Beggars Banquet (studio album) by The Rolling Stones

From Brandon8 03/22/2024 23:19

The beginning of a great run of albums this leads off very strong with the classic Sympathy of the Devil and I’d say near classic No Expectations. Another classic song here is Street Fighting Man. A few other gems like Parachute Woman and Salt of the Earth. Overall great production and a cohesive album that defines their signature sound.

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.

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.

"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

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

This album is mixed bag for me, Sympathy For The Devil and Street Fighting Man are great but the rest is just nothing amazing.

Quizás este sea el álbum más acústico de los Stones y, en todo caso, mi favorito.

Definitely something a little bit different from the Stones, but not my favorite material.

From rockbluesfolkjaz 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.

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.