Let's Rank All The Rolling Stones Albums!
Am I really going to tackle this one? Yes. Let’s do it!!! I love the Stones.
And let’s get a few things straight. I dare you to find a music blogger who was there at the outset as an original fan when the first Rolling Stones album was released with a list like this. If you find one I’m happy to defer to their list as the top list if it’s well thought out and well written. But I think my list is still damn good. I became a Stones fan with Some Girls as a kid which was released while my brothers were in high school. So I’ve got almost 50 years of fandom under my belt. They’ve always been an automatic buy for me, never far from my playlist and I’ve seen them live I think 4 times. I have enough Stones street cred to have informed opinions. I even think I have a 1981 rock mag somewhere in my basement with the word “Last” crossed out on the cover with the coverage of their “Last Tour” - I called it way back then. So if anyone wants to come in here and challenge me, BRING. IT. ON. Remember this IS a snobbery so you’ll likely be wrong. Hehe…
I’m going to stick with the American releases. Often in the early 60’s different versions of albums were released in the UK and the USA. I’m also not including compilations or live albums. Side note: This isn’t the first piece on the Stones on Doug’s Music Snobbery. If you want a nice little breakdown of the best 10 best Stones songs that aren’t singles, that’s also on the snobbery. And if there are any other rules, you’ll see them when you get to them - it’s my snobbery after all. Another note: Yes some takes exist in the rock historical lexicon that are indeed sacred - I don’t intend to just smash them. It’s impossible to cover all the perspectives and context around a 60 year history in a single blog post. It’s going to be difficult to bring anything to the table that hasn’t been said before about the Stones. But it’s a fun exercise to take a fresh look at the body of work especially while they are still adding to it, and besides - their body of work hasn’t been given the Doug’s Music Snobbery treatment yet. This Snobbery actually has a few loyal readers so if you’re new and come away thinking Doug’s a wanker, like, uh…..okay? I likely won’t lose sleep over it. If something triggers you here because of nostalgia or you simply disagree, by all means share in the comments. Healthy debate is fun and I welcome it. Just try not to be an a-hole. So, without further adieu:
Let’s Rank All The Stones Albums!
25. Dirty Work (1986) Even the last place album on this ranking isn’t totally awful. I was always a fan of Winning Ugly, and One Hit To The Body is pretty good. The Harlem Shuffle cover is fun as well, but the rest is a bit of a tired mess, the production sounds dated and Mick’s voice sounds a little rough. There was more tension in the band and the three year “break up” following this LP with no tour seemed a lot longer at the time. Both Mick AND Keith released solo albums and it seemed like it might be kind of over for really the only time in Stones history.
24. A Bigger Bang (2005) This album was a pretty big disappointment for me because the previous 3 LPs were all so good since the reconvening of the band with Steel Wheels in 1989. Even the 4 new tracks from the 40 Licks compilation three years prior were really good. At first listen A Bigger Bang sounded like it would be another solid effort but after a few listens you realize the songs just aren’t there with a few exceptions. Rain Fall Down and Back Of My Hand are the standouts. Even the lead single Rough Justice which was touted as an instant classic just…..isn’t.
23. Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) An iconic album cover but this attempt at psychedelia largely falls short. It’s not awful (okay some of it is), it’s just not great. When it works, like on She’s A Rainbow and 2000 Light Years From Home it stakes a claim to containing some of the best of the genre ever laid down. She’s A Rainbow is as good as it gets. Creepy, gorgeous, trippy as can be - it’s one of THE best Rolling Stones songs ever recorded. There are some good tracks here in addition to those two like Citadel and of course 2000 Man which KISS actually improved on and made theirs 12 years later on their Dynasty album. Sorry people but these are facts - don’t @ me. It was actually a stroke of genius for KISS to take that song and make it such a rocking classic, but I digress… Their Satanic Majesties Request is certainly interesting enough overall as a unique moment in Stones history - it is indeed fascinating to hear them experimenting with the trippy trend of the day.
