Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.02.2005, Page 24

HURTING MY DICK:
From the get-go you might have to dig deep to find a reason to
buy this CD. It isn’t until track 6 on “It’s Only Rock n Roll” that the
band really comes to life and starts shootin’ from the hip. It becomes
obvious that a little more objectivity and ambition is needed in the
Stones camp regarding live releases. I have bootlegs that, as usual,
blow the official live CDs out of the water.
Charlie’s Good Tonight
Charlie is brilliant and right on
the button as usual. Track one
on CD2 is the hottest version of
“ NEIGHBOURS” I have ever
heard! Now this one makes this trip
worthwhile, fantastic drum work, full
throttle Chuck-Berryish guitars and
bass like stampeding rhinos. Then
BAM they fall on their face with a
lame ass version of the great rock
song off Exile on Mainstreet “Rocks
Off.”
Next up is “Can’t Ya Hear Me
Knockin.” The intro to this song
by Keith Richards on the original
version is one of the best guitar licks/
intros in rock n roll history. When
you hear it you can imagine flames
shootin’ out of his ass, but all we get
on this version is a little smoke.
Where’s Rubin When You Need
Him?
Track 9 brings us to “Rock Me
Baby.” I still say I would love to see
the Stones get down to the basics
and hire Rick Rubin or Jack White
and make the kinda cut-the- crap-
back-to-the-roots CD I know they
are capable of. I have heard enough
studio bootlegs to know that the
Stones are still a badass blues band,
but this version of “Rock Me” just
ain’t giving me a hard on and if you
gonna mess with this blues classic
on an official live CD you better
dig up somethin better than this!
Mick, where the hell is the fantastic
Chicago Blues Harp I know damn
well you can play!? Now Keith, he’s
doin’ some tasty guitar work and
the rest of the band is cookin’ pretty
good, but then Ron Wood comes
in with some shit (awful tone &
tasteless solo) that’s definitely killin’
my dick. Muddy Waters used to stop
his band if somebody hit a bum note
and tell the guilty party to stop it
because it was hurting his dick!;)
Not to Be Messed With
A great reggae song with Keith
on vocals is “You Don’t Have To
Mean It” that I’m sure I’d be raving
about if I smoked a couple of his
Jamaican brand cigarettes. Last but
not least by a long shot is a shit hot
version of “EVERYBODY NEEDS
SOMEBODY TO LOVE” with
the Great Solomon Burke as guest
singer; the whole band is kickin’ ass
and I can just see in my mind the
party really gettin’ out of hand now,
tables & chairs flyin’ everywhere,
snacks whipped around the room
like confetti and one gal dancin’
with her panties on her head as Live
Licks comes to an end. Completists/
Collectors will buy this, people
who went to see The Stones on the
Live Licks Tour will want this for a
memo, but hardcore fans won’t mess
with it at all.
by Mike Pollock
A Review of the Rolling Stones
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