Pre-'exile' rolling stones POLL (studio albums)

Cue US ILXors on UK/US albums mismatches

So many varieties, and yes, as opposed to the Beatles, there is still some discussion as to which has the definitive discography.

I'm gonna be perverse and vote for Satanic Majesties. Just because. (Also because there are some monster choons on that album, even amidst all the psychedelic fluff.)

I've had The Rolling Stones, Out Of Our Heads and Between The Buttons since forever.

I got "Aftermath" and No2 more recently.

I got "Satanic" when it came out as a nice Jap CD with 3D frontpic (along with the "London Singles") when they first came out when HMV mistakenly priced them all at £15 each.

Voting Satanic, because I could play it forever.

(Might do a "Premier League" final poll with the top 3 from the post and pre polls, with "exile" added)

Beggars is probably my fave as a complete album. As classic as classic rock gets.

beggars banquet, but between that & let it bleed it's real close. "gimme shelter" is overplayed now but I remember being twelve and discovering it & being completely knocked over.

Between the Buttons. Stones albums are hard for me to rate. Probably the one band where I'll take the singles compilations over any single record.

It's so hard for me to rate the early (i.e. pre-Beggars) albums, even though my favourite Stones material is all on them, because they were such a singles band at that point.

x-post ha

i dunno, though, the early records are surprisingly solid. not that there isn't plenty of filler, but it's usually fairly enjoyable filler. I think I'd take Stones filler over Beatles filler.

If you'd put Flowers on it, I'd have voted for it.

Of these, Let It Bleed means the most to me, then it's between Aftermath (UK version) and Beggar's Banquet. I still think something's missing from all 3 of those albums: none of those 3 are stone cold classic *albums* (as opposed to families of songs), the way Exile is. And even as families of songs, I'll take Flowers over these.

Beggars Banquet

BB

damn, between aftermath, buttons and let it bleed i listen to the latter the most. is RS no. 2 called 12 x 5 in the US? i might vote for that mostly on account of "around and around" for improving a Chuck Berry song

BB - although I really wanted to vote for Satanic Majesties because I think its one of the all-time under-rated records, likewise for Between the Buttons. I just couldn't do it though. Beggars Banquet is such a total monster.

Let It Bleed is perfect in my humble opinion.

12X5

Side one
1."Around and Around" (Chuck Berry) – 3:03
2."Confessin' the Blues" (Jay McShann/Walter Brown) – 2:46
3."Empty Heart" (Nanker Phelge) – 2:35
4."Time Is on My Side" (Norman Meade) – 2:50 (This is the "organ" version of this song, as opposed to the version with the guitar intro which appeared on The Rolling Stones No. 2)
5."Good Times, Bad Times" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 2:32
6."It's All Over Now" (Bobby Womack, Shirley Jean Womack) – 3:27
Side two
1."2120 South Michigan Avenue" (Nanker Phelge) – 3:41
2."Under the Boardwalk" (Arthur Resnick, Kenny Young) – 2:48
3."Congratulations" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 2:28
4."Grown Up Wrong" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 2:04
5."If You Need Me" (Robert Bateman, Wilson Pickett) – 2:03
6."Susie Q" (Eleanor Broadwater, Stan Lewis, Dale Hawkins) – 1:51

Number2...

1."Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Solomon Burke, Jerry Wexler, Bert Russell) – 5:03
2."Down Home Girl" (Jerry Leiber, Arthur Butler) – 4:11
3."You Can't Catch Me" (Chuck Berry) – 3:38
4."Time Is on My Side" (Norman Meade) – 2:58 (This is the "guitar" version of this song, as opposed to the original version with the organ intro which appeared on 12 X 5.)
5."What a Shame" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:03
6."Grown Up Wrong" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 1:50
Side two
1."Down the Road Apiece" (Don Raye) – 2:55
2."Under the Boardwalk" (Arthur Resnick, Kenny Young) – 2:46
3."I Can't Be Satisfied" (McKinley Morganfield) – 3:26
4."Pain in My Heart" (Naomi Neville) – 2:11
5."Off the Hook" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 2:33
6."Susie Q" (Eleanor Broadwater, Dale Hawkins, Stanley Lewis) – 1:50

So, there you go.

let it bleed vs sticky fingers and it's not easy

prob Beggars (>Let It Bleed > Satanic = Sticky > BTB)

w/r/t the first 4-5 - as much as I enjoy them I think i'd just as soon listen to the London Years comp

voted beggars but let it bleed's been fighting for the top spot in my mind these days

let it bleed because monkey man and live with me are the best things they ever did

i think i'd take either the uk or us versions of aftermath (the us one loses a lot of good songs, but "paint it black" about makes up for it). and they both have "stupid girl," "lady jane," "i am waiting," "goin' home," "under my thumb."