22. 12x5 (1964) A solid sophomore effort with mostly another set of covers. They would need to progress from this going forward which they obviously did, but there is still early greatness here. Time Is On My Side and It’s All Over Now are both the definitive versions of these songs even though they are both covers. There is one great original here in Congratulations.
21. The Rolling Stones, Now! (1965) Okay so I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this one. Not really an album per se with songs previously released in the UK and a US single added, but released and presented as the Stones third album. But that US single is Heart Of Stone which is a classic and their version of John Lee Hooker’s Little Red Rooster is awesome.
20. Undercover (1983) A mostly front-loaded album that would be the last really relevant album of their original run. I only say that because the Steel Wheels LP still felt like a new era to me. You can certainly make the case that the eras should be broken up by personnel in Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood as well. It’s over a 60 year history so….. As for Undercover it kicks off with the shot-out-of-a-cannon funk and rapid fire riffage of Undercover Of The Night. A bonafide classic, and while it’s really the only classic on the album the rest of it is still pretty good. She Was Hot and Too Much Blood are the other two singles and they’re both solid enough. This was the time when rap music had just become popular and I was obsessed with it - Run D.M.C., Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Whodini, Twilight 22, Newcleus… and I guess Too Much Blood was the Stones getting into the act lol. Not really an “attempt at hip hop” in any way, but with a spoken word piece that was sort of a rap and it was like “Whoa! Mick Jagger raps on the new Stones song!” Definitely gave this one some silly buzz at the time, but I’ve always liked the track.
19. England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) The debut album and a classic. The sound of such a young Stones playing their favorite blues & R&B covers is pretty thrilling to this day. The Stones always had a lot of love for artists like Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry and Robert Johnson as well as Motown, and later on reggae, and would continue to champion them and cover their songs throughout their entire career. They certainly helped popularize the blues for white audiences and this is where it started with this album reaching #1 in the UK and #11 in the USA. I remember when they televised a Steel Wheels tour show in New Jersey and had John Lee Hooker join them on stage and how cool that was. Mick Jagger guested on Peter Tosh’s version of The Temptations’ Don’t Look Back in 1978. The Stones were always better about giving proper credit to the artists they covered than many others were as well. Highlights on this album for me include Buddy Holly’s Not Fade Away, Willie Dixon’s I Just Want To Make Love To You, and Chuck Berry’s Carol.
18. Out Of Our Heads (1965) The Stones start to write more of their own songs and come up with multiple original classics for the first time, including the signature classic (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. The band has always been known for strong unmistakable opening riffs and Keith Richards delivers one of the most well known of the 20th century here. According to setlist.fm they’ve played it live 999 times which only ranks 5th for their most played - I figured for sure it would be their #1. It was also completely deconstructed with one of the best covers of all time when Devo included it on their debut LP in 1978. The other two classic originals are The Last Time and The Spider and the Fly. So yes, most of Out Of Our Heads is still made up of covers, but with these originals The Rolling Stones really started cooking with oil.
17. Blue and Lonesome (2016) Fifty years later the Stones return to an all covers album that came out of an impromptu jam session and resulted in the fantastic Blue and Lonesome! It’s hard to rank this one because I just love it so much and how it came to be. Recorded in three days and the last album fully recorded with Charlie Watts before he passed away, there is no pressure here, no expectations (see what I did there - IYKYK) and a loose fun feel of old friends who have been rock titans for decades just jamming out. There’s nothing overtly commercial here - no trends represented. Just blues. And it’s glorious. Mick’s harmonica playing on Little Walter’s Hate To See You Go is awesome and this could be my favorite track on the album. I didn’t know Little Walter was the only Rock Hall inductee who was put in specifically for harmonica…. and now I know because of the Stones love of the blues. I do enjoy the blues but I need to up my game - I feel like I should have known that about Little Walter. The only sorta “obvious” choice on this album that I knew well before it was released was Willie Dixon’s I Can’t Quit You Baby which was of course covered by Led Zeppelin. It’s a great closer.
