Yeah, the one with the zipper (and surprise package) on the cover. The one with "Brown Sugar" on it. But if that cover and that riff have become cliched images of the Stones' c*cksucker blues, don't let it put you off this album. Cliches don't get that way without making a lot of sense in the first place.
"Brown Sugar" may be up there with "Stairway" and "More Than a Feeling" when it comes to FM overplay, but it's never lost its edge. That quintessential open-G, rhythm-is-lead guitar line is the sound that put the roll in the Stones, proof that Keith understood better than anyone that less-is-more is the key to R&B. "Sway" is even better - leaner, meaner and rippling with Charlie Watts' tight-as-nuts drumming. Follow that with "Wild Horses"? OK, but I'm warning you, this is starting to sound like a damn fine long-player.
You could probably locate the height of the Stones popularity right here, with the Beatles out of the picture and no other band getting anywhere near those first three songs. Yet this is where, to their credit, they stray as far from pop as they ever would, especially on "Can't You Hear Me Knocking's" latin jam and the strung-out noir of "Sister Morphine." They bring it back with the legendary f*ck-you of "Dead Flowers" and the stirring "Moonlight Mile," an elegant lesson in rock 'n' roll lyricism. Don't fear the cliché - this is one of the greatest albums ever recorded.
If you like The Rolling Stones, check out:
The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street
The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet
The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed
The Faces First Step
The Faces A Nod Is as Good as a Wink to a Blind Horse
The Black Crowes Amorica/Shake Your Money Maker
Uncle Tupelo Anodyne
