The Rolling Stones’ first great album. Aftermath is a monumental shift in form and tone for the Mick Jagger-fronted group, and they rarely, if ever, looked back from here. Starting with Mother’s Little Helper is a statement of intent from a group whose sound felt like it was slipping behind the shock-rock of The Who and the psychedelic perfection of The Beatles and The Beach Boys. They soon would, and Between the Buttons would hear the band pivot away from the sound which still defines them, Aftermath. But that is a future problem at the time of Aftermath, a breakthrough in every sense of the word. Not just for their popularity and well-moneyed fame, but their articulation as a rock group, and their confidence as a front for darker themes not quite touched on at the time by other bands. All those moments of despair are, in hindsight, obviously lingering.
Opener Mother’s Little Helper has a dark instrumental work from Keith Richards while follow-up Stupid Girl hears Jagger combat an upbeat effort from Bill Wyman with a raging, critical view of an unnamed woman. Countering this microscopic criticism, of everything from their walk to their dress sense, is a charming, left-field sound on Lady Jane. Complete submission to a desire, an expression of what sounds like unrequited love in a softer instrumental touch from the band. One of their rare moments of inspiration from a place which does not feature electric guitar blasts. Its courage is found not in the display of unyielding affection but in its adaptation and sense of information from the D.H. Lawrence book, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. What sounds suggestive soon turns into an obsession with body parts, rather than the whole. Defiance from Under My Thumb sounds as though it leads on from that, the change in roles from a submissive lead singer to one who dominates the relationship.
Aftermath remains a tremendous blur of the obvious influences on The ‘Stones playing style, but also a burst into unique and original materials which relies on instrumental experimentation, and a bolder tone from Jagger. Doncha Bother Me, from its on-the-water folk-like presentation to those final few beats of muffled percussion, remains amazing. Bluegrass-like experimentation on Flight 505 and High and Dry marks some liberated fun for The Rolling Stones. Memorable, heavy hitters like Out of Time are given space to grow on the B-Side and, as plain the lyrics may be, they carry such a heavy weight along with them, a reminder of an end to the road, a sense of urgency in the heartbreak.
As big a turning point as Let it Bleed, but not realised by the band in their immediate releases following Aftermath. This instrumental freedom handed to Brian Jones would unravel on Between the Buttons, but it was a necessary step which built a confident core for the band to continue working on. The Rolling Stones’ first great achievement can be heard with Aftermath. It is hard to think of another album from their period in the early to mid-1960s that captured a better scope and tone, from the beat of Mother’s Little Helper to the instrumental creativity of the B-Side, where lyrical repetition is cover for some left-field, often ambitious choices. It was this which carries Aftermath, and what keeps it in contention as one of the best albums The ‘Stones put together.