16. Emotional Rescue (1980) I love Emotional Rescue and won’t apologize. Some of this is personal just because of the impressionable age I was when it was released - I love the danceable lead track of Dance (Pt. 1) that always reminded me a bit of Zep’s Trampled Under Foot in my head (am I the only one?) and I also find it to be a bit of a sequel to Hot Stuff in that it’s just a jam without a lot of structure - some repeatable hooks that keep your toes tapping. Summer Romance, Let Me Go and Where The Boys Go might all be a bit slight but they’re still fun - just good rocking straightforward Stones tunes, and the goofy reggae of Send It To Me always makes me smile. As for the two singles: The title track is a monster. An over the top absurdity that has got to be one of the greatest songs ever written. Yep I said it. The guiltiest of all pleasures - Mick singing the entire first half of the song in that falsetto, the equally silly spoken-ish vocals of how he will be “your knight in shining armor riding across the desert” and one of Bobby Keys’s finest moments with the fantastic sax soloing? C’mon… Is it on the level of Sympathy For The Devil? Maybe not, but it’s such a gem. And then there’s She’s So Cold - so good. I really don’t know why I love it so - but even if part of it is nostalgia, it’s so fun to sing “I’m the bleeding volCAAAAAAAAANOOOOOOO!!!” You do it every time - admit it. If you read the lyrics on paper they are so stupid, but that’s part of the charm here. I love that song.
15. Bridges To Babylon (1997) Again I will not apologize for saying the Stones were kicking ass well into their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and yes 80’s with some of their later albums, and Bridges To Babylon is a prime example. I love the line in the opener Flip The Switch “I’m not going to burn in hell, I’ve cased the joint and I know it well” - this is an older, experienced band that has been through it all and it informs these later releases when they allow it to - but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of swagger, edge and riffs worthy of the legacy. They’ve still got it even today. The cutout artwork with that massive blue lion on the cover is awesome too. The Stones have always been good for killer artwork. Highlights here include Low Down, Gunface, Out Of Control, and Saint Of Me - all four are killer and Saint felt like an instant classic right away - these songs have all aged quite well (hard to believe they’re almost 30 years old). This album is also notable for Keith getting three lead vocals, none of which are rockers oddly enough and they’re all great with two of them closing out the album. Mick’s ballads are strong as well - just a great album which unfortunately would be the last one for quite a long time…
14. Aftermath (1966) The first Stones album to feature all originals and it’s been assigned big importance in Stones history and rock history overall, so I struggle with where to place it on this list. Much has been written about Brian Jones stepping up to the front creatively to add sitar, marimba and dulcimer amid tensions in the band partly due to his relationship with Anita Pallenberg. The story goes that basically the rest of the band was so enthralled with / intimidated by her that it elevated Jones’ status in the band and pretty much returned him to a leadership role if only for a short while... Her story and her long term impact on the band is fascinating… Tons of fame at this point for the Stones, intertwined romantic relationships and drugs. And there are a couple steps forward creatively such as Under My Thumb with the cool marimba that Jones added - certainly a classic. Paint It Black was added to the US release after being released as a single even though it wasn’t on the original UK version so I’m not sure it “counts” completely towards the albums greatness? Lady Jane certainly does though with that dulcimer - yes! Don’t know what a dulcimer sounds like? Just listen to Lady Jane and you’ll know. Think, Doncha Bother Me, and Flight 505 are good jams and there’s the extended improvisational bluesy marathon of Goin’ Home to close it out.
13. Steel Wheels (1989) The first comeback. This album launched a massive stadium tour that I saw - the last album and tour with Bill Wyman on bass. It’s a great album that kicks off with the rollicking Sad Sad Sad and doesn’t let up. It’s amazing what just three years off did for these guys and as I said earlier this felt like a big deal. While subsequent albums would have longer gaps between them there was never another time that felt like a breakup like the absence after Dirty Work did. This also was the first time really that you felt like wow - they are STILL going at their age! Little did we know… and not just with the Stones but that many 60’s era rockers would still be going strong in the 2020’s…. Mixed Emotions is a great lead single, and Terrifying has its own slightly “spooky” vibe that makes for a fun jam. I think everything here is good - Rock And A Hard Place, Keith’s turns on Can’t Be Seen and the closer Slipping Away, the ballads Almost Hear You Sigh and Blinded By Love - all solid. I really like the experimental Continental Drift as well which featured the The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar from Morocco. This was the opening track that was played before the curtains came down to the opening chords of Start Me Up for the tour.
