Disco de The Rolling Stones: “Aftermath UK [Remaster]”

On April 15, 1966, Decca Records in England issued The Rolling Stones' fourth UK album - AFTERMATH. Featuring 14 tracks - for the first time all composed by Mick Jagger & Keith Richard, it was a # 1 smash and showed that The Stones were up to the challenge of The Beatles and RUBBER SOUL. What ultimately made it out in America that June was a very different version of this OFFICIAL and AUTHORITATIVE album. "Paint It Black" - just a single in the UK, was shoved on in the place of "Mother's Little Helper" and then the US album was whittled down to a mere 11 tracks. DO NOT buy the US version - the music is great, of course, but it is not how The Rolling Stones and producer Andrew Loog Oldham intended it to be. THIS, finally, is the real article. For the time (1966), at 53 minutes, AFTERMATH was a very long album. The first half of it is like a greatest hits album ("Mother's Little Helper", "Stupid Girl", "Lady Jane", "Under My Thumb" and the outstanding 11-minute blues work-out "Goin' Home". Brian Jones, picking up on George Harrison's use of the sitar, began exploring exotic instruments and AFTERMATH benefited enormously from them. Sitars, marimbas and dulcimers abound here and Mick & Keith made a real breakthrough songwriting-wise. "Out Of Time" (in the second half) is also a compositional highlight, though it is a bit long. However the last half does have its somewhat average moments with mediocre tracks like "Take It Or Leave It", though they are still pleasant songs. But the majority of the winners are to be found in the first half of AFTERMATH and those tracks are the ones which has secured the album's enduring legacy. Even with the odd moment of weakness, the overall effect of the album is so strong that a 5 star rating is justified. Not THE best Rolling Stones album, but a classic and their best THUS far. As songwriters, Mick & Keith never looked back after AFTERMATH.

The UK version of "Aftermath" runs more than ten minutes longer than its American counterpart, despite not having "Paint It Black" on it (singles were usually kept separate from LPs in England in those days).

And it has four songs which aren't on the US version:

"Mother's Little Helper, "Out Of Time" in its full-length 5½ minute version, "Take It Or Leave It" (which eventually turned up on "Flowers" in the US), and the excellent, catchy "What To Do".

"Aftermath" is the first album of 100% original material, and that's interesting, but not necessarily a good thing.

Many of these songs are great, including "Mother's Little Helper", "Under My Thumb", "What To Do", and "Out Of Time", but there are a number of lesser tunes here as well, and a few good soul or R&B covers could have replaced a couple of the "filler" songs and made this an even stronger album.

But this is still a more than worthy addition to anyone's Stones collection. Most of the lesser-known originals on "Aftermath", such as "Flight 505", "High And Dry", "Think", and "Going Home" (before it evolves into a long, tedious, psychedelic jam) are very enjoyable, even if they aren't as instantly memorable as "Satisfaction" or "Honky Tonk Women".

A fine record.

This album is not the hybrid SACD version as listed on the website. Just the DSD remastered CD. Customer Service could not ensure the product was correct before it was shipped. The Customer Service centers are not in the same location as the fulfillment centers.

For these reasons, they are unable to check the physical details of an

item for you. They did however say they would accept a return no problem.

This is a seminal Rolling Stones document for a number of reasons, the most important being that it is the first Stones record without any cover songs. Every single track is a Jagger and Richards composition (any other contribution from other band members was generally not credited). It is also the first record that finds the Stones moving away from the blues and embracing more pop and rock elements. It also features Brian Jones in his new role as multi-instrumentalist. Mick & Keith may have taken control of the band he started away from him, but Jones was still a mighty powerful musical force within the band and improved upon every song through the use of sitars, dulcimers and other exotic instruments.

There are a number of differences between the UK and US versions as well. The US version added the single "Paint It Black" and left a number of songs off (which made their way onto the throwaway LP Flowers). The UK version features 14 songs instead of 11 and was how the Stones originally intended it.

Highlights here include the misogynistic masterpiece "Under My Thumb", the equally misogynistic "Stupid Girl" (which is not to say that the anti-female tone is what makes these two tracks great), the Motown-ish "Out of Time", the romantic ballad "Lady Jane" (sandwiched between "Under My Thumb" and "Stupid Girl" no less!), the folky "I Am Waiting" (used to great effect in the film Rushmore) and the absolutely brilliant "Mother's Little Helper". Some of the other tracks are not the Stones strongest cuts, then again, they aren't the Stones at their weakest either. At least they were attempting new things. 1966 was a year where popular music took great chances. The Stones would not be the icons they are today if they had rested on their laurels and continued to regurgitate sounds they'd already mastered two years prior. Of all the Stones pre-Beggars Banquet output, this is probably the best (though some would argue for Between the Buttons). I highly recommend it to those of you who wish to delve a bit deeper into the Stones discography

"Aftermath" proved the Stones could hold their own as album artists. It is a nearly flawless display of five musicians at the peak of their powers. This LP could be considered the first one after the band had achieved supergroup status on the strength of immortal singles such as "Last Time", "Satisfaction" and "Cloud". I believe the British LP is so much stronger than the US one and I'm glad that I was able to have both. For the uninformed, the US release which followed the UK one by two months, has "Paint It, Black" as its lead track while the Brit version opens with "Mother's Little Helper". Either one would suffice for me as both tunes are alltime classics and feature Brian Jones on the sitar. However the UK "Aftermath" features the full-length "Out of Time" one of my absolute favorites, plus "Take It or Leave It" and "What to Do", all left off of the US release. "Aftermath" was such a turning point for the band not only for the use of all Jagger-Richards penned tunes but for the exotic instrumentation. Dulcimer, marimba, harpsichord and the aforementoned sitar add flourish to such standout cuts as "Under My Thumb", "Lady Jane", "Mothers", "Time" etc. I absolutely love this record and cherish this era of the Stones almost as much as the 68-72 period. The UK version of "Aftermath" should be considered one the greatest albums in history and a major stepping stone for the five young Londoners future claim as "The Greatest Rock N' Roll Band in the World".