67. Singles and Extras 1989-present - The Rolling Stones

08/23/20 • 73 min

We're not quite done with the Rolling Stones yet! Although the number of albums dropped off precipitously in the post-Wyman period, the number of tours increased quite a bit, as did the number of greatest hits albums. We take a tour through the "extra" tracks that dotted the band's landscape during this period, from the bonus songs "Highwire" and "Sex Drive" off of Flashpoint all the way through to the present-day "Living In A Ghost Town".

Previous Episode

66. A Bigger Bang - The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones last studio album? Can that really be? (The answer is yes, at least until the long-rumored 2020 album comes out). It's hard to believe we've finally gotten to this point.
So we arrive here, and what do we find? A pretty good album overall! Very back-to-basics, especially considering the all-over-the-map approach that they took on Bridges to Babylon. The guest musicians and sidepeople are kept to a minimum, as are the producer and writer credits. Many of the tracks feature just the core band in the studio making music (and sometimes that just includes Mick, Keith, and Charlie). There's some good riffs, there's some good vocal melodies, and there are a couple of unexpected treats.
There's also a larger amount of filler here, and this album ends up suffering from some of the mid-70s "we didn't really develop this idea very fully" problems that they'd mostly avoided on their last three releases. We evaluate this latest (and potentially last) Stones album track-by-track.

Next Episode

68. The Wrap-Up Show - The Rolling Stones

Our Rolling Stones reviews are sadly at an end (at least, until the band releases a new album!). On this final episode, Alex and Galen take a look back at the herculean task of reviewing one of the longest and most distinguished musical catalogs in rock and roll, and talk about what they learned along the way.