these three albums get a bad rap, I think they are classic albums I cant go without what do you think ,,,,,,3 more albums next time

Once will do, ofcourse.

And I don't agree completely. OK albums. But not "classic" à la Exile On Main Street, Sticky Fingers, Tattoo You, Some Girls, etc.

that is exactly the order I put these in.

Goats Head Soup for me is just under the big four
IORR is just under Tattoo You
and honestly, I don't listen to Black & Blue that much...to me it's just to disjointed...maybe its because of all the different musicians they used on it...

the shoot 'em dead, brainbell jangler!

billy preston and keith and ronnies background vocals on crazy mama and keiths leads are worth the purchase alone for black and blue,,,,PS melody ,hand of fate

GHS is a forgotten gem. I love that album.

all are incredible
incredible

Would mostly agree..

I've always had such a love for 'Black and Blue' and 'Goats Head Soup',ranking them just under the 'Big 4'.

'Black and Blue' simply cooks! Some high profile fans of this album have professed thier admiration for it aswell --- Ex-Gunner Izzy Stradlin' places it very high on his favourite-stones-albums list,and,okay,perhaps not high profile,but,Motley Crue MainMan Nikki Sixx refers to it as,and I quote,the "coolest album ever made". Jon Peel gave it a very favourable review if I remember correctly aswell. But,to each his/her own -- for me,it's gold. The groove,the funk,the decadence,it's a right rollicking good time!

'Goats Head Soup' -- Simply so decadent,cool and druggy,like the come-down,the morning after haze after 'Exile's night of high trippin' on some Class-A substances^ 'Winter' is one of the finest pieces of music the stones have ever made,IMVHO,and with the exception of the woeful "Dancin with Mr.D"(the god-awful self-parodying lyrics),I love the whole flow of the album. IF they had taken off 'Mr.D' and added 2 or 3 of the great OutTakes from this period,it would probably be up there with the likes of 'Exile'.

'IORR' -- as fine as it is,always seen it as kind of the weak-link in those mid-'70's albums. Four killers though --- the juggernaut that is 'FingerPrint File',a mini-movie,a paranoid classic,excellent! 'Luxury' is up there too,infectious & quite irresistible. 'If you really want to be my friend" & "Time Waits For No-One" are,methinks,great stuff,if not as sublime as sme of the stones' true balladic masterpieces. The rest of the album is definitely competent,but could have been so much more..

'Black And Blue' & 'Goats Head Soup' are the real lost gems,two always underrated albums,but for some of us,they're Rolled Gold(sorry abut that obvious comment^^)!

The one I forget about more than the others is IORR for some reason. Every time I put it on I am suprised in a good way at how fantastic it is.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

GHS was the last album that had heart and soul. IORR was sterile sounding.

"The wonder of Jimi Hendrix was that he could stand up at all he was so pumped full of drugs." Patsy, Patsy Stone

GHS is a good album, but a bit uninspired.
IORR is average and sometimes boring, but with mostly good songs.
B&B is fresh air, great production, great sound and good feeling. By far, the most accessible of the three.

Could make one fantasic album out of the 3.


Proof that it was time for the Stones to reinvent themselves. Love or hate punk (and to a lesser extend disco), but the punkers (especially the Clash and Sex Pistols writing the Stones off as has beens) helped give new life to the Stones with Some Girls.

GHS is one of the Stones' most underrated albums. I like IORR and BB alot but I can kind of see why they aren't really considered classics. The unpopularity of GHS though is something I just can't understand, it's such a fantastic album. I agree with an earlier poster, if 'Mr.D' had been left off or at least not used as the opening song (first impressions are important!) then maybe the album would have been more popular and considered a classic.

I would rank GHS @ #6, right behind Some Girls. IORR is right behind GHS. I don't care of B&B that much.

don't give me that ole one two, one two three four



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-07-06 03:48 by bigfrankie.

drank some goats head soup, rock and rolled till black and blue

great albums that suffer in comparison to LIB/SF/Exile. GHS and B&B in particular have aged well.