12. Voodoo Lounge (1994) I’m not so sure critics were kind to Voodoo Lounge. I seem to remember it got dismissed as being a calculated attempt to hit all the Stones markers type of thing (even now the review on AllMusic still says that) - critics being careful not to give it the status of actual classic Stones albums, but as I alluded to at the beginning I don’t care. I’m here to tell you that’s B.S. and it’s fantastic. What are you going to do - penalize the Stones for being the Stones? These songs don’t sound like rewrites of anything - they all sound fresh and original to me while sounding exactly like the Stones and if Don Was is partly responsible for drawing that out of them in another “attempt to reclaim his artist's original claim to greatness” as AllMusic puts it? Then I say hell yeah. As if that’s a bad idea… I got news for AllMusic - not everything on every classic Stones album is perfect. Are we supposed to cling to Short and Curlies, Country Honk or Parachute Woman like they’re Mozart? And before you get triggered by me singling those out - I LIKE those tracks - may even love them, but I also love Thru and Thru from Voodoo Lounge - which could be the greatest Keith song ever. Yes. And while I loved it before it appeared in the season two finale of The Sopranos, that did indeed take it to a new level. A poignant ballad that gets you in the feels that the Stones couldn’t have recorded 25 years prior. It wouldn’t have worked. Keith’s ragged voice and the miles on the band are largely what make that one work so well. That song should have closed the album (Mean Disposition seems like an unnecessary add on - it’s not bad though). While we’re talking ballads, Out Of Tears is absolutely gorgeous and Mick’s vocal is incredible. The jams meanwhile are great - You Got Me Rocking with the “HEYYY! HEYYY!” is killer. I love the funky Suck On The Jugular and the mid tempo Baby Break It Down as well. I guess the only criticism of Voodoo Lounge I do agree with is there is a little extra fat that could have been trimmed. There are maybe 4 songs that aren’t as distinguished and at 15 songs it runs a little long. I don’t mind 30 songs if they’re all great and have a purpose but this one could have been perfect at 11.
11. Tattoo You (1981) Obviously notable for the classic opener Start Me Up - and that famously recognizable opening riff! Not to mention the gloriously over the top video of the band lip syncing with Mick playing it up for the camera… Then there’s the Waiting On A Friend video which I actually remember watching on MTV when it came out, and what a song. It’s crazy what you discover when you poke around the web for “research” on these blog posts… Between Wikipedia and AllMusic I discovered that the stoop they are hanging out on in the video is indeed St. Mark’s Place of Physical Graffiti cover fame, and that the friend with the dreads on the steps is none other than Peter Tosh. Fun side note - two days after I wrote this I met someone originally from Jamaica who knows Peter Tosh’s son Andrew. She didn’t know Peter Tosh appeared in this video. She asked if he had a spliff going. I said I didn’t think so…? So I showed it to her and he doesn’t appear to have a spliff when we first see him. But if you look closely at the :11 mark you see a puff of smoke go past Mick while he’s singing and sure enough at the 1:14 mark we see it’s Peter Tosh smoking it lol - he just seems to be keeping it out of view in between puffs! The song was recorded in 1972/73 in Jamaica while the band was working on Goat’s Head Soup (the entire Tattoo You album is made of leftovers that were reworked, cleaned up, or added to) and the lyrics were added in 1981 along with the beautiful Nicky Hopkins piano and incredible Sonny Rollins sax. Plenty of other great tracks here like the classic Stones rocker Hang Fire, Keith’s crass Little T&A, and I’m a huge fan of the falsetto ballad Worried About You. Not a perfectly consistent album but the highs are about as good as it gets. There’s a chance this one is ranked a tad too high but I’ll leave it where it is. Feel free to comment with your thoughts!
