I've just finished a personal experiment. I've listened to, in chronological order, all of the Stones' studio albums from the debut through 'Exile'. Just before listening to 'Exile', I concluded that 'Beggars Banquet' was the Stones album with the best lyrics but 'Let It Bleed' was the Stones album with the best overall flow. And then I put on 'Exile' and...BOOM !! All other comparisons go out the window. The passion of the performances, the sheer ROCKINGNESS of the thing, the strength of Jagger's vocals and the Richards/Taylor guitar duelling --quite simply, it just blows away every other Stones album. To this day, why has no other band -- including the Stones themselves -- been able to recreate the magical atmosphere and confidence as a band that characterizes 'Exile' ? Albums just simply don't reach that level anymore. And they rarely did before, either.

let it loose

EOMS was thr first Stones album I bought right after it came out. Like many reviewers at the time, I had difficulty getting into it.Shortly after, I bought Let It Bleed, and that is what started my 33 year and running love of this group.I await every new album with anticipation, and ABB is the first in many, many years that has me humming any tunes ( even if it is Let Me Down Slow).I have been front row and in the nose bleed seats.I have travelled to every continent except Africa and Anatartica for shows.

I think I qualify as a "real fan." So I am prepared to be nailed to the cross when I say , IMO, EOMS is a great album, but does not live up to its own myth. I could not name all the songs, certainly do not remember the running order, and to this day never play it straight through. Oh yeah, that opening number, the classic line of "the sunshine bores the daylights out of me," things like that will always surface into my consciousness, but it is not the album I would choose to introduce the group to newbies. Maybe it is just too dense and intense for me.

EOMS definitely is an acquired taste. It doesn't strike you as classic on first listen. But I think you really have to listen to it in it's entirety to fully appreciate it. The true genius of EOMS is that the Stones gave us rock n roll, country, blues, soul, gospel, reggae in 65 minutes of music and, despite all the different genres, you come away feeling a common groove that threads it's way through the whole album.

RockR, you don't mention Sticky Fingers in your post, you go from Let It Bleed to Exile, what happened?

I ain't stupid, I'm just guitarded.

rockr said
>the sheer ROCKINGNESS of the thing


lol! that's classic. is rockingness a real word?

RankOutsider Wrote:
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> RockR, you don't mention Sticky Fingers in your
> post, you go from Let It Bleed to Exile, what
> happened?
>
> "Once upon a time I was your little rooster, but
> now I'm just one of your cocks"


That's because even though I consider 'Sticky Fingers' a classic album, I would rank it fourth of "the big Four".

J.J.Flash Wrote:
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> rockr said
> >the sheer ROCKINGNESS of the thing
>
>
> lol! that's classic. is rockingness a real word?

No it's not...but it sure describes 'Exile' !

cant agree---"Aftermath" is stones no.1

Sticky & Bleed r runnin neck & neck ,,,, but its Sticky by a nose,,,then beggars ,,,,# 4 Exile

I definitely put Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers ahead of Exile.

I AGREE COMPLETELY! I love every song and have worn out several copies of it since 1972! I Still love Beggar's Banquet, Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Aftermath, Got Live, Betwen The Buttons, Out OF Our Heads and al of their 60's cd's but EXILE is the TOPS! It usually makes the top ten cd's OF ALL TIME Lists, and deservedly so.

Great album but the weakest of the big 4.

I think It's only rock' roll is just as good. So is Black and blue and Voodoo lounge. These three albums match Sticky, Bleed and Exile any day.

Agree with Kahoosier. EOMS is great, but if you were listening to Banquet and Let It Bleed before Sticky Fingers and EOMS came out (like I was), you might be forgiven if you thought the latter two were not as great.

Granted, Stickey Fingers and EOMS are classics too, but I always thought EOMS should have been a single LP. I'd have kept Rocks Off, Hip Shake, Sweet Virginia, Tumbling Dice, Sweet Black Angel, Happy, Turd on the Run, Loving Cup, Stop Breakin'Down, and All Down the Line, and saved the rest for later.

But what the hell, these and many other Stones albums are all so great that it don't matter, right?

If this were a trivia question on the NTN network (a trivia game played in bars in North America), the answer would be


Beggars can't be Choosers

Don't Be Stuck Up.

Let it Go

Exile By A Country Mile

It's my all time all out favorite album by anyone ever. That said, there's nothing wrong with the other albums I've mentioned here or Aftermath or IORR, or B&B, I love those studio albums. But Exile is (for me) so far ahead, I lose all objectivity in saying another album comes close. I guess that's why the French have over 200 kinds of cheese, everyone's got a different taste.