Yeah they get a bad rap. But they're good. GHS is the wost of them even though it really has it's moments. IORR is good too, but not as good as B&B, which is one of the best they did IMO (Not exactly VL, B2B or ABB, but close). These albums get slammed just like the latter day albums. Can't understand it, and I don't want to. We couldn't have asked for better latter day albums than the ones we got (Except some stuff from B2B, and half the SW CD).

JumpingKentFlash

If Criss Cross and Through the Lonely Nights had been added to GHS, and if Dancing with Mr. D had been given a Slave-like treatment (no verses, just a chorus for lyrics), I think Goats Head Soup would be better loved than it seems to be.

I also wish that the cover of Drift Away had shown up on an album, but I guess that would belong more to the IORR era, not GHS. Correct me if I am wrong.

Love GHS

Black and Blue are pretty good and IORR is ok

Very meh era overall, but each albums has 2-3 awesome songs.

Goats Head Soup for me is a classic

It's Only Rock 'N' Roll is quite enjoyable but ultimately rather weak and shallow and an indication of what was in store post Tattoo You (although it's probably still superior than many of those later albums). It's ultimately sketchy and underdeveloped.

Black And Blue is a fine album although it's some way off being a classic. Extremely well produced and for much of the time very enjoyable.

Monkeylad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If Criss Cross and Through the Lonely Nights had
> been added to GHS, and if Dancing with Mr. D had
> been given a Slave-like treatment (no verses, just
> a chorus for lyrics), I think Goats Head Soup
> would be better loved than it seems to be.
>
> I also wish that the cover of Drift Away had shown
> up on an album, but I guess that would belong more
> to the IORR era, not GHS. Correct me if I am
> wrong.

Maybe they could have worked a bit on "Dancing..." 'cause IMHO the concert versions are just @#$%& brilliant ;-)

I don't think GHS would ever be regarded as highly as the big 4 because it isn't as focused and it may to some listeners sound a little too self indulgent. I actually really enjoy the fact the album is like that because i find it becomes more intoxicating the more i listen. There's a lot of beauty within its grooves but it only reveals this strength over repeated listens.
In many ways it's the complete opposite to an album like Some Girls (and for me it's far more interesting).

If I can remember, Black and Blue came out right after IORR. People at that time really didn't like it and was wonder why there was a switch from IORR.

Black and Blue gets played usually on Sundays and the reason is unknown.......

shattered Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If I can remember, Black and Blue came out right
> after IORR.

It actually took over 2 years, I think.

GHS - has got some real good songs, but for me too many slow ones. It is real "decadent,cool and druggy"like one of you wrote before!

IORR - one song i love (if you can´t rock me), but most of the rest is not very inspired. One of the weakest stones albums

B+B - after the low point of IORR the stones sound again fresh and raw! But with 8 songs way too short!

I just want to say two more words about Black and Blue ,Hey Negrita!!!

@curtisdavis

You´re right, Hey Negrita is by far the best song on B+B!

I think GHS is my #5 - the only fault I see with it is that it is a bit mellow.

Keith has said that IORR was never mastered to his tastes, and that if it had been, he would have thought it would be more highly regarded.

I don't care for B&B at all, it basically goes nowhere. Best song on the album is Hand of Fate, with the Wayne Perkins lead work. They should have used Slave as well.

GHS is probably at number three, after Exile and Sticky Fingers, even though sometimes it's the Stones record I listen to the most.
Dancing With Mr. D, 100 Ago, Heartbreaker, Winter and Can You Hear the Music are great, great songs to me.
I remember one day discussing the Stones discography with Andy McCoy of Hanoi Rocks we did both agree on GHS being one of their greatest records and, kinda telepathically we started singing an a-cappella rendition of 100 Years Ago, probably one of their greatest songs of the 70s.
I don't really like IORR if it wasn't for Luxury and If You Can't Rock Me.
Black & Blue is another great record to me, just Hey Negrita and Hot Stuff make it worth buying.