I was quite amazed to find Bridges To Babylon on Rolling Stone 100 best albums of the 90's list. Not that I think it's a bad album but I'm not sure it's a landmark album of the 90's music such as say Nirvana's Nevermind or Radiohead's No Computer. BTW it's stuck between Belle and Sebastian and Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Ragged Glory...

Here what they say about it :

Maybe it was the biz markie sample on "Anybody Seen My Baby?" that suggested the Rolling Stones were up for invigoration on Bridges to Babylon. Not that their rockers (Flip the Switch) or ballads of taunting regret (Already Over Me) are missing. It's that everything sounds vivified — from the reggae swagger of Keith Richards' "You Don't Have to Mean It" to Mick Jagger's hedonist manifesto "Saint of Me." A bridge to the twenty-first century? For the Stones, Babylon will do just fine.

Link : [www.rollingstone.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-10-09 02:32 by kowalski.

The more I listen to BTB, the less I like it.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-10-09 15:07 by Godxofxrock9.

Bridges to Babylon is the last good Rolling Stones album. And, definitely, their best in the 90's.

IMO,Saint of Me and Out of Control are the last two great Rolling Stones songs.

I don't think there should be any Rolling Stones album on a '100 Best of The '90's List' It's Rolling Stone, though. Aren't they known to be very pro-Rolling Stones and 'classic rock'?

While I do like a few songs on that album it is filled with a lot of lame material. I'm not sure to this day I can tell Already Over Me and Always Suffering apart.

I definitely haven't listened to the album since the 90s, as I was always suffering and I'm already over it.

I think Dirty Work has more Stones feeling than BTB ...........................

__________________________

It should have been #74, outrageous misappraisal.

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BJPortugal
Bridges to Babylon is the last good Rolling Stones album. And, definitely, their best in the 90's.

IMO,Saint of Me and Out of Control are the last two great Rolling Stones songs.

Listened to it for the first time in ten years recently. Was amazed at how good it was. I always thought it was better than VL, and this only reaffirmed it. The only somewhat weak songs are the ballads. With a little less Keith songs it would be better. Saint of Me is better than the entirety of DW combined. The production, which was controversial at the time, makes it sound remarkably fresh today. About the only post Undercover album that I would spin more than once.

Looking at any list rolling stone is a waste of time. they have no idea what so ever on what there doing putting Nirvana, 'MTV Unplugged in New York' at 95 is absurd this is one of the greatest live albums of all time right up there with ya ya's for me. And The Smashing Pumpkins, 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' at 82 is also absurd Oasis, '(What's the Story) Morning Glory should be in the top 10 but whatever i could just go on and on about these kind of lists.

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NICOS
I think Dirty Work has more Stones feeling than BTB ...........................

probably true. too bad the songs were so unmemorable.

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treaclefingers
While I do like a few songs on that album it is filled with a lot of lame material. I'm not sure to this day I can tell Already Over Me and Always Suffering apart.

I definitely haven't listened to the album since the 90s, as I was always suffering and I'm already over it.

I am so down with treaclefingers on the ballads. I frickin' DESPISE both those lame ass ballads. Can't believe they had the temerity to make exactly the same BAD song twice! On one album! Can you tell I hate them?!

T@3

I have three categories for Stones albums. Very good, Fantastic, and Masterpiece. Bridges is a masterpiece and has five of the greatest Stones songs ever in Out Of Control, Saint Of Me, Thief in The Night, Flip The Switch, and Already Over Me.

Forgot to mention You Don't Have To Mean It.

Always Suffering is another one I had forgotten about. Playing Bridges as we speak. What a masterpiece! Can't wait for new Stones music!

Anybody Seen My Baby is the worst first single from any Stones album and destroys the momentum built by Flip the Switch. The Biz Markie rap section is cringe-inducing. The ballads (Already Over Me and Always Suffering) are also awful. The rest is pretty good, with Out of Control being their best song since One Hit to the Body.

Bridges sounds fresh every time I play it. My daughter's liked Anybody at the time, being teens at the time says a lot. IMO How Can I Stop is a masterpiece, the extended non album version of Out of Control rocks and Saint Of Me should be reintroduced on tour.

