Shine A Light BY The Rolling Stones Reviewed by Adam D. Miller    Mick Jagger recently joked that Shine A Light was the only Martin Scorsese film not to include “Gimme Shelter.” A stretch, maybe, but only slightly, as practically every Scorsese film, from Mean Streets to The Departed features at least one or two Rolling Stones tracks.Scorsese’s latest film, Shine A Light, captures The Rolling Stones over two intimate performance at New York City’s Beacon Theatre in 2006. The film, and its companion soundtrack, may not include “Gimme Shelter,” but it does feature a fair number of mega-hits and concert mainstays, such as “Start Me Up” and “Brown Sugar.” These tracks aren’t nearly as exciting as the more obscure fan favorites like “Far Away Eyes” and “She Was Hot,” on which The Rolling Stones sound much more energized. While Jagger seems to phone in his vocal for the opening track “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” he takes a little more time and places a bit more effort on “Some Girls” and “Just My Imagination,” which along with the aforementioned “Far Away Eyes” delivers an effective Some Girls triple-punch. Guest turns from Christina Aguilera (“Live With Me”), Buddy Guy (“Champagne and Reefer”) and especially Jack White (“Loving Cup”) also help propel the set to a higher standard than recent live Stones albums like No Security and Live Licks. Keith Richards, who is often criticized for his incoherence, actually steals the show with Let It Bleed’s “You Got The Silver” and the rarely performed “Connection” (from 1967’s Between The Buttons). Especially on the final verse of “Silver,” he manages to deliver more soul and passion for the material that Jagger seems capable of these days. Shine A Light doesn’t include a single performance that improves upon the original studio cuts, though some tracks prove that the band still has it in them. Ultimately, it’s Jagger – who seems more focused on his own celebrity than his declining vocal ability – and drummer Charlie Watts, whose playing has become quite simplistic and even sloppy at times, who leave listeners with a lot to be desired. You wouldn’t have credited Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, the seemingly worn-out Stones, to keep things together; but they do, and this albums highpoints are largely as a result of the two of them and their cunning ability to keep the Stones rolling. |  |
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