The Rolling Stones Album: “No Security”

Description :

The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Keith Richards (vocals, guitar); Ronnie Wood (guitar); Charlie Watts (drums). Additional personnel: Dave Matthews, Taj Mahal (vocals); Andy Snitzer (saxophone, keyboards); Joshua Redman, Bobby Keys (saxophone); Kent Smith (trumpet); Michael Davis (trombone); Chuck Leavell (keyboards); Pierre de Beauport (Wurlitzer piano); Darryl Jones (bass); Johnny Starbuck (shaker); Bernard Fowler, Blondie Chaplin (percussion, background vocals); Lisa Fischer, Leah Wood (background vocals). Engineers include: Ed Cherney, Dave Hewitt, Ulli Poesselt. Principally recorded live at the Arena Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Holland; River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina; TWA Dome, St. Lois, Missouri; Zeppelinfeld, Nuremberg, Germany. Despite the fact that the tattooed couple on the cover of NO SECURITY are far more threatening than the Rolling Stones sounded in the late '90s, the World's Greatest Rock And Roll Band still manage to put together an interesting clutch of live performances here, with a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure. On their seventh live album, the Stones avoid the standard greatest hits package expected of most bands of their stature and instead go with an interesting mix of newer songs and old favorites. So you get songs off of 1997's BRIDGES TO BABYLON ("Flip The Switch," "Out Of Control") and 1994's VOODOO LOUNGE ("You Got Me Rocking") as well as 1965's OUT OF OUR HEADS ("The Last Time"). The Stones show off their longevity by having special guests who represent different generations. Thus, you have Taj Mahal playing with them on his "Corinna" 30 years after his appearance in The Rolling Stones Rock 'N' Roll Circus and Dave Matthews joining in on "Memory Motel." The final old-to-new transition comes when young lion Joshua Redman reprises the sax break featured in "Waiting on A Friend" that jazz colossus Sonny Rollins played on the original version.

It seems that every Rolling Stones tour results in a live album. This one, unfortunately offers nothing new or even particularly interesting. Efforts to duplicate the studio sound (ie., "Gimmie Shelter") only demonstrate the superiority of the originals. Further, the guest spots featuring Taj Mahal and Dave Matthews are totally unnecessary. This album suffers from too many added musicians, too many backup vocalists, a couple of out-of-place "guest stars", and a general lack of inspiration. If you want a Vegas-style Stones show, this album is for you. If you want to hear a good live set from the Stones (minus the guest stars and other embellishments), listen to "Get Your Ya-Ya's Out", which features the Stones when they still had the energy and imagination to improvise. This album is "product", and nothing more.

I have been reading the reviews of this CD and I cant believe them, these guys are what rock and roll is all about....give me a break, if you were at these shows which IM SURE MOST OF THE REVIEWERS WERE, they were wasted like the rest of us were, this tour was awesome....I saw them on this tour and I was blown away...you people need to wake up, The Stones wont be around for much longer, enjoy them while you can, quit being so critical......

The Rolling Stones are at it again. Here they are with yet another live album, and still I find myself eager for each and every live release. Most of the music on this album is recent--from the last few studio albums--and may not appeal to fans of early Stones material. But, for all those who just like the 'sound' of the Rolling Stones, this album should not be passed up!

The one thing about this album that IS far superior to previous Stones live efforts is the sound--it is incredible. Gone is the somewhat tinny sound of previous albums, and this album sounds as if you are really there.

There are many notable tracks on this album, but I think the best are "Live with Me," "Saint of Me," and "Gimme Shelter." The rest are great, too, but these are my favorites. I'm not quite sure what to think about the guest spot by Dave Matthews...

Overall, this is a great album, certainly worth owning for any true Stones fan. And, for those who aren't die-hards but like good classic rock, this is also a very good album to have. I highly recommend this one.

Review no.63. Never even got to check out this live Stones CD until here recently. A nicely assembled fourteen track concert document of the Stone's 'Bridges To Babylon' U.S. trek. There are three cuts here from that modern day Stones classic - "Saint of Me", "Theif In The Night" and the awesome "Out Of Control". Not sure as to WHY many fans claim that the 'Bridges' CD isn't very good. It's fine! Then of course, there are the old stuff that so few rarely grow tired of, like "You Got Me Rocking" (actually, this is a later tune but it's SO good I thought it was an oldie at first), "Gimme Shelter", "Waiting On A Friend", "Sister Morphine" (hadn't heard this cut in ages), "Live With Me" and the unbeatable "The Last Time" (my personal favorite of the entire disc). Sound quality and production here is superb. Simply, a must-have.

I bought this album because the Stone's mighty publicity machine seduced me into believing it's their best live set ever. I don't think so. "Stripped" has better moments, is warmer, and is a far better showcase of the band's muscianship and Jagger's still solid pipes. "Ya Ya's" actually sounds like the band can be DANGEROUS and "Love You Live" despite its flaws, is a superlative showcase of Keith Richard's riffing ( and I LIKE the sloppiness). There is some good stuff here ( I particularly enjoyed the ballad "Memory Motel") but it's far to sanitized for me. It sounds like a top notch recording but it's missing the edge of the other stuff. Too much like product to support the lifestyles of the rich and infamous.