So, I'm skimming through Christopher Sandford's biography of the Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones: Sixty Years, and he has this to say about Bridges to Babylon at pages 411 to 412:

Late September, Babylon: the Stones juggernaut rolls on, embracing basic rock and roll, hard-edged funk, slow-boiling reggae, maudlin pop and even a torchy spiritual. There are moments, as in the bullet-train beat of 'Flip the Switch', when the cocky young band of thirty years before reappears, and others when the fifty something muscians cut the testosterone level: a jazzy, mariachi flavour permeates 'You Don't Have to Mean It', and it's apparently Mick himself who needs the emotional rescue in 'Already Over Me', where he notes, 'I'm so hurt, so confused/I've been burned/I've been bruised''. Among several other treasures, the churchy 'Saint of Me' brings Billy Preston in from the cold after twenty years, and 'Always Suffering' similarly doffs a Stetson to Gram Parsons. The album closes with 'How Can I Stop', which sees Keith Richards in sentimental-gangster vein, singing about his various obsession in that familiar raspy burr, a voice that increasingly sounds as if Keith took it out and let it marinate in a casl of port in between records.

Not everything works quite as seamlessly...but most of the songs 'come off feral without sounding forced, contemporary without succumbing to modern-rock trendiness', in Rolling Stone's measured words...Bridges to Babylon was the best Stones album since Exile.

Now, I was not overly impressed when I first gave Bridges to Babylon a spin last week -- I thought 'Flip the Switch' was bouncy but meandering and apart from a few treasures like 'Saint of Me', 'You Don't Have to Mean It' [which, incidentally, I've heard described as reggae and mariaci but not ska, which is actually what it is!], 'Anybody Seen My Baby?', 'Out of Control' and 'How Can I Stop' was full of tired retreads of past glories -- 'Thief in the Night' as 'The Worst Part II', 'Always Suffering', following in the footsteps of 'Wild Horses' and 'Out of Tears' and 'Lowdown''s chorus ironically sounded suspiciously like the chorus for 'Anybody Seen My Baby?'.

But after some more time with the album, it's definitely grown on me. I really like 'Flip the Switch', 'Gunface' is an above-average, experimental rocker and 'Already Over Me' and 'Lowdown' are undeniably good, if not great, songs. So, in a very short span of I've jumped from enjoying 5/13 songs to 9/13 songs.

That said, the album suffers from its length -- I don't understand 90s music executives thinking the more songs, the more 'product' the better. Sure, you can say, 'The New Rolling Stones Album Has Over an Hour of New Music!" but that comes at the expense of the good reviews and good word-of-mouth you lose out on if you had produced a tighter album. Is it 'cocaine' logic or something?

Anyway, if Bridges to Babylon was cut down to ten or so songs, it would run to around 48-52 minutes and feel like a much tighter, cohesive listen. If so, would you agree with Mr Sandford and call it their best album post-Exile on Main Street?

So, after four fantasy albums which amalgamated Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' solo albums with official Rolling Stones LP -- Dirty Boss, Primitive Steel, Voodoo Spirit and Wandering to Babylon -- we come to the final(?) installment in the series, Big Licks, which takes A Bigger Bang and the stronger new tracks from Forty Licks.

Initially, I wanted to include some of the tracks from Jagger's solo album, Goddess in the Doorway, and thought throwing the hybrid electronic rocker 'Gun' into the mix would be delightfully incongruous, but ultimately A Bigger Bang has such a defined aesthetic and I appreciated the band's aim of producing a stripped down, hard rock album that I decided not to blend the two albums together.

Instead, I whittled down A Bigger Bang's expansive 16-song tracklist down to a core ten songs (so many great songs, yet so much filler) and then added the three songs I adore from Forty Licks (which you could consider as an EP with a Greatest Hits album attached to it) to make Big Licks, the Stones triumphant return to form after the fallout which arose during the wake of Wandering to Babylon (https://www.reddit.com/r/rollingstones/comments/1vn796v/fantasy_album_iv_wandering_to_babylon_or_how_mick/).

The key to making this particular fantasy album is, unlike Voodoo Spirit, which benefitted from the cream of Wandering Spirit and Main Offender, I focused on sequencing to make the album flow more smoothly and at a better pace than its real life equivalent A Bigger Bang. Ultimately, Big Licks is still quite long at 13 tracks and 55 minutes but I feel like it flies by a lot more quickly than A Bigger Bang. But enough yammering, here's my proposed tracklist for the album:

SIDE 1

1. Rough Justice

One of the best rockers the Stones have ever written and a fantastic opener to the album. Unlike say a song like 'Sparks Will Fly', Jagger's lewd lyrics are carried off with a lot of wit and clever word-play. Undeniable proof straight out of the gate that the Stones have still got it.

