Just because I felt like it, today I thought I would sort out my perennial dilemma over what Stones album is better – Beggars Banquet or Let it Bleed? To be honest, I prefer Exile and Sticky Fingers, and I am much more likely to listen to either of them all the way through. There are individual tracks on Beggars Banquet and Let it Bleed that are the best the Stones ever got, but I get mixed up which tracks are on which, so I’m never sure which of the two is the better album.
So, for no reason at all other than that we all secretly love listing and rating music, here is the result of my track-by-track listen through… Hopefully my scoring system is self-explanatory….
(* = the Good Tracks. Basically, the tracks I would listen to outside the context of the album)
Beggars Banquet (1968)
———————-
A1 – * Sympathy for the Devil – Unbeatable 10/10
A2 – * No Expectations – Solid 8/10
A3 – Dear Doctor – Poor, comedy song 2/10
A4 – Parachute Woman – Unremarkable light-hearted blues 3/10
A5 – * Jigsaw Puzzle – Brooding, effortlessly evil and deliciously on the verge of falling apart 9/10
B1 – * Street Fighting Man – World class 10/10
B2 – * Prodigal Son – Jaunty, irrepressible acoustic folk-blues 8/10
B3 – * Stray Cat Blues – Messy, chugging, a bit formulaic and goes on a bit… but decent 7/10
B4 – Factory Girl – Nice acoustic interlude, pleasant 6/10
B5 – Salt of the Earth – Too soft, too cloying (nice outro though) 5/10
* Verdict – 6/10 (60%) songs I would choose to listen to outside the context of the album, 2/10 (20%) songs are stone cold classics, overall aggregate score is 68% (68/100).
Holds together well as a cohesive statement, and the side one and two openers more than justify the album as a whole.
Let it Bleed (1969)
——————-
A1 – * Gimme Shelter – Unbeatable, Merry Clayton backing vocals are spine chilling 10/10
A2 – Love in Vain – Brave, but just doesn’t hit home for me, too lazy 4/10
A3 – Country Honk – Obligatory comedy song, amazing how much better this sounded when remade as “Honky Tonk Women” for the single, but this version is just a bit embarrassing 2/10
A4 – Live With Me – A bit Stones-by-numbers 4/10
A5 – Let it Bleed – More Stones-by-numbers (and getting fed up with Jagger’s affected “Southern” accent) 3/10
B1 – Midnight Rambler – Boogie blues, unremarkable and stretched out to seven minutes (!)… probably fun to play but a chore to listen to 3/10
B2 – You Got the Silver – The organ gives a nice change of tone, but still sounds a little bit stretched and inconsequential 4/10
B3 – * Monkey Man – Back to the sinister, brooding Stones with that trademark groove… nice intro 7/10
B4 – * You Can’t Always Get What You Want – Gospel rock, brave and unique 10/10
* Verdict – 3/9 (33%) songs I would choose to listen to outside the context of the album, 2/9 (22%) songs are stone cold classics, overall aggregate score is 52% (47/90)
A U-shaped album. The extremely strong opening and closing songs prop up a series of half-baked blues jams.
—————-
So there you have it! Turns out I much prefer Beggars Banquet. I hadn’t realised how weak Let it Bleed is as a whole. And to be honest I’m not even sure Their Satanic Majesties is too far behind… that one has aged quite well.
Ah well. The true winner is Sticky Fingers, obviously, which is clearly the best Stones album….
As you were.
Let it Bleed is my preference. I like the bulk of the songs better than you do. Love in Vain, Live with Me, Monkey Man, You Got the Silver all wonderful. Prefer live version of Rambler but still great and Country Honk is a nice contrast to the over played single, and actually was released after Honky Tonk Women.
Beggars also great of course.
Yeah, that’s fair enough. I think ideally of course the best album would be one-album edit of both albums mixed together. Beggars Bleed…?
I am with @dai You got the silver is a really good song – I would rate it much higher than you do.
Keith’s best vocal I think. Have had the pleasure of hearing it live quite a few times.
Speaking of Merry Clayton, I heard this as a soundbed on one of the Glastonbury docs, pressed pause and and went off towards Discogs:
Ah yes, I’ve heard that. Rather good, isn’t it? I remember when I first heard it, thinking it was interesting that Merry Clayton was covering a Stones song…. before remembering she actually sang on the same song in the first place…
It misses the ecstatic “MURDER!” shriek in the original, which is always the spine-tingling bit.
