The sixth studio album by the Rolling Stones was released in December 1967 by Decca Records in the UK and by London Records in the United States. This would be the first Rolling Stones album released in identical versions in both countries with the title a play on the British passport ‘Her Britannic Majesty requests and requires’ text.
The album saw the band experimenting with a psychedelic sound, incorporating unconventional elements such as Mellotron, sound effects, string arrangements, and African rhythms. The band members produced the album themselves as their manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham had departed. It was a chaotic, drawn out recording process marked by drug use, court cases and band members turning up at the studio at different times. However, from this chaos emerged songs such as ‘She’s a Rainbow’ with its beautiful harmonies, piano, and strings; ‘2000 Man’, whose lyrics speak of a future where an individual’s identity is lost, the riff-driven ‘Citadel’ and the hazy, dream-like ‘In Another Land’.
All tracks were written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except ‘In Another Land’ by Bill Wyman.
TRACKLIST
SIDE A
- Sing This All Together
- Citadel
- In Another Land
- 2000 Man
- Sing This All Together (See What Happens)
SIDE B
- Shes A Rainbow
- The Lantern
- Gomper
- 2000 Light Years From Home
- On With The Show??
