Best The Rolling Stones Albums

The Top Ten
Let It Bleed

While Exile is considered by many to be an 18-song double album full of hits like "Rocks Off" and "Tumbling Dice," it has its duds scattered throughout. Let It Bleed is a 9-song album full of 9 hits, the "worst" being "Love in Vain" or "Country Honk." The best include "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

Some other great tracks include my favorite Keith song, "You Got the Silver," my favorite Charlie drum part, "Monkey Man," the great bass line in "Live with Me," the lesser but still great "Midnight Rambler" (Ya-Ya's Out has the best version), and the excellent title track, "Let It Bleed."

Sticky Fingers

Sticky Fingers, in my opinion, is by far the best album. Not only does it have some of my all-time favorite songs by The Rolling Stones, but it also marks a return to the proper blues rock which The Rolling Stones did best. Albums such as Let It Bleed and Their Satanic Majesties Request were too similar to The Beatles. Sticky Fingers, however, was and still is pure originality, back to The Rolling Stones' original ways!

This is their high water mark. It is gripping and brilliant from the first bar to the last. Few albums command this level of attention throughout (Ziggy Stardust, Led Zep II, ISB's Earthspan, Tommy, Dark Side Of The Moon, The Wall, Focus 3, Abraxas, and Cheap Thrills are a few that achieve the same). All of these albums display a staggering diversity and yet remain perfectly complete and ultimately satisfying upon each listening.

Exile on Main Street

Obviously the best one. It's the best double album ever, beating out The White Album, Tommy, and Blonde On Blonde. Name me one bad song on this album, I dare you. The best of the best are "Tumbling Dice," "Rocks Off," "Rip This Joint," "Sweet Virginia," "Loving Cup," "Sweet Black Angel," "Torn and Frayed," and "All Down The Line." That's right, that's how good this album is.

I get why this is people's favorite. The album has a good flow to it, and there's no boring track to be found here, not even on the deluxe.

My order would be:
1. Exile on Main Street
2. Sticky Fingers
3. Beggars Banquet
4. Some Girls
5. Let It Bleed
6. Goats Head Soup
7. Tattoo You
8. Aftermath
9. Bridges to Babylon (I personally think it's underrated, and if the Stones had finished here, I would have been happy)
10. It's Only Rock 'n Roll

Beggars Banquet

Love the whole tone of this album. It has some really underrated songs, and every one has something that makes it different from the previous albums. My favorites are Sympathy for the Devil, Dear Doctor, and Prodigal Son. Deserves to be at number 2.

Though the Stones are absolutely one of the best bands ever, this is their only album that is perfect from the first to the last second. Let It Bleed is also good, but this is the Stones' finest.

Every song is great. Sympathy for the Devil, Jigsaw Puzzle, Street Fighting Man, Stray Cat Blues, and Salt of the Earth are fantastic. The rest of the songs are great too. My favorite album ever!

Aftermath

Under My Thumb, Paint It Black, and many more. Under My Thumb is my favorite Rolling Stones song.

Some Girls

Don't let anyone fool you into thinking this is a disco album. Granted, Miss You may be disco, but the rest of the songs are a great mix of super-energetic rockers (When the Whip Comes Down, Lies, Shattered) and beautiful ballads (Far Away Eyes, Beast of Burden). While Exile on Main St. has its weak spots, Some Girls is a consistently strong record.

Come on, this has to be Top 5. Too many good songs on this album. Miss You is so groovy, Shattered, Far Away Eyes, and Some Girls are all great songs, and Beast of Burden is a classic.

Between the Buttons

A fantastic album, it sees the Stones experimenting with as many different styles as possible while keeping consistent the whole way through.

The first Stones album I bought. I still enjoy listening to it today. Right up there with Exile and Sticky Fingers.

Tattoo You

Side one is incredible, but side two isn't quite as good.

This and Goats Head Soup are the best ones for me!

Second half is classic Stones.

Out of Our Heads

Includes one of the greatest songs of all time, "Satisfaction." Brian Jones and Keith have some great guitar riffs in "The Last Time." I love the harmonica Mick plays in "Spider and the Fly," which I think is an underrated blues song.

As well as some slower songs, "Play with Fire" and "Cry to Me," in which Mick, of course, has really great vocals. I think all the '60s albums when Brian was still with the band are very underrated, and this is another. All these albums post-1969 ranked above just do not have that Brian Jones magic.

Goats Head Soup

Very underrated album. Angie, Dancing with Mr. D, Heartbreaker, Winter, and 100 Years Ago are great tracks.

The Contenders
Their Satanic Majesties Request

Criticized as a parody of Sgt. Pepper, this album has gone down in history as smugness being punished with a healthy slap on the face. Yet, this is by far the bravest record the Stones made and also a successful attempt to drag the listener into psychedelic rock. I think the only reason why people don't like it as much as other Stones' albums is its poor radio coverage.

I love all the albums, but none of them quite have the same sound as this one. Sure, you could call Between the Buttons psychedelic, but that record sounds very Beatlesque. Not a bad thing, but it doesn't have the feeling that this one has, the depth.

Black and Blue

The Stones get more black than blue (with a great help from Billy Preston and Ron Wood) and they sound fresh and new!

The Rolling Stones, Now!

This has to be their most underrated album. What the hell is it doing down here?

Should be number one because of Down the Road Apiece, but all the songs on this LP are great.

Emotional Rescue

Not afforded the proper level of respect, with some off-the-radar gems like "Indian Girl," "Let Me Go," "Send It to Me," and the great blues tune "Down in the Hole." Love the rheumy, misogynistic Keith vocal on "All About You."

Steel Wheels

A band out of their time and place was how this album was viewed at the time. But listening to it now, it comes across as a classic rock and roll album packed with all the riffs and emotions that made the Stones great in the first place. List under underappreciated.

It's Only Rock 'N Roll

Should be far higher than this, perhaps 4 or 5, not 15th!

Why is this album so low? Amazing stuff.

Voodoo Lounge

Love this one. A great comeback album, far better than the three that preceded it.

A Bigger Bang
The Rolling Stones
Undercover

Most political album they made. And 100% 80's sound!

Blue and Lonesome

They finally got to make the album they wanted to make fifty years ago. It was worth the wait.

It's great that The Stones have gone back to their blues roots. One of the best albums from 2016.

December's Children (And Everybody's)

Very underrated album. In my opinion, it's more consistent than Out of Our Heads and Aftermath. With songs like As Tears Go By, Get Off My Cloud, and You Better Move On, how could it be this low?

Still covering Chess Records classics! Best of the British blues.

Forty Licks
GRRR!
The Rolling Stones No. 2 - The Rolling Stones

Better than its US counterparts 12x5 and Now!

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