2. Rain Fall Down

I think the switch from classic rock to the gloomy disco strut of 'Rain Fall Down' is so seamless, its incredible the Stones didn't place it as track number two of A Bigger Bang. Now, don't get me wrong, I think 'Let Me Down Slow' is a very good song but at track two of A Bigger Bang it really drags down the momentum which 'Rough Justice' unleashes. Moreover, having 'Rain Fall Down' as the second track reminds of how 'Miss You' opens up Some Girls.

3. Stealing My Heart

Lifted from Forty Licks, 'Stealing My Heart' offers a bit more melody than 'Rough Justice' and 'Rain Fall Down' but as a soaring power ballad with big guitars, maintains the hard rock ethos undergirding the album. Another great song which attests to the breadth of the album's range.

4. Oh No, Not You Again

As much as I love 'Stealing My Heart', it is a bit sappy. So, I thought putting 'Oh No, Not You Again' in its wake would regalvanise the album's pace. Initially, I wasn't a big fan of 'Oh No, Not You Again' but after reading reviews of others praising it, I gave it a further chance and came to appreciate its breathless, punky energy.

5. Biggest Mistake

Another song I initially dismissed. However, after the run of 'Rough Justice', Rain Fall Down', 'Stealing My Heart' and 'Oh No, Not You Again', I realised, barring 'Stealing My Heart', that at this point the album hasn't offered much in the way of melody. Thankfully, 'Biggest Mistake' delivers buckets of melody to satiate the listener's itch. I think it stands out well placed here between 'Oh No, Not You Again' and...

6. Driving Too Fast

My pick for most underrated song on A Bigger Bang and buried on that album at track 15 of 16, I love the bluesy stomp of the opening riff and the way Jagger cries out the chorus, "Driiivin' too faaast!" Honestly, I think if this was a 'car song', it would get a lot more kudos. I hope putting it on Side 1 gives it more prominence.

7. Infamy

The first Richards-sung song and surprisingly off-kilter and experimental for the old curmudgeon. I think it works here as a great change of pace from the more traditional rock which otherwise forms most of Side 1 (and the album in general). A great, slinky, tightly coiled song and proof the Stones are still going to keep you guessing what they've got up their sleeve.

SIDE 2

8. It Won't Take Long

Another big, barn-storming rocker, which, though not as quick-paced as 'Rough Justice', packs as much power. A great way to start Side 2 and set the album back on track after the fun detour served up by 'Infamy'.

9. Streets of Love

After the string of 'Driving Too Fast', 'Infamy' and 'It Won't Take Long', it's time to have some more melody. And goddamn it if 'Streets of Love' isn't also a soaring epic which simply overpowers the listener. Also, I think it works much better as a big ballad near to the back of the album than near the front of the album where its placed on A Bigger Bang. As far as I'm concerned a late-career classic up there with the best Stones songs.

10. Let Me Down Slow

'Let Me Down Slow' follows 'Streets of Love' must better than it does following up 'Rough Justice' on A Bigger Bang. Unlike its positioning on the latter, it actually picks up the pace, but gently rather than abruptly. Both melodic and rocking, it's another great song.

11. Laugh, I Nearly Died

So, my intial edit for Big Licks went straight from 'Let Me Down Slow' to 'Don't Stop' but, again, the reviews I read kept praising 'Laugh, I Nearly Died' and its experimental edge, so I gave it some more listens and decided if I could find the space for it, I should cram it onto the tracklist. But where? I felt its more languid pace might cause the album to stumble and lose some of the pacing I had tried to keep up throughout the album's run time. But then I realised if I put it after 'Let Me Down Slow', I'd be taking that song's slower pace to another shift downwards while also offering something that broke up the overpowering melody offered up by 'Streets of Love', 'Let Me Down Slow' and 'Don't Stop' -- ironically, unlike the start of the album, Side 2, without 'Laugh, I Nearly Died', Side 2 suffers from almost too much melody! Just a cool, bluesy track.

12. Don't Stop

A final big anthem to help close the album. I think its chirpy vibe works as a pleasant counterbalance to 'Laugh, I Nearly Died''s more self-pitying tone. A bit like 'Start Me Up' but with a more countrified flavour. One last 'big' tune after It Won't Take Long.

13. Losing My Touch

Replacing 'This Place is Empty' comes 'Losing My Touch', which is another low-tempo acoustic track from Richards but just wins out its rival thanks to its sweet gentle melody and more introspective lyrics. Tender, fragile, it sends the listener off with a gentle whisper. One of the best songs Richards has sung on.

