The Rolling Stones – Flowers (1967)

A semi-compilation after the brilliant Aftermath album in the previous year? Sounds good to fans of the band. Believe it or not, it is better than Their Satanic Majesties Request which was released shortly afterwards. History aside, let’s give this album a whirl.

We begin with Ruby Tuesday. It’s a nice pop piece with some beautiful piano and violin sounds as well. It’s surprisingly beautiful, and great to hear as well. This song is a classic of its time, and blows away anything done today in the name of music. It’s almost a tearjerker, but great all the same. A good way to start off this album. “Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind,” sings Mick Jagger, brilliantly put.

The next cut is a semi-trippy piece Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? which is short and sweet. Some brilliant finger clicking is here as well in the bridge. Even though this is not the best song by the group, it’s an enjoyable listen for many fans of The Rolling Stones here. Not bad.

Let’s Spend The Night Together is a nice and beautiful pop song which is now part of musical history. It’s a great sounding pop piece that still sounds as nice and fresh today as it did well over 50 years ago. The chugging piano and pacing drumming propel this number along. It’s a great sixties song. It has been covered afterwards, notably on David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album. Great song? Yes it is.

Lady Jane (Stereo Version) is next here. Yes, this was on the Aftermath album. Still, it sounds brilliant here, once again. It’s a very good and subtle pop song about lovers that Mick Jagger is singing about, placing said Lady Jane as a #1 priority. It’s so 1960’s that fans of this time period in music will love it.

The next song is Out Of Time (Edit Version). Like you noticed the edit though from the Aftermath version. It’s a great old fashioned music piece that still sounds as singalong and solid today. It’s about rejecting a lover who is unfaithful. Good song, but falls somewhat short of being a great one.

The following song My Girl is more sixties goodness from The Rolling Stones. It’s purely about being in love. It compares weather to the love at hand. It’s so good this music, that yes, it does demand repeat listening. A very nice and gentle sort of song. It’s their own answer to The Beatles Can’t Buy Me Love. Nice to hear regardless.

Back Street Girl starts off with nice acoustic guitar, and has accordion in it, too. It’s a quiet and good song about an irritating lady in someone’s life. Mick Jagger does deliver this very well, quite an underrated singer to be fair. This is another good song on this album, and is a gentle but angry piece.

Please Go Home comes next. It has some wonderful delay based sound effects on Mick Jagger’s voice in the chorus. It’s a totally underrated song, and basically is about telling a girl to go away. The sounds here are fantastic, obviously The Rolling Stones paid careful attention to the music of the time. Great stuff here. Keith Richards and Brian Jones’s mixture of guitars here are superb. Sounds like pop music that is from a psychedelic space age here.

The next song after that was on Aftermath as well. Mother’s Little Helper is an interesting and rather lyrically out there song about drug addiction. It’s worth listening for the lyrics alone. It sounds shocking in some way, for the 1960’s, and confrontational today. The sense of rhythm on this song is excellent. The group does well here. A good mixture of interesting sounds are here. A must listen.

After this, we have Take It Or Leave It. This song demands a lover to lift their game, and says it in a great way. It’s surely a good song about the lessons of love. There are some nice harmonies in the middle of the song. Strangely enough these guys were proto-punk in a sense, at least lyrically. Good stuff.

Ride On Baby tells a lover to go somewhere else due to the illusion that they pose in life. A lot of these songs are brilliantly worded, and proves that the ability to write great rock songs is important for any band who have a songwriter handy. There are pounding drums in the midsection, a good sound to hear. It’s a good listen with no regrets.

Sittin’ On A Fence ends this album nicely. It’s a lovely sounding piece to end the album, and is about indecision in regards to love. A great lesson about life, and sounds nice with beautiful acoustic guitars. One can’t help but smile when hearing this song, it’s a great listen.

Definitive of The Rolling Stones? Maybe not. But still, it’s a good starting point for their music and the late 1960’s as well. It’s definitely worth hearing though, seek this one out if you can.

Rock on.

8/10