Stripped [Import, Enhanced, Live]

Why must the Stones overproduce all of their recordings these days (and for the last decade and a half)? Why can't they make albums like Ya-Ya and Exile anymore? Part of the beauty of the old Stones was that their records were a little bit rough, standing in sharp contrast to the whistle-clean songs of the Beatles. Maybe they should just hire George Martin from here on out.

If you're tired of Rolling Stones live albums with the same tracks on just about every one of them, then "Stripped" is your album. Almost completely devoid of hit singles ("Angie" is the real exception, though "Wild Horses" was a minor hit). Every song here has never or rarely been perfromed in concert.

"Stripped" is a sparse, acoustic live album. Kicking off with the driiving strums of "Street Fighting Man", every song here is better than the next. "Like A Rolling Stone" beats Dylan's original version by a long shot. They revive their first hit, Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away", with a completely different take from the original version by Holly or their subsequent, Bo Didley - style cover. "Shine A Light" is a gospel rave - up from "Exile On Main Street", while "The Spider And The Fly" is a raunchy 1965 blues. "I'm Free" moves along nicely, while "Wild Horses" is great as always. "Let It Bleed" is fun and sincere, while "Dead Flowers" is fun and insincere. "Slippin' Away" features a powerful Kieth vocal, while "Angie" is just magical. In addition to these 11 tracks, 3 tracks from rehearsals have been added for your listening pleasure. "Love In Vain" has a great Woody slide riff, "Sweet Virginia" sways effortlessly, and Wille Dixon's "Little Baby" ends the album on a high note.

This album is truly magical. The Stones once more prove that they always will be The Greatest Rock And Roll Band In The World".

In the early 1990s virtually everybody from Eric Clapton to Nirvana released an Unplugged record. The Rolling Stones didn't. In several of the songs recorded for Stripped (1995), Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood play electric guitars. So all those who had some appetite for an unplugged Rolling Stones record were probably left a little unhappy.
That said, Stripped is a really nice live record especially for their hard-core fans. Most of the live records that the Stones have released over time, from 'Get yer ya-ya's out! (1970) onward (with the possible exception of Still Life, 1982), were centered around classic Rolling Stones hits such as Honky Tonk Women, Satisfaction, Sympathy for the Devil, Jumpin' Jack Flash and, more recently, Start me up. Stripped represents a step in a different direction as most of the songs recorded live for this album are the sometimes unjustly neglected Stones B-Side. The Stones recorded one song from their 1969 album. Interestingly what they played was Let it bleed instead of Gimme Shelter or You can't always get what you want. There are three songs from Sticky Fingers (1971), but two of the them (Dead Flowers and Love in Vain) are not neraly as well known as Brown Sugar. Two of the songs that appear on Stripped were originally released in Exile on Main Street (1972). But even in this case, the Stones opted for Sweet Virginia and Shine a Light, instead of performing the superfamous Tumbling Dice or Happy.
But the overall quality of Stripped is great and record is nice treat not only for Stones fans. A final note is order, this is the second record with Darryl Jones on bass and it just shows how well he blended with the rest of the band not only in studio but also in live performances.