The Rolling Stones is still going and we are all the better for having them active. Mick Jagger and the band return with Foreign Tongues tomorrow (July 10) and from the sound of the singles so far, they have never been in better form. It’s worth remembering that The Rolling Stones have been active in the studio since 1964 and with another album rumoured to be on the way after Foreign Tongues, there’s no better time to get caught up on the group than by diving deep into their discography. They’ve offered up a wide range of albums in their six decades together, some better than others. There are albums too that have flown under the radar, well worth hearing to inform your Foreign Tongues listening experience. You can find the very best of the band’s albums below, and in chronological order.
AFTERMATH
As big a turning point as Let it Bleed, but not realised by the band in their immediate releases following Aftermath. This instrumental freedom handed to Brian Jones would unravel on Between the Buttons, but it was a necessary step which built a confident core for the band to continue working on. The Rolling Stones’ first great achievement can be heard with Aftermath. It is hard to think of another album from their period in the early to mid-1960s that captured a better scope and tone, from the beat of Mother’s Little Helper to the instrumental creativity of the B-Side, where lyrical repetition is cover for some left-field, often ambitious choices. It was this which carries Aftermath, and what keeps it in contention as one of the best albums The ‘Stones put together.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ Aftermath here.
BEGGARS BANQUET
The work The Rolling Stones put together, the slick style, the impressive lyrical play and the influences Jagger and Richards adapt to Beggars Banquet, are nothing short of classic. What makes the difference is the band leaving behind the overblown psychedelic sound which would age rapidly in the years to come. Instead, there is muck and grime in The Rolling Stones’ sound, a noise which shifted so far from UK rock that it found some real joy as a flag-bearer for protest in the United States. A massive achievement can be heard on Beggars Banquet, as strong now as it was when it offered contemporary restlessness a voice. That is not to disparage their previous, excellent releases, but this is another level. An all-time great which led into one of the greatest album trilogies of all time. Beggars Banquet was a shove in the right direction, and it is where The Stones remained for years to come.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet here.
LET IT BLEED
Lightning in a bottle timing for The Rolling Stones saw the UK rock band become the voice of the student population taking to Let It Bleed as they rallied in the streets. Such a focus and glory to these tracks, from the choir for You Can’t Always Get What You Want to the striking, tender acoustics – it is clear to hear why this still holds such gravitas. Slick guitar work from Keith Richards was a monumental step up for a man who would soon cement himself as an all-time great. He has plenty of shifts here which can pinpoint his perfection of the style, Monkey Man and Gimme Shelter boom through with such grand atonement for the in-house horrors of the group and their split from Jones, the grief to follow. Great works are often a reaction, be it a turn against the times which made the band, the people who tried to stop them or a nod to the world around them. Let It Bleed is a rare record which has all three, and secures its legacy with ease.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed here.
GET YER YA-YA’S OUT!
Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! is a lot heavier on the blues-rock tone of the band than expected. Little Queenie has a guitar riff worth hearing and, overall, it’s the highlight of what The Rolling Stones can still bring to the stage. They may have scrapped touring plans for 2026 but the saving grace is a collection of live albums which showcase the historic consistency of the band. Even at their worst, the Dirty Work days for instance, they were capable of thrilling a live audience. Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! is a fantastic starting point for those headed into bootleg territory or deeper cuts. It’s on the cusp of their greatest work but the band were very much at the peak of their powers in the late 1960s.
You can read our full review of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! here.
STICKY FINGERS
Charlie Watts does an ace job of bringing the track together with some bold and deep-sounding percussion, while Jagger adds that electricity, that ballad-like storytelling style which all the best in class had done plenty of before him, but here is a chance for him to join in. Sticky Fingers lives and dies on its A-Side masterpieces, the B-Sides are a mixture of blues-like occasions, trickle back into the past as they find a new route through to the 70s. It would all unravel a decade later, but there was still gas in the tank of The ‘Stones roaring machinery. Look at the trouble in the States and at home, all left idle while the Vietnam War raged on. Sticky Fingers is a kick back to the standards of their earliest years. Gone is the erratic instrumentation of Brian Jones, in is a chase of popularity. It works.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers here.
EXILE ON MAIN ST.
