Blue & Lonesome (Digi Pack)

There are reviews complaining of the rough sounding production but it's one of the things I really like about this album.It catches the quality of their very early performances in places like Eel Pie Island.If you like synthetic, over produced garbage this CD isn't for you.If you like the essence of the Stones then you'll appreciate this album.I love it.

Just when you thought the world in 2016 had slipped off its axis, the Stones put it back again with one of the discs of the year and their best release in a very long time. This has lighter fuel and flames all over it and it burns all the way through to the last track. Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie all play their butts off and capture an energy, electricity and urgency that is really, really impressive. I put it on for the first time and couldn't leave the room. The title track is lightning in a bottle and something very special indeed. I doubt they've sounded this good since their late sixties and early seventies heyday with Mick Taylor, and it's a shame that he doesn't appear on this; but Keith, Ronnie and Mick have got the guitars more than well covered, and I could listen to Charlie Watts all night long. There's nothing that could be improved here and if they'd recorded this album at any earlier stage of their career it really couldn't have been any better. Nice to see Eric putting in his usual class appearance too on a couple of tracks. I hope they do a few of these in concert if they go back on the road, as there's no better sound in rock and roll than the Stones really getting down in the pocket and playing the blues. Marvellous and beautiful stuff.

The Rolling Stones returning to their blues background is something that has been a long time coming. The band perhaps left it twenty years too late for such a project, but at the same time it is nice to hear The Rolling Stones as a functioning unit for the first time since the '80s.Blue & Lonesome is a covers album featuring twelve blues standards, ones that every fan of the genre have heard multiple times. What is great about this album is that The Rolling Stones take these songs and re-record them all in their own unique style whilst keeping it quite faithful to the originals.Songs like Hate To See You Go, All of Your Love and I Gotta Go all swing and groove wonderfully. There is a lot of standard blues rock with galloping shuffle rhythms, harmonica gymnastics and some nice guitar from Keith and Ronnie. There is a couple of nicely recorded ballads that feature some of Mick Jagger's finest vocal performances. It is nice to hear that man's bluesy wail back in full force, it has been dormant for way too long and hopefully stays with us. The songs for the most part sound great, possibly being down to the fact that the band actually enjoyed recording this disc.There are moments where Keith Richards' lead guitar playing is all over the place and Charlie Watts still sounds like an amateur drummer with his overly sloppy rhythms but it doesn't take away from the bigger picture. Blue & Lonesome sounds like a band who don't give a damn. They have the blues and they are going to express it at every given opportunity, and they have done just that.Fans who remember when The Rolling Stones had balls and a bit of life in them will love this record. It is the liveliest I have ever heard the band since I have been alive and it is a real pleasure to hear. It isn't a perfect record but it is a step in the right direction, one that hopefully sees the band once again reclaim their former glory as one of the best rock bands in the world.Published by Steven Lornie of Demonszone

I've given it 5 stars 'cos the Stones deserve it for putting something like this together. Even if there are only three of the original Stones left in the band that matters not one iota as the attempt to hark back to the feelings of when the original band were starting out is pretty good. Nice and raw like it ought to be with that dingy, sweaty, smokey, basement blues club feel ( like the devils armpit ) to it. I'm a big lover of the Blues ( always have been ) so this album is very welcome to me. My favourite track is a version of Willie Dixon's 'Just Like I Treat You' but all the tracks are worth giving your lug 'oles a treat with. Great stuff, and Jagger can still play that harp really well like he used to do 50 + years ago. As a final note, Charlie's drumming is fantastic. Just listening to the great man hammering away so solidly in the background to keep the rest of the band together on this album fills my heart with joy. Viva Charlie !Eamonn

I remember when this came out 4 years ago and sort of scoffed at the fact it is an album of covers as opposed to new material however, I heard some of the tracks recently and just had to buy this. A thoroughly enjoyable romp through blues songs. The band are harking back to their old roots and they sound like they are having fun. It is a really enjoyable record and I'm glad I bought it. Not a dud on the album. On a side note, this is what Aerosmith should have done with 'Honkin on Bobo' in 2004. Instead, it was too polished and had a glistening studio sheen to it. They should have just plugged in and played, like the Stones have done on this album.

A great record if you are into bluey stuff