If I only bought two Stone's al***s...

Crikey Bruce. That's a band with a 45 year history! 40 Licks is certainly a good jumping off point. If I could only have 2 albums then it would be "let It Bleed" and "Sticky Fingers" I think.

I'm not a Stones' fan at all, but I felt that I should have some of their records in my collection. I bought three Aftermath, Their Satanic Majesties Request and Beggars Banquet. I would immediately say the SACD of Their Satanic Majesties Request is dire - I can only play the non-SACD bit on my CDX2 of course, but even if was a superb re-master it could not disguise the fact that as psych band the Stones' just don't make it - there are a few good songs lost in the sound effects, but I'd not recommend it.

However, Aftermath and Beggars Banquet are much better. The former has tracks like Paint It Black and Under My Thumb and holds up well as a good album. The latter kicks off with the excellent Sympathy For The Devil and is another good record.

That said if I were buying another Stones set then I'd go for The Singles Collection as to me, it seems to have all their best stuff on it including:

Come On
I Wanna Be Your Man
Not Fade Away
It's All Over Now
Good Times Bad Times
Little Red Rooster
Last Time
Satisfaction
Spider And The Fly
Get Off My Cloud
As Tears Go By
Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown
Paint It Black
Mother's Little Helper
Lady Jane
Have You Seen Your Mother Baby (Standing In The Shadows)
Let's Spend The Night Together
Ruby Tuesday
We Love You
Dandelion
She's A Rainbow
2000 Light Years From Home
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Street Fighting Man
Honky Tonk Women
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Brown Sugar
Wild Horses
Sympathy For The Devil

In fact that looks so damn good, I think I'll order it myself

quote:

The Singles Collection

Seconded.

Exile on main street, Let it Bleed, Sticky fingers

Hot rocks is a good selection.

Where was this holiday cottage?

I am a big fan of Between the Buttons and Goat's Head Soup, just to name some that have not been mentioned! I love the vibe of Buttons and Mick Taylor's work and the overally druggy feeling of GHS

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Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
if I was to but just two Stones albums which should they be?

Totally impossible. You will need Exile, Beggar's Banquet, Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed, all indispensible. Then Aftermath, Get Yer Ya Ya's Out, Some Girls and the eponymous debut. Beyond that there is a lot of turd out there (don't go near the likes of Satanic Majesties, Dirty Work, Emotional Rescue or Beteween the Buttons-sorry John M) but Goat's Head, It's Only Rock and Roll, Tattoo You and Steel Wheels all contain one or two gems amongst the dross. Voodoo Lounge is actually much better than you'd expect and The London Years is the best comp.

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Originally posted by Malky:
(don't go near the likes of Dirty Work,

Sorry Malky, but I think Dirty Work is a great one. A return to their hard rock roots of 'Exile'. Steve Lillywhites production is spot on. Great sound and great photography and art work by Annie Leibovitz.


You need to get out your copy and listen to it again !!

BB

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Originally posted by Chris Kelly:
Crikey Bruce. That's a band with a 45 year history! 40 Licks is certainly a good jumping off point. If I could only have 2 albums then it would be "let It Bleed" and "Sticky Fingers" I think.

Yep Chris has got it right IMO. Then if you wanted another Exile.

Rolled Gold is a relatively early Greatest Hits, and is generally the album I spin despite having over a dozen studio albums to choose from.

my two: the rolling stones now!, and out of our heads. i figure if it's only two, you have to go early. may brian jones rest in eternal peace.

Two?

that's one too many.

All I need is the Black and Blue.

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Originally posted by munch:
I love Satanic Majesties and Emotional Rescue and its only rock and roll. Steel Wheels and Tattoo you, are ok albums.You can now get Satanic Majesties on the black stuff on the high Street, so it cant be that bad.

Hi munch

I admit TSMR does have some good songs especially She's A Rainbow - I just can't come to terms with it as being in the SF Sorrow, Piper, Pepper, Village Green class in the world of psych. In fairness I don't think the CD I have does it any favours and the vinyl version may bring out the songs more strongly. It is an adventurous album. Of course, this needs to be set in context as I've never been a big Stones' fan, but I do like a lot of the singles.

ATB Rotf

Probably 'Sticky Fingers' and 'Some Girls'.

The problem with 1960's RS album is that they often has a couple of very great songs, like 'Aftermath' with 'Paint It Black' and 'Under My Thumb', as allready mentioned above, but the rest of the songs are quite bland. A collection is a better choice here, I think.

If you like to stretch it to a third album, 'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out' is one of the all time great live albums.

JohanR

Beggars Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street are all essentials in any Stones collection. One of the best runs of consecutive releases by any band of any era (include Get yer ya yas out if you want).

Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers

Jonathan

OK folks, you can stop now. I'm trawling Ebay for one or two of those suggested. I always feel a single album tends to be more coherent and satisfying than a 'Best Of' most of the time.

Thanks all!

Satanic Maj was the only Stones album I ever had, and I wouldn't mind having it again, but other than that it is just tracks like Paint It Black and Sympathy For The Devil that do it for me, and I'd rather listen to the Sisters Of Mercy cover versions, which were brilliant.

Rasher,
its a shame teh best cover version topic ha been closed because you've reminded me of one..Sisters of Mercy doing Jolene. Absolutely brilliant.

Ryan

Don't forget Emma

They lost it 35 years ago and never found it back , but Beggars Banquet and Exile on Mainst are still mythical.

Willem

Should be 'If only I had bought only two Stones albums' surely?

Actually for punctuation purposes it should have been Stones' albums.

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OK folks, you can stop now.

No, not until you've bought Exile, Banquet, Fingers and Bleed.