The backing track reminds me a bit of Gimme Shelter mixed with Doo Doo Doo Doo Heartbreaker (with a bit of Summer Breeze sprinkled in…)…
It is the occasional moments like that which remind me that, although I am old and responsible, I still love pop music.
I know Sympathy For The Devil is accepted as an all times Stones’ classic, and I accept there was a time when I loved it.
Then the scales fell from my eyes and it strikes me as one of the most risible songs ever written in the history of popular music.
The same happened with Street Fighting Man.
I would apply your description of Dear Doctor to both of these but give them a lower mark: – Poor, comedy song 1/10.
So I find it hard to get past the opening songs on both sides of Beggars’ Banquet.
So the answer is Let It Bleed.
“Risible”??! Please explain your workings! I think both Sympathy For The Devil and Street Fighting Man, while being of their time, are pure adrenaline.
So many great moments. The “woo woo!” backing vocals. The greatest laconic guitar solo of all time. Fabulous piano on both. And Street Fighting Man has that solo that sounds like a vuvuzela or something (I have no idea what instrument it is, but it sounds fabulous).
Is it the lyrics you don’t like?
It is the lyrics, the cringe-inducing lyrics, that I so dislike. Nay despise.
As I am unable to separate the lyrics from the body of the song, the whole edifice tumbles.
Ah… Fair enough, I suppose. I think I only rarely listen to lyrics really closely (I respond more to the groove… daddio…) that it takes a really bad, clunking lyric to seriously turn me off a song.
The correct answer. Certainly the best of the two in question.
Personally, I place Beggars Banquet just behind Sticky Fingers, and on a par with Exile.
The 3 Let It Bleed tracks chosen would be the same for me. The rest of the album falls short (despite having a Delia Smith album cover)
PS Loving the analysis
Both are beautifully recorded, as was Sticky Fingers. I don’t know what went wrong with Exile. Maybe less Glyn and more Andy Johns?
All these years on, I think Beggars Banquet is more consistent. Plus, Brian adds a few nice flourishes that perk things up, such as the Indian drone on Street Fighting Man. Charlie’s restraint is also remarkable but when he does let rip, he sounds fantastic.
I always thought I had a duff copy of Exile, until I realised that is how it sounds.
The duffest CD I have, Sign O The Times, is due to get replaced next month, but the way things are heading with the divorce I think I’m going to have to cancel the pre-order and wait till I get back on my feet before I get it. Really looking forward to having a copy that doesn’t sound like you’ve fastened cushions to the front of your speakers.
Also, The Goat gets a polish. Its production is less ‘fetid’ than Exile but nowhere near as glossy than Sticky.
Maybe i just have cloth ears, but I just never had a problem with the sound of Exile. I’ve heard lots of people complain about it, but even listening back carefully I can’t work out why people don’t like it. Some of the guitar work sounds vibrant and amazing. And something like I Just Wanna See His Face has a fascinating , unique sound world. It’s a great sounding record in my opinion.
Agree completely. Organic, warm and inviting.
Oh I agree I love it.
Most of the rhythm tracks on Exile were of course recorded in a fetid cellar whilst wasted. Not good recording practice. I think it has a special mojo though
Cocaine Ears is the technical term, I think.
Beggar’s Banquet sets a bit of a template for the next two albums, thinking of the mix of styles, ballads and rock outs, the nature of the running order. Let It Bleed edges it’s predecessor I reckon since it’s got a bigger, thicker sound, and it’s more accomplished. Love In Vain is one of their best ever blues covers for my money. Live With Me really swings and is one of Charlie’s finest moments. The guitar sound on this album is so good. The more jolly tracks contrast nicely with the heavy, dark ones. The changes in pace, sometimes within the same song, are so well controlled, the whole thing is so confident and sure. Midnight Rambler is the one that has gone down a bit in my estimation, but still has such a great sound.
I didn’t grow up listening to the Stones and only relatively recently got past just listening to the hits.
Beggars is the one that made the most impact when I started properly listening to the albums – probably because it’s musical DNA is all through a lot of what I *did* grow up listening to (same with Low or The VU & Nico). Agree with your assessment although I’d give Salt of the Earth 7/10.
