Some may love these albums and some may hate them...but taking away Some Girls and Tattoo You...we are left with these six albums to battle for best to the worst from 1973 - 1986.

Here's my picks...let's hear yours: Rank them Favorite to least Favorite.

1. Black and Blue(Best engineered album and with experimental music directions)
2. It's Only Rock&Roll(Fingerprint File-only notable song staying w/the times)
3. Undercover (trying to stay with the times...experimental in nature)
4. Goats Head Soup (Exile hangover...murky..out of tune..a #1 ballad...no rock)
5. Emotional Rescue (Some Girls out takes...horrible engineering...no bottom)
6. Dirty Work (we all know about this)

Pecman

Sorry to disagree but I don't see many "mediocre" albums in your list.

1. Black and Blue(Best engineered album and with experimental music directions)

It's more than a best engineered album IMO, many great songs on it (though some of them a bit overlong), great vocal performances by Jagger and great guitar work. But I agree it remains a transition album.

2. It's Only Rock&Roll(Fingerprint File-only notable song staying w/the times)

How about Times Wait For No One, one of the greatest ballad the Stones ever wrote and how about IORR (the song) that's still being played at every concert? Some fillers though.

3. Undercover (trying to stay with the times...experimental in nature)

Undercover is a classic Stones album and not that experimental except maybe for the percussions tracks (Bridges to Babylon is more experimental according to Stones standards). Lots of rock 'n roll and rhythm & blues on it. It probably lacks a ballad, though Feel On is a nice slow song.

4. Goats Head Soup (Exile hangover...murky..out of tune..a #1 ballad...no rock)

What about Star Star? and Heartbreaker?

5. Emotional Rescue (Some Girls out takes...horrible engineering...no bottom)

ER is not made of Some Girls outtakes, most tracks were written after SG was released. Actually I think only Summer Romance is from SG sessions. It's also one of the best sounding Stones albums with some later days classics on it (She's So Cold).

6. Dirty Work (we all know about this)

Dirty Work is the Stones evolving, a transition album (like Black And Blue in the 70's) which has some classic Stones songs (Harlem Shuffle). Great guitar playing on it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-02-15 04:37 by kowalski.

Bad taste Pecman

What kind of fuccking jury are we?

Most of these are solid albums, much more than mediocre.

1. Goats Head Soup (my opinion of this one has changed drastically over the years from feeling deflated a good bit when this first came out after 1968-72 output to loving it now for its varied brilliance / diversity in songs/music!)
2. Undercover (Very underrated by the mass public/critics - and maybe too but not necessarily by some Stones fans.)
3. It's Only Rock n' Roll (Not a huge fan of IORR the song - maybe because it has been overplayed live so much - but love many of the other songs: TWFNO/ IYCRM/ DLS/ TTNG/ Luxury...
4. Emotional Rescue (Another underrated album with some songs I like a lot (SR/ LMG/ WTBG...)
5. Black and Blue (needed more songs/music. 8 is not enough. MM a classic!)
6. Dirty Work (Love One Hit but generally one of my least favorite Stones albums)

Hey...The Joker...Kowalski..and Jimmer have got it right on...
There is not a Stones fan in the world who doesn't love all these albums just like me...sorry for the Mediocre terminology...however..there are 2 albums that obviously stand tall with these others...Some Girls and Tattoo You as
noted WORLDED WIDE and backed up by Stones Fans.

Joker...I love them all and listen to them all almost every day...but some have to be on top and some have to be on the bottom.

But there has to be some order that you listen to...and I doubt you listen to Emotional Rescue over Some Girls and Tattoo You...

So if you think that Some Girls and Tattoo You don't make your Top 2 from that Era...Give us your list...and the reason why.

This is what the thread is about.

PECMAN

Some Girls and Tattoo You stand among the others because some critics have decided so.
To me, Emotional Rescue is more accomplished than SG (an album a bit all over the place with the Stones doing pastiches of different styles, disco, country, punk, blues...) or TY (which remains a compilation of outtakes with no identity spanning almost 10 years).
But Undercover is probably the most accomplished Stones album of this era (1976-1986). Once you can pass all the negativity surrounding this album, you rediscover some great songs played (and worked) with passion and commitment. To me it's the Stones as their best as a band.
Dirty Work is the Stones trying to move on and doing something different. But because of what was happening at this time (Jagger going solo...), it lacks the unity of the previous albums. But there are fine songs on it and a great energy above all.

My life would not be any less joyful if I would never have heard Can you hear the Music.
All other songs on the albums listed here added joy to my life on more than one occasion.
That makes them all dear to me, never mediocre.

Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

<5. Emotional Rescue (Some Girls out takes...horrible engineering...no bottom)>

The finest-sounding Stones album, together with Black And Blue and Beggars Banquet, imo.

No bottom? You sure you're not mixing that up with less overdriven guitars? When I hear Dance, Send It To Me, Emotional Rescue, She's So Cold and Let Me Go there is a lot of bottom to the overall sound.

I know that the Mesa Boogie-sound (a more rockabilly, echo-ish, cleaner sound) isn't every Stones fan's cup of tea, though, but I love it!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-02-15 10:31 by DandelionPowderman.

Quote
Pecman

5. Emotional Rescue (Some Girls out takes...horrible engineering...no bottom)
6. Dirty Work (we all know about this)

Pecman

5. Emotional Rescue (bad choice of songs... album destroyed by the non-inclusion of the great "Claudine" )
6. Dirty Work (great set of songs recorded during these sessions. Makes the final tracklist all the more puzzling... Was it a way for Keef to say to Mick "If you don't want to work on this one why should I bother either? Let's release a total piece of shit!" ).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-02-15 11:47 by dcba.

Quote
Pecman
Some may love these albums and some may hate them...but taking away Some Girls and Tattoo You...we are left with these six albums to battle for best to the worst from 1973 - 1986.

Here's my picks...let's hear yours: Rank them Favorite to least Favorite.

1. Black and Blue(Best engineered album and with experimental music directions)
2. It's Only Rock&Roll(Fingerprint File-only notable song staying w/the times)
3. Undercover (trying to stay with the times...experimental in nature)
4. Goats Head Soup (Exile hangover...murky..out of tune..a #1 ballad...no rock)
5. Emotional Rescue (Some Girls out takes...horrible engineering...no bottom)
6. Dirty Work (we all know about this)

Pecman

great topic!

1. Black and Blue
2. Undercover
3. Emotional Rescue
4. Goat's Head Soup
5. IORR
6. Dirty Work

For me these are all pretty good albums.Dirty Work is weaker than the rest but still better than ABB. If you don't like these albums you got no Stonesblood in your veins.

1. Undercover -> it would have been a great album if it weren't for "Hold You", "Too Tough", "All The Way Down" and "Must Be Hell"
2. Emotional Rescue -> Too much filler, but filler well played, and at least two great songs ("She's So Cold" and "ER" ) and I actually like "Indian Girl"...
3. Goats Head Soup -> Probably deserves better, but I hardly listen to it. I like "Doo doo", "Angie", "100 years ago", "Winter" and "Star Star". I think "Winter" is great actually. But the overall sound of the album I don't like very much. A pity.
4. It's Only Rock&Roll-> "mwah"
5. Black and Blue -> I like "Melody" and maybe "Hand of Fate" and "Crazy Mama", I don't care about the rest.
6. Dirty Work -> ...

1.Black and Blue (add Worried About You and Slave from 1975) 9/10
2.Goat's Head Soup 8/10
3.It's Only Rock N Roll 8/10
4.Under Cover 8/10
5.Emotional Rescue 8/10
6.Dirty Work 7/10

I would not call these albums mediocore. The worst one scores 7/10 in my list.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-02-15 13:55 by RipThisBone.

<1. Undercover -> it would have been a great album if it weren't for "Hold You", "Too Tough", "All The Way Down" and "Must Be Hell">

You mean the traditional-sounding Stones numbers destroy it?

Although I like those songs, I understand what you mean. This could have been a Stones album, where they really went all the way exploring different sounds and songs.

In the end, this is very much a question of production, though. Strip away the drum machines, mini-synths and the percussion and Undercover (Of The Night), Feel On Baby and Too Much Blood becomes regular Stones songs (perhaps with the exception of Feel On Baby).

A great album, imo, but I agree with your point. They could have made an overall sound for the album.

GHS & IORR are mediocre indeed, but the other albums are not. Black And Blue is a wonderful album, one of their best. Emotional Rescue is a better album than Some Girls and TY. Undercover is pure Stones-greatness.

Dirty Work is far better than any album mentioned in this thread. Dirty Work is a late-great-Stones-masterpiece, containing mostly excellent songs. The production is superb (modern yet very stonesy). The guitar work is marvelous and Mick´s voice is in brilliant shape. There is absolutely nothing mediocre on Dirty Work, even Back To Zero is a very decent track, if you take the time to listen closely to what´s happening. I might have said it before: This is their last great album so far.