If US and UK editions of Between The Buttons were combined it would win this poll.

why do ppl shit on satanic so much???

frankly i would take 2000 Light Years from Home over ALL of sgt peppers (except day in the life)

for me, i'm stuck between sticky fingers and between the buttons

(uk vers. of between the buttons)

satanic is much cooler in theory than in reality

so is sgt peppers actually but at least it has catchy songs

voted let it bleed; imo, satanic has as many catchy songs as pepper and no crap like "when i'm 64" to skip over

guys - satanic is like 50% filler

that's probably true -- still, it's probably better than a lot of highly praised 60s sgt. pepper inspired psych records, right?

it's not better than SF Sorrow

it is better than Sky Pilot by the Animal

I actually really like Satanic, but think the critical revisionism has gotten a bit out of hand. I mean I've owned this album in various formats and still can't remember half the tunes.

I can't be the only one who likes "In Another Land," right?

The second "Sing This All Together" and "Gomper" are bullshit, and the closing "On With The Show" is pretty lame too. O/w it's a very good album---"Citadel" makes my top 10 Stones song list.

Citadel, 2000 Man, She's a Rainbow, The Lantern, 2000 Light Years from Home = all golden; In Another Land - fair-to-middling. The rest I don't like or can't remember.

Gomper is the only track on Satanic I have issues with, and I prefer it to When I'm 64. Overall, Satanic is more bizarre than Sgt. Pepper, so in that bizarreness is a characteristic of psychedelic music (and I hold that it is), Satanic is also more psych. I can't imagine why I care about that, but I do. "Psychedelic" doesn't mean "relatively ambitious pop." Despite all that, I LIKE Sgt. Pepper a lot... There. I have rambled.

it's not better than SF Sorrow

wrongo

I can't be the only one who likes "In Another Land," right?

check!

I wish Satanic hadn't been compared to Pepper so much over the years. Satanic vs. the Magical Mystery Tour EP or Yellow Submarine seems more appropriate.

Satanic is full of excesses whereas Pepper feels really restrained by comparison.

voted Beggars Banquet

SF sorrow rules the school!!!!!

Catching up...

I like *all* of SatMaj, including Gomper, On with the show, and so far have never skipped (see what happens)...

I guess if it had been a double album, "See what happens" would have been 'forgiven' like Rev9 was.

sorry to be a bore, but let it bleed in a walk

I actually really like Satanic, but think the critical revisionism has gotten a bit out of hand. I mean I've owned this album in various formats and still can't remember half the tunes.

My personal winner out of all of these is Ogden's Nut Gone Flake

nobody has mentioned "no expectations" on this thread yet

I mean that is a very very solid jam

yeah, it is probably my favorite rolling stones song.

I heard a Beth Orton & Beck cover version of "No Expectation" before theRS version.

I'm not even sure I've heard the original (Have heard a live version, it's alright)

Voting Out Of Our Heads, partly because somebody should, though I really do think it's my favorite of these. Of the "later" ones, I'd take probably go with Let It Bleed. Never liked Satanic Majesties much.

the slide guitar on the original no expectations (brian jones, I hope/think) is heartbreakingly beautiful

the slide guitar on the original no expectations (brian jones, I hope/think) is heartbreakingly beautiful

Yes that's Brian on slide. According to everyone, that was the last bit of recording that he was really focused on.

one of the sadder rolling stones moments is seeing Jones relegated to shaking maraccas during the Rock n Roll Circus version of Sympathy For the Devil

this poll is so EZ cause AFtermath is my all-time favorite stones album.

one of the sadder rolling stones moments is seeing Jones relegated to shaking maraccas during the Rock n Roll Circus version of Sympathy For the Devil

― tylerw, Saturday, June 5, 2010 8:01 PM

I find the whole Brian Jones decline and death--even though he was apparently a huge SOB at least some of the time--really awful. Can I also add that Mick and Keith's attitude towards it has always struck me as LIHOP if not MIHOP? (Boy am I gonna get taken to the woodshed for this comment...)

Not sure which one to vote for - Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed are the ones I've listened to most - but I really really love Aftermath, especially the UK version, and Between The Buttons. There's bits of R&B stompiness that made em great in the first place but there's starting to get weirder and dropping clues about where they're going next - their first county-ish tracks, some prettier stuff, some sleaze.

