Upon first glance at the linen-wrapped 3-CD/Blu-ray box set complete with hardbound book, you might wonder: The bad boys of rock and roll being treated with such a graceful design? What's going on here? But opening up the set, it's as straight-ahead, no bull as the band: just a book packed with information and plenty of pictures, and the discs neatly tucked away on the left side. There's nothing to lift off to get to the goods, and no excessive ephemera aside from a clever recipe pamphlet and a few posters inside the cardboard spacer. It's all there clearly laid bare with nothing to hide, stark but subtle, just like The Stones. A good sign. The 120-page book is a marvel, packed with unseen photos from the studio and the stage. It's presented in three parts with essays about the album's evolution, the band's extensive Pacific and European tours in 1973, and the lengthy gestation of the unmistakable album art. Together, they tell the story of a band at a crossroads, eager for a change.
Goats Head Soup
The album picks up steam with the "rock-funk" showcase, "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)." It's a dense, sometimes even claustrophobic arrangement perfectly tailored to its lyrics which center around crime, pain, addiction, and inescapable grief in the city. The blend of clavinet, piano, brass, and guitars remains the unified catalyst for the ever-building song, but on the 2020 mix, each element is just a bit more discernible, making the song even easier to get lost in. After a pair of rootsy '50s rock throwbacks in "Silver Train" and "Hide Your Love" comes another absolute stunner, "Winter." It was the first song the band tracked in Jamaica after a stay in Switzerland, and that chilly but inviting feeling - like the first warmth after a frigid and trying winter - comes through in the expansive mix. Here Mick is expressive and emotive, phrasing lines with a pace recalling Van Morrison while layers of alternate-tuned guitars, swirling strings, and some of Charlie Watts' heaviest drumming on the record evoke a respite from what's "sure been a hard, hard winter." The band further demonstrated their talents for orchestrating on "Can You Hear The Music," which features Leslie'd guitar, triangle, penny whistle, and an ethereal vocal, reflecting on the transformative and magical powers of music. It's a subject The Rolling Stones seem to be intimately familiar with, as they turn in song after head-turning song.
Perhaps most head-turning is the closer, "Star Star." It's renown and legend lies not for any wild instrumentation, but for including one of the raunchiest, most controversial lyrics in The Rolling Stones' songbook. So provocative was the song that it required an okay from label head Ahmet Ertegun and the named-checked Hollywood leading man, Steve McQueen as well as a new tiitle - its original too profane for radio - before it could be considered for inclusion. The Chuck Berry send-up with its throwback feel and clever lyrics is the perfect closer on what might be the most concise yet explorative album of the The Rolling Stones' classic era. Trimmed of excesses - including many songs left on the cutting room floor - Goats Head Soup sees the band charting new and interesting territory while also reappraising their own musical journey.
While many would be happy with the just CDs and the book, The Stones have gone the extra (moonlight) mile and included a Blu-ray disc. It's packaged in a single-pocket sleeve featuring Jagger and Richards' portraits on the front and back (sorry, Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman, no gatefold). Here you'll find a high-resolution cut of the 2020 stereo mix and a new Dolby Atmos surround sound mix prepared by Giles Martin and Craig Silvey. It's here where the album really shines. You won't find elements constantly swirling overhead in this surround mix, just a sound that's at once detailed and enveloping, and altogether intricately balanced. Acoustic elements once buried, like the guitar on "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)," shine through, with layers of horns or keyboards more discernible than before. The vocals are more immediate and the sonics open and consistently crankable. That includes the bonus tracks, "All The Rage," "Criss Cross," and "Scarlett" (as it's spelled on the Blu-ray menus). If that weren't enough, you also get three music videos from the period ("Dancing With Mr D.," "Angie" and "Silver Train") each restored from their original sources.
The sessions for Goats Head Soup started in late 1972 in Jamaica, and they came together relatively easy, considering the state of things. Keith Richards was entering his zombie stage, functioning but running on autopilot. Mick Jagger, now a world-class celebrity embraced by the planet's rich and famous, had his head elsewhere. And the other Rolling Stones were along for the bumpy ride, whether they wanted to be or not.
The essays by Ian McCann, Nick Kent, and Daryl Easlea included in the accompanying book are illuminating and well-written, the alternate takes. Glyn Johns mixes are interesting if not entirely necessary except for completists (for whom these sets are designed anyway). The 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res mixes are all full and vibrant, and the packaging is exacting down to the goat head poster card and concert poster replicas.
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