So, there you have it -- Big Licks, the album that could have been -- not as fat as A Bigger Bang and more focused on melody and bigger anthems.

Final thoughts

I think the key thing I’ve learned from this ‘fantasy album’ experiment is that, despite the general consensus that the Stones began to flounder creatively after Tattoo You, while they never produced as many good songs as they did in the past, they produced enough great material to continue releasing great albums, only the material tended to be disseminated across solo albums and bonus tracks on compilation albums (hell, I didn’t even dare wade into the depths of their unreleased studio outtakes!). So, in summary — post-Tattoo You, Jagger/Richards output (including their solo stuff) is heavily underrated.

What do you think?

Following on from my previous 'fantasy album', Primitive Steel, a double album which united songs from Primitive Cool, Talk is Cheap and Steel Wheels (https://www.reddit.com/r/rollingstones/comments/1vcijqb/fantasy_album_ii_primitive_steel_the_rolling/), I've now marched on into the nineties and have cherrypicked songs from Wandering Spirit, Main Offender and Voodoo Lounge to make Voodoo Spirit, which in this alternative universe is a 'back-to-basics' album released in 1994.

"After the sprawl of Primitive Steel, we decided to reign it all back in and just focus on a dozen of so good songs -- a handful of rockers and some acoustic numbers," said Keith Richards in an interview with Q Magazine a month prior to Voodoo Spirit's release. "Of course, after awhile, we got got a bit tired of that so the album has a few surprises here and there. Mick wrote a disco song and I've got a track on it that sounds like classic Motown. Oh and Mick sings this ballad which sounds a bit like 'Wild Horses Part II".

Side 1

1. Love is Strong
Signposting the Stones' intentions to return to their roots, I kept 'Love is Strong' as the album opener. It's a bluesy growler of a song and I love how it establishes the album's hard rock credentials from the opening bars.

2. You Got Me Rocking
Kept 'You Got me Rocking' as the second punch of the album's opening gambit. It rocks, has some great lyrics from Mick Jagger and keeps the momentum going.

3. Evening Gown
Initially, I wanted to keep the propulsive power of the first two tracks but do so by replacing the lascivious but plodding 'Sparks Will Fly' with 'Highwire' from their Flashpoint album from 1991. But I decided to move 'Highwire' back a bit to raise the energy once again after 'The Worst'. Instead, the magnificent 'Evening Gown' from Wandering Spirit takes it place. I like how it doesn't so much lower the temperature provided by 'Love is Strong' and 'You Got Me Rocking' but as an anthemic country ballad takes a sharp turn in another direction before leading us gently into Keith Richards' folk number, 'The Worst'.

4. The Worst
Honestly, I didn't think much of 'The Worst' nestled after 'New Faces' on Voodoo Lounge but here it offers a welcome reprieve from the more bombastic trilogy of songs which open up Voodoo Spirit. Nestled in fourth, it's stark, simple beauty and faint Irish folk touches are brought to the forefront.

5. Highwire
A hard rock gem which deserved a better fate than to be tucked away on a live album, 'Highwire' returns Voodoo Spirit to its hard rock foundations, matching 'Love Is Strong' and 'You Got Me Rocking' for sheer power.

6. Eileen
A mid-tempo rocker swiped from Main Offender, 'Eileen' closes Voodoo Spirit's first side, confirming the band's intention to return to their hard rock roots -- A Beggar's Banquet for the 1990s. Also, it's nice to hear Richards in another mode other than just playing the folky as he's confined to doing on Voodoo Lounge.

Side 2

7. Sweet Thing
Now, here me out. I love it when an artist goes a bit 'out there' on one or two tracks of their album. I'm sure a lot of fans would skip past 'Sweet Thing' quicker than if it was labelled 'Revolution #9' but I love it. It's a delicious piece of experimental disco, adorned with a wonderful saxophone solo and with its stomping drums, somehow manages to sound 'hard' -- perhaps not as tough as 'Love is Strong' but certainly tougher than anything the Bee Gees ever released! Just a great, refreshing chaser after the more classicist sound of Side 1.

8. I Go Wild
Another song whose strengths emerged to me after I lifted it from Voodoo Lounge and placed it here. I think it's still meat & potatoes filler but it's good meat & potatoes filler and does a superlative job chasing the disco vibes of 'Sweet Thing' out the door. Also, I hear when the Stones performed it live, they'd launvh into a three guitar attack which sounds very cool.

9. Hate It When You Leave
A gorgeous song whose ancestry is clearly derived from all the great singles from the golden days of Motown. Like 'Sweet Thing', another break from the hard rock and folk/country sounds of most of the album but, again, a welcome change of pace and just too good to ignore.

