Most underrated Rolling Stones album?

Another vastly underrated Stones album is their 2nd UK LP, The Rolling Stones No.2. In my opinion, this was the band's peak as a tough, authentic sounding R&B band. I like it much better than their debut,or the follow-up, Out Of Heads. It only has one thing about it that I don't like..."Under The Boardwalk", which, I'm ashamed to say, went to No.1 down here.

 

Just to clarify, I do still like the debut and Out Of Our Heads...just not as much as No.2.

 

Yes..my vision is slipping on me, so sorry. I can't get back in their to correct it.

 

The best of the early stuff is the bootleg of all the Chess sessions that were spread across multiple albums.

 

I agree, The Chess sessions is one of the best Stones boots ever.

 

Emotional Rescue
Satanic Majesties, for The Citadel alone, critics be damned~!
Goats Head Soup

As for Black and Blue, mentioned once or twice, IMHO it entirely deserves it's poor rating. My opinion may be colored by the fact that one evening in the 70s, when we were out dancing, I asked the DJ to please, in the name of all that's holy, quit playing that damnable disco crap (I've since grown fond of 70's disco) and please, please, put on some Stones (naively expecting Satisfaction or similar). He puts on Hot Stuff. I can say, based on 5 awkward minutes on the dance floor, it's damn near the most UN danceable tune ever cut.

 

What tracks comprise the Chess recordings? I just want to compile a playlist from the official releases.

 

Here is a track listing. Some of these have not been officially released.

 

Just a (Goat) Heads (so)Up- you can vote on this issue over here at a poll I set up too...
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...any-as-you-want-need-to.402032/#post-11575248

 

Right on, brother. It's also the best sounding stuff from their early years.

 

No need to apologise, I thought it must be a misprint.

 

December's Children - it's like holding your finger to a live wire.

 

I know this is cheating - Hot Rocks 2.

I never heard of this release until Steve Hoffman mentioned it. I really like the mastering.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...fingers-shm-sacd-reviews.252004/#post-6584926

 

All true! I was just listening to it the other day. Great sound and terrific performances. Every Stones fan needs to have it.

I am revisiting IORR thanks to the discussion in this thread. I like it much better than I have before. I still think that the rockers feel a bit lacking in energy, though. "If You Can't Rock Me" definitely benefits from being played live. In fact, I'm going to listen to one of the versions from my Complete L.A. Forum '75 boot to confirm my impression on that song - and maybe the title track, which I think is also on that tour.

 

Does that one open with "She Said Yeah"?

Love it.

 

Frankly, I have a hard time considering anything "underrated" by a band that gets as much attention as the Rolling Stones... If someone like Spooky Tooth or The Pretty Things had put out Goat's Head Soup, not only would it not be remembered, it wouldn't have legions of defenders or apologists or whatever they are...

However, I'll try to stick to the spirit of the OP, and put my caveat aside...

Underrated:

1. Their Satanic Majesties Request - Panned when it was new, it has become a beloved 60's relic among those who weren't born yet. It is something of a tour de force for Brian Jones, who is more visible than on any other Stones album (Ironically, too, since he had been dead against pursuing a psychedelic sound, creating a rift that only grew) Bands like Spacemen 3 and Brian Jonestown Massacre built whole careers using elements of this album in their essential DNA. "2000 Light Years From Home" and "2000 Man" are great songs, Bill Wyman's "In Another Land" holds its own, "Citadel" is cool in a zonked way, and "She's a Rainbow" is good-natured fun. The drugged out ambiance is a plus, the 3-D cover was amusing to play with, and the critical scorn it received just adds to its legend.

2. Between the Buttons - I once heard someone dismiss this as "second rate Kinks", which had never occurred to me before. While I see his point, I always thought of it as a Dylanized Jagger with psychedelic flourishes. Jagger's lyrics on this album are among the sharpest and wittiest of his career, the band veers all over the map stylistically without blowing it, and Brian Jones keeps himself busy. "All Sold Out" is a great song, the psychedelic chaos of "Cool Calm Collected" is exhilarating, "Connection" is jaunty, "She Smiled Sweetly" is sophisticated, "Yesterday's Papers" is funny... It's a fine album, sometimes I think it's their best. Somehow, it never seems to get mentioned much anymore.

