RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Overall my favorite Stones album. A bit over-produced. Great songs well performed.

A powerful record-very heavy.

If this album came out today, the earth would spin off its axis. Instead, it is just an amazing collection of rock & roll/blues from a band at the top of its game. Perfect. So good it is scary.

Elementary, my dear Watson....Elementary

They just arenot a very good band.

With the horrible self-destuction of Brain Jones nearly complete, Keith "The Riffmaster" Richards and his partner in crime were leading the incredible Rolling stones into an ever bluesier, more hard-edged direction. Always darker realists when compared to the ethereal lightness of the similarly exposed Fab Four, the Stones brought many a hard reality crashing down upon a wide-eyed audience with gusto. These were pirate stories, told by the very pirates themselves. Mick sang of a world replete with murderous midnight ramblers, disheartened souls rejected by love, and shuddering refugees seeking shelter from the storms of life. To a planet being torn apart by war and social unrest, the Stones provided the soundtrack through sinewy guitars, precision drum beats, the occasional harmonica burst, and Bill Wyman's thumping bass lines. We were going down with the ship but the band played defiently on. Sneering at the process and defying the coming darkness. And nobody did it better. A true classic album from a band at the height of it's powers. The only addition this series (along with the previously released 'Begger's Banquet')of albums needed would be to hear them played live which is what the world got with the subseqent release of 'Get Yer Ya Ya's Out' recorded over two nights at Madison Square Garden during November of 1969. (The Stones best live album recorded during the bands most legendary tour.) Get all three of these recordings, listen to them in order, and you'll see what I mean. This is why they earned their reputation as the world's greatest rock and roll band. It's a title that they still hold.

The beginning of their greatest period, that ran through to Exile on Main Street. You don't see a Stones concert today or hear a live album from the last twenty years that doesn't pull out at least a couple of the classics from here.

Great album. I liked Let it Bleed and Country Honk the best.

A near-perfect classic rock album. Awesome.

While I don't have another Rolling Stone album in my collection, I can feel reasonably assured that this one is their finest. Impossible for these drug addled misfits to improve upon this one, it's just too damn good. The title track is my favourite.

One of their greatest.

One of their best records-strong through and through.Fully deserves to be a Classic.

This album is the epitome of teenage rebellion in the late 60s with its dark lyrics. I find it ironic that it's evened out with its pleasant single "You Can't Always Get What You Want". It's almost wisdomatic after the approach of this album is pretty much about raising hell, doing dope, and getting knocked up. Still, it has its share of that great bluesy rock sound.

I think Medgar Evers just said it all. This is an awesome album. "Gimme Shelter(how do you spell 'gimme' anyway?)" Has some of the best vocals Mick jagger ever did, and blew me away instrumentally. The title song, "Let It Bleed", is so underrated it's not even funny. And on one of my favorite tracks of the album, "Midnight Rambler", there is a catchy guitar pattern that's been stuck in my head all day before. The album closer, despite being too long, is an inspirational note and a great way to end the album. while not my favorite Stones album, it's a work of art, and has better percussion than certain bands could ever hope to accomplish. Take care, everyone!

This is one of, if not the best, Stones studio album.

An awesome effort. "Gimmie Shelter" (spelled "Gimme Shelter" on Hot Rocks), is an powerful, dark rocker. "Love In Vain," which I didn't believe was a Robert Johnson song when I first heard it, was nicely adopted by the Stones and they turned it into a wonderful folk ballad. "Country Honk" is a sleazy acoustic rendition of "Honky Tonk Women," one of the album's only flaws. "Let It Bleed" is a classic honky tonk tune (Ian Stewart Rocks), "Midnight Rambler" is a powerful blues number with great harmonica work by Jagger, "You Got the Silver" is a decent first chance for Keith to show of his unique voice, "Monkey Man" is an energy-driven wild tune with great piano work by Nicky Hopkins, and the album closes by "teaching morals" with the classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Mr. Richards' guitar work is probably what shines the most, although all the band plays well-- especially the piano guys. And you may argue that Keith is too stoned to be an excellent guitarist, but after hearing this, I understand that many other guitar greats would break their hands trying to do what he does. This album is surely a classic- a much better work than "Exile."

One of the best!

You can't beat "Gimme Shelter" and "You Cant Always Get What You Want" but the rest of the album is a little weak. The album that preceded this one (Beggar's Banquet) is superior in my opinion...