I've never made it through Gomper but I have made it through Going Home. Even that kinda blows though, to be honest. Glad the Stones got the epic jams outta their system early.

the bass sound on Between the Buttons is completely nasty and amazing. i like the sound of that record probably better than any of the others.

so much love for between the buttons

i just gotta say 12X5 is kickin' my arse this morning. "around and around" is a brilliant Chuck Berry cover but "congradulations", "it's all over now", "empty heart"(!!!), and "2120 South Michigan Ave"(!!) are just as killer. "under the boardwalk" is the only non-essential track on here

Yeah 2120 South Michigan Ave. is like a proto-Waiting For The Man, musically ...

and "Hitch Hike" off Out Of Our Heads => "There She Goes Again" though really that's Marvin Gaye.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Voted Aftermath. I guess we're supposed to be voting for the UK versions, but I only ever listened to the US version. It doesn't really matter since it is the presence of "Going Home" that sealed it for me.

Tough one, but Beggar's is my choice.

I can't be the only one who likes "In Another Land," right?

I love it too! It reminds me alot of Wyman's band The End who had a really cool psych pop record called Introspection that I like more than Satanic at times.

Voting "BB" just because it's pretty much the ultimate Stones record and you can't top that album opener, as overplayed as it is.

Voted Let It Bleed because it's awesome.

Jagger on Between the Buttons:

WENNER:
Then you did “Between the Buttons.” What do you think of that album?
JAGGER:
Frank Zappa used to say he really liked it. It’s a good record, but it was unfortunately rather spoiled. We recorded it in London on four-track machines. We bounced it back to do overdubs so many times, we lost the sound of a lot of it.
WENNER:
Does that record mean a lot to you?
JAGGER:
No. What’s on it?
WENNER:
“Connection.”
JAGGER:
It’s nice. “Connection” is really nice.
WENNER:
“Yesterday’s Papers.”
JAGGER:
Yeah, the first song I ever wrote completely on my own for a Rolling Stones record. “My Obsession,” that’s a good one. They sounded so great, but then, later on, I was really disappointed with it. Isn’t “Ruby Tuesday” on there or something? I don’t think the rest of the songs are that brilliant. “Ruby Tuesday” is good. I think that’s a wonderful song.
WENNER:
Why?
JAGGER:
It’s just a nice melody, really. And a lovely lyric. Neither of which I wrote, but I always enjoy singing it. But I agree with you about the rest of the songs – I don’t think they’re there. I don’t think I thought they were very good at the time, either.

"Mothers Little Helper", "Under My Thumb", and "Lady Jane" were on Aftermath, so that's a close one. "Lady Jane" is BADASS.

^^^ Mick Jagger is wrong, as usual, and is there any musician less capable of discerning his great from his shitty work? I voted for Between The Buttons (could have easily gone for Aftermath or Beggar's Banquet). Here's my argument: just listen to one song, 'She Smiled Sweetly.' Never included in discussions of their best work, it's utterly perfect. Play it on a Sunday morning, I guarantee you'll be convinced. The whole fucking album is astonishing.

Pre "Beggars Banquet" would have been more fair. Voted "Their Satanic Majesties" anyway.

that's probably true -- still, it's probably better than a lot of highly praised 60s sgt. pepper inspired psych records, right?

No, it isn't. But it's a 60s Sgt. Pepper inspired psych record. Which makes it better than all other Stones albums.

xpost I wanted to take it up to "Exile" as they seemed of a piece, and there's been a 'post' exile poll done.

As I say, there'll be a 'grand final'

Can be discussion, but I would say "Beggar's Banquet" was the album that defined The Rolling Stones musically, as in the musical approach they'd make their own. Before that, they were merely recycling American R&B from 1963 through 1965 whereas in 1966-67 they were experimenting with more melodic and pop oriented material and briefly approaching The Beatles musically.

Yeah, I'd go along with that.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Kind of boring result for ILM, imo.

why because its otm

there was no dec's children in uk?

was thinking that, too, just now. "she said yeah" is one of my all-time fave Stones moments.

interesting results when you see what won the overall poll from a few years back: favorite The Rolling Stones album

I really like "Something Happened to Me Yesterday"!!

When I was in high school, the top three winners would have been my favorite Stones albums, but now I found myself wanting to hear the pre-Beggars Banquet albums more, even those first few ones laden with R&B and blues covers.

Right, will do a final poll with the top six albums from this thread.

Oh, ok then, top three.