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JumpinJackOLantern
Always Suffering is another one I had forgotten about. Playing Bridges as we speak. What a masterpiece! Can't wait for new Stones music!

Oh dear, if Bridges is a masterpiece, then Let It Bleed must be the second coming.

This only shows how weak the 90's were in terms of music output. Better than what came after, though.

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Torres
This only shows how weak the 90's were in terms of music output. Better than what came after, though.

yeah I have to agree...I mean I did buy music in the 90s...I just wouldn't choose to listen to any of it now.

Nirvana and Pearl Jam are just so dreary...I've no nostalgia to go back and listen to that again. What else?...the Spin Doctors, Hootie and the Blowfish, even Jakob Dylan just isn't interesting enough to go back to.

Interesting, I probably like the noughties better than the nineties.

Pft...... ridiculous list .... where are Dylans both acoustic albums from the 92 and 93? Stones BTB is a thousand times sharper than Nirvana overrated garbage ...


Mick Keith Ronnie Bill Charlie

2 1 2 0

I scrolled through the list a bit and perhaps I was a bit harsh with respect to the 90s...REM were great, RADIOHEAD were UNBELIEVABLE, U2 Achtung Baby was fantastic, I quite enjoyed the Use Your Illusions, Beck of course...there was some worthy stuff there I guess.

A great album for me: Flip the switch, saint of me , out of control, how can I stop, already over me, might as well get juiced, too tight...varied and creative

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Godxofxrock9
VL is better

I used to think so but now I gotta admit VL is a horrible album with nothing on it. Love is strong is good, the worst is ok but the rest?

Bridges to Babylon belongs to the best nineties albums. Nirvana have become unlistenable to me. In the nineties bands like the Verve and Radiohead were hyped, their music did not age well. I loved Oasis back then, still listen to live recordings of theirs. But songs like Live Forever seem to be overwhelming for teenagers only. Bridges to Babylon features some great moments that did not age, so it is fair to say that it is ine of the best ninties albums.

Even though BRIDGES TO BABYLON might be a bit richer in highlights, I would rate more even WANDERING SPIRIT over it. Unfortunately it is 'only' a Jagger album, so no one remembers it, not even ROLLING STONE...

I am sure A BIGGER BANG will make the 00's list. And probably with a justification (if nothing else but being the only Rolling Stones album of the decade; a rarity value..).

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-10-09 11:40 by Doxa.

BTB is great, the last great album IMO. (Voodoo is great too, but ABB is not)

why does rollig stone always do the list like that. just list the albums. takes to long to scroll through all that. did the kinks album phobia or meat loaf bat out of hell 2 make the list?

B2B was by far the best Stones-album of the 3rd stage; the post '89 stage.
Songwriting was strong, and they took the damn thing on the road. they worked those tunes hard. Loved it.
"Control" and "Saint" were highlights of the tour. of course it's a great album. Voodoo doesn't have anything comparable, and was an overfilled, self-conscious album.
They stumbled a few times on B2B. Did not need the rap on "Baby".
I don't hear too many similarities between "Already over me" and "Always Suffering". If anything "Already" sounds like "Blinded by rainbows". But hose kind of things are okay They're just a rock'n roll band. Even back on their very first albums there'd be songs that sound very similar.
These late era albums...yeah, sure the band has gotten way older. They write separately. Songs are not as sharp anymore, and most lyrics are lame. But more than that I blame the over abundance of information, and instant expectations that we've become used to. It is very hard to deliver in this ambiance. especially if you're not born into it; like younger bands.

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ab
Anybody Seen My Baby is the worst first single from any Stones album and destroys the momentum built by Flip the Switch. The Biz Markie rap section is cringe-inducing. The ballads (Already Over Me and Always Suffering) are also awful. The rest is pretty good, with Out of Control being their best song since One Hit to the Body.

The original version of Anybody Seen My baby without the rap section is available on some promo CD single.

I've always seen this song as some retro futuristic blues... It's a well crafted song actually.


Also worth seeking out is the full length version of Out Of Control (which is weirdly edited on the album).