10. Wired All Night
I wanted to put another rocker here to lift the energy once more before 'Out of Time' and 'Thru and Thru' close the album on a more sombre footing. Initially, I had 'Sparks Will Fly' but it's just too horny to place next to a hearttorn ballad like 'Out of Tears'. Besides, I think 'Wired All Night' is the better rocker. Again, like 'I Go Wild', you could accuse it being filler, but once more I'll argue it's good filler, full of energy and vim.

11. Out of Tears
A beautiful ballad which I think works very effectively as one of the closing tracks on the album. Brings the vibe down to a more reflective and gentler mood and which puts the listener in the perfect frame of mind for...

12. Thru and Thru
Of course, you have to end a latter-day Rolling Stones album with a great Richards-sung song. A perfect closer.

So, I think the advantages Voodoo Spirit has over Voodoo Lounge are, that at 52 minutes, it's considerably shorter than Voodoo Lounge, has considerably fewer duff tracks (honestly, I only think 'I Go Wild' and 'Wired All Night' might not stand up to scrutiny in comparison with the rest of the tracks of the album and even then I'm sure each has their ardent fans) and, thanks to 'Highwire' and 'Eileen' it actually rocks harder than Voodoo Lounge*.*

But enough about my (very biased) thoughts. What are yours?

'

Prior to this year, there was a broad gap in my familiarity with the Stones discography -- essentially, almost everything between 1973 to 2005.

Well, since then, I've made considerable progress imbibing the Stones' output in the 70s and 80s (quick thoughts: Emotional Rescue is criminally underrated, Black and Blue is unfairly neglected as merely reflecting a transitional phase in the band's career, when its actually a pretty good jam record, and Undercover would have been a stone-cold classic if the band hadn't run out of creative juice by the second half of the LP) but until just a couple of days, the Stones' 90s output remained a shadowy frontier.

I've now penetrated the darkness and given Voodoo Lounge a handful of spins. Initially, I was a underwhelmed. I had heard Love is Strong and You've Got Me Rocking since I purchased Forty Licks when I was 15 and reviews of the album said it had a stripped back, return to basics aethestic, so I thought it would have a distinct hard rock feel running across it's tracklist. Instead, after the one-two punch of tracks one and two, it felt like I was listening to a series of well-made semi-acoustic and/or mid-tempo songs which suffered from a spacious production sound which, apart from Mick Jagger's irrepressible vocals, mostly smothered what made the band so distinct.

However, on a few more listens some of the songs have started to take their hold on me -- Moon Is Up, with its experimental flourishes is good, Out of Tears is a good made-to-order Jagger crooner, Sweethearts Together is a solid homage to 60s baroque pop without the painful self-consciousness which inhibits New Faces, Blinded By Rainbows is great, Thru and Thru is a late-career classic and Straight to the Jugular is a good chunk of old school funk-rock.

But we're talking eight or so worthwhile songs out of an album boasting 15 tracks and for an album that's only about five minutes shorter than Exhile On Main Street, the result is something that feels both turgid and directionless.

Compared to the good songs on the album, Sparks Will Fly and I Go Wild sound like the poorer cousins of Love Is Strong and You Got Me Rocking, The Worst is a largely indistinctive and uninspired folk song, New Faces' harpsichord feels very forced, Brand New Car is more fun than good, Baby Break It Down is Stones-by-the-numbers and Mean Disposition essentially passes into one ear and out the other without leaving any impression -- though on a couple of listens, I think I can confirm it's a mid-tempo rock song.

Ultimately, the whole thing comes across as a bit bland and uninspired, especially coming just a few years after Jagger and Richards dropped two pretty good solo albums. I can't help but agree with Jagger that the producer, Don Was, should have allowed the band to pursue their instincts more and produce something more groovy, in touch with world music and experimental.

In hindsight, I wish the band had allowed Rick Rubin to produce them -- he did a good job with Jagger's solo record, has a relationship to hip hop which could have produced some interesting results in the studio and, from what I hear, is very hands-off when it comes to allowing a band to find their way to the music.

Overall score? 3/5.

I’ve been listening to Undercover quite a lot recently — music critic Steve Hyden uploaded a podcast series on 80s Stones albums last month on his Substack and went to bat for each of their merits — and I really dig the first six songs on the album. Okay, maybe ‘Feel On Baby’ is a weak point but even that has a charming reggae tinge to it which makes it a pleasant if not exceptional listen.

It’s such a shame that the album loses considerable momentum from Pretty Beat Up to It Must Be Hell. I don’t even think those songs are even bad, but where the first half of the album feels so eclectic and delightfully bizarre, reaching a sort of sublime-absurd apotheosis with the funk jam of It Must Be Hell, everything after that comes across as a tad pedestrian.

