Courtesy Everett Collection
Paramount Classics/Courtesy Everett Collection
"This is the best Stones album since 'Tattoo You.'" If you've read a favorable review of a new Rolling Stones studio album in the last 27 years, chances are you've read some version of that statement. Obviously, it's a backhanded compliment. Translation: "Besides this new album, every Stones album since 'Tattoo You' has pretty much sucked." And then another five or so years passes and we say the same thing about the next Rolling Stones album. Released in 1981 and drawing heavily on outtakes from previous albums, "Tattoo You" remains the last essential Stones studio disc. But give the Rolling Stones this: Every (by their standards) subpar album they've issued has contained at least a handful of compelling tracks. And don't kid yourself. Legendary bands that had just a 10-year-or-so run, like say The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, would have put out some clunkers if they'd lasted as long as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts have. The Stones' first undeniably dodgy LP was 1974's "It's Only Rock 'n Roll," which came 10 years after their spirited debut. And there are plenty of rock bands, bands with long careers, that would love to have an album as good as "It's Only Rock 'n Roll." Ten years after their last studio LP, "A Bigger Bang," "The World's Greatest Rock 'n Roll Band" will release blues covers LP "Blue & Lonesome" on Dec. 2. "Blue & Lonesome" has been touted as a return to the band's raw beginnings. Even if the album doesn't measure up to must-have Stones discs like "Exile on Main St" or "Some Girls," chances are the band will give us at least a few songs that live up to their legend. Like the following 25 tracks, from previous less-than-awesome Stones LPs. By Matt Wake
“Undercover of the Night”
Album: “Undercover”
1983
A killer dance-rock cocktail of '80s, world-beat-juiced rhythms and Keith Richards machete-like guitar chords. Mick Jagger's lyrics cleverly address political corruption and the sex trade. And Jagger's vocal is masterful, digging into lines like "Down in the bars, the girls are painted blue/Done up in lace, done up in rubber/The john's are jerky little G.I. Joe's/On R&R from Cuba and Russia" with his trademark larger-than-life delivery. The then-current production style enhances in the right places but never overwhelms the song. Possibly the most underrated track in the Stones entire catalog.
“She’s So Cold”
Album: “Emotional Rescue”
1980
The Stones clearly saw this song’s potential, releasing “She’s Sold Cold” as a single and it cracked the U.S. top 30. New Wave jitter and country twang converge for a cut that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the excellent 1978 Stones LP “Some Girls.”
“Fingerprint File”
Album: “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll”
1974
This sounds like the band doing a pile of disco drugs. Paranoia was never so danceable.
“Crazy Mama”
Album: “Black and Blue”
1976
Sweaty and swaggering, “Crazy Mama” could have just as well have appeared on a Faces album, perhaps not coincidentally as The Stones had poached Faces’ rooster-haired guitarist Ronnie Wood by this point. Wood’s slippery slide playing remains one of The Rolling Stones’ most dangerous assets to this day.
“Slipping Away”
Album: “Steel Wheels”
1989
Richards’ lead vocal here puts the lizard in lounge lizard. There’s a cool jazzy undertone to “Slipping Away.” The song ends “Steel Wheels” - the best Stones disc released since Mick and Keith got back together after, as Keith calls it, “World War III” – in a beautiful way.
“Harlem Shuffle”
Album: “Dirty Work”
1986
This song worked better in a live context, on the “Steel Wheels” tour, but The Stones’ studio cover of the duo Bob & Earl’s R&B cut “Harlem Shuffle” is still a good time. It’s the best track on hands-down the worst Rolling Stones LP ever, “Dirty Work.”
“It Must Be Hell”
Album: “Undercover”
1983
A gritty, bare-bones “Exile”-style track. Richards and drummer Charlie Watts connect in that bluesy, brilliant and minimalist way they have so many times. Ronnie Wood’s melodic slide propels the song into its second half. Jagger does his funky monkey thing. A great cut to “Mick” (imitate Jagger’s quirky onstage dancing) to.
“You Don’t Have to Mean It”
Album: “Bridges to Babylon”
1997
Longtime Keith Richards fans know the Stones guitarist has been a huge reggae fan since the early-70s. He previously covered dancehall song “Too Rude” on “Dirty Rude.” The playful “You Don’t Have to Mean It,” with Keith singing lead, is a rare highlight on “Bridges to Babylon,” although Richards’ wizened vocal might be a challenging listen for casual fans.
“Dance Little Sister”
Album: “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)”
1974
It should have been edited down to three minutes. But this is a fun, snarly rocker, with a typically tuneful guitar solo by Mick Taylor, whose band-elevating tenure with The Stones was about to end.
"Back of My Hand"
Album: "A Bigger Bang"
2005
Here’s hoping the upcoming “Blue & Lonesome” album finds the Stones doing the blues like they did on this original “A Bigger Bang” composition. Primal and sexy. And, by the way, that’s Jagger playing slide guitar on “Back of My Hand.”
“Let Me Go”
Album: “Emotional Rescue”
1980
Throwback '50s rock modernized with great Jagger lothario lyrics like, "Maybe I'll become a playboy/Hang around in gay bars/And move to the west side of town."
