Mostly recorded without Brian Jones; who died several
months before its release (although he does play on two tracks) and was
replaced by Mick Taylor (who also plays on just two songs); this extends the
rock and blues feel of Beggars Banquet into slightly harder-rocking, more
demonically sexual territory. The Stones were never as consistent on album as
their main rivals, the Beatles, and Let It Bleed suffers from some rather
perfunctory tracks, like "Monkey Man" and a countrified remake of the
classic "Honky Tonk Woman" (here titled "Country Honk").
Yet some of the songs are among their very best, especially "Gimme
Shelter," with its shimmering guitar lines and apocalyptic lyrics; the
harmonica-driven "Midnight Rambler"; the druggy party ambience of the
title track; and the stunning "You Can't Always Get What You Want,"
which was the Stones' "Hey Jude" of sorts, with its epic structure,
horns, philosophical lyrics, and swelling choral vocals. "You Got the
Silver" (Keith Richards' first lead vocal) and Robert Johnson's "Love
in Vain," by contrast, were as close to the roots of acoustic down-home
blues as the Stones ever got.