Instead, I wish they had either kept up the perverse weirdness of Side A and maybe put on the slow funk jam of ‘Keep It Cool’ (slot in a 13 minute version!) and some other tracks left on the backburner with a similar vibe or made a sort of short suite of classic sounding Stones tucked away at the back, contrasting with the weirder first half of the album, songs like ‘Dog Shit’, ‘Cooking Up’, ‘I Tried to Talk To Her’ and ‘Can’t Find Love’.

Anyway, I can’t help but feel Undercover is just four songs short of being a masterpiece.

An aged-old question which seems to get asked every other day and one which can never have a conclusive answer is, "who's better, The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?"

But as someone who thinks it's The Beatles, I thought I'd play Devil's Advocate and make the best case for the Stones that I could.

1. More Albums
The Rolling Stones have 25 albums (and counting!) whereas The Beatles only have 13. For an obsessive fan, the more albums the better because it means more material to listen to, conjecture about and discuss and argue over with other die-hards. The fact is you're going to wear yourself listening to 13 albums much quicker than with 25 albums.

Now, some Beatles fans might argue is a question of quality over quantity but let's explore that further. How many Beatles albums are stone-cold classics? Most Beatles fans won't agree exactly how many classics the Beatles have but let's be generous and say they have seven 10/10 hit albums -- A Hard Day's Night, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club, The White Album, Abbey Road and Let It Be. Well, how many bangers have the Stones got? There's the Indisputable Five -- Beggar's Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Finger, Exile On Main Street and Some Girls and then a handful of 'maybes' -- Tattoo You, Between the Buttons, Goat's Head Soup, It's Only Rock n Roll and Emotional Rescue. Throw in the 'Maybes' and suddenly it becomes a lot more complicated exactly who has more classic albums. Certainly, the Stone have more interesting albums.

2. Variety
Superficially, this sounds like flim flam -- those blues-obsessed boys in the Stones having more variety than the Beatles, the masters of reinvention and bold innovators of pop?

But while the Stones weren't always great innovators, they were always great imbibers of new music. So, while the Beatles' career can be broken down into a handful of distinct phases -- rock n roll, rock, psychedelic rock, roots rock and soft rock -- the Stones can boast a cornucopia of different styles -- rock n roll, rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock, country rock, funk, disco and reggae. Did the Beatles ever explore reggae or funk or disco? No. Now some Beatles fans might say that's not a fair comparison because the Beatles burnt out by 1970 but the fact they couldn't go the distance is a mark against them being the greater band.

3. A genuine live band
The Beatles stopped touring in 1966. That means a significant portion of their music was never performed in front of crowds or bootlegged. Song were never adapted, readapted and stripped right back across the span of decades. Meanwhile, live bootlegs of Rolling Stones albums are practically a cottage industry in and of themselves. The Beatles have about 150 live bootlegs of varying quality or completeness. Meanwhile, the Stones have over 1,500 live bootlegs. Now, you're telling me that there's a single Beatles fan who didn't wish the Beatles had that many live bootlegs? No way!

4. Darker, edgier, cooler
When I was growing up, getting into music, the difference between the Beatles and the Stones was this -- the Beatles were the cool older brothers who you hung out with but the Stones were the older brothers who were too cool to hang out with you. While the Beatles wrote beautiful songs of heartbreak, love, what they'd do when they turned 64 and a dude named Rocky Raccoon, they seldomn explored the seamier, darker side of life -- in fact, when John Lennon suggested they release 'Çold Turkey' as a single, a song he'd written about the experience of coming down from herione, the rest of the band vetoed it! Meanwhile, the Stones were writing about drug addiction, Satan, sex workers, state violence in South America. Moreover, the Beatles never had the chance to grow older as a band and explore new and divergent themes which come with middle age and becoming elderly; they split up when the average age of the band was 28 years old. That's not old enough to taste many of life's disappointments and throw it into your music. Meanwhile, when will the Stones break up? When the average age of the band is 102!

So there you have it. Four inarguable reasons why the Stones are better than the Beatles.

So, following on from my first 'fantasy album' Dirty Boss -- https://www.reddit.com/r/rollingstones/comments/1v7xx6b/fantasy_album_dirty_boss/ -- I've sat down and taken apart Mick Jagger's Primitive Cool (1987), Keith Richards' Talk is Cheap (1989) and the Stones' Steel Wheels (1989) to create a monster double album.

