Show Notes
The period between September 1968 and November 1969 was an incredibly fertile time for The Rolling Stones, but also one of great tragedy and personal loss. Brian Jones would gradually fade into drug-induced obscurity before eventually being fired and accidentally dying, Mick Taylor would join the band as a replacement, and the personal relationships of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and others in the group's orbit would be altered permanently. The world was also on fire during this period, with war, student protests, and a rejection of traditional mores dominating western civilization.
Despite this --- or perhaps more to the point, because of it --- the Rolling Stones entered their most fertile, enticing, and fascinating period as a band. The sound of the band gradually rounded into the true classic rock aesthetic, with crisp electric guitars, expert slidework, and key session players augmenting and improving their studio work. The writing became at once more advanced and more primitive, looking forward to the evolution of early 1970s songcraft while also calling back to the aural structures of the 1930s music they had been weaned on as youths. And the lyrics became more threatening, more drug-oriented, yet also more distant, observing a world that was increasingly harder to parse.
Let It Bleed may be their greatest singular studio achievement, and we take the time to dissect it fully during this special episode of Cosmic America.
More from Cosmic America
Galen is back with more track talk, as we induct several new songs into the CrimsonCast Music Companion playlist on Spotify, including: In The Meantime by Spacehog Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver Lake Superior by The Arcs Walk Away by James Gang Dripfield by Goose Kilby Girl by The Backseat Lovers The Bend by Real Estate
A soft relaunch of Cosmic America, as Galen talks through four new additions to the CrimsonCast Music Companion, which you can follow on Spotify.
Cosmic America is back for a limited time! Galen Clavio invites Jeremy Gray on the podcast for a look back at the 1980s in music, as both of us give our Top 20 songs from the decade. In classic Cosmic America fashion, we listen to the songs all the way through while we break them down, talking through what made each of the picks special to us, as well as what they represented in pop culture and music culture at the time. Through 96 minutes of discussion, we cover everything from Prince to Phil Collins, A-Ha to the Psychedelic Furs, Guns n Roses to Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears to Def Leppard. There are some difficult omissions, and some surprise inclusions. Let us know what your own personal top 20 lists for the 1980s look like!
Our last review in the Steely Dan catalogue finds us in 2003, as we evaluate "Everything Must Go". There are some good moments, for sure! But there's also some questions. While Two Against Nature succeeded modernizing both the jazz sound and the lyrical inspirations of the classic Steely Dan formula, Everything Must Go comes up a bit short in both. It's absolutely not a bad album, but it ends up being a bit disappointing --- especially since it's the last album in the official canon. And while we'd go on to get some more solo albums and band tours, this ends up being the end of the road for the Dan's recording career.
After the surprise live show reunion of the mid-1990s, it felt like only a matter of time before Steely Dan were reconstituted as a studio act. And while it would take until 2000 for that to actually come to fruition, the result ended up being...pretty good, all things considered!