Like many have said, I too have a soft spot for the early stuff just due to how raw and bad ass it is...But I like it all really.

Definitely early Stones.  December's Children is my favorite

I think the early singles are pretty unbeatable, especially "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby". Not a big fan of their albums though - few good tracks here and there [mainly on "Aftermath" and "Satanic Majesties"], lot of filler in my opinion.

I also like "Some Girls," along with "It's Only Rock'n'Roll."  I love the title track on the latter, along with "Dance Little Sister," and I also like "Luxury" and "Time Waits for No One."  Aside from "Miss You" on the former, I thought that album was a great response to the punk rock explosion of the 70s.  I especially like "When the Whip Comes Down" and "Shattered," along with "Beast of Burden."  Yes, I know "Beast of Burden" is kind of cheesy, but I still like it. 

 

As for the 80s, they had their moments.  I like "She's So Cold" from "Emotional Rescue," along with "Hang Fire" from "Tattoo You."

enzo said:

I'm a huge fan of Emotional Rescue, myself.  The Stones are The Stones no matter what era-every album they put out in the '60's-'70's realm was great...Some Girls?  

They have a great '80's catalogue that still makes me crazy.  All About You/Waiting On a Friend-Keef's bio was a great read, too.

enz

I'm a huge fan of Emotional Rescue, myself.  The Stones are The Stones no matter what era-every album they put out in the '60's-'70's realm was great...Some Girls?  

They have a great '80's catalogue that still makes me crazy.  All About You/Waiting On a Friend-Keef's bio was a great read, too.

enz

My current preference is for out-of-the-gate Stones. I never owned The Rolling Stones Now! until recently and it really got me hammering on the early records again.  December's Children, 12X5, Ladies and Gentlemen The Rolling Stones, Aftermath, Flowers, Out of Our Heads.  All brilliantly raw.

I gotta agree and qualify my earlier statement.  I love the early Stones original stuff, most of their early covers left much to be desired.

Time For Tiffin said:

For me,with a few exceptions, the Jagger/Richards writin' style really came together in the later 60's.

The early RnB standards LP s are piss poor with so many other British RnB bands doing alot better job.

Aftermath?eerrmmmmmm........well the covers cool.

For me,with a few exceptions, the Jagger/Richards writin' style really came together in the later 60's.

The early RnB standards LP s are piss poor with so many other British RnB bands doing alot better job.

Aftermath?eerrmmmmmm........well the covers cool.

He's right. Aftermath is amazing. An absolute gem of a record.

MikeL said:

I'll have to look for that.

The Ultimatemost High said:

The UK version Aftermath is a list topper.

Exile has some good songs but as a whole, it's not their best. Rock critics are the one's who labeled it a masterpiece, they like it because it's not as commercial as some of the other LP's. I believe they like it because most of the song's don't follow the standard rock and roll formula. That's all fine and good but don't mistake the way they wrote then for being deep, remember they were fucked up on drugs and booze during that recording. I'll take the raw Stones any day, that to me is their best work.

Though I love the later Stones classics, the early stones resonate with me the most, just out of the sheer roughness of it all.  I love the way the tambourines go hopelessly out of time with the snare on some tracks, or the way you can hear fuzztone pedals being clicked on etc. 

I've been reading Keef's book too, I love his explanations about recording some parts with an acoustic guitar that was simply fed into the tape machine so hot that it completely fuzzed it out.  Great stuff!

I'll have to look for that.

The Ultimatemost High said:

The UK version Aftermath is a list topper.

The UK version Aftermath is a list topper.

I understand your point.  I myself get tired of hearing "Happy" and "Tumbling Dice."  However, there are some overlooked gems on the albums I just mentioned, such as "Stray Cat Blues" from "Beggars' Banquet," "Live With Me" from "Let It Bleed" and "Soul Survivor" from "Exile."

 

As far as their early stuff goes, I only have "England's Newest Hitmakers" and "12x5."  I might be getting "Aftermath" and "Their Satanic Majesties Request" in the near future.

joey fuckup said:

This has always been a debate that I would have with other Stones fans...Everybody I know considers "Exile" to be the best album in their whole discography, which I'm not disagreeing at all on that. For me personally, I'll take "pre-1970" Stones anyday. I have nothing against '70's era Stones music, but it's so overplayed, especially on most any rock station (it definately is here). The '60's era Stones gets so overlooked nowadays, with only a huge hit, like say "Satisfaction" getting airplay on said radio stations. And whatever oldies stations that even do exist anymore, choose to overlook many of their gems that us garageheads really dig. So overexposure of their catalogue has definately influenced my tastes on such a great band, however, being that I love '60's garage rock 'n' roll, I find their "1st Wave" to be more of a fit for me...

This has always been a debate that I would have with other Stones fans...Everybody I know considers "Exile" to be the best album in their whole discography, which I'm not disagreeing at all on that. For me personally, I'll take "pre-1970" Stones anyday. I have nothing against '70's era Stones music, but it's so overplayed, especially on most any rock station (it definately is here). The '60's era Stones gets so overlooked nowadays, with only a huge hit, like say "Satisfaction" getting airplay on said radio stations. And whatever oldies stations that even do exist anymore, choose to overlook many of their gems that us garageheads really dig. So overexposure of their catalogue has definately influenced my tastes on such a great band, however, being that I love '60's garage rock 'n' roll, I find their "1st Wave" to be more of a fit for me...