When I first heard this as a teenager in the 80s it was so refreshing. All the current records sounded so preprogrammed. Even the more indepedant acts sounded blander than I liked. Everything was so cleanly recorded and nice and close mic’d. So this 1966 LP sounded so bad-ass and raw in comparison to me. In retrospect it is probably one of the more produced of the Stones’ albums what with the marimbas in Under My Thumb and the dulcimer on Lady Jane but still it sounds raw and bad-ass to me. The gloss of the production doesn’t diminish that. Aftermath is my favourite Stones album. I know that it is supposed to be Exile on Main Street. That is what I am always told by everyone but this is the one for me so don’t ya bother me no more with that old chestnut please. In spite of it’s reputation as being murky and dark Exile sounds so laboured and cleanly recorded to me but this, this is the real deal. Even the title, Aftermath, conjurs up great images of disaster and decay and the slow seemingly sensitive track, Lady Jane, has a sting in the tail. If you buy this try to get the English version, it’s a better record than the American version in spite of the American one including Paint it Black.
Vinyl Reminiscence 