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FANS ALBUM REVIEWS

FLOWERS

Six Reviews - Overall Average Rating -  8.16 Tongues


FLOWERS

by Stoneheart
October 5, 2009
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This is an excellent album, but, it was really a rehash of songs that were mainly already released. So for that reason, I have to drop my rating of this album one full point. Let's face it, the Stones didn't have any "Flowers" sessions. The album was put together by businessmen only. Now there are some gems on here, like "Ruby Tuesday", "Out of Time" and "Let's Spend the Night Together", but they weren't new songs when this came out. I'm not putting down the other songs that are on here either, they are all good. But you can get most of this stuff on other albums and this is nothing more than a compilation LP.

To listen to some sound clips from  FLOWERS or to buy the Remastered CD, click here: Flowers Buy.com

More fan reviews:
FLOWERS
by devilsadvocate
June 27, 2009
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I love this album!  The reason it only rates 8.5 is that it contains several songs which were already available elsewhere. Why make the fans pay twice for the same songs? The answer is obvious.

There are so many winners here that I don't know which one to begin with. So I'll start with the one song I dislike: the cover of "My Girl" is, to put it mildly, irritating. Skip right over this one, you won't be missing much.

I find "Have You Seen Your Mother..." one of the weaker songs from the Stones's 60s catalogue.  But every other song on this album is a clear winner. "Ruby Tuesday" and "Let's Spend the Night Together" are so well known that they no longer need any introduction. But there are many lesser-known gems here. The beautiful music and melody of "Backstreet Girl" are in sharp contrast to the misogynic lyrics. The misogyny theme surfaces also in "Out Of Time". This is a shorter version of the song than what appears on the UK Aftermath album. It's also one of two "marimbas" songs on this album, the other one being the wonderful "Ride On Baby".

"Sittin' on a Fence" closes out the album.  What a lovely little song, with beautiful playing from both acoustic guitars and lyrics that say "what does it all matter anyway".  A wonderful little song that deserves to be discovered.

FLOWERS
By Jim OHara
March 14, 2006
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Great album, I listen to it often but it could have been better if the two songs that were originally supposed to be on it,"We Love You" and "Dandelion" replaced "Ruby Tuesday" and "let's Spend the night. . ." The latter two are so connected with Between the Buttons it would be that they cannot be purged. Those two songs saved that record and I do not know how the British fans could listen to it all the way through without them. Ditto for "Lady Jane"...that could have been replaced by "Long, Long While" or "Who's Driving Your Plane". Anyway, it is what it is and I'll still love it.


FLOWERS
By Zack Taylor
October 29, 2004
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When considering Flowers, harken back to summer 1967, before the American market was flooded with Stones compilations. Never mind that two of the first three tracks here were both the latest hit singles and the opening of the previous album, Flowers serves as an important, and thank goodness final, rectification of record company butchery imposed on the band’s American releases. The crap cover (notice Brian is the only flower without a leaf on the stem?) betrays its slap-dash nature, but at the end of the day, the album holds together, with enough new sounds and, more importantly, styles to sustain interest. Starting at the bottom, “My Girl” is a leftover from 1965 bogged down by syrupy strings, a far cry from other Motown classics the later Stones made their own. “Take It or Leave It” is the kind of pure pop Mick and Keith used to give away to other artists, and perhaps should have done in this case. “Please Go Home” puts a psychedelic spin on a Bo Diddley beat that is, for lack of a better phrase, really cool; and “Out of Time” is the most savage of several kiss-offs hurled by Mick at his long-suffering ex. “Ride on Baby,” another from that bag, is musically fascinating: the only Stones tune to feature harpsichord and marimba. The arrangement for “Back Street Girl,” a strong candidate for Greatest Obscure Stones Gem ever, is equally intriguing, as is the lyrical premise ordering his side chick from the wrong side of the tracks not to intrude on his public life. Rounded out with the lovely “Sittin’ on a Fence,” which contemplates life without stardom (and presumably back street girls); the Elizabethan warhorse “Lady Jane,” (eventually available on six albums!)and four strong singles, two on LP for the first time, you’ve got a fresh enough package (we’re back in ‘67, remember?) that the album works beside other Summer of Love staples. These tracks mark the heyday of Brian Jones, when his musical versatility, leafless stem notwithstanding, is in full bloom on most every track, putting an indelible stamp on perhaps the most interesting period in the Stones' career.


FLOWERS
By Alex Short
November 15, 2000
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This is a truly great album, but I did get the felling I was being ripped off as I had all the songs except for maybe five or six. The album has left over songs from the English version of Aftermath, which is superior to the American version. The includes many classics such as 'Lets Spend the Night Together' and 'Mothers Little Helper', but many already had these. The highlights for me on this album are of course the above two songs plus songs like 'Out of Time' and Back street Girl', which was on the UK version of Between The Buttons. Their version of 'My Girl', one of the previously unreleased songs is a little disappointing, but 'Ride on Baby' another unreleased song is superb. As is 'Take it or Leave It', which was cut in late 1965 but rejected, then released on this album due to the fact that the American market was hungry for product. This is the case of the whole album. Remember this was a period when the Stones were having trouble with the law. This started with the drug busts at Keiths house Redlands. Despite the fact that much of the album had been previously released, this is a fine collection and it has some of the groups finest material. Lastly, what about 'Sitting on the Fence'. A fine slice of the Stones less abrasive work.


FLOWERS
By christophoros
April 12, 2000
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Perhaps nobody has reviewed this before, as it is a compilation of their last hits and in the U.S. previously unreleased tracks (they could have been too British) and consequently doesn't come into everybody' s mind when he comes to studio albums. As on the album before and the one after, the psychedelic sounds dominate. MOTHER'S LITTLE HELPER, a drug song, is 100% authentic, the right song at the right time. OUT OF TIME in this version is THE perfect pop song by the Rolling Stones, slow, but steady. It's other version shows, that it can also easily be ruined. A rock classic like LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER of course also fits in well, and SITTING ON A FENCE combines their rebellious nature with the new sound universe. Those flower-power-kids...always very sensitive! The best example: BACKSTREET GIRL, a simple and Stones. The only weak point (which I don' t include in the rating, as also those three songs fit in well) is, that there are three songs already released on U.S. albums instead of maybe three other unreleased ones. MY GIRL is a cover from a soul-number by "The Temptations", TAKE IT OR LEAVE it and SITTIN' ON A FENCE became hits covered by other bands. If you' re searching for a Brian Jones compilation apart from the usual greatest hits package, go for this one!

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See "A FEW OTHERS" for more info on songs on this album

Stones Fans Album Reviews

 To listen to some sound clips from FLOWERS or to buy the Remastered CD, click here: Flowers Buy.com