Stone Alone

After establishing himself the eccentric but interesting Monkey Grip, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman resumed his solo career in 1976 with Stone Alone. Sadly, this album lacks the focus and solid songs of the previous album and ends up feeling like the typical rock star's ego-trip side project. Stone Alone can't be faulted for ambition, though: nearly every song tries out a different musical style ('50s-style rock, disco, and reggae) and Wyman enlists a veritable who's who of guest musicians (everyone from Dr. John to Al Kooper to Joe Walsh) to bring the songs to life. However, this impressive degree of ambition is undone by the fact that Wyman treats everything as self-parodic kitsch: he delivers the ragtime jazz exercise "No More Foolin'" in a mock-Louis Armstrong voice that makes the song grueling to listen to and weighs down the catchy disco-pop melody of "Peanut Butter Time" with smutty, juvenile lyrics and sugary-sweet female backing vocals. Other tunes are undone by lackluster songwriting: "Wine and Wimmen" is an attempt to create a Rolling Stones-style rocker, but is too halfhearted and hookless to get the job done. Despite the overbearingly cutesy approach that dominates Stone Alone, a few solid songs manage to shine through: "Apache Woman" is a disco/rock hybrid that blends hypnotic dance beats with ethereal synthesizer touches and "Quarter to Three" is a '50s-style rock rave-up whose infectious sense of swing overpowers its tongue-in-cheek arrangement. However, highlights like these are few and far between and this problem reduces Stone Alone to a curio that should only be sought out by Bill Wyman fans and Rolling Stones completists. ~ Donald A. Guarisco|