Niklas Wrote:
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> I think It's only rock' roll is just as good. So
> is Black and blue and Voodoo lounge. These three
> albums match Sticky, Bleed and Exile any day.
>
> Niklas
> Cousin Minnie says: How delecious!


Not a chance.

i agree completely. the bluesy flow of this album is almost at rockingness status. rock on rockr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For each great album that the band has made I think has it's own personality and that it is impossible to compare.

Beggars: back to basics, acoustics and raw

Bleed: refined sound (production wise), dark and powerful

Fingers: a grab bag of power and gentleness

Exile: raw, sonically dense, powerful

Goats: if an album could smoked pot this one did

IORR: The Glimmer Twins run the show, uneven

Black and Blue: all over the place, who played what?

Some Girls: Energy, not too smooth, fresh sounding

Rescue: Light feeling, fun album

Tattoo: Night & Day side 1 fresh, lively rockers, side 2 great mood

Undercover: dense, trashy

Dirty Work: Brash,angry

Steel Wheels: an easy mood to this album

Voodoo: back to basic "Stones sound" rocker

Bridges: A mixed bag, some Keith solo stuff, Mick doing his best Beck imitation
in terms of production (how many producers?), Biz Markie?, Micks last attempt (hopefully) at trying to incorporate "trends" into the band. He hit gold with Miss You but has missed the boat ever since

Bang: Fresh, energy, raw, brash, smooth and a touch of tenderness. Flows well

Milo, NYC
Me and you are like all the rest

Good work Milo.

I ain't stupid, I'm just guitarded.

RankOutsider Wrote:
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> Good work Milo.
>
> "Once upon a time I was your little rooster, but
> now I'm just one of your cocks"


Rank,

With all due respect, can you check your signature for accuracy?


but am I just one of your . . .



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-30 06:48 by camper88.

I knew it was magic the first time I heard it (I was 17) and became, instantly, my most prized possession. Couldn't wait to run home from school to listen to it, and learned my best air guitar techniques to it (my mom walking in my room occasionally without knocking got a good laugh out of that!) I was working back through the Stones catalog after buying Goats Head Soup, my first Stones album, and when I hit this one, I KNEW... Nothing would ever equal it... and that everyone doesn't get the joke, then or now, just makes it that much more personal and magical.

bigbang Wrote:
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> and that everyone
> doesn't get the joke, then or now, just makes it
> that much more personal and magical.

Totally agree.

If you don't get it, then don't get it . . . fine. Just don't question it.

Camper, It's just a line from Rough Justice. Your point being?

RankOutsider Wrote:
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> Camper, It's just a line from Rough Justice. Your
> point being?

My point? That's not the line. The Line is But AM I just . . .

Ok, I get it now, (I'm so touchy sometimes The liner notes (with lyrics) are what I used, but, in the song he does appear to sing, "And once upon a time I was your little rooster, but I'm ma jus' one a your cocks" (I'm listening to it with headphones) sometimes things are sung differently in the heat of the moment, lol

I ain't stupid, I'm just guitarded.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-30 07:54 by RankOutsider.

Sticky Fingers is better by a hair. Love, love, love Exile. It holds up better as one whole cohesive piece. But there are some songs on Exile that are "merely" very good, whereas IMO every song on Sticky Fingers is great.

RankOutsider Wrote:
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> Ok, I get it now, (I'm so touchy sometimes The
> liner notes are what I used, but, in the song he
> does appear to sing, "And once upon a time I was
> your little rooster, but I'm ma jus' one a your
> cocks" sometimes things are sung differently in
> the heat of the moment, lol

I'm ma? jus'

or Am I just?

Either way, it's rough justice, baby.

"I'm ma jus'" he's @#$%& up his own lyrics, lol It's rock 'n' roll baby, that's allowed.

I ain't stupid, I'm just guitarded.

RankOutsider Wrote:
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> "I'm ma jus'" he's @#$%& up his own lyrics, lol
> It's rock 'n' roll baby, that's allowed.

But if that's how he sings it, . . . then he's not f-cking it up, he's singing it that way.

Don't forget, they coulda rewound the tape an taken another crack at it.

In other words, if the actual song says "AM I just one of . . ." then that IS the lyric, regardless of what they actualy printed on some sleeve.