![]() But Aftermath does show how the Rolling Stones had absorbed the heady forward motion of the times and repurposed their own sound to meet it. Stymied, Mendelsohn! Of course it doesn’t stand up to that incredible batch of albums-few things really could. You have stymied me by calling this “run-of-the-mill blues”. Klinger: OK, I have no idea how to respond to this. Is this album on the Great List simply because it’s a Rolling Stones record and a precursor to that fabled run they put on from 1968 to 1972? You get some great experimental instrumentation from Brian Jones and this record marks the first full album of Jagger/Richard compositions, but none of it really stacks up to the run from Beggars Banquet to Exile on Main St. Other than that, Aftermath seems to be nothing more than run-of-the-mill blues. They kind of lost their way sometime around 1970 but for a couple of years, their social commentary was top-notch. In pointing out the hypocrisy of a culture that tut-tuts rockers for recreational drug use while actively endorsing and prescribing mind-altering drugs to housewives, the Rolling Stones effectively cemented their reputation as a subversive cultural force. “Mother’s Little Helper” skewers the notion that only junkies (or rock stars) need a little chemical kick to get them through the day. Mendelsohn: No, it is a clever role-reversal. I will say that the Ray Davies-esque “Mother’s Little Helper” is a good bit more self-aware (and clever) than you seem to be giving them credit for. But I’m sure we’ll unpack a little bit more of that as we go along. Klinger: Not to mention how they came to draw the ire of feminists everywhere as the women’s movement started picking up speed. So I guess I can see where they album would speak to the socially inept music nerd. “Mother’s Little Helper” is an indictment of housewife drug abuse (talk about the pot calling the kettle black), “Stupid Girl” is a derisive sendoff to women with “Under My Thumb” coming in a close second, while “Lady Jane” is probably the sappiest love ballad the Stones have ever recorded. Right off the bat though, I notice that the first four songs deal strictly with the fairer sex. Aftermath, however, is a bit tamer than, say, Sticky Fingers, but I guess for a record released in 1966 it was probably as shocking as they come. don’t shy away from the nitty gritty and I like that. The Stones have been such a fixture on the Great List that you can’t spit at the Top 100 without nearly hitting one of their records. Mendelsohn: I just realized that after the Rolling Stones’ Aftermath, we won’t be talking about another Rolling Stones record for the next several years.
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