Sticky Fingers

Saturday evening rocking out to the Rolling Stones, eating chocolate chip cookies and kickin’ it with my seventeen year old terrier... This is not what this album was made for, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing. Consistent and alive from “Brown Sugar” through to the end of “Moonlight Mile” --if this album had vital signs you’d need a Richter-scale to measure them. Though seemingly similar to a patient suffering from arrhythmia The Stones vary in their range of intensity. From hard-rock guitar riffs to slow ‘n’ bluesy tunes that grasp the notes just long enough to pull you into their melancholy moods --this music mixes with the emotion of any Saturday heathen whether their fix be cookies, or any choice selection that can be found in the controversial lyrics on this album.

Like a defibrillator, “Brown Sugar” gives the album the charge that pulsates throughout the album. The instruments work in unison to pump out a lively rock sound that distracts the ear from the belligerent lyrics. This song sets the tone for the rest of the controversial album as the lyrics combine drug slang and derogatory verse that’s racially offensive as well as disparaging toward women.

After the initial shock the album slows down into two bluesy tunes “Sway” and “Wild Horses” that feather the hearts of those left by women or left with longing desire by some addiction.

This is followed by an unparalleled moment in music: “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin”, a seven minute and fifteen second escape from the monotonous rhythmic pattern of life. This tune revives one with a sense of freedom or a break from the notions etched in the lyrics of “Sway”. Complete with wild solos from the guitar and saxophone this is the highlight of the compilation.

The mood changes with “You Gotta to Move” that carries a sound I can only compare to something like today’s White Stripes.

The next tune “Bitch” picks up the pace with heart-racing rock riffs complimented by the raw whaling from the sax. The lyrics compliment this song with a fast living --live now, die young attitude.

“I Got The Blues” slows it down again, Jagger’s vocals softly slugging away alongside electric organ, smooth sax and mellow guitar.

This is followed by “Sister Morphine” a track reveling in the counterculture of drug use. Which leads to “Dead Flowers” which is about a man who turns to heroin to ease the pains of lost love.

The final track, a moving ballad: “Moonlight Mile” has soft piano mingling with gentle guitar and an elegant arrangement of strings. The lyrics pertain to the lonesomeness of the road and hint at the use of cocaine.

Although this is unquestionably one of The Stones’ most powerful works nearly all the tracks on the album contain some reference to drugs. The heart of the band appears most stimulated by their affections toward drug use and women. This album ranks 63rd on Rolling Stone's Magazine's top 500 albums of all time.