Goats Head Soup, which The Rolling Stones cooked up in Jamaica, Los Angeles and London in late 1972 and the first half of 1973, topped charts in the U.S., England and other countries. It also delivered a #1 international single, “Angie.” But critics offered lukewarm reviews for this 11th (British) album—and those critics even included members of the group. Mick Taylor, for example, described Goats Head Soup as “weak” and “not one of my favorite albums.” And while Mick Jagger at the time called the album “more focused” than its widely praised predecessor, Exile on Main Street, he recently told Rolling Stone that, “I say stupid things like that when I’m promoting albums. You gotta take that with a pinch of salt.”
Fans, critics and the band members themselves now have an opportunity to reassess the record, thanks to the 2020 release of an expanded edition that earns its “super deluxe” label with a long list of extras. The first of its three CDs presents a new stereo mix of the original album; a second offers rarities and alternative mixes; and a third delivers a 1973 Brussels, Belgium, concert that has long been a popular bootleg. There’s also a Blu-ray that features surround-sound Dolby Atmos and hi-res PCM stereo versions of the original album plus videos for three of its tracks (“Dancing with Mr. D.,” “Angie” and “Silver Train”).
Related: Our Album Rewind of Let it Bleed
While you’re listening, you can peruse the box’s lavishly illustrated 120-page hardcover book, which contains multiple essays about the recording sessions and subsequent world tour. You’ll also find four tour posters (rolled, not folded, for the benefit of those who want to frame them) and even a booklet that explains how to make Jamaican goats head soup. (“Chop a goat’s head into two-inch pieces” is the recipe’s first step.)
Of course, it’s the music that matters most and, in that regard, it’s not the original album that represents this box’s greatest attraction. That said, Goats Head Soup probably deserved at least somewhat better reviews than it received when it was released on August 31, 1973. “Angie” remains one of the Stones’ most indelible ballads, thanks largely to effectively arranged violins, Nicky Hopkins’s piano, an emotive Jagger vocal and a great lyric that ends with, “Angie, ain’t it good to be alive?” and “You can’t say we never tried.” “Winter,” another ballad, is also memorably atmospheric. And “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” features excellent clavinet by Billy Preston, a strong Jagger vocal, and a lyric about police misbehavior that now sounds prescient.
Still, this material pales alongside the tracks on such earlier triumphs as Exile on Main Street and Beggars Banquet, as do the other numbers. “Star Star,” about rock groupies, isn’t a bad guitar showcase, but it’s less distinctive than Beggars Banquet’s similarly focused “Stray Cat Blues.” “Coming Down Again” rings true—especially if you know that Keith Richards and producer Jimmy Miller were both battling addiction at the time—but it’s not a particularly potent song. Neither is “Dancing with Mr. D.,” which delivers little more than nastiness and Keith Richards’ guitar riffs.
As for the recording’s sonic quality, disc one’s new mix doesn’t sound dramatically different from the album’s 1973 version. The Blu-ray, however, offers a significant sonic upgrade.
Whether or not you’re a fan of the original LP, you might appreciate some of the extras on disc two. It includes a previously unreleased song called “Scarlet” (with Jimmy Page guesting on guitar) and instrumental renditions of “Dancing with Mr. D.” and “Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” that arguably outshine the familiar recordings.
Listen to “Scarlet” featuring Jimmy Page
But the best thing in the box is the 80-minute Brussels concert, which took place in October 1973.
The band sound fired up as it runs through a 15-song set that includes such classics as Exile on Main Street’s “Happy,” “Tumbling Dice,” “All Down the Line” and “Rip This Joint”; Beggars Banquet’s “Street Fighting Man”; Sticky Fingers’ “Brown Sugar”; Let It Bleed’s “Midnight Rambler,” “Gimme Shelter” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”; and the hit singles “Honky Tonk Women” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
Tellingly, perhaps, the set includes just four numbers from Goats Head Soup, which had been released only about six weeks before the concert.
Listen to the previously unreleased “All the Rage”
Related: For the complete track listing and more videos, go here.
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3 Comments
As Mick Taylor left the Stones after this record, one has to wonder if, or conclude that, the making of this record had something to do with that. Never one of my favorite Stones’ albums, except for a few interesting songs, “Goats Head” as a whole left me with the impression that the band had just run out of ideas to create whole solid album. Sad to say, but I feel like this record began a pattern of a few good songs linked up with a lot of Stonesy filler that would pretty much be the story for most of their records going forward. As this would be the last we’d see of Taylor and Jimmy Miller on Stones’ records, it’s release marks a significant end of a glorious era for the Stones. It also marks the defining point where afterward Mick and Keith would produce Stones’ records, and forever change the sound of their records from defined blues-pop-rock gems to sloshy, ill-formed, guitar-laden mess-arounds, with a few exceptions over the years.
As one who used his precious 25c weekly allowance to buy the Jumpin Jack Flash 45, I beg to differ. Exile is a bluesy pastiche of an indulgence with a few gems and alot of unfinished songs. All Down the Line for instance would not merit inclusion on Goats Head Soup let alone Sticky Fingers or earlier albums.
Probably my favorite Stones’ album.. Keith Richards was heavily into heroin at this time, Mick Jagger was flying around the world hanging out with the elitists and Mick Taylor was using his influence to make this album.
The box set is much better than the original album. Its been remastered with outtakes and a LIVE album from Brussels 1973.This live album alone is worth the box set. Mick Taylor and the Stones are firing on 8 cylinders during this time. Unfortunately a year later, December 1974, Mick Taylor would leave the band and the Stones, musically, would never recover. Yeah, They put out Some Girls which is a classic and Tattoo You(with Mick Taylor on two tracks) but far from the classic albums from 1969 to 1974.