The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang version on vinyl 2LP in Remastered edition. This particular edition was published in Europe and USA in publishing company Rolling Stones Records on 26. June 2020.
A Bigger Bang was born out of desperation, a reaction by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger to the fact that their forty-year-old friend and colleague Charlie Watts was dangerously ill and might not survive. They responded to this possibility by sitting down and writing in France, chez Mick, and then began recording in the same place. They say the songs just came and then the music started to come. Whether it was easy or hard, they definitely made it happen. It doesn't take long for the listener to quickly realize that A Bigger Bang is real, old-fashioned, black and white, bluesy rock and roll, the way the Rolling Stones played it when they invented it in the 60s and 70s. The difference between now and then is, of course, time and age, and on this record everyone noticed and enjoyed the fact that it doesn't pretend or try too hard to ignore the fact that Messrs. Wood, Watts, Richards and Jagger are in their sixties, not their twenties. That's not even a problem. From Mick's raspy strings on "Rough Justice" to Keith's vocals on "Infamy," the Stones are timeless here, doing what they've always done, audibly having fun with it, and also carrying a lot less "weight" than they have recently. I'm not talking about their bony '60s tropes, but the stripped-down, do-nothing production. Don Was returns to the helm to take on this most difficult of jobs for the third time (he was involved in the film Bridges to Babylon). However, the lightweight manner in which the record was made - in bits and pieces, at Mick's house, with a smaller than usual group of collaborators (all the usual suspects, but no one unusual and no newcomers) - is reflected in the economy of scale, with a minimum of sound effects or filler for effect. The songs are mostly straightforward, some better than others, the worst of which are decent dance/dance genre pieces. The best ones - Rough Justice, Rain Fall Down, She Saw Me Coming, This Place Is Empty, Look What The Cat Dragged In - are solid classics of the kind the Stones have always written, recorded and performed. In short, it's a great album. Maybe not great in the sense of "Let It Bleed" or "Exile On Main St.," but great in the sense of a collection that defines eras and genres and was made in the midst of disaster and social change, but great nonetheless. You know - great in the "I just heard a great album" sense. Give it a listen and see if you agree. (rollingstones.com)
Album spans genres Rock, Blues, Blues Rock and Classic Rock. 180g Remastered Half Speed Master Vinyl.