A band like The Rolling Stones is bound to have more than a handful of wildly perfect moments, but it is only on a return to Exile on Main St. that those little intricacies reveal themselves. It is hard not to fall in love with initially simple songs like Happy once the focus turns to Richards’ guitar work, or the repetition of hope found in Jagger’s lyrics. Just two tracks later and the venomous, anxiety-riddled bravado of Ventilator Blues has dried up the optimistic tinge. Exile on Main St. is a beast of an album. Its chokehold on rock and roll is vice-like, its relentless urgency, its powerful conclusions of a band in excess and excitement, are still roaring decades on from its release. The Rolling Stones’ urgency is still intact. In that disorganised state, the barebones recording studio, comes a frenetic energy which hears The Rolling Stones rely on their fundamentals as musicians. Their playing style takes precedence over anything a polished mix could offer. Rock on and on, for an hour, with an exceptional piece from The Rolling Stones.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. here
GOATS HEAD SOUP
Goats Head Soup fits right in with the very best offerings from The Rolling Stones. Grand and epic pieces like Winter may feel a bit too out there, a tad too reliant on the soppy strings, but it feels genuine. Whatever the case for their inclusion, it feels like a welcome addition, a fresh step for The Stones who sound shaken by their experiences of exile, drugs and success. Can You Hear the Music is the most affected by this tone and, arguably, the weakest moment on the album as they reflect on their psychedelic days, asking the big questions but offering no suggestion or answer. Just an outward fear. It humanises the band, those talks of death in the opening songs appearing once more, a full circle moment for the powerhouse that is Goats Head Soup.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ Goats Head Soup here.
IT’S ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
The trouble for The Rolling Stones is that when they paint themselves as just rock and roll, as they do on this track, they find little life. Richards’ wild guitar playing, Charlie Watts’ cool and comfortable percussion, is all matters, but it is not paired with an electrifying or sincere message. Just a call to arms for the dancefloor of the past. Still, it’s just rock and roll, isn’t it? Nothing more than that. It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll is a tremendous surprise of an album, an evolving process where The Stones look ahead. It was downhill from here. It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll is a bold result which would hear the usual blues and rock blend with the burning need to record new material after so long spent on the road, touring what is likely the artistic peak of The Rolling Stones. Bringing their stage energies to the studio is no small feat, but they manage it, and It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll remains a sorely underrated effort.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll here.
SOME GIRLS
It is a genre-blending powerhouse, a restless desire to put The Stones back on top at a time when the band looked to be in their final stages. Every stage has the essential appeal of Jagger and company whirring away as they did when they first began. Voodoo Lounge has been credited for the same sense of heading back to where the riches lie, but it is a credit to The Stones who tried and failed, solo and collectively after this record to reach a new sound. Some Girls feels like a soft farewell. Closer Shattered has the finality to it. The Stones were shattered by this time, but they would bounce back far sooner than expected – though the short-lived finality within is as tense and exciting now as it was back when the band looked like they were saying goodbye.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ Some Girls here.
A BIGGER BANG
Outrageous energy is frequent on A Bigger Bang, even if it does lose sight of those core concepts. Wounded pride and failed intimacy is what prevails in the best moments of this album. Laugh, I Nearly Died is a moody masterclass from The Rolling Stones. Repetitive blunders like Sweet Neo-Con derail the album. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band references on Look What the Cat Dragged In suggests, more than anything, Jagger is still envious of playing second fiddle to The Beatles. Brilliant guitar work sunk by some frankly ridiculous writing. Such is life in The Rolling Stones, a band which has never quite adapted from their major successes. Solid work is what A Bigger Bang is, but there was a suggestion of explosive new moves from the band, and those are simply not backed up by the material featured here.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang here.
BLUE AND LONESOME
Covers of the blues, just like the old days. It’s not enough of a nostalgia trip to reconnect with ardent fans, but it’s a reminder of what The Rolling Stones can do for the classics. Hearing veterans tackle music which inspired them feels like a bit of a free ticket to success, though the likes of Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney proved this isn’t always the case. Jagger grapples with the work of Little Walter, Magic Sam, and Willie Dixon remarkably well, and the rest of The Rolling Stones bring a thumping new life to the instrumental sections. I Gotta Go and Ride ‘Em On Down are great examples of that frenetic but tempered style the band has on Blue and Lonesome. Fans of the blues are catered to here, naturally, but so too are those who want to hear what The Rolling Stones can do as a clinical rock and roll group, in the same form as they were in their early years. Latter stages of the album, like Little Rain, are exceptional showcases of how strong a voice Jagger still has, how the band can still play through with a nuance that was lost on preceding releases.
You can read our full review of The Rolling Stones’ Blue and Lonesome here.
EL MOCAMBO 1977
Capturing that energy has often been slightly out of grasp for The Rolling Stones. Not because they don’t have it, but because finding that blend of the band at their best and with a setlist that can back such quality is hard. Here it is. A hits-heavy second half is just what The Rolling Stones is built for, the likes of It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) and Brown Sugar nothing short of perfect here. Essential listens both, not just because of how well they’re received by the crowd here, but because it highlights that instrumental quality and finer blur of Jagger’s vocal abilities. Those are strengths he still holds onto now. If anything, El Mocambo 1977 is the best advertisement you could ask for when it comes to answering how the band sounds live. They’re not far off this high bar, and often returned to this level of quality on the tours to follow.
You can read our full review of El Mocambo 1977 here.
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
