The Rolling Fuckin' Stones

[VinylGuy]

Voodoo Lounge - I will start off by saying despite what I remember being negative reactions to this album when it came out, this is a good album that’s really just about 20 minutes too long. In fact, if they did take the weakest 20 mins off this album it would have been their best since Tattoo You. I enjoyed from Love Is Strong straight through I Go Wild. Add in Blinded By Rainbows, Baby Break It Down, and Mean Disposition and there you have an excellent album. Granted it’s nowhere near what they were in the 70s but that’s really an impossible bar to reach.

this one is one of my favs.
Yeah, im sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that i was like 12 when it came out...but to this day, i fucking love it so much. I love Don Was´intention of making a classic Stones record without caring about whatever pop music was going on. I love Keith´s contributions.

[liebzz]

It’s funny you say that because it seems that they often get stuck trying to emulate, or at the very least incorporate, modern pop music into their sound every few albums and those, in my mind, tend to be their least successful. I think they are at their best when really pushing themselves to play their version of the blues and rock. I get it could become stagnant over time, but I think over the 40 years of albums I’ve gone through at this point they have successfully mined that place without sounding stale throughout. Aka, Keith was right.

Edit: correction it is 30 years of albums. Bridges to Babylon and A Bigger Bang come next - then it will be 40 years of albums.

[surfndestroy]

Steel Wheels - while this album is a tremendous improvement over the prior two, I would say I enjoyed about 2/3 of it while some seemed to suffer from the same 80s decisions that mired the prior two. The entire first half to me was mostly fantastic, except for Blinded by Love, which I wasn’t feeling. But it was nice to hear the Stones, much more seemingly playing all together, busting out Sad Sad Sad and Hold On To Your Hat. The second half was not as strong, though the one song that had a lot of that weird 80s tinny artificial elements but still sounded great was Continental Drift. Break the Spell was also fantastic. In the end, this was a good effort where they clearly lived as more of a unit than they did for most of the 80s...on to the 90s next.

Saw them twice on this tour. It swore me off of stadium tours for 20+ years. It's not that the Stones were bad but a stadium is the worst possible venue I can imagine for a concert.

[liebzz]

Bridges to Babylon - I think for the most part this album is much in line with Voodoo Lounge stylistically. There’s some interesting highlights throughout, including Gunface (stones grunge?), Out of Control, and Saint of Me. Might As Well Get Juiced sounds like one of the songs where they tried to get weird in the 80s, except I think it is done to much greater effect here - they finally got that right. There’s also plenty of good rock songs on here as well. I end up feeling that the main single off this album might be one of the real low points in Anybody Seen My Baby? which has that weird rap near the end that kind of tanks the song. Another solid effort though nothing approaching their heyday.

[liebzz]

A Bigger Bang - I know there’s a lot of negativity out there about this one as well, but I thought the first third was mostly pretty good. From Rough Justice through Rain Fall Down I was enjoying this. From there, it’s really only a few selected decent tunes, namely Back of My Hand and Infamy, so really if this was a 30 min album of the best of this it would have been pretty good. Most of the rest for me was mostly forgettable.

[liebzz]

Blue and Lonesome - this album is pretty much a string of straight forward blues cover songs but I really enjoy it. It actually feels like the band coming full circle from the early years when most of their albums were covers with selected original singles. I would go track to track with this except everything is evenly good throughout. I would wish for them to attempt original songs in this vein because it think this is the best sound they’ll have going for them however much longer they decide to continue doing what they do. This is a great band firing on all cylinders again after years away and the vehicle may not be new material, it it suits them quite well, which is maybe all you can ask for them.

[VinylGuy]

Bridges to Babylon - I think for the most part this album is much in line with Voodoo Lounge stylistically. There’s some interesting highlights throughout, including Gunface (stones grunge?), Out of Control, and Saint of Me. Might As Well Get Juiced sounds like one of the songs where they tried to get weird in the 80s, except I think it is done to much greater effect here - they finally got that right. There’s also plenty of good rock songs on here as well. I end up feeling that the main single off this album might be one of the real low points in Anybody Seen My Baby? which has that weird rap near the end that kind of tanks the song. Another solid effort though nothing approaching their heyday.

Another personal favorite. I was so exited when they released it, it was an event. And i saw them twice on that tour, one of those shows with Bob Dylan as an opener. He later joined them for Like A Rolling Stone. Historic.

