What is your favorite Rolling Stones Studio Album?

I'd have to break it down by periods. Then I'd have to break it down to what flavor I liked from one day to the next within their classic stuff from the beginning up to '72. Then I have to part away the sentimentality that I attach even to the albums which were not so great(and came out after the aforementioned classic period) and come out attempting to sound like a well-rounded music critic and then pull the rabbit out of my hat. I'll let Bullwinkle say it for me. It is Beggar's Banquet. My God! The Rolling Stones are truely an institution deep within the heart of this little wretched soul.

 

I went with Exile.

Admittedly, the Stones made better RECORDS around the same time - Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed were produced better, and both had a very low filler content. Beggars Banquet was a return to the "roots music" that had made them famous after the foray into psychedelic pop of BTB and Majesties - but never on any of those albums did they raise the funky, swampy sweat of Exile.

They had made better RECORDS in the past, but they never sounded more like a BAND playing out of some unimaginable desperation than on Exile..... as if they needed to PROVE the '69 intro hype of being the "greatest rock n roll band in the world". The truth is.... Exile always sounded like Ya-Ya's to me - this what this band SOUNDS like (with some horns, background singers and a "guest" here and there). I understand that some people will never "get" this album, but some people prefer Sly and the Family Stones "Stand" over "There's a Riot Going On". "Riot" and "Exile" have a lot in common, both albums had less "hit potential" than their predecessors, but both distilled the very essence of the music that had come before; less slick - but condensed like Campbell's soup in a can.

 

Sticky is my all time favorite Stones Album . Yessir it is just full of good tunes !

 

I said "Some Girls" followed closely by "Let It Bleed" and "Tattoo You".

"Steel Wheels" is a very underrated album. I love it also.

 

This was tough, but I picked the U.S. version of Out of Our Heads because I can listen to this album anytime. I need to be in a certain mood for the other albums.

 

I don't think I can name one favorite to the exclusion of all others.

When I was in my prime, I listened to Aftermath and Between the Buttons constantly, so they may have the closest place in my heart. I also greatly love Their Satantic Majesties Request for exactly what it is, and -- heretical though it may seem -- have probably listened to this, in the end, more than any other Stones album (so I had to vote for it in the poll).

I recognize the greatness of Beggar's Banquet and Let It Bleed and much of Sticky Fingers and Exile, but tend to focus more on the individual songs on them as opposed to the albums as a whole. I think it comes down to liking them young and snotty a bit more than I do when they're jaded and worldly-wise.

 

I've voted for Tatoo You. Start Me Up was their last signature song, IMO.

 

As the list was from US albuns, I've voted 'others' cause my favorite is the UK Aftermath.
(hm.. or maybe I should have just voted for 'Aftermath'..?)

 

This is really about ranking the 68-72 albums, isn't it?
For me, Let It Bleed is *it* - the album I first heard, and that made me a music addict. Beggars Banquet is very close - some days I like it even more, but in the end Let It Bleed has this menacing aura (Gimme Shelter, Midnight Rambler, Monkey Man etc) that's so iressistible. But it's very, very close.
Sticky Fingers probably gets the nod after this. Exile is more even, but Sticky has the standout tracks of the two albums.
After those, it's probably Aftermath, Some Girls, Between the Buttons (UK), Goats Head Soup, It's Only Rock 'n Roll....the earlier ones are a little hard to rank, I think, with the US/UK confusion.

 

"Tattoo You" is a little masterpiece
so is "Some Girls", my vote goes to Tatto You though

 

The big four are leading, not a big surprise. I voted for Beggar's Banquet. Aftermath UK would have been my second favorite. (Overall, the Rolling Stones are a better singles band than an album band, in my opinion.)

 

I'll go against the grain and say:

Their Satanic Majesties Request

Gotta' love it! Touche, Beatles.

 

Wow ! 3-way tie for second place:

LIB
SF
EOMS

all with 33 votes each - and all very close behind BB which is in the lead with 35 votes !

 

I can't do it - especially when so many great tracks from the 60's weren't (and still aren't) on their corresponding albums. Besides, Sometimes I'm in the mood for the exotic whimsy of Yesterday's Papers and sometimes I need to crank up the all out Faces swagger of Crazy Mama. Or chill out to Jigsaw Puzzle, or be mesmerized by Street Fighting Man, or reach for the skip button when the instrumental section starts on Gomper. I mean, I can't vote for Their Satanic Majeties' Reqeust because there are long sections of horribleness on there. maybe if you excised those and added the We Love You/Dandelion single it would be a contender. Also, the UK Aftermath is great but would be better if You added Paint It Black and axed the last 7 minutes of Goin' Home.
Likewise imagine Beggar's Banquet with Jumpin' Jack Flash and Child Of The Moon. Obviously I could go on, but suffice it to say I listen to my own compilations mainly. Get Yer Ya Ya's Out is great because it sets a vibe which it maintains throughout the record.

 

By a whisker.....Let It Bleed.

 

Ahh crap...choosing between Let It Bleed and Beggar's Banquet is an impossibility for me and that's with Exile a breath behind (pungent breath).
I abstain.

 

Exile, by far
Beggars Banquet
Between the Buttons

All very different from one another

 

Hard to choose a fave, but over the years, the patchwork 12x5 has probably gotten the most play....just something about it...

 

Tattoo You was the first Stones album I ever owned. I love this album. So my sentimental vote is for Tattoo You!

 

What Stones album doesn't come from the studio???????

 

Let It Bleed
Beggar's Banquet
Sticky Fingers
Exile on Main Street

The big four - in that order but very hard to choose between them.

Bryon

 

Uh, the live albums. Well, ostensibly live:

GOT LIVE IF YOU WANT IT
GET YER YA-YA'S OUT
LOVE YOU LIVE
STILL LIFE
FLASHPOINT
STRIPPED
NO SECURITY
LIVE LICKS

 

While reading all the answers I realize how many great albums they have...but I went with "Sticky Fingers". A timeless masterpiece..
No votes for "Bridges to Babylon" , probably my favourite Stones album right now. Very, very underrated.

 

Man I hate that album. The worst Stones album for me. Just to show that everyone has an opinion

 

Actually I like "Bridges Of Babylon" also. I believe all the LPs starting with Steel Wheels and on have been pretty decent compared to what some newer bands are putting out.