BEATLES AND STONES

So, ultimately, I gotta go w/ the Stones.  The Beatles were truly amazing, and helped open the door for the Stones, but they were just never convincing as a gritty, down & dirty ROCK band, which I put some value on.

George was too spiritual, John was too much of a dilettante and Paul was too infatuated with cheesy showtunes.  They definitely had a wider range of music, but the Stones were the best at what they did, at least for 5 or 6 years.



I do have to say, tho, that I can fit all of their truly excellent tunes from the first single up through Satanic Majesty on 1 cd.  It took them a while to really hit their stride.  Once they did, tho....

I agree with the general consensus that Beggar's Banquet through Exile was just one huge orgasmic blast of musical perfection.  I'll go one further, however, and include Goat's Head Soup on that list.  I love the dark, claustrophobic, wasted feel of the music.  It was a perfect follow up to Exile.

Rock & Roll was still pretty good, but putting a faceless cover song on it was kind of an ominous sign.  Black & Blue sucked ass.  Some Girls was a good comeback but, I gotta say, I really don't think it was the return to form that many others claim it is.  Sure it was better than B&B, but I put it on about the same level as Emotional Rescue (which I like, so that's not an insult), and I think Tattoo You was better than both of them.    After that, with the exception of the song "Undercover of the Night", you can feel free to ignore them.  Jagger turned into a camp version of himself, the songs were never more than mediocre, and I really have to question the commitment of people who meet in the studio every few years to slap an album together just to give them an excuse to tour and make some $$$$$ for heroin and parties.  They quickly went from being THE MOTHERFUCKING ROLLING STONES, to sort of a lame-ass tribute band.

In any event, I'm listening to Mazzy Star at the moment, so maybe I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.   You wouldn't be the first to put forth that possibility.