Beggars Banquet

Gets My Vote For Very Best Stones Album
Sure, it's a tough call. EXILE ON MAIN STREET, most often considered to be their best, is a phenomenal album although a few of its tracks don't quite measure up to its overall greatness in my view. For me, STICKY FINGERS ranks even higher. The playing on that album, thanks in no small part to new guitarist Mick Taylor, represents the Stones at the top of their game. But song for song, BEGGARS BANQUET comes out on top. It was the one that proved the Stones could get REALLY heavy. To most fans, it was also a welcome return to form after their SATANIC MAJESTY'S REQUEST detour into psychedelia. But more than anything, for the very first time the best songs on a Stones album ("Street Fighting Man," "Stray Cat Blues") achieve the highest level of greatness they will ever reach - their hardest rocking, most original, most compelling songs. I still think the very best rock n' roll was made in the 60's. 1968 in particular was a tremendously exciting time and The Rolling Stones were a big part of that - they were surfing the edge of the zeitgeist. I'm no audiophile so I can't say which version sounds best. I'm just here to make the case that this album is indispensable, quite possibly the best album they ever made. "Sympathy for the Devil" - The ultimate expression of Jagger's demonic persona. He preens and taunts as if he really is the devil. Thousands of tightwad parents certainly thought he was, or close enough to it to ban their kids from hearing this record. The instantly recognizable bass riff is so melodic and busy, so insanely catchy as is the evocative African/Latin-flavored drumming. Only Keith's guitar solo doesn't quite rise to the occasion. But somehow, it still sounds cool and demonic, as if the say, "Hey, I'm Lucifer. I don't NEED to try that hard to sound cool." Plus the metallic guitar tone is wicked. *****+ "No Expectations" - A laid-back, acoustic ballad with sweet piano and slide guitar, this can be seen as a poignant anti-war song, even today, from the point of view of someone who lost faith in society. ***** "Dear Doctor" - full-on country twang on guitar. Mick's mock Southern accent is hilarious as he gets sloshed while agonizing over his impending marriage. ****1/2 "Parachute Woman" - ". . . land on me tonight." This is a groovy, acoustic blues-rock shuffle that's pretty darn irresistible. For years now I've gotten sick of standard blues runs featuring the same old chord progressions. But the Stones can play any kind of music and chances are I'll love it. "Parachute Woman" sounds like a different kind of blues, even today, mostly because the Stones bring THE STONES to the table, a very powerful, very distinctive rock n' roll machine. ***** "Jigsaw Puzzle" - This track never got the attention it deserved. It would sound great on classic rock radio (but no, those radio clowns prefer to stick to the same 5 or 6 Stones songs. Radio stations claim playlists prevent repetition but they actually create it. Screw corporate radio). The super cool lyrics paint vivid pictures of our troubled world while Jagger just tries to chill out and do his jigsaw puzzle.Great piano accompaniment and strident acoustic guitar slide, Charlie Watts spot-on, jazz inflected drumming - this one's a real winner. ***** "Street Fighting Man" - This all-time classic is a tough, hard rage against society and a lament for the trials and tribulations of the poor man. There are so many layers of Keith's acoustic guitar overdubs that he was shocked to hear so many after the first remaster was made. Bill Wyman drives the song with some muscular bass-playing and Brian Jones, who was already on a drug-addled path to oblivion at this point, contributes some strangely effective mystical sitar touches. Exciting, Heart-wrenching heavy rock n' roll - this is the Stones at their best. *****+ "Prodigal Son" - Written by a one Reverend Wilkins, this is the only song here not penned by Jagger/Richards. It's a strident, folky country shuffle of the old-school variety about the proverbial prodigal son of the Bible. **** "Stray Cat Blues" - This is the Stones at their nastiest and most menacing, my personal favorite Stones tune. "I can see that you're just 15 years old/ But I don't want your I.D." Such an infectious rocker, a compelling rhythm and Keith riffing all over the place. *****+ "Factory Girl" - a lovely little country/folk song featuring a fiddle and Jagger in full country drawl. He's waiting for his girlfriend to get off work to go party. I'm not much of a country fan, but I always love when the Stones do it. Just about every kind of music they touch turns to gold. ***** "Salt of the Earth" - Mick sounds positively drunk as he proposes a toast to the common masses who take care of all the lowly grunt work which benefits us all. Some view this song as a sarcastic, cynical jab at those who are less fortunate, but I see it as more of a moving tribute. This loose, country-tinged rocker features female choruses, forcefully strummed acoustic guitar, full drum kit and pounding piano which slowly build up to a head-spinning climax. *****+

Some great stuff but a little overrated
Here are my Marks out of 10 for each track: 1. Sympathy For The Devil - 9/10 2. No Expectations - 8/10 3. Dear Doctor - 7/10 4. Parachute Woman - 8/10 5. Jigsaw Puzzle - 6/10 6. Street Fighting Man - 8/10 7. Prodical Son - 5/10 - (sounds like an outtake) 8. Stray Cat Blues - 8/10 9. Factory Girl - 6/10 10. Salt Of The Earth - 4/10 - (seems forced)

The Best Stones Album of All
Too bad the Stones departed from R&B in favor of what - psychedelia? (Her Satanic Majesties Request); disco? (Some Girls) new wave? (Emotional Rescue) and where were their heads were thoughout the entire 90's? They could have been the greatest band of the 20th century had they continued in the vein of Beggar's Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and even the convoluted Exile on Main Street, but they just ended up being a concert band, releasing albums just to increase ticket sales. If there was ever a Stones' album you needed in your collection, this is the only one. It's the Stones at their creative peak.

Very good recording
This is probably the best Album that the Rolling Stones ever created. I have both the earlier 1996 Abkco release and this one the 2002 DSD Remaster..This one is defiantly cleaner and more crisp, the older version however sounds more like the original vinyl with all its flaws and slower running time...I definitely prefer this one in the car because it is much easier to understand the words and hear the individual instruments, also the sound is more uplifting.

No Beggars At This Banquet
Hey, in 2009 no one, including this reviewer, NEEDS to comment on the fact that The Rolling Stones, pound for pound, have over forty plus years earned their place as the number one band in the rock `n' roll pantheon. Still, it is interesting to listen once again to the guys when they were at the height of their musical powers (and as high, most of the time, as Georgia pines). This album from the 1964 to 1971 period, moreover, unlike let us say Bob Dylan who has produced more creative work for longer, is the `golden era" of the Stone Age. While this CD has a rather definitive selection of some of "greatest hits" from this period so there are no bad tracks here the stick outs are the super-rock classic "Sympathy For The Devil"(as always), the very epitome of the 1960s quasi-revolutionary style "Street Fighting Man", the bluesy "No Expectations" and a song that has risen in my estimation over the years, "Factory Girl". Need I say more-no beggars need apply here.