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When talking about the Stones, people usually refer to "Exile On Main Street" as the great watershed between the group's golden period - encapsulated by the brilliant pentagon "Aftermath-Beggars Banquet-Let It Bleed-Sticky Fingers-Exile On Main Street" - and the period of slow but inexorable decline. I disagree.
"Goat's Head Soup" is a great album and deserves to be re-evaluated. We are in 1973, the band is in its heyday, but Keith Richards is increasingly involved with drugs. His participation in the album is merely superficial, as his real contributions are minimal. This has a dual effect on the band's sound: it gives the highly underrated Mick Taylor the chance to express his extraordinary talent as a blues guitarist in the best possible way but, at the same time, it leads to a general softening of the sound: the guitars scratch less than usual, and great space is reserved for ballads - not surprisingly, this is the album of "Angie". "Dancing With Mr. D", with a splendidly slow and dark riff by Richards, opens the album with its slow and lazy pace. The next song, "100 Years Ago", is the first splendid ballad of the album: Jagger's interpretation, supported by the unusually precise backing vocals of Richards, is heartfelt and emotional; the rest of the song is an exhilarating rollercoaster culminating in an electric finale and Taylor's amazing solo.
"Coming Down Again" slows the pace, with Nick Hopkins' delightful piano contribution, which enhances the interpretation by Jagger and Richards as they alternate on vocals. The next track "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" colors the typical Stones rock with pleasant funk shades, which I personally find delightful. Everything has been said about "Angie": the great vocal performance, the myriad nuances imparted by the string section, Nick Hopkins' piano. Great piece, but not the best. After the outburst of electric slides in "Silver Train", almost an outtake of "Exile On Main Street" with its rock-country and boogie-woogie feel, we arrive at the carefree and rousing woogie of "Hide Your Love" (with an unprecedented Mick Jagger on piano) and the splendid "Winter", another electric ballad that once again - but it is a consistent theme throughout the album - features an unforgettable solo by Taylor. It closes with the very distinctive "Can You Hear The Music", with a splendid chorus and a wall of sliding electric guitars that, between solos, make way for an exotic flute weaving between a thousand percussions supporting the always disciplined drumming of Watts. Perhaps the best track on the album.
The closing falls to the rock 'n' roll of "Star Star", from a well-tested blueprint. "Goat's Head Soup" is a great album, unfortunately hampered by Richards' partial absence. An album to be re-evaluated, to be listened to again attentively because, besides containing invaluable gems like "100 Years Ago" and "Coming Down Again", it allows appreciation of the Stones' "softer" side and especially the extraordinary talent of Mick Taylor, a guitarist of extraordinary artistic sensitivity unfortunately hindered by an introverted and shy nature that has kept him - and still keeps him today - in the shadow of much less talented guitarists.
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