Were the Rolling Stones ever any good?

[CBGLuthier]

asks my 15 year old daughter while listening to You Can't Always Get What You Want.

I told her yes, the 60's and most of the 70's but how can we expect anyone to be great for over 40 years.

Didn't tell her about Bowie, who i think has been great for almost 40 years.

[sendero]

1. I've bought exactly one Stones LP...

.. in my entire life, that being their last good record "Some Girls". But over the years the Stones have captured the times as well as any rock band and better than most.

A song like "Can't Always Get..." sounds pretty lame out of context, most bands' work has to be judged as a whole - and with the exception of their later stuff - the Stones have nothing to apologize about. :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Sometimes really good, sometimes not at all good

Very inconsistent band, IMO. It seems like sometimes they just didn't feel like trying, and were just going through the motions. Other times, they had the spart and drive of true creative genius.

Overall, though, I'd call them a fairly mediocre band.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

3. u2's going strong at 30

but the stones ran out of steam around the 25-year mark (circa 1980) Tatoo you has 'start me up,' but the rest is crap. their last solid LP was 1977's 'some girls'

[Gatchaman]

4. Not really

"Mick and the boys" (oh, how I hate that colloquialism) certainly have made some decent music, but they are in no way, shape, or form, the single greatest thing ever in the history of rock and roll.

[mvd]

5. Yes

They are one of the best.

[elperromagico]

6. They're still a good live band

but their last great record was probably "Start Me Up" or "Beast of Burden." Which came out first? I can't remember.

[mvd]

9. A Bigger Bang is pretty good

That's their newest. Shows some signs of desperation, but is a good meat and potatoes Stones CD.

[mark414]

7. i have been on a stones kick the last few days

mostly listening to sticky fingers and exile in main street but i can't get enough of various stuff off their first few albums either...heart of stone, i'm a king bee, 19th nervous breakdown, mother's little helper, the last time, she's a rainbow etc. etc. etc.

i wish they would've given up in the late 70's...even 'start me up' is pretty bad

[bridgit]

8. oh yes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xvJEkGHZi8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNwFCdHM3cc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4-5rqlhePQ :headbang:

[GalleryGod]

10. Early Spring, 1965, Philly's Covention Center.

Blew the roof off the joint!

[mitchum]

11. 1968-1972...

nothing in rockandroll can touch what they did in that period
Not even Velvets, Stooges, Zeppelin, Dolls, Pistols
Nothing

[stanwyck]

12. Yep. Definitely.

It's only rock n roll. But I like it.
Inconsistent, yes.
But they're rockers.
And since I'm old enough to remember....I remember the Stones really injecting a lot of sex into white boy rock. Most of the bands from my teenybopper days were really bubble gum bouncy. Not the Stones. They borrowed heavily from black artists to give their songs more of the bad boy testosterone edge.

[lost-in-nj]

13. I never understood them

never liked them or the Beatles to be honest....

lost

[ElboRuum]

14. Never understood the draw. n/t

[mduffy31]

15. Paint it Black

19th Nervous Breakdown, Beast of Burden, I could go on and on. They didn't always have great songs but all in all they are right there with the Beatles as one of the greatest rock bands ever. Mick Jagger is one of the greatest if not the greatest front man ever.

[Generic Brad]

16. The Stones are one of my guilty pleasures

Even my wife doesn't know that(or more likely doesn't care).

[driver8]

17. Exile on Main Street is my favorite Stones record. Actually,

anything that Mick Taylor played on -- to me, that was when they were at their best. I do like "Some Girls", though. That is a pretty strong album.