Today we have the Rolling Stones' ninth studio album Beggars Banquet. Released in 1968, the album immediately sold well and was well-received by critics, many of whom believed it to be their best album yet. The album is a return to the rock'n'roll of their past after the band experimented with psychedelic music for two albums. Founding member Brian Jones is on all but two of the songs on the album, but his erratic behavior by this time from drug abuse caused his studio appearances to be rare and spaced out.
"Sympathy of the Devil" is not only musically one of their strongest songs and has one of Richards's finest guitar solos, such strong lyrics (written from the Devil's perspective) are unprecedented in the Stones's music. The musical sophistication of the whole album is too. Outside of "Sympathy" and the searing rock'n'roll "Stray Cat Blues," every song includes an acoustic guitar (perhaps they took a lesson from our good friend Dylan). And while all of the songs are exceptional--"No Expectations," "Street Fighting Man," and "Prodigal Son" are particularly impressive--the acoustic majority album does leave just a little to yearn for, mostly because I know damn well they could have absolutely killed an electric album at this time. That said, there's only one album I first listened to in August that I was more excited to listen to each day. A- [Later: A]
