What album is credited as being the first of the "Modern Stones" albums?

IMO, there's several "eras" of Stones music.

The stuff before 1967 could be called "Meet the Stones"... basic blues, some angst of love stuff, some nice "respectable" radio stuff...

Beginning with Satanic Majesties and 1967 and Beggars Banquet in 1968 up through, say, Some Girls in 1978 you have the "Creepy Stones / Dangerous Stones" period.

Beginning around Emotional Rescue in 1980 you have "Stones Light"... mostly easier stuff, less edgy than in the prior period.

Beginning around 1989 with Steel Wheels you have sort of the "Later Period" which is really a mish-mash with no consistent themes, IMO... alot of forgettable music punctuated with the occasional really brilliant song.

Whether ABB is more "Later Period" or represents a departure into a new era remains to be seen.

Yeah, that's what I was looking for. Trying to collect the based songs from what's considered the "later period" except I don't know where to start...'Undercover' maybe?

I would start with Some Girls. I always saw Some Girls as a start of a new era. I felt the same way about Steel Wheels.

I don't agree that there has been very much forgettable music '89 - '05.Some - yes but,not very much.In my opinion,there were more forgettable songs in the sixties such as It's Not Easy,for example,when they struggled to write their own material,and when they did,there were more weak songs than in any other era.Many classic hits but,they were still early on in their development.Undercover and Dirty Work fall into the category of light Stones????

I generally break it into 4 eras..


1. R&B/Blues - Up to Aftermath - Mostly covers with some classic originals thrown in! All of these albums have a very similar vibe.

2. Golden Era - Aftermath thru GHS - From the time that they began writing all of their own songs thru the end of the Jimmy Miller era - Mostly classic stuff, only 2 of 9 albums less than perfect (TSMR & GHS) and I give them 4 out of 5 stars. The band just sounds different after GHS.

3. Waning Years - IORR ('74) thru Dirty Work ('86) - Glimmer Twins take over production - only 2 classics out of 8 (SG & TY) and some real turkeys (ER, DW). Basically, the band breaks up after the dismal DW.

4. Resurgence - Steel Wheels ('89) to present - The band regroups - Only 4 solid, but not classic studio albums in 16 years - focusing mainly on tours.

Ross



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-15 04:38 by Ross.

Good question, and hard to say for a band with as long a history as the Stones. I'd say the first "modern" Stones album would be Aftermath in 1966. That was the first time they wrote all the songs. It marked the end of the early, blues covers era Stones.

Then Beggar's Banquet in 1968 launched them into a whole new stratosphere, being the first of what is generally agreed a string of masterpieces, the others being Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile. All those albums still sound modern today (or timeless, if you prefer). Holy rock and roll relics indeed!

Some Girls was very modern in its time and still sounds that way to me. Another classic album after six years of hit and miss work. It proved that the Stones were not just relics stuck in the 60s and early 70s.

I suppose Steel Wheels could be considered the first of the modern, "we almost broke up and now we're going to tour again" album. I'm not that crazy about Steel Wheels, though. Some good songs, some duds, and all that godawful slicked up 80s production. I prefer to think of Voodoo Lounge as the first of the current era of albums, the first of a trilogy (and maybe more to come?) that was continued with Bridges To Babylon and A Bigger Bang. Personally, I prefer the 1994 and up stuff much more than their entire 80s output.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-15 08:20 by pafult01.

Theif in the Night Wrote:
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> In my opinion,there were more
> forgettable songs in the sixties such as It's Not
> Easy,for example

Hey, time out. It's Not Easy is a great song.

imo every decade has its own style in music.
the stones reached in every !! decade to make an killer album!!!

-----------------------------------------------------
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

Ross,

I agree with most of what you say but I'd suggest that a break took place with Some Girls. That was a major resurgence for the Stones. Miss You was huge. As well as a number of other tunes from the album.

Steel Wheels.

I would say that the modern Stones aren't really found on an album so much as they're a result of Michael Cohl (found touring). The modern stones are the eternally touring Stones. Tours used to support albums. Now the album supports the tour. That movement to promoting the tour over the album was the moment they created the modern Rolling Stones.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-15 09:25 by camper88.

black and blue

Beggars.

1963 - early 1965: the bluesy Stones
middle 1965 - very early 1967: the Pop Stones
early 1967 to end 1967: the psychedelic Stones (incl. Between the Buttons, which was the inspiration for "Sgt.Pepper" according to John Lennon)
1968 - 1972: the classical Stones (the strongest and best periode of their career)
1973 - 1977: the "Monster" Stones, i.e. big tours, big celebrations, big star cult but less musical importance
1978 - 1983: the "modern" Stones reflecting new musical trends such as punk, new wave, disco and reggae
1984 - 1988: the solo Stones (for me, Dirty Work is a Keith Richards solo album with Mick on vocals)
1989/90 and 1994/1995: the returned and recovered Stones
1997 - today: the old Stones, sitting on their throne and delivering best live performances ever

Sure, this is not the ultimate listing but at the moment that's what I think.

camper88 Wrote:
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> Ross,
>
> I agree with most of what you say but I'd suggest
> that a break took place with Some Girls.

Some Girls definitely stands out as a complete return to form during what I called the "waning years". But, they quickly went back to the inconsistency that defined those years.

Maybe 1978 should be considered an era unto itself. They owned the world that year!

Ross

Everyone has a different opinion. I would say "Untercover", because it's the beginning of the hard era of the Stones with the battle between Mick and Keith. That's when Micks role as a sexy man ended. That's when the era of many number one albums and singles was over.

But you cannot categozise the history of the Stones exactly. There are sure some breaks (with Satanic Majesties and Beggars Banquet), but in general it's a fluential development.