Beggars Banquet (studio album) by The Rolling Stones

Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones
Year: 1968
Overall rank: 161st   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
84/100 (from 1,509 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1968 (7th)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1960s (28th)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (161st)

The Rolling Stones bestography

Beggars Banquet is ranked 4th best out of 99 albums by The Rolling Stones on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Rolling Stones is Exile On Main St. which is ranked number 44 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 22,751.

The Rolling Stones album bestography « Higher ranked (63rd) This album (161st) Lower ranked (421st) »
Let It BleedBeggars BanquetAftermath

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Beggars Banquet track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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3.
Rating: 79 (278 votes)Comments: 2
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5.
Rating: 84 (292 votes)Comments: 2
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7.
Rating: 80 (276 votes)Comments: 1
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9.
Rating: 80 (280 votes)Comments: 1
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Beggars Banquet rankings

Beggars Banquet collection

Beggars Banquet ratings

Average Rating: 
84/100 (from 1,509 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,509 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
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03/09/2024 16:11 MagicSix  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3659/100
 
60/100
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02/17/2024 19:10 RockingRoll666  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,34573/100
 
65/100
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02/16/2024 14:26 mrblond  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 47983/100
 
90/100
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02/15/2024 02:53 EntList  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 24373/100
 
50/100
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02/08/2024 09:10 Christovskee  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 62271/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 83.8/100, a mean average of 82.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.

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Beggars Banquet comments

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Rating:  
45/100
From 09/10/2023 18:41
Stray Cat Blues is amazing, but other than the two obvious picks (Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man) and Salt of the Earth, I didn't get too much from the other tracks. Not a massive fan of that blues rock style. It's a decent album but not near Let It Bleed/Sticky Fingers.
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Rating:  
75/100
From 03/25/2023 15:25
There is some great moments on here and it is a consistent listen in the fact that no song is bad but it does lack the true highs they have on other releases. It is a very bluesy release and is possibly the beginning of the best style of music the Stones made but they did it better in the future. Instrumentally, it is a diverse listen and there is quite a lot to discover on here. Where it struggles in my opinion is that a lot of the songs aren't that engaging or captivating and I find myself easily distracted while listening. The best albums will completely suck you and you will get lost in the music but that doesn't happen on here. There are a couple absolute classics on here such as the opener, Street Fighting Man and No Expectations which makes this record worth exploring just for those songs. Overall, this isn't my favourite album by the Stones and I don't think there is much of an argument for it being their best but it does have its moments where it is great.
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Rating:  
90/100
From 01/27/2023 06:01
"Beggars Banquet" is one of the very big Rolling Stones albums. Not only does the album contains the hit "Street Fighting Man" and classics like "Sympathy for the Devil," "Stray Cat Blues," "Salt of the Earth" and "Jig Saw Puzzle", it was also with this album that the famous Rolling Stones sound was founded.
There is little doubt that producer Jimmy Miller had a great share in creating the sound that would become the group's hallmark for years to come. After a little groping with the album "Their Satanic Majesty's Request", which certainly also had its moments, there was need to find a more basic sound that was more a natural extension of the group's musical roots. You clearly feel on several numbers the Jimmy Miller imprint, and some places even similarities with another group Miller produced these years, namely Traffic.

Roughly speaking, the album's tracks can be divided into two groups; the acoustic and very blues inspirerd, and the more modern rocking, with biting and satirical lyrics, obviously inspired by Bob Dylan.

The acoustic numbers could as easily have fitted into previous albums, like "Between the Buttons" and it is not really on those we discover the "new" Stones. However, the songs are absolutely very good, especially the touching "No Expectations", with nice slide guitar by Brian Jones.

However, it is the "electric" tracks makes the album a classic. The opening song "Sympathy for the Devil" is more or less the epitome of the new sound. Great rhythm section with congas and maracas, which is followed by Nicki Hopkins' piano, after which Jagger sings his "tribute" to evil. Great musical structure on this number.

"Stray Cat" is closely related, perhaps more rooted in the blues, again with congas. And again, with biting lyrics, and a song that would be a live favorite.

"Jigsaw Puzzle" is another of the album's big numbers. The lyrics are strongly related to Dylan's "Desolation Row" - as with "Sympathy" there is a great build-up / structure - interesting with the flute-like sound, reportedly played by Dave Mason on a shehnai, an Indian wind instrument.

"Salt of the Earth", is at least as strong, with a surprising Richards lead vocals on the first verse. Again, Jagger / Richard from their lyrically most interesting side.

"Street Fighting Man" was the hit single, which skilfully catches the youth rebellions that raged across many big cities of the western world. Great guitar riff.

"Parachute Woman" is a number that is somewhat in between the two main categories. Strong roots in blues, but more electric than the other blues numbers. Could easily be called a precursor to "Midnight Rambler" from the subsequent album "Let it Bleed", which Miller also would produce.

https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDrollingstones.html
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Rating:  
80/100
From 04/24/2022 15:20
I find this one of the most consistent Stones albums - something they struggle with I feel. But this is a strong album - maybe doesn't hit the highs of Exile On Main Street, but that has a few weak tracks - whilst this album doesn't dip below a good rating throughout
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Rating:  
80/100
From 01/17/2022 12:27
This album is mixed bag for me, Sympathy For The Devil and Street Fighting Man are great but the rest is just nothing amazing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 01/03/2022 18:38
Quizás este sea el álbum más acústico de los Stones y, en todo caso, mi favorito.
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Rating:  
70/100
From 11/15/2021 19:13
Definitely something a little bit different from the Stones, but not my favorite material.
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Rating:  
90/100
From 09/06/2021 16:54
The Stones getting acoustic and bluesy. This album displays the real Stones. The electric and rocked up tunes are great too.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 09/04/2021 12:13
El primero de los cuatro discos que conforman su época dorada. Quizá por eso sea el preludio de la grandeza de los tres siguientes.
Un inicio espectacular con Simpathy, el cual puede considerarse uno de los mejores arranques de un álbum.
Otras grandes canciones son: Street fighting man, Salt of the earth, No expectations,...
En general un disco buenisimo. Las acústicas suenan bestiales.
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Rating:  
100/100
From 04/01/2021 08:54
Possibly the most consistent Stones album in that there isn't a bad track here. The obvious tracks of note are Sympathy For The Devil and Street Fighting Man of course, both of which have made it onto many compilations over the years, but Factory Girl, Salt Of The Earth, No Expectations and Dear Doctor are all great tracks and well worth investigating.
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Best Albums of 1968
1. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
2. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
4. Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies
5. The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
6. White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground
7. Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones
8. Music From Big Pink by The Band
9. Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
10. At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash
11. A Saucerful Of Secrets by Pink Floyd
12. Waiting For The Sun by The Doors
13. We're Only In It For The Money by The Mothers Of Invention
14. Lady Soul by Aretha Franklin
15. Cheap Thrills by Big Brother And The Holding Company
16. The Notorious Byrd Brothers by The Byrds
17. Os Mutantes by Os Mutantes
18. Wheels Of Fire by Cream
19. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo by The Byrds
20. The United States Of America by The United States Of America
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