point me in the direction of the really good rolling stones album that's not 'exile on main street'

The people round here prob'ly won't give you much cred for getting turned on by the nasty blues-based rock that forms the bedrock of this album, much less for getting excited by it, but one listen to Streetfighting Man confirms that nobody rocks better than the Stones.

The album bites and snarls just like you'd expect but it also recoils - Sympathy is followed up straight away with the beautiful No Expectations, Streetfighting by Prodigal Son - its this ebb and flow of the whole which keeps Beggars fresh and compelling, human evcen, unlike the later self-parody and empty posturing. It also keeps Beggars from becoming obnoxious - the Stones you sense are beginning to get jaded by the rock star thing, and before the drugs and excess take full effect, they are getting proper pissed off. It's like they're trying to keep their feet on the ground, even as the madness sets in and they ascend to become the biggest rock band in the world. The album is certainly earthy and the symbolism throughout is undeniably rooted in the blues traditions of blood and sweat.

Also, it's on Beggars that I always feel Jagger is beginning to reallise that he can actually write alright lyrics - check Jigsaw Puzzle and tell me if you think he's been listening to Zimmerman. Maybe he doesn't quite pull it off but I give him points for trying.

One more thing - Jones' guitar work here is fascinating. I can never work out if the guy is a drug addled wastrel or a pied-piper genius. I think I'm right in saying that it's his trills an Symapthy, which are hideously out of time but for that, absolutely on point. And also the filthy cat's claw on metal noises he wrings from the thing on Stray Cat Blues - its just fucking spot on, all the way through.

Oh, and what Andrew L said about Goats Head is OTM.

"Later self-parody": I have to say Mick comes off as a poseur on Stray Cat Blues... but the music makes up for it.

God, my Stones bore mode is becoming engaged... must leave this thread alone....

and a really good Rolling Stones album that hasn't been mentioned yet: Out of Our Heads (she said yeah!)

Flawless!

My neighbor was playing something that sounded really good the other day as it came muffled through my wall. When I asked him about it later he told it was Goat's Head Soup. I owned this long ago but seldom listened to it and don't remember it at all. In a way it's not too surprising that this would sound good coming from the next apartment over -- it's the 70s Rolling Stones, after all -- but...further comments? Should I re-buy it?

Also, the UK version of Aftermath opens with "Mother's Little Helper," which the US version does not even include. You can't do without "Paint It Black," though.

Jesus I suck.

The Rolling Stones, Now!
Aftermath
Beggar’s Banquet
Let it Bleed
Exile on Main Street
Some Girls

Great Albums

12 x 5
December’s Children (underrated)
Between the Buttons
Sticky Fingers

Very Good Albums

England’s Newest Hit Makers
Out of Our Heads
Flowers
Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out

Good Albums

Satanic Majesty’s Request
It’s Only Rock and Roll
Black and Blue
Tattoo You

Don’t care much for the rest…

As for other post-EOMS classics....I heard "Summer Romance" the other day on the radio and it sounded GREAT.

I don't love one decade more than another either.

Edd, I'm buying drinks tonight.

i vote sticky fingers. but even then, just like all the other albums in their purple patch, you have to put up with the mawkish/sentimental/somewhat unlistenable fillerish ballads and downhome country-blues tributes that arent as good as the rock tracks next to them. exile is good in that its so consistent but its highpoints dont stick out immediately like with the others. but then i dont really think the stones are an albums band either, for the most part. hot rocks 1 is my fave album of theirs.

Of the earliest albums, Now! is great. Their version of "Mona" kills.

I like Goat's Head Soup better than Exile.