Was reading a nice article on the KISS forums, on the ebb & flow of fandom; asking other fans for their stories - were there points you lost interest, regained interest; in the course of many years did your love for the band go through the up's and down's?

The KISS discussion: [www.kissfaq.com]

For me the last 9 years or so, with the Archive Releases (audio concerts, the From the Vault DVD's, and other DVD's) have been as exciting as those initial years discovering the band. So many archival DVD's I'd hoped to see released in great quality have been forthcoming. Taking the 'Charlie is my Darling' film for example - two different cuts, with some great additions such as the 'England '65' live album - tremendous stuff. Mix with that the touring from 2012, with the band still putting on wonderful shows. The IORR StonesVault coincided with the band releases, and I've heard so many bootlegs I'd always hoped to get around to someday. It is an amazing time to be a Stones fan.

I was watching Hyde Park 2013 with my daughter this past weekend, and while it's no Brussels '73, it is a very strong show with some definite highlights - the versions of SFM, Gimme Shelter, Rambler and the closing Satisfaction are great versions & still great rock'n'roll.

I became a fan in 1993, 'Voodoo' came out as I was beginning to become addicted but it was 'Babylon' that was the first album of new material that I highly anticipated, at an early fandom height. I've never really had downtimes as a fan, as there is so much catalogue to enjoy, a wealth of unofficial recordings, and the tours the band undertake are always worthy. A friend of mine, a fellow fan, does speak of the 80s in less than hushed tones, but you can understand that - no tours '82/89, albums that seemed to signify the waning of a creative spirit (though I love 'Undercover' and even 'Dirty Work' has much more good than bad).

Some of the people 'round these IORR parts have been fans and aficionados for far longer than I; would love your stories or peaks, troughs, up's and down's of following this band.

From about 1972 with no let ups.

They've done my bloody head in if truth be told !

It indeed ebbs and flows. I'll go MONTHS without listening to anything to do with the Stones. Because there's no reason to, there is a lot of music to listen to without the Stones being part of that. After FLASHPOINT came out I didn't listen to anything until VOODOO LOUNGE came out. Same with the whole BRIDGES album - after NO SECURITY came out, it was nothing for years.

When something significant happens, whether it's another hits comp or a new album or single, I'll listen to whatever for a while.

After this tour stop in New Orleans, the summer will continue with the various playlists I've made and by September there will be no more Stones being played for a while.

There's much more other music to listen to.

Became a fan in 1976 and spent the rest of my high school and college days buying up their classic albums.
Some Girls came out when I was buried in their back catalog and I didn't really listen to it over and over until years later.
I remember hearing the single ER and being slightly disappointed. My college roomate told the album was rejects from SG and panned it.
I enjoyed Tattoo You.
I enjoyed Undercover, bought the album and remember thinking it might have been their last. All The Way Down felt like a coda to their career.
Somewhere in there was the Live Aid disaster. I thought they looked silly and out of touch.
Then came Dirty Work and I couldn't bear it.
Steel Wheels got a lot of airtime and video action and they looked grown up and professional. I saw them on that tour. Felt relieved that I saw them before they broke up. Remember, the 80s were not good to them.
Then I grew up, got married and all of that. When new albums came out I would listen, but nothing got me excited. A couple of years later I went back to Bridges and found it really held up. Four or five great songs on that.
Mostly the past few decades I have followed them because they are such fascinating characters and their story is so improbable.

Pretty steady from late 60s onward. It did wane in the 80s, due to poor set of albums. Emotional Rescue was somewhat hollow and nowhere near as good as the massively popular Some Girls. Tattoo You was a pastiche of old and a few new tracks, and it appeared they'd run out of steam, though some of the older cuts were primo. After loving the Undercover of the Night single, I expected a great album, and it wasn't. In fact you could remove the single, and I would never listen again to the rest of it. (Although She Was Hot was fun live.) Dirty Work was so strange, you could almost hear the seams where they tried to slap this together. A few good cuts, but a lot of dross. Then it appeared they might not be together again. That induced a panic that didn't subside until they reemerged.

From the first listen to Mixed Emotions on the radio I could tell it was good, but not top flight Stones. It was the first album I didn't rush out and buy, first day. I was very satisfied when I did get it. Overall there is no A Plus single, but a lot of great album cuts.

I felt they never recovered as an artistic unit after Bill left. I don't think it had as much to do with Bill, although it was part of it, as much as they simply couldn't reach previous heights anymore. I still followed them as a live act until 2006, when I realized it was more about spectacle than music. Since then I've only been interested in Wyman era Vault product. Except for less than a handful of singles, the only good blip on the recording radar Post Wyman was Blue and Lonesome. They overcame their lack of a complete rhythm section and got some of the old magic back. (With the help of Eric Clapton).

Once I became a Stones fan, never stopped being, not even occasionally. My heart's still burning for the Stones and will always.

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Meise
Once I became a Stones fan, never stopped being, not even occasionally. My heart's still burning for the Stones and will always.

Edinburgh 2018 gold circle

Jeroen

Been fan since 1973,saw them 39 times since 1976.
There have been a few downsides,like doom n gloom and one more shot.
They have been there most of my life. My happy and sad times and in between. The 2017 n 2018 gigs rekindled my passion even more. The vault releases and everything else. Cant live without the Stones. Sure i like other music also but the stones ..i @#$%& love them.
Jeroen

Quote
runrudolph
Been fan since 1973,saw them 39 times since 1976.
There have been a few downsides,like doom n gloom and one more shot.
They have been there most of my life. My happy and sad times and in between. The 2017 n 2018 gigs rekindled my passion even more. The vault releases and everything else. Cant live without the Stones. Sure i like other music also but the stones ..i @#$%& love them.
Jeroen

I hope you get one more Amsterdam show.

Been hooked on them since April 1968 and although there have been ups and downs along the way, they've always been my favourite group. I don't listen to them all that often now but I pay attention to what they are doing and I have all of their albums right up to now - and there's a space waiting for that new next album.

I became a fan around the time Goats Head Soup came out. I've always loved and played their classic stuff, but I did lose interest in their current output when Emotional Rescue came out (although funnily enough I now much prefer it to Some Girls), and a friend had to drag me to the show when they toured supporting Tattoo You.

I've continued to buy their albums over the years more or less out of habit, although none has really clicked with me except for Blue and Lonesome. I took my then-wife to see them play on the Urban Jungle tour, and I'm really glad we went. It was a great show, and of course the last time they toured with Bill as a member of the band.

Since then I haven't been wiling to pay hundreds of dollars to see what to me is an incomplete version of the Rolling Stones. But if they ever do put out another new album I'll be sure to pick it up, needless to say