If you want to talk about mediocre albums, talk about the 1989-2005 period.

Today these albums are as good as anything, but I can`t tell you how little they meant in their time. I am especially thinking of the "trilogy" Goat`s Head Soup, It`s Only Rock and Roll, Black and Blue.

mediocre albums? ABB, SW, maybe DW.
But the others you mentioned are classic Stones.

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DandelionPowderman
<1. Undercover -> it would have been a great album if it weren't for "Hold You", "Too Tough", "All The Way Down" and "Must Be Hell">

You mean the traditional-sounding Stones numbers destroy it?

Although I like those songs, I understand what you mean. This could have been a Stones album, where they really went all the way exploring different sounds and songs.

In the end, this is very much a question of production, though. Strip away the drum machines, mini-synths and the percussion and Undercover (Of The Night), Feel On Baby and Too Much Blood becomes regular Stones songs (perhaps with the exception of Feel On Baby).

A great album, imo, but I agree with your point. They could have made an overall sound for the album.

Hm, I don't think they are "traditional-sounding" Stones at all, although admittedly, more so than Undercover, Too Much Blood and Feel On Baby (and Tie You Up, I might add). With "traditional sounding", I take it you mean the "Big Four era", especially EOMS?
As far as I am concerned, "Must Be Hell" is just stupid. The others are rock, but very "un-roll", very "un-groovy", very un-Stones. Close to the level of any late 70's early 80's rock band. They are really quite bad songs, with no melody, no groove, nothing that stands out.
So, no, it's not the sound that bothers me but the fact that these four songs are simple bad song-writing. Not for the first time (an earlier example is "short and curlies" ) but never since "Their Satanies" had they put so many really mediocre stuff on an album.
"Undercover" and "Too Much Blood" work because they are experiments that worked out, and "Feel On Baby" and "Tie You Up" are just very groovy, juicy rock songs. "She Was Hot" I would call basic Stones, ("traditional sounding" ), but also a good song.

Both Too Tough and All The Way Down have very catchy choruses and have that archtypical Stones sound, meaning a groove created around Keith's guitar, the key to their 1968-1974 sound, before Keith started to explore other things than the open G-magic or the «riffmaster approach».

It's no wonder that a sketch of Too Tough (then called Cellophane Trousers) was created in 1974 for the BAB sessions. It sounds that way, too.

I like It Must Be Hell (yes, I know, I'm one of the few ). It steals from HTW and Soul Survivor, yes, but i like the chorus and the bridge and I think the band performance is excellent.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-02-15 14:40 by DandelionPowderman.

Here's my picks:

1. Black and Blue - Every track is intressting in it's own way...Best Track: Memory Motel
2. Goat's Head Soap - Lots of Top Tracks like Angie and Star Star All the way down..
3. It's only rock'n'roll - Underrated album...Title track is still a superb rocker.
4. Emotional rescue - Lots of Top Tracks here too like Where the boys go and indian girl.
5. Undercover - also underrated, not bad at all with songs like.....like....All the way down and....and....Ehrrr...
6. Dirty Work - Of these 6 albums, this is the thinnest beer in the bag...Harlem Shuffle and Sleept tonight is listenable....3/5 songs...

2 1 2 0

1. Emotional Rescue – Best tracks: Dance, She's So Cold, Down In The Hole, Emotional Rescue, All About You
2. Undercover – Best tracks: Undercover, She Was Hot, Feel On Baby, Tie You Up
3. Goats Head Soup – Best tracks: Angie, Can You Hear The Music, 100 Years Ago, Coming Down Again
4. Black And Blue – Best tracks: Hot Stuff, Memory Motel, Hey Negrita
5. It's Only Rock'n'Roll – Best tracks: Fingerprint File, If You Really Want To Be My Friend, It's Only Rock'n'Roll
6. Dirty Work – Best tracks: One Hit, Harlem Shuffle, Dirty Work



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-02-15 15:27 by DandelionPowderman.

Great Topic:

1. Goats Head Soup - Classic album - great listen and should be a part of the big four - making 5 classics in a row.

2. Its Only Rock n Roll - Very underrated album - includes Time Waits For No One - one of the greatest lost classics by any band that should be a regular on classic radio.

3. Undercover - a great album for "Stones" fans. Not always an easy listen, but its deep, murky and an exciting listen for a true fan.

4. Emotional Rescue - Pound for pound, fairly weak coming after Some Girls, yet for some reason a very solid listen. To this day I can put ER on and totally enjoy the album. Not much in the way of classics on it, yet very enjoyable.