>Continuing off from Dirty Boss and its fractious recording, the story of Primitive Steel (which I chose because it's a subtle oxymoron and I'm always a fan of an oxymoron -- Led Zeppelin, Definitely Maybe etc.) starts in 1987. Despite the warm, if not overly enthusiastic praise for Dirty Boss ("Richards' is still enjoying his time exiled from Main Street, but Jagger is determined to get back there, even if it means climbing over the corpses of Prince and Duran Duran", chortles one critic), Richards and Jagger remain at loggerheads and it looks like the band is on the verge of breaking up over the next two years as both prepare separate solo records.

>However, one of the most successful musical marriages in rock history managed to heal and by the middle of 1988, the two bury the hatchet and agree to record a new Stones' album. The only problem -- they've got too many songs! Eventually, they agree on releasing a double album -- "it was either that or getting a divorce over the final tracklist", says a bemused Richards -- and release Primitive Steel in 1989...

>So, alternative history aside, why did I turn Primitive Cool, Talk is Cheap and Steel Wheels into a double album? Chiefly because this period has so many great and/or interesting songs and I felt loathe to cut it down it down to a single album and leave more experimental stuff out like 'Continental Drift' or limit Richards' input to just one soulful ballad when he has so many excellent ones from this period. Also, I like the opportunity double albums present to a band, because it's a chance to explore all sorts of apsects of their music and not feel the pressure of serving up a more cohesive and, consequently, less eclectic album. Whereas, if Primitive Steel was just a single album, it might have felt more difficult putting in a song like 'Throwaway' from Primitive Cool onto the tracklist because it's bombastic, arena rock stylings would very out of place next to the more trad rock of Talk is Cheap and most of Steel Wheels (though it might have found a friend in the mid-tempo funk of *'*Terrifying'...).

>Anyway, here's the tracklist for Primitive Steel, the late 80s' double album that never was:

>LP Numero Uno

>1. Sad, Sad, Sad

>I kept 'Sad, Sad, Sad' in first place because the Stones are generally impeccable when it comes to choosing which track to open their albums with. Anyway, it's just a good rocker, innit?

>2. Mixed Emotion
Again, the Stones are really good at picking their opening tracks -- you might accuse of them 'frontloading' but I think 'Sad, Sad, Sad' and 'Mixed Emotion' genuinely complement each other reallt well. Both rock and open the album up with a lot of energy, they do so in their different ways -- the straight up rock of 'Sad, Sad, Sad' followed by the more anthemic 'Mixed Emotion'.

>3. You Don't Move Me
And here the two universes begin to diverge. I think 'You Don't Work' works well in third place because while it's mid-tempo beat keeps the momentum going, its stripped down sound stands in pleasing contrast to 'Mixed Emotions' more anthemic sound. It's a change of pace without being a change in energy. Also, I love that Jagger's song potentially about his fraught relationship with Richards ('Mick's Emotions' as some have called it) is right next to Richards' own song which is potentially about his fraught with Jagger.

>4. Terrifying
Originally, I kept Steel Wheels' one-two-three punch of 'Sad, Sad, Sad', 'Mixed Emotion' and 'Terrifying' intact because they gel so nicely but I wanted to introduce a Richards' centric song earlier into the mix and I found dropping 'You Don't Move Me' between 'Mixed Emotion' and 'Terrifying' didn't upset the flow of the album. Whereas on Steel Wheels 'Terrifying' is an outlier, here is offers a taste of the more experimental parts of Primitive Steel which is yet to come. Just a great blast of funk!

>5. Radio Control
A Big Dumb Rock Song (and as an ardent fan of Big Dumb Rock Songs, that's not a knock against it!) from Primitive Cool, I moved it here in place of 'Hold On to Your Hat' because I thought the change-up of tone and pace from 'Terrifying' to 'Hold On to Your Hat' was too abrupt. Meanwhile, 'Radio Control' offers a good break from 'Terrifying' but its slow pace makes the shift in tone less clumsy.

>6. Locked Away
The album's first ballad and it's utterly gorgeous. I pushed this Richards' song up to sixth place because I feel it's place at the back of Talk is Cheap prevents it from standing out as much as it I think it deserves to. Also, juxtoposed with the Big Dumb Rock of 'Radio Control', it offers a more sincere and sparse sound which works as a gentle tonic to Jagger's more bombastic contribution. did I mention 'Locked Away' is utterly gorgeous?

>7. War Baby
What could have just been another classic crooner from Jagger is transfigured by a wash of woozy synthesisers into something more forward-thinking and outre. In turn, 'War Baby' responds to 'Locked Away''s more trad rock stylings with something more modern sounding. The most 'Duran Duran' song on the album (and, let's be clear, I love Duran Duran).

