Is there a rock discography as curious, brilliant and memorable as the one The Rolling Stones possess? It has everything: a scrappy beginning, a run of untouchable classics, some absolute stinkers and pretty much everything in-between. A 60-year musical career will do that, after all.
As they ready the release of their 24th studio album ‘Hackney Diamonds’ next week (October 20) we’ve ranked every UK album release since their 1964 debut in order of greatness – including the new record. It’s only rock’n’roll, but we’ve liked (most of) it!
Words: Alex Flood, Kevin EG Perry, Thomas Smith
‘Blue & Lonesome’ (2016)
Released over a decade after their previous studio album ‘A Bigger Bang’, 2016’s ‘Blue & Lonesome’ saw the Stones attempt to recapture their mojo on an album made up solely of blues covers. There are highlights, such as their sprightly version of Little Walter’s ‘Hate To See You Go’, but as a whole the record is more of a curiosity than an essential listen. (KEP)
‘Bridges To Babylon’ (1997)
Undoubtedly the nadir in Mick and Keith’s songwriting partnership, this late ‘90s entry sees them struggling to find their usual spark. Even drafting in starry modern producers the Dust Brothers [Beck, Beastie Boys] and Danny Saber [Black Grape] didn’t help. The best it gets is on sunny raver ‘Saint Of Me’ and sultry ballad ‘Anybody Seen My Baby?’ (AF)
‘Undercover’ (1983)
The one you’re most likely to pick up in a charity shop. Following the high of 1981’s ‘Tattoo You’, Jagger and Richards’ infamous decade-long feud has its origins in the recording sessions for ‘Undercover’, with each pulling in the opposite sonic direction. Saying that, ‘Undercover (Of The Night)’ finds something of a middle ground. Let’s move on… (TS)
‘Voodoo Lounge’ (1994)
Opening with the swaggering double-punch of ‘Love Is Strong’ and ‘You Got Me Rocking’, 1994’s ‘Voodoo Lounge’ gets off to a muscular start. Later on, penultimate track ‘Thru and Thru’ features one of Keith Richards’ most heart-rending lead vocals. The trouble comes in between those peaks, as the bloated hour-long tracklist conspires to somehow feel much longer. (KEP)
‘Between The Buttons’ (1967)
If we were going by the US tracklist for this 1967 collection, it would rank much higher. Unfortunately, back on Blighty, ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’ and ‘Ruby Tuesday’ hit the shelves as singles only. So we had to make do with lively-but-lesser bops ‘Back Street Girl’ and ‘Please Go Home’ instead. (AF)
‘The Rolling Stones No. 2’ (1965)
Recorded in late 1964 as Jagger and Richards’ writing chops were still developing, ‘…No.2’ features the band’s first truly great recording in ‘Time Is On My Side’, a cover indebted to Irma Thomas’ soul-wrenching rendition. They were starting to hit their stride: within six months, the band would go on to write and record ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’. The cogs were turning… (TS)
‘Dirty Work’ (1986)
Recorded during a period where Jagger and Richards’ relationship was at its lowest ebb, 1986’s ‘Dirty Work’ never quite finds its rhythm – but it does have teeth and real edge, as heard on the venomous opening track ‘One Hit (To The Body)’ and the album’s highlight: an irresistible, irrepressible cover of Bob & Earl’s 1963 R&B hit ‘Harlem Shuffle’. (AF)
‘A Bigger Bang’ (2005)
The last Stones album of original music prior to ‘Hackney Diamonds’, 2005’s ‘A Bigger Bang’ saw the band harking back to their rock’n’roll heyday with mixed results. Opener ‘Rough Justice’ captures the band at their sneering, salacious best and ‘Streets of Love’ proved they could still bang out a swooning power ballad, but anti-George W Bush protest song ‘Sweet Neo Con’ is admirable rather than incendiary. (KEP)
‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’ (1967)
Your initial thought might be to just pass this off as a ‘Sgt Peppers..’ cash-in, and you would be correct. Released less than a year following the Fab Four’s embracing of psychedelics – and with a foppish nod to the Lonely Hearts Club Band’s get-up – it’s hard to look past the obvious comparison. That said, the new song structures and influences would work well on ‘She’s a Rainbow’ and ‘2000 Light Years From Home’. (TS)
‘Steel Wheels’ (1989)
Perhaps best remembered by Stones fans for the mammoth world tour it launched, 1989’s ‘Steel Wheels’ saw the band end the decade on a high. ‘Mixed Emotions’, written by Jagger and Richards while holidaying together in Barbados, was the juiciest fruit of their renewed working relationship, but arguably the finest moment on the album is Richards’ gorgeous closing ballad ‘Slipping Away’. (KEP)
