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Product Description
CD Description
The Rolling Stones went through the process of auditioning several guitarists, including Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel, who both guest on Black And Blue, the album which debuted at number one in the US in 1976. But Wood was always the favourite and duly joined Charlie Watts on the back of the gatefold sleeve. Recorded in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the US, Black And Blue features the wonderful ballads "Fool To Cry" and "Memory Motel" and some top notch riffing on "Hand Of Fate" and "Crazy Mama". The irresistibly funky "Hot Stuff" became a club hit, a sign of things to come for a formidable band equally at ease with blues, rock, country, reggae or dance.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
So the first batch of Stones remasters are upon us and what are we getting for our hard earned cash?
Disappointingly the packaging is the same as the previous Virgin issues from 1997, no extra photos from the cover shoot or sessions. No insightful sleeve notes from someone like Roy Carr or Charles Shaar-Murray whose long out of print Rolling Stones - An Illustrated Record is still required reading.
The mastering is an improvement over the virgin issues but I am not too sure if it is that great a difference. Having lived this this and the other remasters for a while now I have found the biggest improvement has been in the lower registers; bass and drums are sharper.
On the down side the discs have not been issued as hybrid s.a.c.d. like the A.B.K.C.O. issues of the Stones' Decca back catalogue from a few years back which set the bar higher for Stones issues.. The c.d. cases are also those flimsy super audio jewel boxes which seem to be the fashion these days and they break all too easily.
I don't have too much to say about the music other than on release it sharply divided opinion. I am a lot more favourably disposed to it these days and play it quite often. The guest guitarists don't radically alter the Stones sound and some of the songs are a bit slight.
A Stones nut like me will buy without hesitation. Others will have to decide if the sound improvement is worth the extra outlay on something they may already have.
Disappointingly the packaging is the same as the previous Virgin issues from 1997, no extra photos from the cover shoot or sessions. No insightful sleeve notes from someone like Roy Carr or Charles Shaar-Murray whose long out of print Rolling Stones - An Illustrated Record is still required reading.
The mastering is an improvement over the virgin issues but I am not too sure if it is that great a difference. Having lived this this and the other remasters for a while now I have found the biggest improvement has been in the lower registers; bass and drums are sharper.
On the down side the discs have not been issued as hybrid s.a.c.d. like the A.B.K.C.O. issues of the Stones' Decca back catalogue from a few years back which set the bar higher for Stones issues.. The c.d. cases are also those flimsy super audio jewel boxes which seem to be the fashion these days and they break all too easily.
I don't have too much to say about the music other than on release it sharply divided opinion. I am a lot more favourably disposed to it these days and play it quite often. The guest guitarists don't radically alter the Stones sound and some of the songs are a bit slight.
A Stones nut like me will buy without hesitation. Others will have to decide if the sound improvement is worth the extra outlay on something they may already have.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Post-Taylor and pre-Wood this is very much the audition album and provides a snapshot of a band that is a slightly out of kilter. Only having 8 tracks makes me thinks that recording was a bit of a struggle, and the lack of Mick Taylor's technical ability and melodic beauty is definitely missed, with the Stones looking around for inspiration from their guests.
"Hot Stuff", the opener, has a great riff, which makes up for a lack of lyrical substance. "Hand Of Fate" has a classic Stones rock n'roll feel to it, as does "Crazy Mama", while "Memory Motel" is a very fine slow ballad with nice Keith vocals in the chorus. "Fool To Cry" is a bit too saccharine but actually quite un-Stonesy and interesting, although I can't listen to it too much. "Melody" is a real departure, and that's because Billy Preston wrote it - good track and I can see why Bill Wyman still plays it with his band. "Hey Negrita" is innovative but frankly not very good - and introduces both Mr Wood's guitar playing and songwriting. Finally, "Cherry Oh Baby" is a pretty corny cover version that just doesn't work. This a really a 3.5 stars album but I can't give it a 4 because it doesn't quite gel as a whole and has too few tracks. But, the title and cover picture are great!
"Hot Stuff", the opener, has a great riff, which makes up for a lack of lyrical substance. "Hand Of Fate" has a classic Stones rock n'roll feel to it, as does "Crazy Mama", while "Memory Motel" is a very fine slow ballad with nice Keith vocals in the chorus. "Fool To Cry" is a bit too saccharine but actually quite un-Stonesy and interesting, although I can't listen to it too much. "Melody" is a real departure, and that's because Billy Preston wrote it - good track and I can see why Bill Wyman still plays it with his band. "Hey Negrita" is innovative but frankly not very good - and introduces both Mr Wood's guitar playing and songwriting. Finally, "Cherry Oh Baby" is a pretty corny cover version that just doesn't work. This a really a 3.5 stars album but I can't give it a 4 because it doesn't quite gel as a whole and has too few tracks. But, the title and cover picture are great!
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this on a recommendation from a friend, I think now this was misguided. There are some great moments on this album but the songs don't sit well together and performance wise it's the same "bitsy" feeling with different guitar players basically recording this as part of their audition for the Stones when Mick Taylor left.
Just because it's the Stones doesn't make it alright. Truthfully there are also some really sxxt moments on this, the overrated "Cherry Oh Baby" for example, best leave the reggae to a reggae band rather than waste my time with this.
They could have had half a brilliant album instead of this.
Just because it's the Stones doesn't make it alright. Truthfully there are also some really sxxt moments on this, the overrated "Cherry Oh Baby" for example, best leave the reggae to a reggae band rather than waste my time with this.
They could have had half a brilliant album instead of this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Must have
I have been listening to this album for more than 20 years, first on tape (from LP), then on a CD-copy and now it was time to contribute to Mick and Keith's pension plan and buy... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Ben D
mixed bag
I've always really liked 'Fool To Cry', but that must say more about my lack of taste than about the quality of the song. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Graham R. Hill
VASTLY UNDERRATED!!!
I love this album and not just with hindsight.
I loved it when it was first released and couldn't (and still can't) believe how negative fans and the fickle rock press were... Read more
I loved it when it was first released and couldn't (and still can't) believe how negative fans and the fickle rock press were... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jojo Allen
Rubbish
There is more creative genius in any single track off an album like Now, Buttons, Beggars, Bleed, Ya-yas or Fingers than in the sum of this pathetic hodge podge of directionless... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Hilton Bennett
their worst
This is one of those stones albums that just doesn't work.
ok, some of the riffs are good, like 'hot stuff' but all the songs are far too long and repetitive. Read more
ok, some of the riffs are good, like 'hot stuff' but all the songs are far too long and repetitive. Read more
Published 18 months ago by S. C. Clarke
Another great remaster
I will keep this one short. I thought this was a vastly superior sounding album in the first instance and it would be hard to improve on in comparison to It's Only Rock and Roll... Read more
Published on 22 May 2009 by Smitty Werbenjaegermanjensen (real name)
better than you'd think...
When this album was originally released in 1976, I (and many others too) felt that it was a major disappointment. Read more
Published on 14 May 2009 by Og Oggilby
Stones Can Take You to Funky Town
In 1976 you'd have been forgiven for saying that the Rolling Stones were a bit, well, old hat. Their previous album "It's only Rock'n'Roll" had its moments but too often sounded... Read more
Published on 4 May 2009 by Dudley Serious
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