"Memory Motel”
Album: “Black and Blue”
1976
The wistful story-song balladry evokes what Bob Dylan was doing on his “Blood on the Tracks” LP, issued just the previous year.
“Emotional Rescue”
Album: “Emotional Rescue”
1980
No matter how much Keith Richards dislikes it, the “Emotional Rescue” title track is a dancefloor dirty pleasure. Jagger slips into negligee falsetto. Ronnie Wood dips back to his old Jeff Beck Group days and plays bass on the track, and his lines are a song highlight. By the song’s end, Mick is “riding across the desert on a fine Arab charger.” And listeners can practically feel the glitter across their faces.
“Continental Drift”
Album: “Steel Wheels”
1989
Middle Eastern vibes meet film-score dynamics on “Continental Drift.” After a droning first 90 seconds or so, the track really gets going and Jagger is clearly having fun singing over this modern-ancient groove.
"Oh No, Not You Again" (Warning: This song contains explicit lyrics)
Album: "A Bigger Bang"
2005
On too many Rolling Stones songs from “Dirty Work” on, the shortcomings are in the lyrics department. Detached. Stones-by-numbers. Which shouldn't take away from Jagger’s overall lyrical genius, which is right up there with that of Dylan, Paul McCartney or John Lennon. (Mick would get more credit for his lyrics if he wasn’t such a hot babe.) While “On No, Not You Again” is by no stretch of the imagination a lyrical tour de force like “Sympathy for the Devil” or even “Undercover of the Night,” it sounds like it was taken directly from Jagger’s own real-life silver-hound experiences. And the track’s punkish pace evokes the great “Some Girls” track “Respectable.”
“It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)”
Album: “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll”
1974
For a song that sounds like an impromptu jam, “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)” was put together from several different recording sessions. David Bowie contributed backing vocals. The lyrics and title are a clever takedown of people who take rock music too seriously.
“Blinded by Love”
Album: “Steel Wheels”
1989
For a bunch of Brits, the Stones sure do country music well, dating back to nuggets like "Dead Flowers" and "Far Away Eyes." On lovely acoustic track "Blinded by Love," Jagger works in plenty of historical lyrical references before cautioning the smitten: "If you lose your heart/Careful now, don't lose your mind/Don't mortgage your soul to a stranger."
“I Go Wild”
Album: “Voodoo Lounge”
1994
Although “Voodoo Lounge” has an appealingly natural-sounding production, as time has passed the album has been exposed as being light on songwriting. The slithering “I Go Wild,” which opens with windmill-guitar fanfare from Richards and Wood, has held up better than most tunes from the LP. Jagger’s vocals during the verses are yet another example of how his malleability and sense of drama are his greatest asset as a singer. He’s an aural actor. If only Mick could lay off the “waitresses with broken noses” and “checkout girls striking poses.” Clearly these are empty calories, but they rock.
“Hot Stuff”
Album: “Black and Blue”
1976
Porn-rock, anyone? The mirror-ball is flickering, coke spoons overflowing and ridiculous stage-clothes quotient increasing.
“Hand of Fate”
Album: “Black and Blue”
1976
An outlaw saga set to Richards’ snaggle-tooth riffs. Alabama session guitarist Wayne Perkins, who was under consideration to replace Mick Taylor as the Stones’ second guitarist, delivers an eloquent, soaring solo.
"The Worst"
Album: "Voodoo Lounge"
1994
Another Richards-sung gem of a ballad. On “The Worst,” his six-string sidekick Wood rides shotgun on pedal-steel, with fiddle and tasteful piano filigree adding to the tune’s honorable-rogue charms.
“Luxury”
Album: “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)”
1974
“Luxury” offers a rollicking take on reggae-rock. Much like the aforementioned “Dance Little Sister,” from the same album, “Luxury” overextends its welcome. If they would have snipped the last minute off, this might’ve become yet another Stones classic.
“Rough Justice”
Album: “A Bigger Bang”
2005
Charlie Watts sets "Rough Justice" off with a bullet-blast snare roll. This is really just a good old-fashioned bar-band boogie, but it's a world-class bar-band boogie. Wood's guitar solo on here is like a song within a song. And who else besides Jagger could pull off singing the blues-innuendo line, "Once upon a time I was your little rooster/But am I just one of your cocks?" And he was like 62 when this song came out.
“Blinded by Rainbows”
Album: “Voodoo Lounge”
1994
A track harkening back to mid-60s Stones psychedelic-pop masterpieces like “Ruby Tuesday” and “She Smiled Sweetly.” The “Blinded by Rainbows” lyrics address the dangers of following political and religiously leaders without thinking for one’s self.
“Mixed Emotions”
Album: “Steels Wheels”
1989
The lead single from reunion album “Steel Wheels,” “Mixed Emotions” let fans know The Stones still had a few “Start Me Up” type rockers in them. Jagger is in strong voice, even if the lyrics come damn close to sinking the song with too many clichés. In the end, the song’s laidback swagger, crisp production and that wonderful rising melody at the end of the chorus redeem “Mick’s Emotions.” Ahem, I mean “Mixed Emotions.”
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