‘The Rolling Stones’ (1964)
Where it all began. The Stones’ 1964 self-titled debut album (released a month later in the US with a slightly altered tracklist as ‘England’s Newest Hit Makers’) is a thrillingly raw time capsule. Mostly made up of covers of blues and R&B songs like Bobby Troup’s ‘Route 66’ and Willie Dixon’s ‘I Just Want To Make Love To You’, it also features a trio of original songs which hint at how The Stones would revolutionise the genre they loved. (KEP)
‘Emotional Rescue’ (1980)
On previous album ‘Some Girls’ the band sounded rejuvenated, frisky and fun. Clearly onto a good thing, ‘Emotional Rescue’ has a similar energy with its title track and ‘Dance Pt 1’ leaning into that sleazy disco dancefloor, while Jagger goes full horndog on ‘She’s So Cold’. The sessions were so productive, several tracks on their follow-up album ‘Tattoo You’ have their origin here. (TS)
‘Black And Blue’ (1976)
When you consider that this mid-’70s gem was made while the band auditioned new guitarists (Mick Taylor quit a few months earlier), the patchwork of different styles and genres makes much more sense. Wayne Perkins appears on soulful cut ‘Fool To Cry’, funk stomper ‘Hot Stuff’ features Canned Heat guitarist Harvey Mandel and eventual hire Ronnie Wood’s contributions include reggae cover ‘Cherry Oh Baby’ and Latin-inspired rocker ‘Hey Negrita’. (AF)
Hackney Diamonds (2023)
Took yer time, lads! It’s been an 18-year wait for an album of original material since 2005’s ‘A Bigger Bang’, but time has been kind: it’s a total barnstormer. From a stroppy, strutting Mick on ‘Angry’ to Keith’s nifty guitar solo on ‘Whole Wide Word’, the group sound revitalised and energised. Late drummer Charlie Watts features on two songs, alongside contributions from Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and more. (TS)
‘Out Of Our Heads’ (1965)
The last Stones album (until ‘Blue & Lonesome’ decades later) to be made up primarily of rhythm and blues covers, 1965’s ‘Out Of Our Heads’ represents a transitional moment between the youthful band The Stones were and the globe-straddling rock behemoths they would become. The covers, like opener ‘Mercy, Mercy’, are still great, but the originals are miles better, especially ‘The Last Time’, ‘Play With Fire’, ‘The Spider and the Fly’ and the unmistakable, riff-driven genius of ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’. (KEP)
‘Tattoo You’ (1981)
How about that for a riff, then? ‘Start Me Up’ is perhaps the last proper Rolling Stones hit before they entered the wilderness, and completes their eight-album long streak of US Number One albums. Surprising, then, that much of the material was cobbled together from past sessions while the band were on tour given the strength of some of the songs: closer ‘Waiting On A Friend’ gets some gorgeous sax courtesy of jazz titan Sonny Rollins. (TS)
‘It’s Only Rock And Roll’ (1974)
Viewed by some critics as the moment the band passed over into parody – see the bloated excess of Guy Peellaert’s cover art – their 12th album doesn’t deserve its second-rate reputation. The title track can’t be ignored, nor can spiky opener ‘If You Can’t Rock Me’, and borrowed Temptations tune ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’ is arguably their best rock cover ever. It also saw the official debut of Mick and Keith’s producer pseudonym “The Glimmer Twins”, marking an important milestone in the development of the Stones’ modern, all-conquering global brand. Silly, yes, but loads of fun. (AF)
‘Aftermath’ (1966)
The first Stones album composed entirely of original songs, 1966’s ‘Aftermath’ represented a major artistic breakthrough for the band and remains a thrilling listen. From the opening satire of ‘Mother’s Little Helper’, about housewives hooked on tranquillisers, to the sneering ‘Under My Thumb’, Jagger and Richards proved with ‘Aftermath’ that they could go toe-to-toe with Lennon and McCartney’s prolific songwriting efforts for rivals The Beatles. Sinister classic ‘Paint It Black’, only released as a single in the UK, was included as the opening track on the US version of the album. (KEP)
‘Goat’s Head Soup’ (1973)
Often unfairly blamed for ending the classic four-album winning streak (‘Beggars Banquet’, ‘Let It Bleed’, ‘Sticky Fingers’, ‘Exile On Main St.’), ‘Goat’s Head Soup’ possesses a looser, more stately vibe – possibly due to Keith’s heroin addiction that was, by 1973, slowing him down significantly (he doesn’t even feature on every track).
