Doing chronological deep dives really allows me to appreciate how new material from great artists was received in context. Listening to 1973’s Goats Head Soup on its own is one thing, but hearing it as a follow-up to the four classic albums preceding it puts it in a different light.
For fans and critics expecting The Stones to build on the legacy they’d constructed over those four masterpieces, Goats Head Soup must have been a major disappointment. This isn’t a towering achievement. It’s… fine.
The week of September 18, 1993, saw a few repeats at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, as it has on almost every Throwback Weekend from the decade. Mariah Carey held on to the top spot with ‘Dreamlover,’ Tag Team claimed #2 with ‘Whoomp! (There It Is),’ and UB40 sat at #3 with ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love.’ Oh my god, the 90s sucked!
In the #4 spot we have Janet Jackson with ‘If,’ the second single from her album Janet. You might recall that first single ‘That’s the Way Love Goes‘ spent two full months at #1, longer than any song by her brother Michael.
Throwing back to the week of September 17, 1983, we have Michael Sembello hanging on to the top spot with ‘Maniac’ from the Flashdance soundtrack. Right behind him at #2 is Billy Joel, whose ‘Tell Her About It’ would take over the top spot the following week.
‘Tell Her About It’ was the first of six singles from Joel’s An Innocent Man album, and the only one to hit #1. Even ‘Uptown Girl’ couldn’t make it higher than #3. In fact, this song is one of only three #1 hits in Joel’s entire career. Bonus points to anybody who can name the other two in the comments (without cheating).
I’m not a big fan of quoting myself, but it’s been more than a decade since I wrote about The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street as one of my favorite albums of the 70s, so I figure I’ve earned the right. Here’s what I had to say at the time:
“The best albums are always greater than the sum of their parts. Sometimes that’s just a matter of putting certain songs in a certain order and tying it together with the right title and right cover and — bam! — you have a consistent, unified experience that works as an album.
A year and a half after releasing two albums considered their very best work, The Rolling Stones delivered a classic that might be better than both of them. Sticky Fingers is a masterpiece of emotional blues rock, the sort of record you feel in your gut.
The best-known songs on Sticky Fingers are opening track ‘Brown Sugar’ and the country rock stunner ‘Wild Horses.’ Also featured are the glorious ‘Sister Morphine’ and ‘Moonlight Mile,’ songs less popular with casual fans but essential for followers of the band.
Meet Me In Montauk 