>8. Rock and a Hard Place
The missing link between Primitive Cool and Steel Wheels and an absolute gem. The combination of funky guitars and gospel chorus is divine and then the Stones somehow elevate the whole thing with some blistering guitar solos.

>9. Make No Mistake
A relaxed, focused duet between Richards and Sarah Dash. Every great double album should have at least one killer guest spot on it (think Eric Clapton on 'My Guitar Gently Sleeps' from The Beatles' The White Album) and Dash delivers with a beautiful vocal. It's a great track to gently lead the listener to the close of the first 'LP' of Primitive Steel.

>10. Peace for the Wicked
A good 80s pop-rock song. Arguably filler but, if it is, it's well-executed filler, chugs along at a good pace and a double album should have a handful of tracks which some fans will feel are disposable and others adore. Also, it's good to close the first LP of a double album with a rocker rather than with a ballad.

>LP Numero Dos

>11. Take it so Hard
Richards opens the second LP of Primitive Steel with this bluesy, raucous stomper. It's a great opener and Richards vocals are in peak form here.

>12. Throwaway
Proving Jagger must be a big fan of Bon Jovi, Foreigner and Journey, 'Throwaway' sends the second LP soaring. Jaggers' declarations of untameable love and the cheesy guitar solos are delightfully silly but not ridiculous enough for Richards to have tossed in his veto ("Let Brenda have their moment in the spotlight", Richards tells a bemused Ron Wood). Second single material.

>13. Struggle
...And we're back to earth with the low-key strut of 'Struggle'. It's just got one of those grooves which you could listen on repeat for half of an hour and reminds the listener after 'Throwaway''s giddy antics that they're not actually listening to a Boston record.

>14. Almost Hear You Sigh
After three rockers, we're due for another ballad. And fourteen tracks in, we're well overdue a Jagger-led ballad. It's pure anthemic pop and, just like 'Throwaway', sends the album up into the stratosphere once again. God, Love's a wonderful thing, aye? Again another missing link between Primitive Cool and Steel Wheels.

>15. Continental Drift
Some listeners might consider this another disposable track but after a steady diet of rockers and ballads, it's nice to stumble across a complete surprise like 'Continental Drift' on your listening journey. Besides which its chanting rhythms and world music instrumentation make it a singular listen. Also, unlike Revolution #9, it's actually a good song!

>16. Hold on to your Hat
Previously, I wrote that the transition from 'Terrifying' to 'Hold on to your Hat' felt too abrupt, so I now feel like a bit of a hypocrite for arguing that I like the abrupt transition from 'Continental Drift' to 'Hold on to your Hat' but its such a jolt from the two that it really puts 'Hold on to your Hat's' merits in strong perspective. A well-needed surge of hard rock testosterone in the late stages of a fairly long double album.

>17. Rockawhile
Another chill Richards-sung gem because it's been three songs of Jagger crooning, chanting and roaring and its time for another change of pace. Moreover, it's just nice to have Sarah Dash back providing some backing vocals.

>18. Say You Will
Arguably 'Almost Hear You Sigh Part II' but when the original is that good, it deserves a sequel. And unlike most sequels, 'Say You Will' is pretty darn good!

>19. Big Enough
Just a great funk jam with some killer horns. The leading track on Talk is Cheap but here, tucked away near the back of the album, still retains its power to captivate. Also serves as a good change of pace from the string of ballads and slower songs which close Primitive Steel.

>20. Pretty Doll
Double albums should have a couple of songs which so completely diverge from the mould that they feel almost like a song from another band. A great country song with some delightful Celtic folk influences. A final surprise for the listener.

>21. Slipping Away
A wonderful closing ballad both on Primitive Steel and on Steel Wheels. Put's the listener in a reflective, wistful mood. "It's got so many Keith songs its almost like a hidden solo album!", says Jagger.

>Reflections on this thought experiment
Listening to Primitive Cool, Talk is Cheap and Steel Wheels to compile Primitive Steel has made me realise that, rather than be a creatively impoverished period for the band, the late 80s was a fecund period for both Jagger and Richards. It just wasn't fecund enough to justify two solo albums and a Rolling Stones' album. However, the consequence has been that the Stones' 80s period has been largely overlooked by many fans and critics.

>So, are your thoughts on my 98-minute double album goliath?

So, after dining out on Brian Jones-era of the Stones in my teenaged years and digging into their classic clutch of albums from 1968 to 1972 in my twenties, I've finally started fossicking through their late seventies and eighties output, hunting for gold.

