Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
THE ROLLING STONES
Studio Albums: The Rolling Stones / England's Newest Hit Makers (1964) | 12 X 5 (1964) | The Rolling Stones No. 2 / The Rolling Stones, Now! (1965) | Out of Our Heads (1965) | December's Children (And Everybody's) (1965) | Aftermath (1966) | Between the Buttons (1967) | Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) | Beggars Banquet (1968) | Let It Bleed (1969) | Sticky Fingers (1971) | Exile on Main St. (1972) | Goats Head Soup (1973) | It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974) | Black and Blue (1976) | Some Girls (1978) | Emotional Rescue (1980) | Tattoo You (1981) | Undercover (1983) | Dirty Work (1986) | Steel Wheels (1989) | Voodoo Lounge (1994) | Bridges to Babylon (1997) | A Bigger Bang (2005) | Blue & Lonesome (2016) | Readers’ Poll Results
“I know you wanna leave me / But I refuse to let you go.”
The Rolling Stones recorded a cover of The Temptations’ 1966 hit single “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” on their 1974 LP It's Only Rock ‘n Roll, and I always imagined Mick Jagger singing that lyric to the band's fans whenever they went through one of their many makeovers. Maybe it was the fans singing it to them or a combination of the two.
The Rolling Stones paid their dues for quite some time, from being dissed by Dean Martin on the TV show The Hollywood Palace to watching founding member Brian Jones become a shell of himself due to his drug addiction. In that short early-career period, the band released nine albums, honed their craft, and simply became the world's greatest rock & roll band. Fight me. They are.
From Beggars Banquet in 1968 to It's Only Rock ‘n Roll in 1974, no band produced the quality of work the Rolling Stones did under tumultuous and self-inflicted pain they seemingly thrived on. These were the Mick Taylor years, for which he does not get the proper respect paid to him. Taylor replacing Jones was the best thing that could have happened to the band at the time. By no means am I trying to diminish Jones' tenure, but Taylor gave the band an infusion of something special that Jones was no longer capable of providing. He was the missing ingredient that would catapult the Stones into an entirely different solar system than their peers. He was only able to contribute to two songs on Let It Bleed, "Country Honk" and "Live with Me,” so Keith Richards played all of the guitar parts.
To this day, whenever I play "Gimme Shelter,” a chill goes right through my spine that is indescribable. It's one of those records where everything works, Richards' playing, Jagger's vocal, and the insane and iconic backing vocal of Merry Clayton. Play that song, and you'll hear what it sounds like when a band clicks on all cylinders. It's simply breathtaking.
During this incredible run, the Rolling Stones' personal lives were a mess. Between becoming tax exiles and various drug problems within the band, it is nothing short of a miracle they recorded Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. To get a better idea of just how bad it was, read Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones by Robert Greenfield.
The period after 1976 is one where critics began being harsher with their assessments of the band. "Miss You,” their so-called disco song, was a bridge too far for some, but can you say that it's a bad song or that Some Girls missed the mark? Of course not. In reading the reviews, the only thing that album, along with Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You, are guilty of is that they didn't resemble anything from their golden age.
Artists changing their sound is not a crime against humanity, and for years, the Rolling Stones took their fair share of abuse when it came to their post-1976 output. They recorded some clunkers, but that’s common with any band that’s been together for a long time. Bands like the Police and the Beatles broke up at the right time before the dreaded "uneven album" phase that happens to almost every band. The post-Tattoo You era does not tarnish the Rolling Stones’ discography; it's just a small part of the story of the greatest rock & roll band in the world.
Terry’s 3 Favorite Rolling Stones Albums of All Time:
1. Let It Bleed (1969)
2. Sticky Fingers (1971)
3. Beggars Banquet (1968)
VISIT The Rolling Stones’ Official Store
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