I will not list mine because I am biased. I was born in 19__.
Interestied in other opinions
Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street, Goats Head Soup.
I’d be surprised if many people’s lists don’t have at least three of those.
In no particular order: The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones Now, 12x5, Out of Our Heads (basically the first four albums), Sticky Fingers. I love their original “blues purists” period, but I also really like Sticky Fingers.
- Get yer Ya-Yas Out
- Between the Buttons
- Sticky Fingers
- Beggars Banquet
- tie between Aftermath and Let it Bleed
I also have a weird love for December’s Children (US version)
When applicable, all these refer to US versions.
PS Ya-yas was recorded exactly 50 years ago this week, in Madison Square Garden (and Baltimore, plus a few overdubs later, nearly all of them vocals).
Celebrate by playing it — loud!
Hard to argue with (most of) the choices here so I’ll use the opportunity to put in a plug for the unfairly maligned ‘Their Satanic Majesty’s Request’. Well, at least for ‘She’s a Rainbow’ and ‘2000 Light Years from Home’.
“Wanna cop some acid?”
Good call. Other cuts I like from that album include “Citadel” and “2000 Man.”
- Sticky Fingers
- Exile on Main Street
- Some Girls
- 12 x 5
- It’s Only Rock and Roll
I know it’s early but I’m surprised Some Girls and Rock and Roll have not yet been mentioned.
Big Hits
Hot Rocks
Made in the Shade
Rewind
Through the past Darkly
Between The Buttons was the apex of Brian Jones’ creativity with the Stones, and thus their finest record.
Beggars Banquet
Let it Bleed
Exile on Main St
Some Girls
Got Live if you Want It (which was the first Rolling Stones album I owned)
Beggar’s Banquet
Let It Bleed
Get Yer Ya-ya’s Out
Between the Buttons
Exile ON Main Street
IMHO the four album stretch from Banquet to Exile is the greatest sustained output of any band. The fifth album is harder to pick, I’d probably go with Some Girls.
Beggar’s Banquet
Let It Bleed
Exile on Main Street
Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out
Some Girls
For compilations, I still have a warm space in my heart for Flowers.
Exile
Sticky Fingers
Let It Bleed
Ya Ya’s
Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)
should have said live albums don’t count but I’ll allow it for those who have previously posted. Love Ya-yas and will play it now loud.
Sticky Fingers
Exile On Main Street
Beggars Banquet
Let It Bleed
Ger Yer Ya-Ya’s Out
(yes, I like Mick Taylor Stones the best)
ETA: just saw that live albums don’t count: in this case Some Girls instead of Ya-Ya’s.
Yep. I would propose Neil Young Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, Harvest, Tonight’s the Night, Zuma, American Stars and Bars, Comes a Time, Rust Never Sleeps. But that is another thread.
But here is the reason I made no nominations for the Stones in the OP. I wanted to see how many people would mention Some Girls. The first Stones album I knew was Some Girls. It came out in 1978 when I was 16. And the reviews were mixed. These were the days of punk rock and CBGB and all that, and the Stones were thought of as washed up, old “over 30” musicians. I didn’t know this at the time, I just liked the album. But I know that, at the time, people who grew up with the Stones in the 60s thought it did not compare to Exile, Beggars, etc.
I think it does, I think it is every bit as good as those. And how weird is it to think that the Stones, in 1978, were considered too old.
So Some Girls will always be my favorite album, but for their best album, Beggars Banquet. And then Sticky Fingers, Let it Bleed, Exile.
Some Girls represented a wonderful comeback, that’s for sure. I think of it, Emotional Rescue, and Tattoo You as a trio of their last blast of creativity and relevance. An album of the best songs among these three would have made my top five, probably. “Beast of Burden,” “Before They Make Me Run,” “Far Away Eyes,”
then “Dance, Pt. 1” and “She’s So Cold,” then “Start Me Up” and “No Use in Crying,” maybe a couple others.