10. Goats Head Soup (1973) This may be a controversial pick because it seems much of the accepted history of the Stones pegs this one as a half baked follow up to Exile on Main Street. I don’t really hear that. To me the fact that some songs aren’t “fully developed” is part of the charm. Some great mellow vibes here, which might be the influence of Jamaica - even though there’s no reggae on it. Winter is a gorgeous song and credited to Jagger/Richards even though Keith had nothing to do with it and doesn’t play on it. I’d be pretty pissed if I was Mick Taylor who wrote it with Jagger and played on it. Can You Hear The Music doesn’t have a standard structure and just kind of goes on and on….in a great way. Keith’s Coming Down Again is also a great mellow vibe. I guess I don’t know if either the opener (Dancing With Mr. D) or closer (Star Star) are my favorites… but Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) is a classic and Silver Train, 100 Years Ago, & Hide Your Love are all great.
9. Hackney Diamonds (2023) I had this at 11, but after writing about Tattoo You and Goat’s Head Soup I realized I do indeed like Hackney Diamonds better. I actually LOVE this album. Call this recency bias or whatever you want but that’s where I’m at. I’ve had enough time to digest this one to give it some real love on this list. Yes it’s still new so will I feel this way in 10 years? Check with me in 2034 and we’ll find out I suppose. For now this new batch of Stones tunes are legit, and even if Charlie is gone (may he rest in peace) he still appears on two tracks and one WITH Bill Wyman! Kinda cool that there’s a track with the last 5 man official lineup from 1976-1990 all on it (not to mention Sir Elton John - so funny that many of these guys are “Sirs” now) - and it’s a good fun song, Live By The Sword. The opening blast of Angry feels like an instant classic and the next two Get Close and Depending On You are both fantastic. They all feel like classic Stones and Mick sounds amazing at the young rocker age of……80! Bite My Head Off is gloriously stupid in a good way and it features none other than Sir Paul McCartney on bass - not that he’s really “featured” in any way per se - just cool to know he plays on it. Whole Wide World is really well written with a great chorus, Ronnie Wood’s slide guitar (combined with some harmonica from Mick) on Dreamy Skies is awesome, and even just the slightest Tumbling Dice-esque intro of Driving Me Too Hard is at once familiar and welcome. The album finishes really strong as well with the poignant all-star track Sweet Sounds Of Heaven that among others has Lady Gaga dueting on vocals and Stevie Wonder on piano & synth, before closing out with the kick ass blues medley Rolling Stone Blues. A real triumph in my book.
8. Beggars Banquet (1968) We’re talking mostly masterpieces at this point and even though I have Beggars Banquet lower than many would, I do indeed have high regard for this classic. The Stones pull their heads out of the psychedelia and go straight back to stripped down rock and blues, producing two of the most iconic songs ever recorded. Sympathy For The Devil is in the running for greatest rock song - period. A total epic with too many iconic moments within the song to count. The bongo intro, the yelps and screams, the opening line of “Please allow me to introduce myself….”, the woo-woos, the incredible guitar solo statements, the damning accusation of all of us killing the Kennedys… And then the side 2 opener of Street Fighting Man? The Stones were not typically ones to be revolutionaries with activist lyrics, but when they choose too it resonates - enough to get on the radar of real music revolutionaries Rage Against The Machine who covered it. Another track with unmistakable ringing chords to open it. As for the rest of Beggars Banquet… while a bit overshadowed by those two gigantic statements it’s still very good. It’s the beginning of the end of Brian Jones’ time in the band with his slide guitar performance on No Expectations being his last meaningful contribution according to Mick. His performance on the Stones Rock N’ Roll Circus was his last with the band. This album represents a new era of Stones rock n roll - a step forward where they would never sound like a particularly “young” band again - in a great way. Prodigal Son is fantastic and Salt of the Earth is a great closer starting with a Keith lead vocal and reaching some spiritual heights with a gospel choir.
