Goats Head Soup

Following the enormous success of EXILE ON MAIN STREET, GOATS HEAD SOUP found the Rolling Stones jetting down to Jamaica in 1973 and tweaking their rebellious image with a bit of voodoo imagery. Kicking things off with "Dancing With Mr. D"., the Stones picked up the thread of "Sympathy For The Devil" and gilded their already hedonistic reputation with some Satanic allusions. References to Beezelbub aside, SOUP offered up some of the Stones' more heartfelt ballads including "Winter", "Coming Down Again", and the lilting, minor-key classic "Angie". more...

Of course, being known as "The World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band" means a number of songs more than back up this moniker. Among them are "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)", propelled by Mick Taylor's wah-wah pedal and Billy Preston's electric piano, and the twang and slide guitar of "Silver Train". There's an abundance of cheeky attitude here despite a slew of slow songs, and the Stones close out with a nasty, backhanded tribute to groupies called "Star Star". Though GOAT'S HEAD SOUP does not hold up to the four studio masterpieces that preceded it (BEGGAR'S BANQUET, LET IT BLEED, STICKY FINGERS, and EXILE ON MAIN STREET), it is still full of strong songwriting, great playing, and plenty of classic Stonesy swagger.

NME (7/9/94, p.43)
- 6 - Good - "...the jaded Stones struggle to stave off burnout..."