3. Out of Our Heads [US Version] - This is one of those pesky US releases from the 60's that actually improved the album it was based on. The US version dropped two unexceptional cover versions ("She Said Yeah" and "Oh Baby We Got a Good Thing Going", and two originals ("I'm Free" and "Gotta Get Away"), and replaced them with four of their strongest songs of the era: "Satisfaction", "The Last Time", "Play With Fire", and "The Spider ad the Fly". Overall, the US version packs a much better punch, and is a more accurate snapshot of the band's development at the time.

4. Undercover - There is an enormous drop off in quality from the third entry on this list to the fourth. I wouldn't even go so far as to claim this is a good album. However, I like it despite myself. It is their ugliest, most misogynistic release ever. The music on it is largely deliberately alienating. It cranks up the decadence of Goat's Head Soup up to cartoon levels. Its "political" song is a jumble, some of the songs are little more than riffs, self-parody is always lurking in the shadows. And yet, somehow, it works. The discordant guitars and freight train rhythm of "Undercover of the Night" give it an edge, the yowling vocals and guitarage of "Pretty Beat Up" gives it a nightmarish quality that has teeth, Jagger's "Chainsaw Massacre" speech during the groove-oriented "Too Much Blood" is amusing, "It Must Be Hell" sounds like the Stones of yore, with a wacked-out processed guitar solo... It's like an 80's version of Head Comix or something... If I weren't a Stones fan, I'd dislike this album. But I liked its weirdness, particularly as it toock some chances that the previous two albums hadn't.

Most Overrated: Tattoo You

 

"she said yeah" is great.

you forgot "all the way down" from undercover being a standard but catchy stones rocker and "wanna hold you" being the last great keith rocker

 

Excellent post. Outside of the spot on assessment of Satanic and its children, the comment that struck me was about Goat's Head. No other band could release that album because so much of the Stones' special vibe & character is buried in the grooves. "Coming Down Again" isn't a ballad about addiction, it is addiction, the vocals & tempo just dripping with that vibe. Sort of like Coppola's quote about Apocalypse Now - 'my movie is Vietnam.' That's one of the secrets of the Stones, the way their music captures personality & vibes beyond the songs.

As far as the OP I'd agree with Goat's but I'll add the Some Girls bonus disc as my choice, I've been on a kick with that one lately and it's a great listen that keeps getting better.

 

Just consider the great 14/16 songs from the June 1964 session at Chess where recorded in TWO days..!!!

 

The stuff that I like best on It's Only Rock 'n' Roll aren't the rockers, but the songs that are never any danger of appearing on any compilations. The two songs that are, in my opinion, head and shoulders over the rest are the brilliant, funky "Fingerprint File" and the sprawling Mick Taylor tour de force, "Time Waits For No One".

And I really like "Till The Next Goodbye" too.

 

I like almost all of it. Luxury is probably the weakest track for me.

 

There is a segment of fans that don't like it. I'm a fan of the bluesy Stones sound but enjoy it although I think it sounds quite dated. That said, it's always been highly regarded by most fans and the critics so I'm not sure I would call it underrated. In fact, the only 60's Stones album that has received less than wide praise would probably be TSMR.

 

Me too, John. It's probably the only one that I regularly skip. The song certainly isn't helped by the ridiculous accent that Mick affects in it.

 

I just now took up my own advice. I just realized that the It's Only rock & roll came out in 74 and hence would be covered by that year's Pazz & Jopp Village Voice poll (of about a hundred
rock critics nationwide). If you look it up the first thing you notice is that about 35 albums are listed that critical concensus deemed best of the year. And that it's one hell of a list.
A good year indeed! And the concensus placed It's Only Rock & Roll at #5! Now I hate this record myself, but there it is. I can't very well say it was critically underrated when the critics of the time loved it. I don't recall Goat's Head getting similar critical love, but I wish there were a Pazz and Jopp to refer to.