Well, that was an epic journey. Twenty-three studio albums, 52 years, and one legendary band.
The Rolling Stones have put their unmistakable stamp on blues, R&B, rock, pop, psychedelic, disco, and country songs, churning out album after album with humor, passion and pathos. Not everything they did worked, but they worked at everything they did. And their discography is remarkably strong — I’d definitely recommend 18 of these 23 releases.
The torrid pace of new studio releases by The Rolling Stones early in their career was a distant memory as they settled into the new millennium. Eleven years passed between A Bigger Bang and the band’s next release, 2016’s Blue & Lonesome.
They spent that time capitalizing on their impressive legacy by touring extensively, releasing live albums, and producing a retrospective documentary titled Crossfire Hurricane that commemorated their 50th anniversary.
After 1997’s Bridges to Babylon, The Rolling Stones waited a full eight years to release another studio album, by far the biggest stretch in their career (to that point). They stayed busy, though, touring the world and releasing live and compilation albums.
In 2005, the band dropped A Bigger Bang, a sprawling back-to-basics rock album. While their previous release saw Mick Jagger bringing more “modern” producers into the mix, this one found the whole band on the same page. Working once again with producer Don Was, The Stones wanted to sound like The Stones again.
The Rolling Stones released only two studio albums in the 90s: 1994’s Voodoo Lounge and 1997’s Bridges to Babylon. While the former hearkened back to the band’s R&B roots, Mick Jagger wanted to take a new direction for its follow-up.
While Bridges to Babylon kept producer Don Was onboard, Jagger brought in a slew of new faces to supplement the recording process, including The Dust Brothers, whose work with Beck and the Beastie Boys he admired.
In the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 the week of October 6, 1973, is a throwback weekend selection that has not aged well. The song is ‘Half-Breed,’ Cher’s second of four career #1 hits, and it’s about as cringeworthy as its title suggests.
To be fair, the lyrics paint a sympathetic portrait of a woman with a white father and Cherokee mother, decrying the racism that mixed-race children face from both sides. But should a pop song about this topic have been written and performed by people without a drop of Native American blood?
Meet Me In Montauk 