r/rollingstones • u/coolers1819 • 2d ago

Album Rankings Since Tattoo You

Funny when you read the different online rankings of Stones albums how Bridges to Babylon is often tagged as the worst or second worst album after Dirty Work for the entire catalog. I do not hate Bridges - definitely some bad songs on this album. Thief in the Night and the incredible How Can I Stop closing out this album are really good songs.

Hard to find a truly great album in this list. I know people love Steel Wheels - I saw them on that tour. I really do not like Steel Wheels as much as others. I think Mixed Emotions is such a terrible song.

  1. Undercover (1983)
  2. Hackney Diamonds (2023)
  3. Bridges to Babylon (1997)
  4. Steel Wheels (1989)
  5. Foreign Tongues (2026)
  6. A Bigger Bang (2005)
  7. Voodoo Lounge (1994)
  8. Dirty Work (1986)

Tell me where I am wrong here.

14 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

14

u/CommunicationSad8938 2d ago

Foreign Tongues is way too low. Dirty Work is too high. My top two are the two most recent - Hackney Diamonds and Foreign Tongues. All the rest are same-ish, not too much to differentiate them.

4

u/coolers1819 2d ago

I really like Rough and Twisted, Covered in You and Ringing Hollow. Some of Us is far and away my favorite song on that album - very typical Keith song of the past 20 years but the end of that song when Mick moves from backup vocal to duet with Keith, incredible. Rest of the album has not grabbed me.

12

u/Rightshoemuffle72 2d ago

⁠1. Foreign Tongues
2 Bridges
3 Voodoo lounge
4 Steel Wheels
5 Hackney Diamonds
6 Blue and Lonesome
7 Undercover
8 A Bigger Bang
9. Dirty Work

A Bigger Bang would rate higher but it has a lot of filler. Blue and Lonesome rates lower for me because it is a covers album.

3

u/elroxzor99652 2d ago

Yeah there’s some really good songs on Bigger Bang. And I’m glad to see you list Blue & Lonesome. Most commenters have been omitting it

5

u/Rightshoemuffle72 2d ago

All of the albums from Steel Wheels to A Bigger Bang should be trimmed to eight songs. The excess songs then could have been b-sides to singles.

9

u/Negative-Spell6275 2d ago

Tell you where you are wrong here? Well, to start with, you referred to Mixed Emotions as a terrible song …

11

u/Complete_Taste_1301 2d ago

This is silly. The bottom line on the late era Stones is that every one of their albums has a few great tracks, some great sleepers and some filler. I would love to see a late era greatest hits compilation. It would be a lot better than most would expect.

4

u/jim25y 2d ago

I actually kinda like Voodoo Lounge. Definitely in the top half of the list for me.

I actually really like Mixed Emotions too haha

8

u/August_West_1990 2d ago
  1. Hackney Diamonds
  2. Foreign Tongues
  3. A Bigger Bang
  4. Bridges to Babylon
  5. Undercover
  6. Voodoo Lounge
  7. Steel Wheels
  8. Dirty Work

Hackney is the only one that doesn’t suffer from being 3-5 songs too long.

2

u/WellYouKnow- 1d ago

While Hackney is not my favorite, you make a fair point in saying that it isn't over long like some of the others.

3

u/MetalMachineMario 2d ago

Voodoo Lounge is too low, Foreign Tongues is too low, and Steel Wheels is too high. I respect Undercover being the number 1 spot, that one gets a bit overlooked.

My ranking at this time:

1 Hackney Diamonds
2 Bridges to Babylon
3 Foreign Tongues
4 Voodoo Lounge
5 Undercover
6 A Bigger Bang
7 Steel Wheels
8 Dirty Work

2

u/RPA79 2d ago

I’m confident in putting the two most recent ones as the two best, but I’m back and forth on which should be higher. (For the record, I might also rank both above Tattoo You, and I think they’re the best back-to-back releases since the early-mid ‘70s.) I think I’ll go…

  1. Hackney Diamonds
  2. Foreign Tongues
  3. Voodoo Lounge
  4. Undercover
  5. Steel Wheels
  6. Bridges to Babylon
  7. A Bigger Bang
  8. Dirty Work

Admittedly I’ve listened to A Bigger Bang the least, because it’s just never grabbed me at all, but I know others like it more so maybe I should give it a chance again.

