When did the Stones start to lose it?

[JakeK]

Who thinks that the Stones started to lose it at some point in thier 40+ years of being around? I enjoyed everything about the Brian Jones era, it was the best period for them. Mick and Keith came up with the best songs then, notably "Satisfaction", "The Last Time" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash", and did some mean covers as well, "It's All Over Now" and "Not Fade Away" topping the bill in that section. Brian improved their sound in the studio a great deal, and made them give 100% effort.

The Mick Taylor years were fun, too. Hearing Taylor and Keith weaving guitars so brilliantly was something to make the songs and albums Mick T. contributed to sure time classics. The album tracks "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?", "Rocks Off" and "Star Star" were fun songs, while the singles "Honky Tonk Women", "Brown Sugar", "Wild Horses", "Tumbling Dice", "Angie", "Dance Little Sister" and "It's Only Rock & Roll" were some of the best songs Jagger and Richards wrote during their period with Mick Taylor on board.

Ronnie Wood arrives, and the Stones continued to roll. They came up with some good stuff, "Fool to Cry", "Miss You", "Beast of Burden", "Start Me Up" and "Little T&A" were all classics, but they seemed to lose it after "Tattoo You". When Wyman left, they should have been a studio-only band. Watching them at the '06 Super Bowl was fun, but they seemed to struggle, and just seemed to be in a rut.

In all seriousness, don't get me wrong, they are my top favorite band, but when Wyman left, they shouldn't have continued to tour. It's like The Who when Entwistle passed on, don't carry on without the classic bass player (sure Wyman wasn't half as good as Entwistle, but he could carry on a mean rhythmic bass...just listen to "Miss You")

[winston]

Not trying to be difficult but when it comes to making music, I would like to "lose it" to the same degree as the Rolling Stones............

I suspect that some of their best work may be behind them but then again you can never count the old dudes out............can you?

[1965]

I can't listen to anything they did after 1968. I think their best albums were when they were following the Beatles' lead.

[winston]

I can't listen to anything they did after 1968. I think their best albums were when they were following the Beatles' lead.

So, Let It Bleed is not amongst their best work? I suspect that many would respectfully disagree with that summation. Sticky Fingers (1971), and Exile on Main Street (1972) are also two highly revered albums.

In fact, Steven Van Zandt said the albums Beggars Banquet along with Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street represented the "Second Great Era" of the Rolling Stones and called it "the greatest run of albums in history".

In 1998 Q magazine readers voted Let It Bleed the 69th greatest album of all time, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 28 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2001, the TV network VH1 placed Let It Bleed at number 24 on their best album survey. In 2003, it was listed as number 32 on the List of Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

[1965]

I'm not discounting the significance of those albums, I just don't listen to them. I like Beggars Banquet, but could never get into Exile or Sticky Fingers. Let it bleed has some good songs on it, but it's not my favorite.

[kiramdear]

I kind of discounted them creatively after Goat's Head Soup. There were a couple of exceptions, Some Girls and Tattoo You, that I thought were well done, but generally I think they sort of became a self-tribute band after 1973. Their early stuff is regularly in heavy rotation around my place.

[lennon211]

I can't listen to anything they did after 1968. I think their best albums were when they were following the Beatles' lead.

Totally agreed here. There are some things that they did after this classic period that are quite good, especially Sticky Fingers and Exile. After 1973 or 74, I think that there was a shift in their focus from being a creative machine that produced high quality material to being a band that was more focused on touring and being a big act like some of the other arena shows.

In some ways also, their music became much more focused around the Jagger-Richard partnership. In the early era, 1963/4-1967/8, they were more of a "band" in the studio with creative input coming from different directions, especially when it came to the instrumental aspect of the song. The Glimmer Twins had not yet taken total control.

Regarding whether or not they should have become a "studio-only" band, that's one thing that I think that they had had to deal with once already and they weren't going to let Wyman's hasty marriage to a very young woman and its subsequent implosion stop them. Remember, Jagger is in many ways a better politician and spin artist than other musicians from this era and he often won't let something like Wyman's departure from the band stop his show, which is what the Rolling Stones concerts had become by the time that Wyman left. When Wyman was replaced, Jagger went so far as to instruct the new bassist that he wasn't required to keep churning out all of the old material and that he could veer away from Wyman's sound.

If there's a moment when the Stones began to lose it, I'd peg it in the mid-1970's when music styles and tastes began to change drasitically among the masses and the Stones became an "also-ran" act. Their music was still popular, but it wasn't the big attraction anymore like the greatest hits concerts had become.

[beatlefreak]

If there's a moment when the Stones began to lose it, I'd peg it in the mid-1970's when music styles and tastes began to change drasitically among the masses and the Stones became an "also-ran" act. Their music was still popular, but it wasn't the big attraction anymore like the greatest hits concerts had become.

I'd have to agree with this point. From 1973 onward, there's very little that I like from the Stones.

[wj350]

I kind of discounted them creatively after Goat's Head Soup. There were a couple of exceptions, Some Girls and Tattoo You, that I thought were well done, but generally I think they sort of became a self-tribute band after 1973. Their early stuff is regularly in heavy rotation around my place.

Yeah, I think Goats Head Soup might have been the last Stones album I bought. Not sure exactly when they started sliding downhill, but I'm pretty sure the nadir was their Super Bowl appearance a couple years ago...yikes!!!

I saw them for two shows in around '71 or '72 up in Philly--they were great back then....

Bill

[phlemmy]

The last one I like is Undercover. It's in my top 5 of theirs for sure. Other than Steel Wheels, everything after Undercover has been pretty lacluster.

[chuck_king]

I think Voodoo Lounge had a bunch of great songs on it, so if they have "lost it" (which I don't concede) it must have happened after that. I will admit, I haven't really listened to any of their subsequent albums so I can't say that they have maintained the standard since, but several friends saw them on their last tour and nobody suggested they are fading.

In retrospect, I think it's pretty clear that Brian Jones had a different musical vision from everybody else, and while there are some gems among that material, and songs that foreshadowed where they went later, the early Stones were sort of schitzophrenic. Or it might have just been that they were young and unformed, looking for their voice. Having that internal tension between Jones and Jagger/Richards (at least, that's how I perceive it) didn't help any. As Jones' influence waned, and after he left/was ousted, they really developed their own consistent, distinctive voice.

[scotty]

I dont think the stones have lost it? Sell out tours indicate that....

[phlemmy]

I dont think the stones have lost it? Sell out tours indicate that....

oooooh, i disagree with that logic.

[scotty]

I dont think the stones have lost it? Sell out tours indicate that....

oooooh, i disagree with that logic.

Cool

[annabella]

I don't know if I'd say they "lost It", considering they have been out there doing what they do for so many years. But for me and what I like of the Rolling Stones, I'd have to say after 1973, I began to lose interest. I was not fond of Some Girls, but there were a couple songs on Tattoo You that I liked. Other than that, I just enjoy listening to the earlier music.