Instead, Mick Taylor picks up the slack – and his melodic, near-poetic playing style elevates the wistful ballad ‘100 Years Ago’ and the achingly beautiful, frequently ignored ‘Winter’. Then there’s acoustic crooner ‘Angie’, which finds a spurned Mick seeking closure from an ex. It’s sublime, and probably the band’s greatest love song. (AF)
‘Some Girls’ (1978)
By the late ‘70s, the Stones were old news… or so we thought. On either side of the Atlantic, punk had exploded and disco was in vogue and the band were in danger of becoming extinct after a shaky run of records. They read the room: ‘Some Girls’ finds the band reborn and rejuvenated. ‘Miss You’, their final Number One single in the US, is a slinking nod to the emerging scene, while ‘Beast of Burden’ is one of their most lovelorn rock ballads. A slinking cover of ‘Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)’ lands just perfectly, while ‘Respectable’ is as snotty as anything from the Pistols. Just when the wider world thought the band were down and out, they conjured up a classic. (TS)
‘Beggars Banquet’ (1968)
After years of experimentation, including ill-fitting experiments with psychedelia, the Stones cracked their own code with 1968’s ‘Beggars Banquet’, which kicks off their imperial run from 1968 to 1972. Hiring American producer Jimmy Miller to oversee the sessions certainly helped, as Jagger and Richards brought together everything they loved about US roots music and made it very much their own.
Opening with the towering ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, the album makes its way through narcotic ballads (‘No Expectations’, featuring Brian Jones’ gorgeous slide guitar) to protest anthems like ‘Street Fighting Man’ and the singalong closer ‘Salt of the Earth’. Quite simply the greatest rock’n’roll album ever made, were it not for the next three albums on this list. (KEP)
‘Let It Bleed’ (1969)
Recorded amid Brian Jones’ descent into addiction – he’d die midway through production – the band captured the dread that hung over the late ‘60s; just weeks after its release, the Altamont bloodbath would leave an ugly stain. No wonder ‘Gimme Shelter’, the greatest opening track in rock history, is a whirlwind of war and rape, and stars an astonishing vocal performance by Merry Clayton. Closing track ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ was proof that Mick’n’Keef could do the Beatles-esque singalongs but it also was apt closure for the death of the ‘60s dream. (TS)
‘Sticky Fingers’ (1971)
With ‘Sticky Fingers’, the Stones first unveiled the sleazy, smacked-out rock and roll that they would eventually perfect on ‘Exile’. Gone are the occasionally poppy instincts of previous albums (consider orchestral jam ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ from ‘Let It Bleed’), to be replaced by a darker, almost mean-spirited grit. ‘Brown Sugar’ (now banished from the live show for its outdated lyrics about Black women) kicks things off with a bluesy if uncomfortable bang, before grungey romp ‘Sway’ cuts in, to be followed by ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’, which boasts a stage-shaking intro riff that sounds less like a polite ‘is anyone there?’ and more as if Keith is trying to blow the door off its hinges. Andy Warhol’s provocative album artwork – a fully zippable close-up of a man’s denim-swathed crotch (not Jagger, as had been assumed) – was banned in General Franco’s Spain, only adding to the album’s dangerous mystique. (AF)
‘Exile on Main St.’ (1973)
The greatest Rolling Stones album of them all was recorded in the humid basement of a former Nazi villa called Nellcôte, in the south of France. After being taken over by Keith Richards, the Stones decamped there in 1972 to make a record away from conventional studios and returned with a sprawling double album featuring relatively few radio hits. Instead, it’s simply 67 minutes and seven seconds of the purest, most high grade rock’n’roll ever committed to vinyl. Righteous, riotous songs like ‘Tumbling Dice’, ‘All Down The Line’ and the Richards-sung ‘Happy’ were the product of Jagger and Richards pushing each other to write one or two new songs every day.
“You’d be surprised when you’re right on the ball and you’ve got to do something and everybody’s looking at you going, OK, what’s going to happen?” Richards remembered in his 2010 memoir Life. “You put yourself up there on the firing line – give me a blindfold and a last cigarette and let’s go. And you’d be surprised how much comes out of you before you die.” (KEP)
The Rolling Stones’ ‘Hackney Diamonds’ is released October 20
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