The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers Review

A provocative piece of cover art and some of their very best songs certainly give The Rolling Stones a fighting chance at the turn of the 1970s. After the hits of the 1960s and constant covers, the band were feeling their way through an Americanised sound. There is no harm with that, it suits Mick Jagger and the rest of the rocking ‘Stones outfit far better. It beats chasing the psychedelic dream as was the case for underwhelming but still enjoyable efforts like Between the Buttons. But there is a sense of post-war fatigue here on Sticky Fingers, and the group’s reaction is to turn inward. Look at the trouble in the States and at home, all left idle while the Vietnam War raged on. Sticky Fingers is a kick back to the standards of their earliest years. Gone is the erratic instrumentation of Brian Jones, in is a chase of popularity. It works.

Near-perfection from Sticky Fingers can be found in the essential run of Brown Sugar to Can’t You Hear Me Knocking. Its opening track still stands tall as a rough and jagged Jagger masterclass before the softer body blows of Sway follow it up. A lighter tone but no less eye-opening and aggressive. These are the intense, memorable moments which hear the band continue with this glittering defiance in the face of bad record deals and worsening internal situations. Sticky Fingers is a squeeze where the diamond result to follow remains extraordinary. Wild Horses is a rare track from The Rolling Stones in that it relies not on the mania of many instruments but the relaxed sounds of a slower tempo, the acoustic guitar taking precedence and yet leaving room for slick electrics. Sticky Fingers hears the group maintain the magic of Let it Bleed and yet still innovate in all the right spots.  

Howling momentum on Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, the catchy moments in the prelude and the shuffle towards Gimme Shelter-like sparsity in the instrumentals after, showcases a special expertise from The Rolling Stones. There is a filthiness, a down-in-the-mud feeling, running through it. A brief cover of gospel track You Gotta Move is an early sign of Keith Richards’ interest in the blues, though led by Jagger it sounds like a ‘Stones track through and through. A neat callback to their early days of cover work but showcasing all those overwhelming changes to their sound. Sticky Fingers cannot continue this slick momentum, and its B-Side, while still strong and holding within an intense swagger, falls to pieces. Brass bits on Bitch are the draw here but the electricity from Richards here is underwhelming.  

Not all is lost in this B-Side, though. I Got the Blues is Bill Wyman’s time to shine. Ballad-like tempo and lust-tipped lyrics are the gorgeous result. This bluesy style can be heard in Sister Morphine, too, though its acoustic wonders are the real focus. Charlie Watts does an ace job of bringing the track together with some bold and deep-sounding percussion, while Jagger adds that electricity, that ballad-like storytelling style which all the best in class had done plenty of before him, but here is a chance for him to join in. Sticky Fingers lives and dies on its A-Side masterpieces, the B-Sides are a mixture of blues-like occasions, trickle back into the past as they find a new route through to the 70s. It would all unravel a decade later, but there was still gas in the tank of The ‘Stones roaring machinery.