LIB I think is a bit uneven – I think I need to give it more time though.
I love Exile but it’s almost like an ambient record – it has tunes – but it’s just a pleasing atmosphere you can soak up. The way it maintains that over 2 discs is pretty impressive.
I very much like the idea of the “U shaped album”.
Will now spend the rest of the day trying to think of more examples..
I feel as if I nicked that phrase from somewhere else, but in case it is original then I claim copyright NOW.
You could also have a W-shaped album….
There are hip hop albums where every second track is a skit. (The Goats’ Tricks Of The Shade springs to mind, although it’s by no means the most annoying). You might represent these with an image not unlike Donald Trump’s “signature“..
I like the idea of ‘Beggar’s Bleed’. think I’ll knock one together. Another of my heretical musical views is that the Stones are never worse than when they go country and western or ‘reggae’. Actually, scratch that: any non c & w or reggae band that adopts the style does themselves no favours. OOAA.
Yup. Dead Flowers is the duff track on Sticky Fingers as well, which supports that theory.
Dead Flowers is great!
Mick deliberately did some of these country songs tongue in cheek because he knew he could never be completely credible singing in a southern American accent. I think Dear Doctor is the worst of them, some of the country style stuff on Exile is superb.
Anyway we have 4 great albums here, it is good we don’t actually have to decide between them.
Oh I like Dead Flowers. Hands off!
While Wild Horses on the same album confounds it.
True…
Country Blues not straight Country
Another vote for Let It Bleed.
Think the OP is harsh about Midnight Rambler. It’s a very fine and engaging song, with a similar sense of impending malevolence as Gimme Shelter. Dismissing it as just another bog standard blues boogie is plain wrong.
Yep, far better on Get your Ya Yas Out though.
Weird how so many who like The Stones get them so wrong. Apart from me of course.
Really good piece, Mr. Cowslip. Love the U-shape.I’m totally undiscriminating when it comes to the Stones, love it all.
I’m of the opinion that there are no duff tracks on Beggar’s Banquet, Let it Bleed or Sticky Fingers.
I’ve never particularly taken to Exile On Main Street. I think it’s myth is greater than the actual content.
No no no no no. Exile just needs more time, it’s splendours eventually reveal themselves and remain with you forever.
Sweet Virginia, Torn and Frayed, Shine a Light, Ventilator Blues, Loving Cup, Let it Loose etc etc unsurpassable perfection. Probably the best rock album ever made.
After that they had done it all and all that was left was to start the long, slow descent into self parody (with great moments on every record).
I might admit the highs on the previous 3 albums are at least as good as the highs on Exile, but all are just a little inferior in my book.
By the way, regarding Exile’s myth being greater than the actual content… I know that’s a common criticism of the album, but on a personal basis at least I can refute that. I first got into the Stones buying their CDs when they were part of that CBS “Nice Price” reissue campaign, and my copy of Exile was bought with a hard earned £7.99 from my paper round money, in pre-Internet, pre-Mojo days when sleevenotes were non-existent and I knew very little about the band. I wasn’t aware of the whole story about them recording in a French chateau and all that, or their drug problems or tax problems. I just fell in love with the music and poured over the CD cover and the credits in the CD booklet. I bought it around the same time as Sticky Fingers and it seemed like a natural progression, a sprawling, glorious mess of an album with as much depth as the White Album.
I bought my copy on cassette for about 2 quid (no cover) in Boots I think ca 1981. Can’t remember what else I had heard from them at this point. I certainly had Rolled Gold and probably Emotional Rescue and had heard some of the other 70s albums. It did take me quite a few listens to get it. Glad I didn’t give up.
But you could lose a good half of the White Album as filler / studio dicking about where you couldn’t lose half of Exile. OOAA.
Dunno. I love the White Album too. Think both were in my top 5 when we voted a few months back. I wouldn’t say it is dicking about in general, just incredibly diverse, as is Exile but in a different way. As a gross simplifiation White has a lot of white influence, music hall, psychedelia, country etc Exile has a lot of black influence, RnB, soul, gospel.
