One week of playing nothing else but A Bigger Bang, and, differently to when I first got Bridges, Voodoo or Steel W (that's pretty much as far back as I vividly recall the playing process!) and it's very safe and happy to say that this is a keeper!

A friend of mine edits a music magazine in Perth (X-Press) and in an email to me he said:

"I'm trusting myself on this, I haven't been knocked over by a RS album like this since Some Girls. I had long given up thinking I'd ever be excited by an album of theirs again", and his actual review in the magazine pretty much summed up that thought.

For me, I have found "I burn them out". Now it's obvious to me that THAT is because the last 3 studio records have simply in truth not been that good, even though they still have their moments - and THOSE moments are better than most other artists in the world EVER accomplish, so let's not forget that - but they're NOT that good.

Now A Bigger Bang, despite 40 or so listenings, is actually still growing. I REALLY wanted to love it, and initially DID. But a funny thing then happened. It's actually blossomed with the repeated listening process...

A song like Biggest Mistake for example...I liked it up front but NOW I LOVE it. It is simple, and it is simply gorgeous. Where I didn't much care for the 'ooh oohs' at first, now they're integral. Let Me Down Slow was ok a week ago. Now it's one of the songs that I regard as a corner-stone to the record. It is fantastic.

I commented initially that I'd like to have a Keith song that rocks, a la Before They Make me Run, and that This Place is Empty is one 'bar-room' song too many from him. Well, slap me down with a feather...when that piano starts and then his voice "aches" into place, I get the tingles....it IS just a magnificent song.

Streets of Love. I loved the 'Single Edit"...but ADORE the album version. It's a ballad worthy of the boys.

Driving too Fast....was a bit of a plodder. Now, well, it just gets me going! It's a ripper. Oh No Not You Again...yep really liked it to start with, but now, thanks in no small part to the last 20 seconds shambolic noise pollution on it, just feels like a natural and classic Stones song.

So, a week later, and a week of nothing else, which resulted in Steel Wheels, Voodoo L and Bridges all being put into the rack and being pulled out very intermittently over the years since, has resulted in me declaring very confidently and with no hesitation as THE CLASSSIC STONES ALBUM I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR for but (reasonably?) not ever believing I'd get.

Initially I rated it as a 7.5/10.

IF Look What the Cat Dragged in WAS NOT on the record, it would be a 10/10. As it is, I still don't get that one track, so 9.5 it is!!

It really is a bewdy, and will stand the test of time. For a band so long in to their careers to have pulled this one out is a true testament to the FACT that quality prevails.

Long after 50cent (?) is forgotten, the Stones and A Bigger Bang will be remembered...

Rod

One has to overcome ones expectations, with
each new Stones albums, to really enjoy
them. I think it comes from the fact
they've made so many great albums
over the years, it's hard to be
objective, or appreciate a
new album in it's own right.
In that sense, I find they
grow on me.

At first I thought this album
was good. After a week of listening
to it in my car, as I bop around,
I think it's great. Works for me.

Of course, true test will be with
a new albums lasting appeal,
and that akes time to tell.............

I haven't been this impressed with a Stones album since Some Girls as well. Definitely best since Some Girls, in my book. I started getting carried away thinking perhaps best since Exile, but ABB doesn't seem at this point to have as many classic songs as Some Girls - Rain Fall Down being one exception, and I'm sure time will reveal more.

Such a great album I could just spit!

This album kicks ass!! I love it more with every listen. "Look What The Cat Dragged In" is one of my favorites!!

Ages ago there was a thread claiming inside knowledge. that Mick and Keith were working on a classic and were 'very conscious of the hsitory and reputation of the band' (or word sto that effect) and that the music they were making was very special.
I wavered between excitement and cynicism at the time. A Bigger Bang is exactly what the excited half of me wanted to believe. Yes, this is the best since Some Girls.
As jagger says, the test of an album is how many songs can become live regulars. I want to see them take more risks with 'Bang' material. SSMC, LIND, LMDS, SOL would all be great live and for that matter so would all of it.

juiced up and sloppy

I'm glad to see that some of you see ABB as better than both Tattoo You and Undercover. I wouldn't go that far, but it is certainly the best stones album since Undercover.