Rolling Stones Appreciation Thread / Tour etc

[iron yuppie]

On Tuesday, the Rolling Stones will release a deluxe edition of their rollicking 1978 album Some Girls. As I was searching for an appropriate place in which to share this information, I was highly surprised to find that no thread existed in B&C with the words "Rolling Stones" in the title.

I think that it's time we give some credit to this wildly influential and prolific band. The Stones are, after all, a band with at least four - Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street - and perhaps as many as seven - throw in Out of Our Heads, Between the Buttons, and Some Girls - brilliant albums in their oeuvre. So why is it that the vast majority of discussion about the Stones on this forum only seeks to denigrate them as avaricious, Pleistocene sell-outs? Please share some thoughts on the depraved genius of Mick, Keith, and co.

Hey, even Bill Clinton is a fan!

 

[LemonMelon]

Yeah, who doesn't love the Stones? Damn, man, even if they're an embarrassment now, they still spent more time being great than nearly any other band, ever. Good thread.

Not sure any two albums are as close together in quality as Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers. I just can't decide which kicks more ass. Maybe Alligator and Boxer are tighter, but that's it.

 

[Danny Boy]

I only own two Stones albums, other than a few compilations, and those are the two.

 

[The Panther]

I tend to be quite critical of them because their post-early 70s stuff is so uninspiring and because they've obviously set the template for bloated, corporate stadium rock of greatest-hits sets played to deep-pocketed baby boomers while the band counts its stock profits. Nevertheless, there's no denying their brilliance from 1963 to 1971-72.

The older I get, the less interesting they become though (I thought they were the Bees' Knees when I was 15). I think it comes down to the fact that I can't really peg the Stones as being the best at anything. Best at diverse song-craft and harmonies? The Beatles. Best at spiritually driven epic rock? U2. Best at introspective personal songwriting? Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, etc. Best white blues singing? Certainly not Mick Jagger. Best British blues? Also not the Stones. And if I want to hear pure blues (as I sometimes do), I'll turn to old blues guys (and gals), not The Stones.

So, there's nothing in particular that I can find that The Stones did extremely well, even at their peak. And yet they were doing something right, as their music in that period is fantastic. In particular, the early Mick Taylor combo of 1969 to 1971 is otherworldly. They tapped into something very special on Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers (and Exile, I guess), which is extremely rare and quite wonderful.

Anyway, interesting dudes and you gotta love Keith Richards.

Good thread idea, too.

 

[Danny Boy]

You know, 15 years from now, someone might make the exact same post about U2.

 

[iron yuppie]

Best British blues? Also not the Stones.

I think that this depends on what type of blues we are referencing. In terms of the raw, more languid Delta style, no "rock" act did it better than the Stones. I'm thinking here of a track like "You've Got the Silver" and even something as late as "Back of My Hand." Most of the other British bluesmen, like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, tended to traffic in the more electrically-driven Chicago style, although Page could do both with aplomb.

 

[PhilsFan]

Gimme Shelter is an incredible song.

I have I think four albums of theirs. All very good.

 

[phanan]

Gimme Shelter has also been way overused these last few years, which is a shame.

 

[1stepcloser]

Probably the best band in the world to drink beer to on a Saturday night.

 

[martha]

I was one of those who went to see them for the first time recently. (I was far too young to see them in their heyday, and my mom wouldn't let me go when I was in high school and they were touring with the inflatable wiener. It wasn't the wiener, it was the Stones at the Coliseum she had issues with. Anyway.) And they were so very good. Yes, I was surrounded by baby-boomers, but they LOVED the band and were so happy to be there. I was too. They were playing ROLLING STONES songs and they sounded terrific.

Spoiler

My husband went to that Coliseum show and saw Prince booed off the stage. he said Prince was amazing, jockstrap, trenchcoat and all.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Genuinely surprised there hasn't been a thread yet. Love the Stones, grew up to the sounds of Some Girls and Exile.

My favourite piece of caricatured misogyny to ever be recordered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYYTLJ8YHi4

Gimme Shelter has also been way overused these last few years, which is a shame.

I hear that, I cringe when I hear it in any movie/advertisement for insta-grit. Doesn't distract from the greatness of the song, but give it a rest already.

 

[Kieran McConville]

You can't beat that near-penultimate scene in Goodfellas where Henry Hill is trying to evade an FBI helicopter to the tune of Monkey Man.

 

[cobl04]

I have Exile on Main St and Beggars' Banquet, and Forty Licks as well. Exile has to be the best pure rock and roll album I've ever heard. It took me a long time to really warm up to but I love it now, warts and all. No record like it will ever be released again.

Beggars' Banquet I'm not a big fan of. Too many country-ish tunes on there for me (I'm inviting criticism there I'm sure) but Sympathy for the Devil is my favourite Stones tune and one of favourites ever (though that's a pretty moot term).

I've still not heard Let it Bleed, nor Sticky Fingers. Every time I've gone to buy either, they've been in excess of $20. Fuckin' JBHiFi.

 

[lazarus]

they still spent more time being great than nearly any other band, ever. Good thread.

??

They're not the only band with a 7-8 year period of greatness.

