Shine a (Dim) Light

What kind of reviewer, blogger, or writer of any kind would presume to comment on a film or its soundtrack without having seen or heard it?

Hi, everybody!

The idea of Scorsese's Shine A Light appealed to me: a concert film, at IMAX size and volume, by the director of The Last Waltz, contender for best rock concert film to date. No, I haven't yet seen the film or heard the soundtrack, and yes, I am prejudiced against it already, despite my initial enthusiasm.

Initial, brief enthusiasm. And then, I reflected on how many live albums the Rolling Stones have released, and how frequently, and how most of them performed like Brian Jones in a swimming pool. Floating face-down on the surface or listlessly skimming the bottom.

Only their first live album (not counting the questionable Got Live If You Want It!, which is pretty clearly a studio recording with dubbed-in audience sound effects), Get Your Ya-Ya's Out!, conveys the unpredictable, swaggering, messy Stones at their peak. Ya-Ya's was the sound of the still-dangerous band that made a string of albums as good as any in rock and roll, from Beggar's Banquet through Exile on Main St.

Since then, the six live sets they've released have mostly (with the exception of the refreshingly different Stripped) suffered from listlessness (Still Life, an ironically appropriate title), anemic set lists (No Security), or both (Flashpoint). And still, those qualities are preferable to the main deficiency of the last two, their slickness.

I'm no "back to mono" Luddite, contrary to my glowing review of the crudely recorded Battle of the Bands CD a while back. I wouldn't expect a 21st century Stones live album to sound as crude as one released in 1970. But the Stones I grew up rocking out to didn't fix their mistakes in post-production, or at least, didn't sound like they did.

And they sure didn't have a pop diva-du-jour onstage with them. It may be that, as I've read, Christina Aguilara acquits herself admirably on Shine A Light. It's possible that 1977's Love You Live would have been enhanced with a guest vocal from Olivia Newton-John, too. That would just make it a different kind of inferior Stones album.

Nothing would please me more than to walk out of the film amazed by the power and vitality of the Stones and their songs. I would just like to hear them play without a net, again. And give "Satisfaction" a well-earned rest.