty” and “Infamy” are weak and wobbly. They are similar to Tom Waits' songs without the poetry to create a vivid mental picture. This CD will be a forgotten after this tour and will most likely be in the used CD bin rather shortly.
The Evolution of Mick & Keith. Mick and Keith were once known for their hard partying and womanizing ways and their songs reflected their attitude:
“Under My Thumb”
“Stupid Girl”
“Time is on My Side”
“Heart of Stone”
“Play with Fire”
“Let’s Spend the Night Together”
“Brown Sugar”
Then times started to change and women realized they didn’t need to take a backseat to men and Mick and Keith’s songs started to evolve from complete control as in the above listed songs to name calling in “Respectable” and “Some Girls, where Mick goes through the various ethnics listing their specific traits. Now, the ol’ boys are victims. “She Saw Me Coming” and “Oh, No Not You Again” is poor Mick being played for a fool.
If I could come up with a MTV music video for “She Saw Me Coming,” I would have a chorus of divorced men moping around while Mick sang:
She saw me coming
I didn’t see a thing
I wasn’t looking
I just walked into it
A sucker for her
I’m a sucker for her
Thought I was so cool
She saw me coming
Boy did I get screwed
She wrote the opening
The middle and the end
Bob Dylan. I picked up his in the 
Bootleg Series “No Direction Home.” It’s all very early Dylan and unless you are a diehard fan there really is no reason to get this CD. What really hit me with this CD was that he wrote many of his classics at such a young age and during a relatively innocent time in 1963 when such songs as “Masters of War” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” followed the next year by “Mr. Tambourine Man” and "It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.”
Dylan’s incredible talents may have really influence more people than he is already given credit for. The Beatles, the Stones and others followed Dylan’s lead. In marketing lingo, he influenced the influencers.
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