So far, I've enjoyed the elongated jam session which is Black and Blue and the ecletic mix of Emotional Rescue but now I'm digging into the Stones mid-80s out and it got me thinking -- what if Mick Jagger had never gone solo and saved the best songs from She's the Boss for Dirty Works? The tension making the album is still there -- Richards trying to wrest back control and takes the band back to basics, while Jagger digs his heels in and tries to make Undercover II.

The result is both a throwback to their blues-rock days while still diving head first into 80s pop.

Here's how I think the tracklist would go in this alternate universe:

1. One Hit (to the Body)
It doesn't matter which timeline, there's no other way to open Dirty Works but with One Hit (to the Body). Declaring the return of Richards as an equal partner with anthemic bravura, One Hit reminds the listener that the Stones haven't forgotten their glory days.

2. Just Another Night
Just for Jagger to swoop back in and try to take back control. A hit single which launched Jagger's solo career, Just Another Night here serves as a slick, groovy slice of pop-rock which somehow channels the momentum of One Hit without apeing it's bombastic rock energy. Combined, the two opening songs are a jaw-breaking one-two punch.

3. Lucky in Love
Lifted from She's the Boss, here Lucky in Love's chugging riff and slinky pop sound serves as midway point between One Hit and Just Another Night -- just once, the Stones drag their pop and rock sensibilities together into the one song.

4. So Rude
Both Black and Blue and Emotional Rescue serve up a fun reggae track as the third track; Dirty Works decides to do likewise but pushes the reggae track back one step to fourth place. After serving up a hot serving of hard rock, glamourous 80s pop and a mash-up of the two, the Stones take a wlecome breather which this low-key, utterly charming cover. It shuffles, it sways and is a simple delight.

5. 1/2 A Loaf
In this parallel universe, Jagger listened to One Hit and decided to rise to the challenge and deliver up his own big anthemic rocker. Of course, it doesn't strike as hard as One Hit but its pop trappings make it a cool, fun rocker and a great way to keep the energy up midway through the album's run.

6. Dirty Works
A dirty, grindy blues rocker, as ugly and raw as 1/2 A Loaf is pretty and polished. Jagger ditches his croon for a spitting, snarling vocal performance. Standing juxtaposed with 1/2 A Loaf, the two competing approaches from the band's key creative forces are drawn in bold contrast to one another but both tracks somehow work together to supercharge the album's momentum, that is until...

7. Sleep Tonight
We reach the ballad part of the album. Richards is on top form with this slow, sweet ballad, ditching the bravado of the first half of the album for this refreshing slice of tenderness. Of course, not to be outdone, Jagger has penned a ballad he wants to give a try, but first...

8. Fight
Another testorone-fuelled rocker barges in and takes the energy back up to ten. Fun and furious, Fight sounds like the soundtrack to a pub brawl.

9. Hard Woman
However, at last Fight relents and Jagger is finally allowed to take on his crooner persona. Maybe not as vulnerable as Sleep Tonight, Hard Woman makes up for it with its soaring, anthemic energy. Elton John on high-octane.

10. Running Out of Luck
And so the album ends with this mid-tempo rocker, marked with a panapoly of experimental sounds, Running Out of Luck is nothing flashy -- just a good song which serves to capstone the album and point the way to the exit.

So, at 46 minutes, what do you think? Have I committed a travesty? Have I rescued the three or four good songs from two mediocre albums to make a decent LP? Have I screwed up the tracklisting, left out the best song etc?

Anyway, it was a fun way to explore both albums!

Over the last year, we had three New Hollywood titans pass away, Robert Redford, Diane Keaton and Robert Duvall and while the two blokes got their own 'Hall of Fame' episode, Keaton, who starred in The Godfather I and II, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Reds, Something's Gotta Give etc., did not.

Maybe Sean isn't as big a fan of Keaton as he is of the two Roberts (and if so, why not?) but the differential treatment infers a stark comparison.

Recently, repeat guest, Tracy Letts, has let slip that he thinks the 80s were a better time for Hollywood than the 90s.

Well, let's put that to the test across ten genres and see which decade comes out on top!

Winners in bold.

Action: Die Hard vs Terminator: Judgement Day

Sci Fi: E.T. vs The Matrix

Romance: When Harry Met Sally vs Bridges Over Madison County

Erotic Thriller: Body Heat vs Basic Instinct

Drama: The Big Chill vs Boyz N the Hood

War: Platoon vs Saving Private Ryan

Western: Silverado vs Unforgiven

Crime/Gangsters: Scarface vs Goodfellas

Comedy: Ghostbusters vs The Big Lebowski

Horror: The Thing vs Silence of the Lambs

And so, with a commanding 7/10 winners, the 90s is the clear, objective* winner!

Think you can draw up a better match up? Please show me in the comments and prove me wrong.

* Absolutely not objective.