The Rolling Stones
Some Girls

THE REVIEW

Recorded in Paris and released in 1978, "Some Girls," in addition to being the best-selling Rolling Stones album of the seventies, has the privilege of bringing the band back to good quality standards. The album immediately presents itself with a surreal cover inspired by Andy Warhol's art, where the faces of famous actresses are superimposed on those of the Stones themselves. On the back, old photographs used to advertise bras are shown. This graphic originality anticipates the energetically creative and dirty music made by the Rolling Stones since the days of "Exile On Main Street".

"Some Girls" confirms the influence of a certain funky music and other musical genres that naturally range from rock to healthy rhythm 'n' blues. A certain punk component also looms in the streetwise spirit of the album, creating the overall sensation that the group has found their way back to the leaner and darker path of rock 'n' roll. The album was recorded with few artifices, and the overall sound is raw, spontaneous, direct with the guitars as absolute protagonists. Session musicians are present in only three out of ten songs, and Keith Richards' work shines throughout the album. It is indeed him, with his vital riffs, who brings the Stones back to the vintage root sound. The opening is entrusted to the crafty and universally known "Miss You," a highly sold and widely broadcast single at the time, influenced by funky rhythms, rich in black music, and with Mick Jagger as an eccentric protagonist. The following "When The Whip Comes Down" is a decisive, tight guitar rock, devoid of unnecessary frills. Made of the same substance are "Respectable" and the wild "Lies," fast-paced and punkish tracks. The presence of "Shattered," a sort of rap avant la lettre, and the rendition of "Just My Imagination" by the Impressions are surprising, two pieces of different origins that make the group's sound in this work even richer in influences. As tradition in a Stones record, ballads cannot be missing.

"Far Away Eyes" is a classic country ballad in the style of Gram Parsons, while the energetic "Beast Of Burden," with its remarkable intertwining guitars, is a joy for the senses. Keith Richards gives himself a solo part and a great riff in the classic "Before They Make Me Run" while the track that titles the entire work is a powerful rock-blues with lyrics where Jagger finds his old macho vein and a hint of healthy vulgarity that will infuriate feminists worldwide. The success of the album was completed by a new seven-week tour in the United States, which included both performances in large arenas and theaters. Concerts often opened by artists of the caliber of Patti Smith, Santana, Dobbie Brothers, where the band relied more on the energy of music than costumes and scenography. "Some Girls" redeemed the Stones from the mediocre performance of "Black And Blue" and put the group back on the right track of a raw and true sound linked to the original concept of rock 'n' roll.

It's a record of pure fun, without any drop in tone and without boring moments, which also marks the virtual birth of a new way of understanding music by the group that we will find in the following best-selling "Emotional Rescue" and "Tattoo You".