a lot of people have commented that the latest album is almost like a jagger solo album, with the other stones lending their talents as the backing band.

if that is true, then an interesting question is which is superior -- 'a bigger bang' or jagger's most critically acclaimed solo album -- 'wandering spirit'?

i personally would probably go with 'wandering spirit' -- IMHO a somewhat more cohesive, more interesting, and more ambitious album.

which one would you vote for?
drew

Is this a joke?

it has to be...I'm laughing my ass off...only Evening Gown could have made ABB

I love A Bigger Bang, but Wandering Spirit is great as well. ABB contains at least three songs that are better than anything on Wandering Spirit (RJ, ONNYA and BOMH), but then again every song on WS is very good, and in my opinion ABB contains a few so-so tunes (Infamy, Driving Too Fast, Let Me Down Slow, Biggest Mistake) and one horrible one (Streets of Love). WS is more cohesive, as drewmaster said.

Overall I would vote for ABB over WS, but I think both are better than anything else the band or any of its members have put out in the last 25 years.

WS is jagger at his best,

ABB is not.

A joke indeed. Any album with "Put Me In The Trash" on it would not have Keith's name on it. "Evening Gown" and "Hang On To Me Tonight" are the only redeemable moments.

"bare your breasts and make me feel at home"

are you people with negative comments on ws,smoking dope or just deaf.how could anyone not love the title track and mother of a man,2 of the best stones or solo stones rockers ever.wandering spirit is an incredible record ballads(evening gown,hold on to me tonite)rock and everything in between(wired all night is incredible to.as for abb this is also a great record,it doesn't rock just as hard but it does rock and has a bit of everything(by the way ,let me down slow)might be in the all time 10,how the hell could anyone in there right mind not love that song?final answer ws,10.0,abb 9.25,with 10.0 being a perfect record.remember rick rubin produced ws,hence the harder edge ,but dw did a great job on abb.

john scialfa

Wandering Spirit is a great album. I'd say it's got far less filler than ABB, even though I do think ABB is the best Stones album since... well, quite a while.

It's a shame most Stones fans are such @#$%& when it comes to Jagger. Saying stuff like "*...* would not have Keith's name on it" as if Keith is the Epitome of Quality who has never done any piece of crap ever is really patronizing and unfair. I'm sure you'd say "Losing my touch" is better than anything on WS, LOL.

Anyway, drewmaster, I think your thread has a valid point, but it's not something that will ever fly among most Stones fans. I have to say that, as someone new to Stones forums, I don't know a lot of Stones fans out there, but reading random message boards, I really have no interest in getting to know anyone much-- most of you just trash Jagger and praise the hell out of Keith 24/7. I wonder why that is-- what on earth makes Stones fans so pro Keith and so anti Jagger? It's really quite unbelievable, the level of (lately completely undeserved) ass-kissing that Keith gets, and that Jagger doesn't.
If anything is a 'joke', it's that.

Well, at least John Scialfa agrees (i believe we posted at the same time).

well said some girl, agree totally - and by the way, ABB has Jagger all over it, I think KR's contribution here was minimal.

Jagger solo sucks arse

Did not deep down Mick want to be a solo hero and be able to tour and leave the Stones behind? Thinking he was what people really loved and wanted to hear? He wanted to make it work, it did not work well enough. Sure there are a ton of session musicians that can rock. They are not a band. Are there enough Mick Jagger solo fans to have a big tour?

I don't think so.

Ron Woods solo work and Keith's first solo albums have more heart.

It's still more than good songs it's want people want.

Some Girl - that may indeed be true about the KR worship as compared to Jagger, but I'm certain some here would agree that the greatest rock star of all time is Mick Jagger, as well as the ultimate front man; a pioneer on stage (British rocker with James Brown moves and bluesy delivery; a pioneer in the business side (evidently what many resent); a great lyricist and songwriter too.

If MJ had died in 1971 he'd be in that James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison league...but far, far bigger; that is the worship by those in their teens and twenties would be much greater than of any of those cultural icons.

Glad he didn't, as he's given us so much more than anyone could ever have imagined...tours, solo albums, more Stones cds...growing old so gracefully.

Mick's always been my favorite rock star and my #1 reason for loving the Stones.

Long may he live!

This is not fair. WS had enough time to sink in, which ABB hasn't. It took me quite a while to appreciate songs like Angel In My Heart and Handsome Molly. Initially, I disliked Sweet Thing.
ABB needs more time to breathe before I decide on that. I can only say one thing so far: Rain Fall Down is the Use Me of ABB.
All in all, the 2 albums have a different mood to them.

Markdog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> Did not deep down Mick want to be a solo hero and
> be able to tour and leave the Stones behind?
> Thinking he was what people really loved and
> wanted to hear? He wanted to make it work, it did
> not work well enough. Sure there are a ton of
> session musicians that can rock. They are not a
> band. Are there enough Mick Jagger solo fans to
> have a big tour?
>
> I don't think so.
>
>

I don't really care what Jagger wanted deep down-- but the fact that he can't be successful unless he's with the Stones is pretty limiting. It makes it seem that a large majority of Stones fans think: shut up and sing, while the *real* genius of the Stones, Keef, feeds you the songs. That just seems like an overwhelming attitude of Stones fans, but I mean, come on, everyone here knows enough about the band to know that that, and their contributions, is just not true. But even if it were true, I don't see, for example, The Who fans have this kind of attitude towards Daltrey.

And if Jagger puts out a good solo record musically, then he doesn't have "heart". If Keith has a so-so album (or a so-so Keith-sung Stones tune) musically, it's "yeah, but he has heart." But if someone judges Jagger on his performance abilities, "charisma" etc alone, then it's usually "only music is important in the end." I mean, honestly, I find it really funny and incredulous at the same time. In the past couple of weeks, I've seen all kinds of crazy posts, people saying stuff like "OH!! 'One Hit' is SUCH a COOL video cause it's SOOOO cool how Keith looked like he wanted to slit Jagger's puny throat!" or something like that, and various things along those lines. It's funny, I really would be curious to know WHERE this whole attitude/animosity comes from-- is it because of Jagger wanting to ditch the Stones 'deep down'? Did he *really* though? Always? Didn't they really just fall out in the 80s after spending so much time together? And doesn't every frontman/woman at some point in their lives want to go "solo"? I mean, Im glad they didn't break up, but I just don't find it very likely in a logical sense that HE was the sole culprit of all the Stones early 80s troubles. I'd rather venture a guess that he has a lot to do with them still being together.

4tylix--
I know there are people who worship Jagger and all that, and I know the whole dead legend thing, you're right. But I'm not asking anyone to worship Jagger and hate Keith, I'm pretty sure they are equally important to the band. It just doesn't seem to me like they are judged the same way.

billwebster--
Yeah it's too early to judge ABB and too early to compare it to WS, definitely. I wasn't exactly doing that. It just seems even right off the bat that ABB has a bit more filler. But it's also a bit too late or just a bit too incredible that at THIS POINT in the career of the Stones, for chrissakes, to be still dismissing anything Jagger does solo in the way Chas and dlyon and the others are doing.

I agree that their equally important, especially to the heydays, but my main point was that Jagger deserves recognition by Stones fans for his rightful place in rock history.

For me it's a tie between ABB and Wandering Spirit.

My ranking from 83 and on including soloalbums.

1. ABB and Wandering Spirit
3. Voodoo Lounge
4. Talk Is Cheap
5. Main Offender
6. Steel Wheels
7. Undercover
8. Bridges To Babylon
9. Goddess
10. She's The Boss
11. Dirty Work
12. Primitive Cool