Out of Our Heads [UK] [Digipak] [Remaster]

Performer: The Rolling Stones
Artist: Jack Nitzsche; Phil Spector
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham; Jody H. Klein (Reissue)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica); Keith Richards (vocals, guitar); Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica, piano, organ); Bill Wyman (bass); Charlie Watts (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Ian Stewart (piano, organ, marimba); Jack Nitzsche (piano, organ, percussion). Engineers: David Hassinger, Ron Malo, Glyn Johns. Recorded in Hollywood, California, Chicago, Illinois & London, England. Includes liner notes by Andrew Loog Oldham. This is a Hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both Super Audio and regular CD players. The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica); Keith Richards (vocals, guitar); Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica, piano, organ); Bill Wyman (bass); Charlie Watts (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Ian Stewart (piano, organ, marimba); Jack Nitzsche (piano, organ, percussion). Engineers: David Hassinger, Ron Malo, Glyn Johns. Recorded in Hollywood, California, Chicago, Illinois & London, England. Includes liner notes by Andrew Loog Oldham. All tracks have been digitally remastered. The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards, Brian Jones (guitars); Bill Wyman (bass guitar); Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts . Personnel: Keith Richards (vocals, guitar); Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica); Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica, piano, organ); Jack Nitzsche (piano, harpsichord, organ, percussion); Charlie Watts (drums, percussion); James W. Alexander (percussion). Additional personnel: Ian Stewart (marimba); James W. Alexander, Jack Nitzsche. Audio Remasterers: Jon Astley; Bob Ludwig; Steve Rosenthal; Teri Landi; Paschal Byrne. Liner Note Authors: Mike M. Koshitani; Andrew Loog Oldham. Recording information: Chicago, IL; Hollywood, CA; London, England. Author: Andrew Loog Oldham. Photographer: Gered Mankowitz. Arranger: The Rolling Stones. Early Stones recordings don't get much better than this. Firmly established as celebrities, the band began to use the pandemonium it inspired as an artistic source. Nowhere is the band's initial reaction to fame and music business drama more apparent than in the humorous, mocking "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man," in which the Stones effectively skewer the sleazier side of the record industry. Naturally, this will always be known as the album that features the original version of "Satisfaction," which would remain the band's signature tune throughout its career, but that's really just the tip of the iceberg. Equally effective as a Jagger-Richards distillation of rock and R&B is "The Last Time," a tune easily the equal of Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now," which the Stones handily covered on 12 X 5. Standing out from the crowd is the harpsichord-driven, English folk-inspired "Play With Fire," a menacing minor key song full of subtly expressed psychological violence. This tune, a marked change of pace for the band, hinted at the stylistic variety they would later explore. Early Stones recordings don't get much better than this. Firmly established as celebrities, the band began to use the pandemonium they inspired as an artistic source. Nowhere is their initial reaction to fame and music business drama more apparent than in the humorous, mocking "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man," in which the Stones effectively skewer the sleazier side of the record industry. Naturally, this will always be known as the album that features the original version of "Satisfaction," which would remain the band's signature tune throughout their career, but that's really just the tip of the iceberg. Equally effective as a Jagger-Richards distillation of rock and R&B is "The Last Time," a tune easily the equal of Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now," which the Stones handily covered on 12 X 5. Standing out from the crowd is the harpsichord-driven, English folk-inspired "Play With Fire," a menacing minor key song full of subtly expressed psychological violence. This tune, a marked change of pace for the band, hinted at the stylistic variety they would later explore. The usual assumption is that the British-issued Rolling Stones albums of the mid-'60s are, like the Beatles' British LPs of the same era, more accurate representations of the group and its work than their American equivalents; the latter were tailored to the U.S. market and usually had singles that had been recorded and released separately added to their programming. The reality, however, is that the group's British LPs were almost as much of a hodgepodge, but just devised differently. The U.K. version of Out of Our Heads actually came out later than its American counterpart by about a month and opens with the roaring, frenetic "She Said Yeah" rather than the soulful slowie "Mercy Mercy" (which follows it here). In place of "Satisfaction" and "The Last Time," listeners get "Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Going)" from five months earlier, "Heart of Stone" (which had already appeared in America on The Rolling Stones Now!), and "I'm Free" and "Talkin' 'Bout You," which would turn up in America on December's Children. To add to the confusion, the Gerard Mankowitz black-and-white cover shot (depicting the band looking as threatening as it ever would in this early phase of its history) used here would turn up in America three months later, also on the December's Children LP. The record is somewhat slapped together, but is superior to either of the American albums that it overlaps in balance. It's all good, solid, first-rate rock & roll and R&B, with a certain developing sophistication on songs like "I'm Free," and it flows better without any AM radio-oriented, riff-driven singles like "Satisfaction," "The Last Time," or "Get Off of My Cloud," or novelty numbers like "As Tears Go By" to break it up. ~ Bruce Eder

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.124) - Ranked #114 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "[F]or the first instance on album, the Stones were building an original songbook as hard and dark as they were." Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.124) - Ranked #114 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "[F]or the first instance on album, the Stones were building an original songbook as hard and dark as they were." NME (Magazine) (7/8/95, p.46) - 7 (out of 10) - "...you can trudge through the standards for only so long and, having seen the plaudits heaped on Lennon & McCartney, Jagger & Richard set out to get a piece of the songwriting action on OUT OF OUR HEADS..." NME (Magazine) (7/8/95, p.46) - 7 (out of 10) - "...you can trudge through the standards for only so long and, having seen the plaudits heaped on Lennon & McCartney, Jagger & Richard set out to get a piece of the songwriting action on OUT OF OUR HEADS..."

Originally part of the early 1960s British blues/R&B scene, the Rolling Stones rapidly ascended the heights of fame with a perfect combination of hit singles and media-grabbing scandals. By the '70s, Keith Richards had become a bona fide guitar hero, and Mick Jagger an unlikely sex symbol. The world became the Stones' stage, and their music continued to walk the line between blues, rock, and whatever lay around the next corner, be it reggae, funk, or disco. Despite the ravages of changing fashion, solo albums, and plain old age, the Stones persevered through the decades to become a venerable institution, refusing to relinquish their title as "The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band."

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