7. Between The Buttons (1967) Between The Buttons is a British pop masterpiece and there’s a decent chance if you haven’t sat down to listen to it that you won’t know most of it. Two iconic hits in the scandalous-at-the-time Let’s Spend The Night Together as the opener. So good. The other is the gorgeous Ruby Tuesday with the chorus that forces you to sing it aloud! Keith wrote those beautiful lyrics and plays the double bass with a bow while Brian Jones adds the alto recorder (flute). Perfection. It’s the rest of this album that offers up so many gems that you would never have heard growing up with classic rock radio. You might be familiar with Miss Amanda Jones - a character given life by Lea Thompson in the classic John Hughes film Some Kind of Wonderful with a cover of the song being featured in the film. All Sold Out, Yesterday’s Papers, Connection, My Obsession, Complicated - all so good. A unique entry in the Stones catalogue that I return to a lot.
6. It’s Only Rock N Roll (1974) But I like it… Yes I do. One thing I did not know is that the title track was recorded separately from the rest of the album at Ronnie Wood’s place with Ronnie playing acoustic guitar on it, Kenney Jones on drums and David Bowie singing backup (?). Interesting stuff. The rousing Temptations cover Ain’t Too Proud To Beg similarly wasn’t planned as part of a new album of originals but it was kept on the album and released as a single. If You Can’t Rock Me is a great opener and Till The Next Goodbye is beautiful. The LP is loaded really and does represent a transition since it’s Mick Taylor’s last album and the first since Satanic Majesties to be produced by Mick & Keith who dubbed themselves The Glimmer Twins for the credits on this and every Stones album going forward. Mick Taylor leaves a lasting impression though with one of his finest moments in the extended solo on the stunning Latin-tinged Time Waits For No One. Most of the usual suspects are present on the album as well in longtime contributors Nicky Hopkins, Ian Stewart, Billy Preston and Ray Cooper. The cheeky Luxury, the aforementioned fun Short And Curlies, the driving Dance Little Sister, the ballad If You Really Want To Be My Friend - all great. Fingerprint File is an epic closer that points to the funk they’d continue to explore on the opener of the following album, Black and Blue.
5. Black and Blue (1976) I went back and forth on this one and It’s Only Rock N Roll - it was a tough call. I find the two albums to be of a piece in a way because they both play around with some of the same styles. I guess I’m partial to Black and Blue as an underdog, because much like Goat’s Head Soup it gets written off for some reason. The first album to feature Ronnie Wood as a full member of the band even though he only plays guitar on three tracks. Not many would rank this three spots ahead of Beggars Banquet. But I just love it and I listen to it considerably more than Beggars Banquet - and before you lecture me in the comments there are many who praise this album for the very reasons I love it - groove, feel, sound. This one is personal preference and I won’t apologize for it. I love that the “5th Beatle” Billy Preston is basically the “6th Stone” on this album playing on 6 of the 8 tracks and even getting “inspiration” credit on Melody - the lounge-y jam that includes a fantastic horn arrangement. It’s a polarizing album and even members of the band have gone back and forth on this one with how they feel about it. The album kicks off with Hot Stuff which is one of my favorites. I’ll never get sick of this song. The opening lick which begins at the end of the lick is brilliant to me and it’s so damn funky. No verses and not much structure - just a jam with Mick going off with some crazy screaming scat thing towards the end that just kills. Next comes Hand Of Fate - one of two mid tempo rockers that kick ass - the other being the closer Crazy Mama with an incredible hook and a great Mick delivery of “Craaaaaaaaaaaazy Mama!” The Black Crowes basically copied this one with Jealous Again… Fool To Cry is a really pretty ballad, Hey Negrita a groovy jam that Ronnie Wood contributed and got an “inspiration” credit for, and Cherry Oh Baby is a gloriously goofy reggae jam. The epic 7:10 ballad Memory Motel is fantastic as well.
