Aftermath may have released sixty years ago today, but The Rolling Stones are still using it as a blueprint for their best works. Even their most recent single, Rough and Twisted, has a similar formula. Those lucky enough to hear it will be delighted by the blues-rock fundamentals of their new song, released under The Cockroaches moniker, which made their El Mocambo 1977 show such a surprise, and there’ll be a noticeable overlap with Aftermath for those with a finely-tuned ear. This is not just where the band cemented their sound, but where Mick Jagger managed to find a writing style which suited him, which gave The Rolling Stones that edgier side that had them facing off against The Beatles so well. What The Rolling Stones does best of all is right here, embedded in Aftermath. It has remained unshifted for sixty years. If anything, the band has only added to the sheer power of the album as time goes on.
Jagger and company have made it their aim, at their very best, to maintain that blues-rock influence. They lost their way in the 1980s, but didn’t everyone? The Rolling Stones’ work on Aftermath is what influenced them to return to those roots from time to time, especially so on El Mocambo 1977. That show where the band performed under the name The Cockroaches, a moniker they used again to release their (at time of writing) latest single, is a clear thread from present times to Aftermath. Covers of their influences and a tinge of blues-rock to their own work are what marks Aftermath as a special album, and it’s what maintains The Rolling Stones at their very best. It’s not the tempo or the times that has Aftermath so closely tied with Rough and Twisted, but the tone and sentiment. This has the band finally feed that blues-rock influence into songs written by Jagger and Richards. No covers here, but a clear reliance on those influences all the same.
It’s the same for Rough and Twisted. That sentiment of chasing romance, of name-dropping some former flame and figuring out where they may now be, is still crucial to The Rolling Stones’ best songs. Particularly their blues-rock period, but nonetheless, Jagger and Richards find themselves working with familiar tones throughout their careers. How little has changed over sixty years. Opening track Mother’s Little Helper (Paint It Black for those across the pond) has a staggering charm to it which remains today. It’s the instrumental thrill, that piercing guitar and the catchy riffs surrounding it, that’s vintage Rolling Stones there. So too is Rough and Twisted, which is an exemplary part of the band’s discography. Many will not have had a chance to listen in yet, but rest assured, it’s among The Rolling Stones’ best.
Not because of particular writing styles or instrumental riffs, but because the sum of its parts recalls the feel of their 1960s outputs, but not the rather dated pieces. For every Out of Time there’s a Stupid Girl present. The latter may find itself to be far more relevant than Out of Time, a B-side track sadly forgotten by the passing listener, but even those moments highlight the principle The Rolling Stones has worked with for decades. Aftermath has a sound that suits The Stones, a blues-rock riff with heady lyrical choices. That’s what works for them on Sticky Fingers, on A Bigger Bang, and even now. Sometimes the formula doesn’t need changing, and to figure that out it means changing up everything around it, as The Rolling Stones have done.
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