Nooo. Come on now. “Who’s fighting and what for?” Well, someone just wanted to lose half the white album…
I’m going to go with Let It Bleed – Gimme Shelter / Midnight Rambler / You Can’t Always Get are some if my favourite Stones tracks and the rest is not just filler.
I have just this afternoon listened to Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed & Sticky Fingers one after the other (didn’t have time for Exile). This begs the question – is there a better 4 album run than Beggars through Exile ? I can’t think of one.
There’s a great idea for a thread right there. I usually think of great albums in runs of three, where a few artists could genuinely claim to have done that (Beatles, Sones, Dylan, Public Enemy, Massive Attack, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, The Cure et al) but I’ve not considered four in a row before. Could lead to a heated debate.
Do it!
Easy peasy if you’re the Church.
Blurred Crusade➡️Seance➡️Heyday➡️Starfish
My Aim Is True / This Year’s Model / Armed Forces / Get Happy / Trust / Almost Blue* / Imperial Bedroom.
7 in a row. Beat that.
* I Love Almost Blue but I know many don’t. Led me down the country road.
Wilco
@dai Summer Teeth to Sky Blue Sky?
I would start with Being There. and I also like Wilco (The Album) and The Whole Love, I even like Star Wars. might be difficult to make a case for Schmilco though …
Trust is over-rated. Clubland is great but nothing hits that high again.
Trust is outstanding in every respect.
Talk me through it… what am i missing. I’m going for a long walk this morning – I’ll have another listen.
The trouble with let it Bleed is that it contains at least 3 tracks which are blown out of the water by the live versions on Ya Yas – Midnight Rambler, Live With Me and Love in Vain.
It’s also a bit of a patchwork of tracks recorded over quite a long period of time (pretty much from November 68 to November 69) so it doesn’t sound that coherent as an album.
Beggars hangs together much better – Exile will always be my favourite but Beggars is a close second
Agree with all of your OP, Arthur. Sticky Fingers was clearly the high point. And it sounds better than all the others up to that point, too.
Beggars Banquet every time….and in the original white sleeve rather than that toilet.! Of the ‘big 4’ mentioned – BB, LIB, SF, EOMS – LIB has probably always been my least go to album. I had Ya Yas before LIB, so I always find the studio Midnight Rambler a bit weak in comparison; the same with Love In Vain and Live With Me. Obviously Gimme Shelter is possibly their greatest ever track, but It dominates the album so much – imagine LIB without it, whereas BB is much more consistant. Making the Ya Yas comparison again, the BB tracks on the live album are inferior to the studio versions.
Oh that toilet cover is abominable, isn’t it? Pure filth, and not in a good way. What were they thinking?
But the toilet cover was the original sleeve, overruled by record company so they did the white one. Their “White Album”, then they made Let it Bleed and The Beatles made Let it Be …
Yes, I know, but that doesn’t make it any good. The RSVP to a Banquet just made sense as well. Maybe Decca were right for once.
Yes, I think they were right
The Stones’ career would have stalled badly if that toilet cover had been used for Beggar’s Banquet. The album would not have sold even half as well as it did. A lot of retailers would not have wanted to stock it, some punters would have been put off, having seen it.
After the disappointment of Satanic Majesties, Decca might have downgraded them as far as promotion went. It might possibly have destroyed them.
Beggars Banquet for me, although, like a previous comment, I’m happy to start on track 2.
My favourite tracks are the fillers (Parachute Woman, Prodigal Son, Dear Doctor), although I rarely listen to any Stones post-65 now. I think I just heard Beggars Banquet too much.
Don’t forget that the group put out Jumpin’ Jack Flash and (the fabulous) Child of the Moon in May 68, which, in the spirit of the time, they didn’t include on the L.P.
That’s what I call value for money.
Both albums are improved considerably by replacing track three with the single.
Sir! Sir! Tiggerlion is resequencing albums again!!
Of course. I’m glad you noticed.
We’re lucky Twang is do quick off the mark to spot these things.
STOP PRESS and/or unintended consequences:
Stones’ by-product c. 2023 worth buying, and it’s the price of a pint and a packet of peanuts.
The latest Mojo has a 15-track CD of old country blues and, better still, the CD does ‘not’ have a picture c. 2023 of them on the cover, so you won’t have to make up your own to compensate.
File in between the debut LP (64) and the Five By Five EP (64).