4. Let It Bleed (1969) Let It Bleed is a monster. Opening with the scary Gimme Shelter that doubles as the film title of the documentary of the Stones 1969 tour ending with the tragic killing of Meredith Hunter at Altamont… Merry Clayton with the apocalyptic “RAPE! MURDER! IT’S JUST A SHOT AWAY!!!!” vocal. Can still evoke images of those chaotic years in American history and the closing of the 60’s. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song 13th on the 500 greatest songs of all time list. The Robert Johnson cover Love In Vain is fine and Country Honk is an amusing enough country version of Honky Tonk Women - I guess let’s call these recovery after the opening blast before the album really gets going again, and gets going it does. Keith handles almost all of the guitars on this album and Brian Jones is barely on it with minimal contributions to two songs - he was a mess by this point and the band was forced to fire him. Mick Taylor appears on two tracks as well. Live With Me is a jam and side one closes out with the country tinged ode to friendship (and sex and drugs) - title track Let It Bleed. The final four tracks are a tour de force beginning with the epic bluesy jam Midnight Rambler that has some of Mick Jagger’s finest harmonica playing on record. Keith gets his first true solo lead vocal with You Got The Silver and then the closing classics of Monkey Man and You Can’t Always Get What You Want. I LOVE Monkey Man. That Nicky Hopkins piano at the beginning, Bill Wyman on the vibraphone, the tamborine (played by producer Jimmy Miller) and then when Charlie Watts comes crashing in - this could be my favorite Charlie Watts performance throughout actually. Keith’s riffage, the insanely amazing vocals by Mick… the track is just so powerful. And then the epic You Can’t Always Get What You Want - the opening choir, the acoustic guitar, the french horn and that opening line “I saw…her…today…at the reception….” - oh man. And that incredible divinely hopeful call to action that you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you’ll get what you need. Will never get old.
3. Some Girls (1978) Some Girls is considered by some to be the last truly essential Stones album even though the topics and lyrics can be problematic. Taking tongue in cheek shots at evangelists, homophobia, and racism can certainly come off the wrong way and/or not age well and in this case some of it works and some not as much. And not all of it worked at the time either, ultimately prompting the band to apologize for a certain line in the title track. The Stones always had edge but rockers from the 60’s weren’t supposed to kick this much ass when punk and disco were destroying the rock status quo for better or worse, and kick ass they did. And they did it by being themselves and circling the wagons a bit with almost no additional musicians. Yes they lead with a disco tune in Miss You, but it’s not like the Stones hadn’t already been funky or danceable before 1978, and Miss You is pure greatness. It’s the only disco song on the album as if to say “okay so we’ll drop a disco song as good as ANY on the radio because we can” before getting back to rocking with When The Whip Comes Down (which some say is kind of the punk song but I don’t really hear that). There’s another great Temptations cover here too with Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me). The LP basically goes three great, three good, four great in that order across the 10 tracks. Respectable and Keith’s Before They Make Me Run are both fantastic and then the closers Beast of Burden and Shattered are rivaled only by Let It Bleed’s Monkey Man & You Can’t Always Get What You Want as the best two finishers of any Stones LP. Beast of Burden is just a perfect mid-tempo vibe with lots of improvisation from both Keith and Ronnie throughout. A soothing jam you can just sort of sway to. And then there’s the hedonistic ode to late 70’s NYC, Shattered. Don’t think there’s been another song ever quite like it. Mick doing his own improv stream of consciousness about the city. Such an iconic finale!