5. Black And Blue - a grower over the years. I remember when it came out was such a disappointment. Memory Motel is an all time classic and should also be on classic radio and a regular in the Stones live set. Again a very solid listen, and interestingly the only one of these that the Stones have played every cut live.

Too Tough, All The Way Down and Must Be Hell are very good and fresh sounding Stones-songs. They will never turn to classics but are far from being "bad".

Wanna Hold You is simple but funny. I like the whole bunch.

These songs are catchy and stonesy and better than a lot of the songs they recorded after 1986.

Quote
Pecman
Hey...The Joker...Kowalski..and Jimmer have got it right on...
There is not a Stones fan in the world who doesn't love all these albums just like me...sorry for the Mediocre terminology......

PECMAN

I understand, mediocre in terms of Stones standards. I'll even allow for the inclusion of Black & Blue ... although I personally love it, I can see many don't like it as much as me.

If I were to rank B & B would go to the top of the list!

Quote
DandelionPowderman
Both Too Tough and All The Way Down have very catchy choruses and have that archtypical Stones sound, meaning a groove created around Keith's guitar, the key to their 1968-1974 sound, before Keith started to explore other things than the open G-magic or the «riffmaster approach».

It's no wonder that a sketch of Too Tough (then called Cellophane Trousers) was created in 1974 for the BAB sessions. It sounds that way, too.

I like It Must Be Hell (yes, I know, I'm one of the few ). It steals from HTW and Soul Survivor, yes, but i like the chorus and the bridge and I think the band performance is excellent.

Well, I have to say I like "Cellophane Trousers" a lot more than "Too Tough" and now I see what you mean with "traditional Stones". Somewhere along the line the song must have detoriated, in my point of view.

They turned 'mediocre', studio release wise, right àfter Tattoo You - so from 1982 on; nót before. (The occasional mediocre track on an occassional not-so-brilliant-as-Sticky-Fingers album not withstanding...)

Personnaly, I LOVE "Black and Blue" & (yep; even) "It's Only R'n'R";
so I feel completely uncompelled to make a ranking like the one you're asking for.

But to everyone who feels the opposite: go on, have a ball.

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matxil

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DandelionPowderman
Both Too Tough and All The Way Down have very catchy choruses and have that archtypical Stones sound, meaning a groove created around Keith's guitar, the key to their 1968-1974 sound, before Keith started to explore other things than the open G-magic or the «riffmaster approach».

It's no wonder that a sketch of Too Tough (then called Cellophane Trousers) was created in 1974 for the BAB sessions. It sounds that way, too.

I like It Must Be Hell (yes, I know, I'm one of the few ). It steals from HTW and Soul Survivor, yes, but i like the chorus and the bridge and I think the band performance is excellent.

Well, I have to say I like "Cellophane Trousers" a lot more than "Too Tough" and now I see what you mean with "traditional Stones". Somewhere along the line the song must have detoriated, in my point of view.

Did you notice that Cellophane Trousers starts with the chord change/riff that is played in the ending of the bridge in Love Is Strong?

In some ways, I find '73-'86 to be the most fascinating period in the Stones discography, if only because it shows how versatile they were in adapting to the rapidly changing musical landscape of the '70s and '80s (funk, disco, punk, new wave, hard rock)...even though there are a lot of mixed results, the albums from that era are so varied and fearlessly experimental that I can't help but admire their daring.

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
matxil

Quote
DandelionPowderman
Both Too Tough and All The Way Down have very catchy choruses and have that archtypical Stones sound, meaning a groove created around Keith's guitar, the key to their 1968-1974 sound, before Keith started to explore other things than the open G-magic or the «riffmaster approach».

It's no wonder that a sketch of Too Tough (then called Cellophane Trousers) was created in 1974 for the BAB sessions. It sounds that way, too.

I like It Must Be Hell (yes, I know, I'm one of the few ). It steals from HTW and Soul Survivor, yes, but i like the chorus and the bridge and I think the band performance is excellent.

Well, I have to say I like "Cellophane Trousers" a lot more than "Too Tough" and now I see what you mean with "traditional Stones". Somewhere along the line the song must have detoriated, in my point of view.

Did you notice that Cellophane Trousers starts with the chord change/riff that is played in the ending of the bridge in Love Is Strong?

Actually I didn't, but you are absolutely right. The Stones / Keith are a bit like Picasso/C++ programmers: re-using the same patterns throughout their work.

1. Black and Blue
2. IORR
3. Goat's Head Soup
4. Emotional Rescue

539. Undercover

10096. Dirty Work