Pick the best Rolling Stones album from THESE FOUR:

Please do give B2B another shot. I listened the other day and say that was a great one. Great opener, Saint of Me, and the closer by Keith with the background vocals is awesome!

I would say that if a poll gets started regarding the top 4 avatars on the forum, I would place yours in that discussion most definitely

 

I'll give it a spin this weekend. I've always meant to, just haven't got around to it.

 

Tried to like these but never achieved that goal. The one i played more than the oothers is Voodoo Lounge but towards the end there is that one song Uh caviar that stinks and that's that. steel wheels is always a pleasure to hear, when i heard it. maybe 3 times or so and the rest. Well the Videos hits are decent but esp. Bridges is too eclectic for a Stones LP.
They were leaders now they sound like followers or their own cover band. real strange.
Undercover is the last decent stones, Lp. Ask them to come up with more than 10 or 12 songs they suck. Typical LP group..lol
Dirty Work and Undercover are already mixed bags, but I think these are still rollng stones albums, not as good as anything they did before but still nice enough from start to end.
I simply do NOT care for albums I have to skip a few tracks..sorry time is too precious for that.

If they released a Best of from these 4 albums it might be good.
Anyone care to make a playlist ?
I can't since i am not familiar enough with that stuff.
BTW
a Bigger Bang comes closest to a solid album without material to skip; but it does not feel like a true classic stones album.

 

With the 2013 tour dates approaching, I've been searching through Rolling Stones threads.

This thread caused me to pay close attention to these 4 records. As I scroll through these pages, I'm recalling how varied the opinions are of these records.

I must say now that I'm more convicted about my fondness for "all" four of these albums as ever, and that I don't waiver from anything I stated in my first post. To me, these are under appreciated classics. I respect the opinion of those that have disdain for them, but I love all of them.

Steel Wheels- A triumphant comeback, and Bill Wymans swan song.

Voodoo Lounge- a recall of classic Stones, drawing on their R&B, Blues and Country influences, conjuring the spirit of "Exile" and "Some Girls" combined.

Bridges To Babylon- an unprecedented 3 finely crafted Keith songs. A risky, yet brilliant, IMO, foray into the use of "sampling". A lot of musicians in the studio were used to create something completely fresh for their 23rd studio release.

A Bigger Bang- my personal favorite of all of these. A harder, more contemporary, and stripped down record that reminds me of all that makes this band great. I think this album, if it ends up being their 24th and final studio effort....is as good as it gets, yes, I regard it that high. The opening riff of the very first track still makes me feel "Sticky Fingers" and "Brown Sugar"!
This record is back to just the core members, with a real focus. At the risk of sounding blasphemous (the Stones would forgive me, I think), there's quite a bit here that reminds me of "Sticky Fingers". A modern Stones masterpiece that showcases the bands musicianship, their care and respect for the blues (Back of My Hand), great melodies, and Mick Jagger as one of the greatest, if not the greatest Blues/R&B singers of all time.

I want to thank the OP for starting this thread, and especially thank The Rolling Stones, "the greatest rock and roll band in the world" for these records.

 

B2B is basically dualing Mick and Keith solo albums. Not a lot of cohesion. Voodoo sounds the most like a classic Stones album thanks to the retro production of Don Was. Allegedly Mick hated making Voodoo for that reason. Steel Wheels and ABB both have some great tracks but suffer from too much production. There are tremendous boots out there with songs from ABB and Steel Wheels that appear to be 'just prior to finished' (i.e. overproduced and soulless) that would have made much better versions on either album.

 

I haven0t heard A Bigger bang to an extent, but the other three i like for different reasons. probably my favourite is Bridges, it's just so diverse and it's got some amazing Keith tunes. Steel Weels dos a lot of things for me. Voodoo Lounge was a wonderful record for its time (mid 90s)

 

Then I think you'll enjoy A Bigger Bang.

 

Probably

 

Easily Steel Wheels. IMO their only good album after Tattoo You

 

STEEL WHEELS.

 

I haven't heard any of these bloody albums, I'll just roll with Let it Bleed.

 

Dirty Work.
jeez, what a choice. I quite like Steel Wheels and Voodoo Lounge but both contain tracks I mildly dislike.
As for A Bigger Bang and Bridges, neither do much for me.
I voted for Voodoo.

 

Bridges to Babylon

 

I went with Voodoo Lounge, but in reality none of them are anything to rave about.
Bigger Bang is the worst of them , some of the worst production I have ever heard.
If not for the production it would be miles ahead of the other three, but the compression poisoning ruined it.

 

I think it is a toss up between Babylon and Voodoo.
Bang is not far behind.
Steel flat out bores me.


1 Bridges To Babylon
2 Voodoo Lounge
3 A Bigger Bang




.



666 Steel Wheels

 

I pretty much agree spot on with the poll results.

 

Voodoo Loungue...

 

Steel Wheels...

 

Steel Wheels for me.

 

SW 80s production kills it for me. Can't get past it. I truly love ABB, VL and BTB. They're all great. Problem is that fans expect their favorite artists to stay 25 forever. It just doesn't happen.

 

You're more patient than I am...I stopped when Mick Taylor quit.

 

None of the later Stones stuff ever quite did it for me but Bridges to Babylon was still good.

 

Damn, no option to change vote since it's an old poll. Not that it would have changed anything, but I wanted to change my vote to Bridges To Babylon because it contained the one great Rolling Stones song from the last 30 years, "Saint Of Me" (IMO).

 

The problem for me with this period is that the urgency is gone. Often-considered 'lesser' Stones-albums like Between The Buttons, Goats Head Soup, Emotional Rescue or even Metamorphosis still ooze personality. In fact, everything up to, and including, Undercover resonates in a way that -if you care for their music- once you first hear them they're ingrained in your brain. It's a matter of a lack of urgency, really, progressively longer gaps between studio albums and the like, a more generic approach, and that urgency seemed to have evaporated with the Mick vs. Keith-rift.

 

Voodoo Lounge for me as well. I quite like Bridges to Babylon but I never seem to get back around to it quite as much as Voodoo Lounge.