The two Hyde Park Shows that ended the 2013 World Tour (for awhile, you gotta think this is just a break in the proceedings) was pretty awesome, though when I caught em last December I was less thrilled. Still, I will bow to my writers on this one, and guess they brought their A game forty something years after the Stones first played there two days after Brian Jones died. He’s all gone, they’re still here.
But that doesn’t mean it would make a great live album, and how many great Stones live albums can you name? Gwan, I’m waiting. I knew it, but what AFTER Get Your Ya Ya’s Out? And that’s marred, much like Hyde Park, but a godawful “Midnight Rambler”. I mean, really, how can you be self-important and sing about about a serial killer. There stupidest song, except, maybe “Sympathy For The Devil”. Which is also here except it is only six minutes instead of the interminable eleven minutes it takes Jagger to reach the Boston Strangler.
Hyde Park takes the two dates, kicks out all the guest stars and not even three weeks after the shows and follow in Blurs footsteps and release a live documentation. And like Blur, you may buy it but you will never go to it although it does have its moments. Chief among them a hardbroiled take on a song that has never been particularly bloody minded “Emotional Rescue” with Jagger really using his falsetto (yes, I know, I wrote it) and not least because he doesn’t sound like a castrato on the spoken part which he cuts to two lines at the end. A terrific version -this is the one to keep to.
What else is good? Keith sounds in great voice on both of his songs.
And really, it has a head of steam for the first four songs before going willy nilly with “Street Fighting Man” -a nothing version. After that it gets really tough going, if you listen to it as an album, it really gets old fast if you had pick tracks it isn’t as terrible, but they could play “Miss You” (best song at the gig I caught ont he tour) if they capture the groove, but they don’t and I am not sure why it doesn’t get it, the bass licks don’t really happen.
Two 8 minute songs close the show, an especially iffy “Satisfaction” which really needs to take a breather.
However, if I had been there I might have felt differently (not about “Midnight Rambler” however. They do play “Doom And Gloom” but this album is all hits all the time. I mean, not even anything off Black And Blue. So it is all really, really moldy though it sounds great, and the band are lean as they will ever be and very loud. Plus, Jagger is still pretty damn great not for his age, for any age.
So yeah to being there and if you want a memento to a show you’ve never seen, 19 tracks for $9.99 isn’t a terrible deal. Also, apparently they are taking it down August 19th, so you gotta think, it’s now or never, right?
Grade: C