I played Goats Head Soup today, a 1974 Rolling Stones release. Often overlooked and sometimes outright maligned, it gets nowhere near the recognition that the Holy Trinity of Stones albums which preceded it did, being Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. (I actually think Beggars Banquet belongs in the list but I would not have been able to use the Holy Trinity phrase had I included it, so I didn’t).
It is however, a pretty good record and has some fine songs on it including Angie, Coming Down Again and Doo Doo Doo Doo Heartbreaker. Mick Taylor is still doing his wonderful thing on guitar and there is lots of Nicky Hopkins on piano. All of which is to be contrasted against, however, the just plain bad album cover.
Some have suggested the album has been overlooked because it came after such a fine run, others because the Stones were perceived as becoming soft. Although I tend to agree with the first notion, I really think the lack of recognition was a sign of the times. Disco was on the rise, and the Sex Pistols were around the corner. Musical tastes were changing and Goats Head Soup landed more or less at the junction.
If you haven’t heard it in awhile, give it a listen. If nothing else Star Star will make you smile.
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I confess that until now I have never listened to Goats Head Soup. Which is interesting because I started listening to the Stones in 1964 with their debut album “England’s Newest Hit Makers”. I first heard it in the basement of a United Church at the inaugural meeting of a youth group–the minister wanted to show us he was cool and he brought the latest and greatest from the British Invasion. I followed the Stones right up until Exile On Main Street. Didn’t like it. And by then I was in my Bluegrass phase.Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers are terrific albums. After that I’m afraid it was downhill. Too much excess. And that is not a redundancy.