Muscle Shoals 1969. Right before Keith became a full fledged junkie.

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

Australian Tour 1973

this is NOT musically, but I think 75-78 had the best concert photographs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-08-15 20:56 by ryanpow.

94-95

No question. 1972 There were many great years and albums before and after, but at this point they had really hit they're stride. Just watch "Ladies & Gentlemen." There are lots of in depth reasons I could go into, on why but I wont as we all know the background info and history and stuff....

1972: The climax.. THE tour

1969-1973

After reading this thread - wish I could go back to '72 and take it all in. I was only 11 yrs old and probably listening to the Jackson 5 or something. . .oh well, luckily there's footage of the boys then. I'll rent 'Ladies & Gentlemen' soon.

You got to roll me. . . .

My favorite period of theirs is 1962-present.

As a liveband they peaked 97-99 in my oppinion. When they recorded Bridges I remember Keith and Mick saying "everything is better than saying let´s simply be the Rolling Stones", they really tried to do something new, they played five new songs per show and had lots of setlist changes. Ronnie played fantastic in 1995(Stripped Companion proves that). The Bigger Bang is a good tour and album as well though.

1972

I agree with open-g, 69-72.

I saw them in 1969 and I just couldn't believe what a band they had become. When I saw them in '66, they were good and entertaining, but appealed to a lot of screaming girls. They were still kind of a part of the "British Invasion" of music in the states, which included groups like the Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and others. In '69, they had matured, and played essentially the same set as is on "Ya Yas" and I was blown away at what an incredible and serious rock and roll band they had become. I was recently listening to "Ya Yas" and realizing how much we have all become used to that recording. But at the time, it was a new look and a new sound for the Stones and they took off from there.

I realize that I am also fortunate to have seen them live in all 3 "incarnations", the Jones era, the Taylor era, and the Wood era.

On stage or studio? I'd say 1975 for stage and studio VL

75-76

I would have to say the peak was 1973. They were very good live up to 1981 but it has been strictly for the money since 1989. Lets be honest, if another band that did not have the Stones history put out Steel Wheels through ABB would they be this huge? No way. Just look at the setlist, playing 35 year old songs because that is what the fans really want to hear

2116 with the now 80 year old Bill Why Me? on bass.

They peaked in 1969 as they wrote most songs to "Sticky Fingers" by that time. You can argue that they were still going strong until 1978 but then after that it was all downhill or resting on their laurels.
Regards.
JMB

Must have been a pretty high hill if they've been descending it ever since 1978, regarding their level at the clubconcerts during the Licks Tour, and their recent Paris-gig.

Jelle

RayStones Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would have to say the peak was 1973. They were
> very good live up to 1981 but it has been strictly
> for the money since 1989. Lets be honest, if
> another band that did not have the Stones history
> put out Steel Wheels through ABB would they be
> this huge? No way. Just look at the setlist,
> playing 35 year old songs because that is what the
> fans really want to hear


"Start Me Up" was written for the Some Girl Sessions in 1978 but somehow got missed. Therefore, nothing after 1978 is really that great. Think about it: Add "Start Me Up" to Some Girls and you have the BEST EVER rock album. Why they missed that song I have no idea. However, "Start Me Up" made Tattoo You a very popular album and their tour very popular. Everything after that was for $$$$$.

1966

..... hey, some of ya ought to just mention ''the jimmy miller'' period, thats descriptive enough for me... thou i dont view em as ever really just peaked...

1989-90

Blade-MD Wrote:

>
> "Start Me Up" was written for the Some Girl
> Sessions in 1978 but somehow got missed.

As far as I know "Start me up" is even older - around Exile.

1980. They've never improved on Emotional Rescue.

1963 - Little Red Rooster
1966 - Aftermath
1971/1972 - Sticky Fingers/Exile
1978 - Some Girls
1981 - Tattoo You
1994 - Voodoo Lounge
2005 - Bigger Bang

I personally think that the Stones are still capable of coming back with albums that will blow us away. Anyone else?

Twicks aug. 2006!

1972, no contest

Get serious. From a true creative perspective, 1972 is clearly THE peak. GHS, IORR, B&B are all great albums, but you can't really compare them to the big four. As a live band, 1969-73 were great years, but they remain a great live band today, even with a slight decline in Keith and Ronnie's playing since Mick is singing better than ever.

1963-1982

I've seen them since 76,so can't comment on pre that era.

All I can say,is that IMO,the 76 & 82 European tours have been thrashed out of sight with every tour since then.

As for last night - it'll take some beating.

1 9 7 2 - no doubt. That year everything meshed seamlessly and still had this special feel to it.

As early as '73 it started to come apart slowly. Taylor played even more fluently and you can detect every single instrument in the mix but they didn't connect the way they had before. Needless to say there were other (but minor) peaks like '78. But none of them can even touch the magic of the STP-shows IMO.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-08-23 18:24 by Greenblues.