Another Still Life
Disc 1 Various Broadcast Recordings [79:59]: 1. Take the A Train~Under My Thumb *1 2. Shattered *1
3. Black Limousine *1 4. Twenty Flight Rock *1 5. Going To A Go Go *1 6. Time Is On My Side *1 7. Waiting On A Friend *1 8. Beast Of Burden *2 9. Let It Bleed *3 10. You Can’t Always Get What You Want *1 11. Band Introductions *1+4 12. Hang Fire *5 13. Miss You *6 14. Brown Sugar *4 15. Start Me Up *4
16. Jumping Jack Flash *1
*1 Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan, USA 1st December 1981
*2 Rosemont Horizon, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA 25th November 1981
*3 Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 5th December 1981
*4 Capital Center Arena, Largo, Maryland, USA 9th December 1981
*5 Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona, USA 13th December 1981
*6 Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia, USA 18th December 1981
Disc 2 [59:18]: Capital Center Arena, Largo, Maryland, USA 9th December 1981: 1. Twenty Flight Rock
2. Going To A Go Go 3. You Can’t Always Get What You Want 4. Band Introductions 5. She’s So Cold 6. Hang Fire 7. Miss You 8. Honky Tonk Women 9. Brown Sugar 10. Start Me Up 11. Jumping Jack Flash
12. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
There have been a good number of 1981Stones tour compilations to hit the markets over the years. Vinyl Gang Product released VGP-285-1/2: “Ride Like The Wind”, VGP-280-1/2: “On Top Of Old Smokey”, VGP-247: “Mission Direct Hits” and Rattlesnake issued their infamous “Ride Like The Wind” (The 1981 Collection) {RS 041/42/43/44] box set to name just a few.
“Another Still Life” is the most recent 2 CD no label stereo soundboard recording and, ironically, I focused exclusively on the first disc which was titled “Various Broadcast Recordings”. I was not expecting much continuity between the various sources. It didn’t hurt, though, that the first 7 tracks were from the Pontiac Silverdome 12-1-81 concert. The rear insert reversed the first 2 tracks and I have corrected the order up above. A 4:27 longer version of “Under My Thumb” opens up this collection. A vibrant audience is felt right in the mix and with “Shattered” the Stones play fast and the audience swells in tow creating a real live listening experience. “Black Limousine” sounds real good here and, in my opinion, represents an improvement over the studio track. A 1:43 minute “Twenty Flight Rock” throws an opportune nod to Bill Wyman featuring his pronounced bass leads. The smooth transition to “Going To A Go Go” raises the question for me of whether this is indeed a true soundboard or instead an excellent audience source. The 3:28 minute version is one of the better ones of this track. Another smooth transition follows with a 3:36 minute bluesy “Time Is On My Side”. We hear a nice extended horn intro for “Waiting On A Friend”. You can tell Charlie is getting into this one. Listen to his great sense of timing. What a great 7:00 minute jam.
The ever steady rhythm section keeps plodding along for “Beast Of Burden”. Ronnie offers nice slide work on the 6:44 minute “Let It Bleed” which gets the New Orleans crowd really going. Tracks 6 through 10 offered a bit of a slower paced feel and were perfect vehicles for the Stones to build upon and jam. A 10:07 “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” revisited the Pontiac Silverdome source. “Band Introductions” featured combined Michigan + Maryland sources. “Hang Fire” from the Sun Devil Stadium soundboard 12-13-81 Tempe concert offered the best fidelity by far up to this point and was indicative of a true soundboard source. The Stones were on fire…The transition to a quick 5:23 “Miss You” from the Hampton 12-18-81 soundboard was a bit off. Wyman, however, once again, sounded real good here with his quick bass leads. “Start Me Up” from the 12-9-81 Maryland show sounded fresh and inspired with a healthy sense of immediacy to it. And to top it off, we come full circle back to the Pontiac Silverdome 12-1-81 concert for the tremendous extended 9:20 minute “Jumping Jack Flash”.
Disc 2 is an incomplete 12 track collection from the 12-9-81 Capital Center Arena in Maryland. Frankly, it didn’t do much for me for a number of reasons. I got surprisingly “spoiled” from the fantasy-like compilation of disc 1. I was not impressed with the supposed soundboard source for disc 2 and it only represents about 44% of the entire show anyway. Furthermore, the Dog ‘N Cat label previously released an original soundboard recording titled “Capital Connection Vol. 3” [DAC-038] which offers the complete 12-9-81 show in better fidelity. The DAC source has more gain, enhanced bass and, in my opinion, is the definitive source between the 2. There is some tape hiss in the background for DAC-038 which, however, hardly detracts from enjoying the show.
“Another Still Life”, I feel, is successful with Disc 1 which clocks in at 1 second short of 80 minutes and kept my attention throughout. Disc 2, again, is really nothing to write home about considering the option of securing DAC-038.