2. Exile On Main Street (1972) I’ve struggled with Exile On Main Street for a long time simply because of its place as the GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL ALBUM OF ALL TIME which many have claimed over the years. And I’ve never quite gotten that. Like….is it? I’ve listened to it a lot and as a whole it’s a unique and strong statement. Maybe it’s the best Stones album by default? The short synopsis here is that it wasn’t THAT highly regarded at the time it was released but over time it grew in stature - which certainly happens with plenty of albums. It covers a lot of styles and the fact that there aren’t that many of the most well known Stones songs on it is part of the appeal for me. The exceptions here are Tumbling Dice with its mostly indecipherable-yet-lovable lyrics and the most famous song with Keith on lead vocals, Happy. Both are classics but still not THE most famous Stones tunes, and I find this an interesting point in the discussion about best albums. For example I believe R.E.M.’s Out Of Time, U2’s Achtung Baby and Metallica’s Black Album to be far from the best work of those bands despite being their biggest blockbusters, so I do NOT equate popularity with greatness. BUT - often with the Stones their most popular songs tend to be their greatest indeed. And I find it interesting that this album is the usual favorite out there over an album like Sticky Fingers with a lineup that includes Brown Sugar, Wild Horses, Can’t You Hear Me Knocking and Bitch for example. These are just points of discussion - my intention isn’t to tear down Exile by any means - it is indeed an incredible ride. Loving Cup in particular is a country tinged gem - we played this song in my first band The Detroit Stimulus Package going into Fluffhead by Phish (who also covered Loving Cup live) and I used to love singing this one. The whole with Exile is greater than the sum of the parts because songs like Rip This Joint, Casino Boogie and Turd On The Run aren’t anything special on their own but it’s hard to imagine this album without them. The other highlights for me are the rockers Rocks Off and All Down The Line, the pretty Let It Loose, and the rollicking Slim Harpo cover Shake Those Hips.
1. Sticky Fingers (1971) Yep. Not necessarily THE consensus, but how can you not rank an album at the top that has jeans with an ACTUAL ZIPPER on the cover of the original vinyl? Okay that’s not why it’s atop this list (but maybe a little lol). But let me get this out of the way for starters - Can’t You Hear Me Knocking is the greatest Stones song (or at least top 5). Fight me. Of all the great opening Stones riffs this one is the best for my money (it’s always been the ringtone for my brothers who are originally responsible for my love of this band), and I love the way Keith slightly changes it as he repeats it while he’s joined by the others. Complex yet fully digestible and the way Keith serves up each frantic and strained vocal line from Mick with the staccato can’t-you-hear-me-knocking riff is pure rock bliss. And that jam at the end? Unplanned and incredible. I saw this song live with the whole extended jam in 2002 and it was a moment I’ll never forget. Of course there’s Brown Sugar as the famous opener which has been the source of some controversy with references to the horrors of slavery but with the sex and drugs mixed in that just kind of makes the whole thing miss the mark. Mick would change the lyrics live for years and then they just stopped playing it. And once again, while the Stones are in the conversation for best rock band ever, Stones albums are pretty much never “perfect.” There’s always a couple of slighter tracks / relative duds. Almost without fail. And that’s okay - there are very few “bad” Stones songs, but as an example I’m not a huge fan of Sister Morphine and it’s on the album I’ve got at #1. And this fact also makes it tough to decide what should be #1. I don’t have a clear personal favorite Stones album. Some of the best Stones songs aren’t even on albums at all like Honky Tonk Women, Mother’s Little Helper, 19th Nervous Breakdown and Jumping Jack Flash for example. So I think you could pick the top 4 out of a hat - I can’t say these are set in stone(s). But continuing on, Wild Horses is an essential ballad, and Bitch is a killer. You Gotta Move is the lone blues cover here which is a great choice, I Got The Blues is a slow bluesy number with some great vocals from Mick & a nice Hammond organ solo from Billy Preston, Sway has some great Mick Taylor guitar work even though he didn’t get credit for it, and Moonlight Mile is simply majestic to close it out.
Phew! Okay that was a PROJECT and it took me a while… but it was a lot of fun. Writing these always takes me on a detailed journey back through the catalogue of many of my favorite artists and this one was worth it. I don’t always know where I’m going to end up when I start - sometimes I do but this one I didn’t. Hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to your feedback below!
M10 Social is owned by Doug Cohen in West Bloomfield, MI and provides social media training and digital marketing services from the Frameable Faces Photography studio Doug owns with his wife Ally. He can be reached there at tel:248-790-7317, by mobile at tel:248-346-4121 or via email at mailto:doug@frameablefaces.com. You can follow Doug’s band Vintage Playboy at their Facebook page here. You can also visit our other business Detroit Jerky at the website www.DetroitJerkyLLC.com!