Track Listing

1. Sympathy For The Devil
2. No Expectations
3. Dear Doctor
4. Parachute Woman
5. Jig-Saw Puzzle
6. Street Fighting Man
7. Prodigal Son
8. Stray Cat Blues
9. Factory Girl
10. Salt Of The Earth

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1266 in Music
• Released on: 2006-08-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 40 minutes

Customer Reviews

An embarrassment of riches...
The first time I ever heard "Sympathy For The Devil" I was 15 and it absolutely blew me away. It was all too much - the slyly witty lyrics, the strident bark of Jagger's delivery, the creepy ambience...and when the indecently distorted guitar solo kicked in it was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. It more than deserves its reputation as one of the Stones' finest hours, and repeated listening does nothing to dull the magic. And that's just the first track.

The rest of the album is stuffed with tremendous songs, from the beautifully wistful "No Expectations" to the yearning lyricism of "Jigsaw Puzzle" to the strutting classic "Street Fighting Man" to the seamy celebration of the joys of jailbait that is "Stray Cat Blues" (these were more innocent times), the Stones could do no wrong on this record. It's that rare thing, an album that sounds so damned amazing on a first listen that you know you've just found a new friend for life.

Along with "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile..." this is one of my all-time Stones favourites, and if you've never experienced its seedy pleasures then you're in for a treat. Enjoy!!

Some great - some not
Beggars Banquest is considered one of the essential Rolling Stones albums. I have to say that whilst it contains some classic songs, there are more than a few fillers as well.

Here are my views.

Sympathy For The Devil:- one of the Stones best ever

No Expectations:- Brian Jones features little in this album, but what he does is wonderful - listen to the slide guitar

Dear Doctor:- mmmm. A bit of a novelty song. Amusing at first, Jaggers mimicry is spot on, but after a few listens the amusement wears thin

Parachute Woman:- Very underrated. Rather a hidden gem.

Jigsaw Puzzle:- Not particuarly good. A long song with no substance

Sreet Fighting Man:- Just brilliant. Based on the unrest that was gripping America in light of Vietnam and the student riots in Paris. Keith Richard's accoustic intro in superlative

Prodigal Son:- an old gospel tune and the Stones pull it off in spectacular fashion.

Stray Cat Blues: - The usual story that goes hand in hand with rock musicians. Underage groupies. Hardly a spectacular song, but not bad

Factory Girl:- - A filler.

Salt Of The Earth:- A paltry attempt to outdo All You Need Is Love. Poor and frankly quite boring.

This contain some of the Stones best ever songs. But there are to many poor/average ones for me to consider this a classic

Not the best, not the worst of this Stones 'golden' period
Back to raw, earthy Stones R&B after their dabblings in dark psychedelia with "Their Satanic Majesties". Jimmy Miller installed to produce that traditional Stones sound. Effectively Brian's last album. He did get credits on a coupla tracks on "Let it Bleed" but here he's involved in the whole deal. And that's where this album sits, neatly in that transition niche, re-establishing the gutsy, edgy noise they were after and achieving a good solid typical Stones album - but pretty safe.

I think it no better than either of the two aforementioned albums that neatly straddle it. Perhaps the rift with Brian plays it's part in keeping things on line. There's not the beauty of the experimentation of "Sticky Fingers" where they start ploughing new furrows and take Mick Taylor's impact fully on board. That said, it's far better than the predictable (and over long) "Exile on Main Street". It does bring some outstanding tracks to their back catalogue "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" (obviously), "Salt of the Earth" and the often overlooked "Stray Cat Blues". Good stuff but not outstanding.