Review of Gimme Shelter (1986) by Frankie A — 13 Dec 2007

If Woodstock was hordes of hippies engaging in peace, love, sex, and the good drugs, Altamont was those same hippies letting out all the negative energy they held back at Woodstock and doing the opposite.

It is haunting to hear Mick Jagger singing the lyric, 'Rode a tank, held a generous rank, while the blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank' as he oversees the violence and madness that is like a war - someone was even murdered - at this well-intentioned free concert that was supposed to be the ultimate sonic social experiment and turned out to be the rock 'n roll death knell of the '60s.