Released 1969
London Records (originally)
ABKCO Records (remastered)Track Listing:
Gimmie ShelterReview:
Love In Vain
Country Honk
Live With Me
Let It Bleed
Midnight Rambler
You Got The Silver
Monkey Man
You Can't Always Get What You Want- 5 (out of five)
Only nine songs long, this ranks with "Beggar's Banquet" and "Exile on Main St." as one of the few albums you'd want to be trapped on a desert island with. Every track is a gem, many of them rock n' roll institutions. "Gimme Shelter" is a loud, bombastic masterpiece about rape and war with haunting vocals by Merrie Clayton echoing Mick's wailings. "Midnight Rambler" is a long, dangerous blues rant, and "Country Honk" is a bluegrass version of "Honky Tonk Women" complete with a lead fiddle. "You Got the Silver" is a tender ballad featuring Keith on solo lead vocals for the first time. Ending the album is "You Can't Always Get What You Want," a song which is everything a music fan could ever want - great lyrics and wonderful instrumentation. "Love in Vain" is straight Robert Johnson blues, and the other two tracks, "Let It Bleed" and "Monkey Man" rock out. Everyone needs a copy of this album.
Most of the guitar work on this album is done by Keith alone, as it was recorded after Brian Jones' death and mostly before Mick Taylor's joining the band. The only track to feature Taylor is "Country Honk" which, with his influence, later became "Honky Tonk Women."
