After their 1968-1972 hit records Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, the Rolling Stones’ inspiration began to take a nosedive. One year after the honest record Goats Head Soup, the self-proclaimed greatest rock'n'roll band in the world released It's Only Rock'n Roll in October 1974. The indispensable Jimmy Miller, producer of their five previous records, was no longer with them and so Mick and Keith had fun behind the console under the pseudonym ‘The Glimmer Twins’. By then untouchable world stars, The Rolling Stones on this 12th studio album were decadent and totally indifferent to the hits of the time. What they offered up was rather different from the content of their golden age. It's Only Rock'n Roll sounded like free-wheeling rock, with the unmistakeable Rolling Stones sound (Richards’ copyrighted riffs and Jagger’s inimitable voice included) but without the songwriting to match that of their past hits.
Songs such as Dance Little Sister, Short and Curlies or the rather energetic cover of the Temptations’ Ain't Too Proud to Beg still showcase the freshly 30-year-old Englishmen’s know-how. And the eponymous It's Only Rock'n Roll managed to become a sort of mini anthem that continued to be sung on stage for decades. This record is above all Jagger’s show. On ballads such as If You Really Want to Be My Friend, his voice reaches new heights. And on the very funky Fingerprint File, he recalls his visceral passion for furious rhythms. As disco began to take off, he dreamt of himself as the living god of this glittering musical style – a style that’s light years away from the DNA of his band. It's Only Rock'n Roll is the last Rolling Stones album with Mick Taylor (later replaced by Ron Wood who already features on one track) whose occasional solos remind us that he is technically superior to his boss. One wonders if, in the end, the iconic album cover by the Belgian cartoonist Guy Peellaert isn't the real masterpiece of this sometimes endearing but a little shaky album. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz