Lots of opinions on what's best, what's not and I'd love to hear them.

Curious now with 6 months or so since Hackney Diamonds has been released, presumably enough time to absorb and assess how everyone would rate the catalogue beginning in 1980.

So, here's my list in order. I've also listed the "key track" (which is not necessarily the best track - though could be, just the one that you best identify with the album). For some albums this was really difficult, ie for Tattoo You I could easily have picked Slave or any track on side 2.

I've also rated each album out of 5 stars.

1. ***** Tattoo You - Start Me Up
2. ***** Hackney Diamonds - Sweet Sounds Of Heaven
3. ****1/2 Undercover - Undercover of the Night
4. ****1/2 Steel Wheels - Continental Drift
5. **** Emotional Rescue - She's So Cold
6. **** A Bigger Bang - Dangerous Beauty
7. ***1/2 Voodoo Lounge - Love Is Strong
8. ***1/2 Blue & Lonesome - Commit A Crime
9. **1/2 Bridges To Babylon - Saint Of Me
10. ** Dirty Work - One Hit To The Body



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-25 15:26 by treaclefingers.

Tattoo You ***** – Start Me Up
Emotional Rescue ***** – She's So Cold
Undercover ***** – Undercover (Of The Night)
Steel Wheels **** – Slipping Away
Hackney Diamonds **** – Whole Wide World
Blue And Lonesome **** – Hoodoo Blues
Dirty Work *** – Had It With You
Voodoo Lounge *** – Love Is Strong
Bridges To Babylon ** – How Can I Stop
A Bigger Bang ** – Biggest Mistake

Tattoo You ***** – Worried about you
Bridges To Babylon **** – Out of control
Voodoo Lounge **** – Love Is Strong
Steel Wheels **** – Almost hear you sigh
Hackney Diamonds **** – Whole Wide World
Undercover ***,5 – She was hot
Blue And Lonesome *** – Ride 'em on down
Dirty Work *** – Had It With You
Emotional Rescue *** – Let me go
A Bigger Bang *** – Laugh I nearly died

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

My Personal Feelings List:

Tattoo You 5/5 Neighbours, Start me Up
Voodoo Lounge 5/5 Love Is Strong, Out Of Tears
Undercover 5/5 Undercover, Too Much Blood
Emotional Rescue 5/5 Emo, She So Cold
Bridges To Babylon 4/5 Anybody Seen My Baby, Thief In The Night
Steel Wheels 4/5 Terrifying, Slipping Away
Dirty Work 3,5/5 One Hit
A Bigger Bang 3,5/5 Oh No, Streets Of Love, Biggest Mistake
Hackney Diamonds 3,5/5 Get Close, Live By The Sword
Blue And Lonesome 3/5 Blue and Lonesome, Ride Em On Down

I think all this albums rank from fantastic to Masterpiece.

Hackney Diamonds 5* - Depending on You
Tattoo You 5* - Waiting on a Friend
Blue and Lonesome 4* - Ride em on Down
Voodoo Lounge 3* - Out of Tears
A Bigger Bang 3* - Biggest Mistake
Steel Wheels 3* - Slipping Away
Bridges to Babylon 2* - Out of Control
Undercover 2* - She Was Hot
Emotional Rescue 2* - She's so Cold
Dirty Work 1* - Winning Ugly

Undercover 5.1* - Tie you up
Tattoo You 5* - Heaven 5*
Voodoo Lounge 4.5* - Out of Tears
Bridges to Babylon 4* - Out of Control - Live 5*
Blue and Lonesome 4* - Ride em on Down
Emotional Rescue 3* - Dance
Dirty Work 3* - One hit
Steel Wheels 2.5* - Continental drift 5*
A Bigger Bang 2.0* - Rain fall down 4*
Hackney Diamonds 1.5* - Angry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-30 14:06 by EddieByword.

Undercover 5* - She Was Hot
Tattoo You 5* - Neighbors
Dirty Work 4* - Sleep Tonight
Emotional Rescue 4* - She's so Cold
A Bigger Bang 3 1/2* - Laugh I nearly died
Bridges to Babylon 3 1/2* - Out of Control
Blue and Lonesome 3 1/2* - Commit a Crime
Hackney Diamonds 3 1/2* - Tell me Straight
Steel Wheels 3* - Slipping Away
Voodoo Lounge 2* - Love is Strong

Hackney Diamonds - 5 – Live By the Sword
Blue And Lonesome - 5 – Little Rain
Voodoo Lounge - 5 – Love Is Strong
Tattoo You - 4 – Start Me Up
A Bigger Bang - 4 – Rough Justice
Emotional Rescue - 3 - She's So Cold
Bridges To Babylon - 3 - Too Tight
Undercover - 3 - She Was Hot
Steel Wheels - 2 - Mixed Emotions
Dirty Work - 1 – Too Rude

Hackney Diamonds - 4,5 – Sweet Sounds of Heaven
Tattoo You - 4 – Start Me Up
Bridges To Babylon - 3,5 - Saint of me
Blue And Lonesome - 3,5 – Little Rain
Voodoo Lounge - 3,5 – Love Is Strong
A Bigger Bang - 3 – Rough Justice
Undercover - 3 - She Was Hot
Emotional Rescue - 3 - She's So Cold
Steel Wheels - 3 - Almost hear you sigh
Dirty Work - 1 – One hit



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-25 18:04 by goingmad.

My ratings and my favourite tracks from the album.
I got into the Stones aged 13 in 1995, so the later albums have always been what I identify with the most

1. ***** Tattoo You - Heaven
2. ***** Hackney Diamonds - Whole Wide World
3. *** Undercover - All The Way Down/Too Much Blood
4. **** Steel Wheels - Almost Hear You Sigh
5. ** Emotional Rescue - Let Me Go
6. ** A Bigger Bang - Look What The Cat Dragged In/This Place Is Empty
7. ***** Voodoo Lounge - Thru And Thru
8. ** Blue & Lonesome - Little Rain
9. ***** Bridges To Babylon - Saint Of Me/Out Of Control
10.***** Dirty Work - One Hit To The Body/Sleep Tonight



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-25 18:10 by Barkerboy2.

My top 10
1. Voodoo lounge - my introduction
2. Hackney
3. A bigger bang
4. Blue and Lonesome
5. Bridges
6. Tattoo you - not a fan of Micks singing
7-10 Emotional, Steel Wheels, undercover and dirty work - I don’t owe them so I can’t rate them properly

Tattoo You 5* - Slave, Waiting On A Friend
Hackney Diamonds 4,5* - Whole Wide World, Sweet Sounds Of Heaven
Blue and Lonesome 4* - Hoodoo Blues, Blue & Lonesome
Bridges to Babylon 4* - Out of Control, Might As Well Get Juiced
Steel Wheels 3,5* - Continental Drift, Rock And A Hard Place
Voodoo Lounge 3,5* - Love Is Strong, I Go Wild
A Bigger Bang 3* - Back Of My Hand, Rough Justice
Dirty Work 2,5* - One Hit, Fight
Emotional Rescue 2* - Down In A Hole, All About You
Undercover 2* - She Was Hot, Undercover

Quote
goingmad
Hackney Diamonds - 4,5 – Sweet Sounds of Heaven
Tattoo You - 4 – Start Me Up
Bridges To Babylon - 3,5 - Saint of me
Blue And Lonesome - 3,5 – Little Rain
Voodoo Lounge - 3,5 – Love Is Strong
A Bigger Bang - 3 – Rough Justice
Undercover - 3 - She Was Hot
Emotional Rescue - 3 - She's So Cold
Steel Wheels - 3 - Almost hear you sigh
Dirty Work - 1 – One hit

Great choices!

1. ***** Tattoo You - Hang Fire
2. **** Emotional Rescue - She's So Cold
3. **** Undercover - She Was Hot
4. **** Steel Wheels - Almost Hear You Sigh
5. ***1/2 Blue and Lonesome - All of Your Love
6. ***1/2 Hackney Diamonds - Sweet Sounds of Heaven
7. ***1/2 Bridges to Babylon - Saint of Me
8. *** A Bigger Bang - Laugh, I Nearly Died
9. ** Dirty Work - One Hit (To The Body)
10.** Voodoo Lounge - Out of Tears

Fun topic, I think I may burn a disc of this list



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-26 19:23 by floodonthepage.

01 ***10/10*** Hackney Diamonds: Mess It Up / Live By The Sword
02 ***9,5/10*** Steel Wheels: Terrifying
03 ***9/10*** Tatto You: Waiting On A Friend
04 ***8,5/10*** Voodoo Loung: Moon Is Up / Thru And Thru
05 ***8/10***Blue & Lonesome: Just Like I Treat You (Charlie is f*cking great)
06 ***7,5/10*** Undercover: She Was Hot / Too Much Blood
07 ***7/10*** Dirty Wotk: One Hit (To The Body) / Dirty Work
08 ***6/10*** Bridges To Babylon: How Can I Stop
09 ***5/10*** A Bigger Bang; Biggest Mistake
10 ***1/10*** Emotional Rescue: Emotional Rescue



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-25 20:39 by UrbanSteel.

1. ***1/2 Steel Wheels - Rock and a hard place
2. ***1/2 Undercover - She was hot
3. *** Voodoo Lounge - Thru And Thru
4. *** Hackney Diamonds - Whole Wide World
5. *** Tattoo You - Start me up
6. *** Emotional Rescue - Dance, pt 1
7. **1/2 Blue & Lonesome - Commit a Crime
8. ** Bridges To Babylon - Saint Of Me
9. ** A Bigger Bang - Laugh, I nearly died
10.*1/2 Dirty Work - One Hit To The Body

5.0 UNDERCOVER "Undercover (of the Night)"
5.0 EMOTIONAL RESCUE "Down in the Hole"/ " She's So Cold"/ "All About You"
4.0 HACKNEY DIAMONDS "Dreamy Skies" / "Whole Wide World"
3.5 A BIGGER BANG " Laugh I Nearly Died"/"Biggest Mistake"/ "Rain Fall Down"/ Let Me Down Slow"
3.5 BRIDGES TO BABYLON "Always Suffering"/ "Might As Well Get Juiced"
3.0 BLUE AND LONESOME "Blue And Lonesome"
2.0 VOODOO LOUNGE "Love Is Strong"
2.0 STEEL WHEELS "Continental Drift"
1.5 TATTOO YOU "Waiting On a Friend"
1.5 DIRTY WORK "Winning Ugly"

5.0 indicating great album. 4.0 indicating semi -great. 3.5 indicating verging on the semi-great.

Quote
Witness
5.0 UNDERCOVER "Undercover (of the Night)"
5.0 EMOTIONAL RESCUE "Down in the Hole"/ " She's So Cold"/ "All About You"
4.0 HACKNEY DIAMONDS "Dreamy Skies" / "Whole Wide World"
3.5 A BIGGER BANG " Laugh I Nearly Died"/"Biggest Mistake"/ "Rain Fall Down"/ Let Me Down Slow"
3.5 BRIDGES TO BABYLON "Always Suffering"/ "Might As Well Get Juiced"
3.0 BLUE AND LONESOME "Blue And Lonesome"
2.0 VOODOO LOUNGE "Love Is Strong"
2.0 STEEL WHEELS "Continental Drift"
1.5 TATTOO YOU "Waiting On a Friend"
1.5 DIRTY WORK "Winning Ugly"

5.0 indicating great album. 4.0 indicating semi -great. 3.5 indicating verging on the semi-great.

Love your list, particularly the top rankings - I think Undercover is just so underappreciated for it's greatness.

I do have a question and this is not asking you to "justify" anything as we like what we like.

It's more that you have Tattoo You and Dirty Work at the same level...I can personally understand the relative disdain for Dirty Work but wonder what it is about Tattoo You that turns you off?

Just very curious. Thx Witness.

Not now, treacle. I have written about TATTOO YOU before, but not so often (I prefer to do posts, where I can be positive). Whereas I have not yet, apart from this thread, given my views on HACKNEY DIAMONDS at all. (I have lately been in a period, when I do quite few posts.)

1. Dirty Work (my favorite Rolling Stones album)
2. Tattoo You/Blue & Lonesome/Undercover/Emotional Rescue
3. Bridges To Babylon
4. Steel Wheels/Voodoo Lounge
5. A Bigger Bang
6. Hackney Diamonds

Quote
treaclefingers
..........

I do have a question and this is not asking you to "justify" anything as we like what we like.

It's more that you have Tattoo You and Dirty Work at the same level...I can personally understand the relative disdain for Dirty Work but wonder what it is about Tattoo You that turns you off?

Just very curious. Thx Witness.

treacle, look at thread page 8 in the album thread for TATTOO YOU, if you like.

1. Tattoo You No Use in Crying
2. Hackney Get Close
3. Steel Wheels Almost Hear
4. Voodoo Love is Strong
5. Bridges Saint of Me
6. Emotional Rescue All About you
7. ABB Let me down slow
8. Dirty Work Harlem Shuffle

Quote
Witness

Quote
treaclefingers
..........

I do have a question and this is not asking you to "justify" anything as we like what we like.

It's more that you have Tattoo You and Dirty Work at the same level...I can personally understand the relative disdain for Dirty Work but wonder what it is about Tattoo You that turns you off?

Just very curious. Thx Witness.

treacle, look at thread page 8 in the album thread for TATTOO YOU, if you like.

Oh lovely, an Easter egg!

At the moment though I could change.So here goes :-

1 Tattoo You - Slave
2 Emotional Rescue - Down in The Hole
3 Bridges To Babylon - Out Of Control
4 Blue And Lonesome – Blue And Lonesome.
5 Hackney Diamonds – Bite My Head Off
6 Undercover - Too Tough
7 Voodoo Lounge - Blinded By Rainbows
8 Dirty Work - Hold Back
9 Steel Wheels - Hold onto Your Hat.
10 A Bigger Bang - Look What The Cat Dragged In

No idea .

I've always been rubbish at this.

It changes on an almost weekly basis.

I always find it interesting when folks on these pages say that they haven't listened to such and such an album for years.

I tend to spin pretty much everything on a fairly regular basis and it's surprising how often even the older records manage to elicit a new reaction from me with some aspect or other.

I think that, sometimes, when stating that we don't like this and don't like that...we should maybe give it another listen with open ears and mind.

[ ..and What's wrong with DW if you're in the mood for some raucous guitar music ? ]

Tattoo You ***** – Key: Start Me Up. Best: Slave and the entire B-side
Emotional Rescue **** – Key: Emotional Rescue. Best: She's So Cold
Undercover *** – Key: Undercover (Of The Night). Best: Tie You Up (The Pain of Love)
Steel Wheels ** – Key: Mixed Emotions. Best: Slipping Away
Bridges To Babylon *1/2 – Key: Anybody Seen My Baby. Best: Thief In The Night
Blue And Lonesome *1/2 – Key: - Best: Little Rain
Hackney Diamonds *1/2 – Key: - Best: Driving Me Too Hard
A Bigger Bang * – Key: - Best: Laugh, I Nearly Died
Voodoo Lounge * – Key and Best: Love Is Strong
Dirty Work * – Key and Best: One Hit (To The Body)

Stripped
Hackney
Tattoo you
Undercover
Emotional
Abb
Steel
Voodoo
Blue
Bridges

1. ***** Tattoo You - Start Me Up
2. ***** Undercover - Undercover of the Night
3. **** Emotional Rescue - She's So Cold
4. ***1/2 Bridges To Babylon - How Can I Stop
5. *** Steel Wheels - Almost Hear You Sigh
6. *** A Bigger Bang - This Place is Empty
6. ** Dirty Work - Had it with You
2. ** Hackney Diamonds - Whole Wide World
8. * Blue & Lonesome - *
7. * Voodoo Lounge - *

Mathijs

1. ***** Tattoo You - Start Me Up - Waiting On a Friend
2. *** Undercover - Undercover of the Night
3. *** Emotional Rescue - Emotional Rescue
4. *** Steel Wheels - Mixed Emotion
5. *** Blue & Lonesome - Little Rain
6. *** A Bigger Bang - Rough Justice
7. *** Hackney Diamonds - Sweet Sound Oh Heaven
8. ** Dirty Work - Harlem Shuffle
9. ** Voodoo Lounge - You Got Me Rocking
10. * Bridges To Babylon - Out of Control

***
I'm just a Bad Boy Boogie

In my opinion, the Stones haven’t produced a 5-star effort since Exile on Main Street. However, a 4.5 is pretty darn good. It’s what I’d rank Some Girls as, too. A near-classic, but just, ever-so slightly missing the mark. One takeaway from this: so many 3-stars; which isn’t a bad thing, either. Dirty Work remains their only misstep, in my eyes.

4.5 – Tattoo You – Key track: Start Me Up
4.0 – Undercover – Key track: She Was Hot
3.5 – Steel Wheels – Key track: Mixed Emotions
3.5 – Voodoo Lounge – Key track: Love is Strong
3.0 – Hackney Diamonds – Key track: Angry
3.0 – Emotional Rescue – Key track: She’s So Cold
3.0 – Bridges to Babylon – Key Track: Saint of Me
3.0 – A Bigger Bang – Key track: Biggest Mistake
3.0 – Blue & Lonesome – Key track: All Your Love
2.5 – Dirty Work – Key track: One Hit (To the Body)