180 - The Rolling Stones - Now!
This is The Rolling Stones' third US album (which means it is cobbled together from a UK release and odds & ends) and features mostly blues covers. The band is a vibrant blues band that sounds good, but hasn't really established themselves as much more than a covers band. The original songs are weak and there aren't any famous Richard riffs created yet, but they don't really detract from the stellar covers. Maybe it is just my being a Gen Xer, but when I think authentic blues, it involves an old black man and not a white British teenager. I've heard several of these songs performed by the original blues artists while doing the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums list. What strikes me as the difference in how Mick adds a certain ruffian feel that a teenager slinking around on stage singing about his red rooster and other blues lyrics just feels different than coming from a wearied older man.
It is a good collection of the Rolling Stones' blues cover era. Not one I can see adding to my rotation of music, though.
Songs I Knew I Liked: None
Songs I Now Like: “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” and “What a Shame”
Songs I Don't Want to Ever Hear Again: None in particular