Not sure any two albums are as close together in quality as Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers. I just can't decide which kicks more ass. Maybe Alligator and Boxer are tighter, but that's it.

I'm sure: Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street.

 

[lazarus]

Also, for the record, Some Girls is not a great album. It has a good number of standout tracks, but overall it's a far cry from Goat's Head Soup, let alone the run from Beggars to Exile.

Tattoo You isn't even worth discussing. People who think that album is some kind of late masterpiece should be thrown in music jail.

 

[LemonMelon]

??

They're not the only band with a 7-8 year period of greatness.

7 or 8? Perhaps they were the best rock band around for 7 or 8 years, but they were making great singles and solid records for the better part of 15 years, maybe longer, depending on how generous you are. For a while, they existed during a period in which album creation wasn't the primary goal of many bands, and they sure delivered on the singles front. Could probably make a couple albums of material out of those singles that would rival Beggars Banquet, so there's that.

Couldn't disagree more with your Some Girls remarks. Hell of an album, loaded with great singles and swaggering, druggy sleaze that emphasizes what they do well while challenging themselves to try other genres.

 

[cobl04]

Tattoo You isn't even worth discussing. People who think that album is some kind of late masterpiece should be thrown in music jail.

Start Me Up is awesome, but, of course, it was in a Microsoft ad, so you must think it's the worst song of all time.

 

[iron yuppie]

Beggars' Banquet I'm not a big fan of. Too many country-ish tunes on there for me (I'm inviting criticism there I'm sure) but Sympathy for the Devil is my favourite Stones tune and one of favourites ever (though that's a pretty moot term).

The run of four that Beggars initiates is difficult to rank, but I find myself returning to Beggars most often, and, if I were pushed, I would call it my favorite Stones album. The grit and oscillation between lust and ennui really carry it.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Yeah, gun to my head right now, I'd have to say Beggars is my favorite.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Rocks Off is one of the best album openers in history.

Rocks Off -> Rip This Joint has to be one of the best opening one-two punches in the history of recorded music, and that combo is probably one of the biggest reasons why I love rock and roll and am a perverted degenerate with a drinking problem and a proclivity for filling my lungs with smoke.

 

[bono_212]

Also, for the record, Some Girls is not a great album. It has a good number of standout tracks, but overall it's a far cry from Goat's Head Soup, let alone the run from Beggars to Exile

well, I guess I'll just fly in the face of fact then.

I feel like such an asshole when I say what my favorite albums by the stones are. I love them so much, the band. I think they're the greatest singles band of all time, I wish I enjoyed all of their albums, but I just can't get in to Sticky fingers and Let it Bleed. Blast away at that, I don't get it either.

My favorite albums are:
Beggars Banquet
Some Girls
Their Satanic Majesties
Exile

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

mick jagger is the greatest front man to ever live. even to this very day, if jagger shows up, the electricity he exudes makes anyone else in the room seem small in comparison.

 

[prbiker15]

I only have a few songs from various albums (I love Shine A Light). My parents saw them when they came here in 2006, in which I missed out and I really regret it now.

Favorite song = Shattered. Love that song so much.

Great, great band, I definitely consider them legends. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards = amazing.

 

[LemonMelon]

I'll also say that Beggars is my least favorite of the big 4, though I like it more than most albums.

 

[The Panther]

Sticky Fingers is my favorite. 10 tight songs, and not a weak one among them. I think "You Gotta Move" might be their best straight blues, and the 9 originals are all stellar. "Dead Flowers" is one of the best songs I've ever heard. And the finale, "Moonlight Mile", is just lovely beyond anything. Mick Taylor, take a bow.

Also, you got to love any LP sleeve with a giant photo of a guy's dick. I do give them credit for that, and for not just showing some T&A (well, that phase would come later).

 

[IWasBored]

I was highly surprised to find that no thread existed in B&C with the words "Rolling Stones" in the title.

not true. well, maybe it is true and the band's entire name wasn't in the title, but i started a stones thread once. but now that i think about it, that had to be around 2005ish, because i was still in school and mrbrau hadn't quite snapped and got banned yet. he did, however, tell me that i needed to get sticky fingers and exile asap (the point of the thread being that while i'd heard a handful of the hits, i really didn't know jack shit about the stones at the time). he was right, of course, and exile really is one of the greatest albums of all time.

 

[iron yuppie]

Sticky Fingers is a brilliant album. Can't You Here Me Knocking might be my favorite Stones song, which is really saying a lot.

It's amazing how fertile the period of 1968-1972 was for them. Even the leftovers from Exile contain some absolute gems.

 

[lazarus]

That reminds me, I never downloaded that disc of outtakes.

 

[prbiker15]

I know this is the appreciation thread, but this has been making the rounds for a while, but the rumors are getting stronger.

Stones Near Decision on 50th Anniversary Shows | Music News | Rolling Stone

I kinda hope it's a full tour next year, but I'm starting to doubt it. Maybe some one-off shows, but a full tour I don't think so. Hope to be wrong, though.

 

[IWasBored]

leftovers from Exile contain some absolute gems.

i need to hear those.