Aftermath

About Aftermath

Aftermath is a studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released in the United Kingdom on 15 April 1966 by Decca Records and in the United States on 2 July by London Records. The American edition features a different cover and shorter track listing, substituting the single "Paint It Black" in place of four of the British album's songs, in keeping with the industry preference for shorter LPs for the US market. The recording sessions took place at RCA Studios in California in December 1965 and March 1966, during breaks between the group's international tours. It is the band's fourth British and sixth American studio album, and their first to be recorded entirely in the US or in true stereo. The album is considered an artistic breakthrough for the Rolling Stones. It is their first to consist entirely of original compositions, all of which were credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Brian Jones emerged as a talented multi-instrumentalist, playing a variety of instruments not usually associated with popular music, including sitar, Appalachian dulcimer, marimbas and Japanese koto, as well as guitar and harmonica. Along with his instrumental textures, Aftermath saw the Stones incorporating a wider range of chords and stylistic elements beyond their Chicago blues and R&B influences, such as pop, folk, country, psychedelia and Baroque music. Influenced in part by intense love affairs outside the band and their demanding touring itinerary, the album was written around psychodramatic themes of love, sex, desire, power and dominance, hate, obsession, modern society, and rock stardom, with women featured as prominent characters in the songs. more »