Which Rolling Stones album do you recommend a kid getting into rock music?
If you find yourself in the heroic position of being the cool older sibling or the groovy music teacher with the impeccable record collection, the old Spider-Man adage “with great power comes great responsibility” couldn’t ring truer. With such a formative hand in guiding a curious young mind’s path toward rock ‘n’ roll discovery, a point to one of The Rolling Stones‘ classic LPs is as good a start as any.
The question is, which one? Deciding on the Stones album for the intrepid pre-teen muso requires consideration as to what era to hone in on. It’s safe to disregard anything from 1994’s Voodoo Lounge and onwards, a never-ending chapter in the Stones’ output accurately dubbed ‘Stones Inc’ in the excellent Robert’s Record Corner YouTube series, which, while still containing some good songs, are nagged with the inescapable feeling of existing merely as a means to promote their monster-selling tours.
We can also miss their 1980s identity crisis. While starting the decade solidly and cutting the hugely underrated ‘Too Much Blood’ off Undercover, the internal drama between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards zapped some of the Glimmer Twins’ magic, resulting in stodgy records like Dirty Work and Jagger’s excretable solo efforts. Although infinitely more rewarding and boasting core Stones tracks ‘It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (but I Like It)’ and ‘Angie’, the 1973 to 1977 lull can also be confidently shifted aside.
Starting as an essentially blues and rock ‘n’ roll covers band, it might be tempting to head to where it all started, yet, just as no one would argue Please Please Me is The Beatles’ most representative first exposure, the first few Stones albums in their infancy wouldn’t be the best pick, as great as they are. The run of phenomenal singles that have proved to be canonical Stones cuts like ‘Paint It, Black’ or ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ reflect the incredible hit rate the band were enjoying by 1966, but still weren’t quite an ‘albums’ band.
The late-spurt renaissance of 1978’s Some Girls through 1981’s Tattoo You is certainly a contender. It marked the last time the band rolled so well and saw their last bonafide hit with ‘Start Me Up’. However, our choice for young music fans has to be from The Stones’ golden era.
So, what Rolling Stones album are you going for?
The mythos that surround The Stones, the run of albums that thrust them beyond the ‘British Invasion’ and as fundamental to the American counterculture as Jimi Hendrix or Jefferson Airplane is the four LPs dropped between 1968 and 1972.
After dallying with psychedelia on the maligned Their Satanic Majesties Request, they jumped back to their trusty blues and rootsy hard rock and knocked Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main St miles out of the park.
So which of these essential four will serve as the gateway to The Stones’ rock odyssey? Hitting bullseyes on each facet of The Stones’ sound and delivering their most satisfying and cohesive package, not to mention their best cover, 1971’s Sticky Fingers is the one to go for. Its first three cuts alone are exemplary of their creative peak; ‘Brown Sugar’s immortal strutting riff, ‘Sway’s evocative blues twang, and ‘Wild Horses’ country ballad, all setting the standard for the rest of the classic album to follow. Raunchy, moving, and filled with 1970s swagger, Sticky Fingers is The Stones’ finest moment and the perfect beckon to rock lore.