I love most of the album, but my favorites are Anybody seen my baby (god, that groove), Flip The Switch, Already Over me, Saint Of me, Might as well..,Too Tight.

A mention to Keith´s songs here...they are just the best. The three of them are masterpieces.

[liebzz]

Bridges to Babylon - I think for the most part this album is much in line with Voodoo Lounge stylistically. There’s some interesting highlights throughout, including Gunface (stones grunge?), Out of Control, and Saint of Me. Might As Well Get Juiced sounds like one of the songs where they tried to get weird in the 80s, except I think it is done to much greater effect here - they finally got that right. There’s also plenty of good rock songs on here as well. I end up feeling that the main single off this album might be one of the real low points in Anybody Seen My Baby? which has that weird rap near the end that kind of tanks the song. Another solid effort though nothing approaching their heyday.

Another personal favorite. I was so exited when they released it, it was an event. And i saw them twice on that tour, one of those shows with Bob Dylan as an opener. He later joined them for Like A Rolling Stone. Historic.

I love most of the album, but my favorites are Anybody seen my baby (god, that groove), Flip The Switch, Already Over me, Saint Of me, Might as well..,Too Tight.

A mention to Keith´s songs here...they are just the best. The three of them are masterpieces.

I thought about posting under the thoughts for A Bigger Bang that Keith’s tracks in the 90s and 00s might be superior to Mick’s but I withheld. Glad I am not crazy.

[liebzz]

I am going to listen to a b-sides album I skipped later today. Flowers. Then I will have completed this journey and will give some larger thoughts.

[oasisfan35]

I am going to listen to a b-sides album I skipped later today. Flowers. Then I will have completed this journey and will give some larger thoughts.

If you come across Metamorphosis I'd suggest it, almost as an oddity.

[AndySlash]

i've always liked bridges to babylon. i think i was the only one in my general vicinity who was excited to hear them break into 'out of control' at the show i saw here a few years ago. i dig the rap in 'anybody seen my baby?', but i dig biz markie so there's that.

no security was a pretty good live record from that tour.

[liebzz]

Flowers - I guess this is like an odds and ends type of thing but it doesn’t play that way. It didn’t play disjointed for me and frankly it was nice to get some final doses of that early Stones. Everything in this is quality, though most of the tracks I had already heard through the other albums. Not sure why this really exists but I am glad it does. What I don’t immediately recognize but really like is Sitting on a Fence, and the cover of My Girl. The rest I think exists elsewhere? Maybe Have Tou Seen Your Mother wasn’t otherwise on another album but I’ve heard it a bunch of times on some compilation or another.

[liebzz]

I am going to listen to a b-sides album I skipped later today. Flowers. Then I will have completed this journey and will give some larger thoughts.

If you come across Metamorphosis I'd suggest it, almost as an oddity.

Taking up this suggestion now! Out of Time with strings sounds great...just starting it.

[knee tunes]

Metamorphosis is my second favorite album next to exile.

The side that begins with "I don't know why I love you baby" . Memo from. Turner. Jiving Sister Fanny. . These are the furthest. Things from oddities.

[liebzz]

Just starting that side. The first half was excellent and loose.

If You Let Me and Factory Girl are remarkably similar.

[liebzz]

Metamorphosis- Half of this I would consider really great essential Stones and half just a fun play with their sound. Quite enjoyable. Memo From Turner was excellent. I Don’t Know Why and Jiving Sister Fanny also great songs. The front half was also mostly very good - Don’t Lie to Me and Out of Time were awesome. I wouldn’t put it as one of my favorites but definitely somewhere in the middle, which is a compliment based on how much I enjoyed it all.

[liebzz]

Okay so made it to the end and that was a great little journey. I’ll resist the urge to rank them because it’s no much music I think that would again be impossible. I’ll say if you ask me my 10 most essential, I’d go with Exile on Main Street, Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Beggars Banquet, Some Girls, Goats Head Soup, Tattoo You, Rolling Stones No. 2, Between the Buttons, and Aftermath with an honorable mention for Flowers, Metamorphosis, Rolling Stones, 12x5, and Blue and Lonesome.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Who's next?

[LetMeSleep]

Nice one dude.

[liebzz]

Ha. I want to make a run with the Beatles and answer that age old question: Beatles vs. Stones.