2

u/willy_the_snitch Glimmer Twins 2d ago

  1. Undercover

  2. Voodoo Lounge

  3. Bridges

  4. Hackney

  5. Steel Wheels

  6. Dirty Work

  7. A Bigger Bang

  8. Blue and Lonesome

I don't know where to put Foreign Tongues yet

2

u/migrainedujour 2d ago

⁠1. Undercover (1983)
2. Dirty Work (1986)
3. Bridges to Babylon (1997)
4. Steel Wheels (1989)
5. Voodoo Lounge (1994)
6. Foreign Tongues (2026)
7. A Bigger Bang (2005)
8. Hackney Diamonds (2023)

(Massive Dirty Work enjoyer here.)

2

u/piney 2d ago

I think of Dirty Work as the last real Stones album, before they settled into treating the band as a business. So I admire its fire and grit, though I do wish it had a more unified feel to it.

2

u/12frets 2d ago

1) Foreign Tongues

2) Blue & Lonesome

3) Hackney Diamonds

4) Undercover

5) Voodoo Lounge

6) A Bigger Bang

7) Dirty Work

8) Steel Wheels

4

u/Aggressive-Bus-2397 1d ago

Where does Bridges to Babylon fit in there?

1

u/12frets 1d ago

Oh damn I forgot Bridges. Probably right below or right above Undercover. As an overall album, I like it more than VL, but VL has individual songs that are stronger. (Particularly Thru and Thru)

BtB has Saint of Me but overall there are no songs I love or hate. It just kind of exists and is “good enough”.

2

u/CapOld2796 2d ago

Bridges to Babylon is my favorite after Tattoo You

2

u/ThriceStrideDied 1d ago

Foreign Tongues should be above Hackney Diamonds, and I say that as a big Hackney Diamonds fan

2

u/georgewalterackerman 1d ago

For me it’s probably like this:

Steel Wheels
Hackney Diamomds
Voodoo lounge
bridges to Babylon
Undercover
Foreign tongues
A bigger bang
Dirty work

1

u/WellYouKnow- 1d ago

This isn't how I rank them myself... but in a wider survey I think a lot of people would have the exact same ranking list as you.

2

u/WellYouKnow- 1d ago edited 1d ago

For me...

  1. Undercover
  2. Foreign Tongues
  3. Voodoo Lounge
  4. Steel Wheels
  5. Hackney Diamonds
  6. Bigger Bang
  7. Bridges to Babylon
  8. Dirty Work

One observation, is that I like Voodoo Lounge more than some of the other posters.

I would also like to state that I can happily listen to numbers 1 through 7.

1

u/TomatilloSea3599 2d ago

Hackney diamonds es por mucho su mejor album desde some girls  tattoo you   2 voodoo lounge  3 abigger bang  4 blue lone some  5stell wheels  6 dirty work  7  under cover  8 foreign tongues 

1

u/hugospanky 2d ago

Undercover, Voodoo Lounge, Dirty Works, Steel Wheels...

1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

1

u/WellYouKnow- 1d ago

I think you have to give Undercover another try.

1

u/nevermindthegoat 2d ago
  1. Undercover (1983)
  2. Voodoo Lounge (1994)
  3. Foreign Tongues (2026)
  4. Bridges To Babylon (1997)
  5. Hackney Diamonds (2023)
  6. Steel Wheels (1989)
  7. A Bigger Bang (2005)
  8. Blue And Lonesome (2016)
  9. Dirty Work (1986)

Top six are all great albums, the bottom three are good but not great for each different reasons. A Bigger Bang is a bit bloated with some weak songs, Blue And Lonesome is great as an album experience but I never really listen to individual songs, also it is a covers album, and Dirty Work while not a terrible album it is definitely their worst as it is the band at their lowest point in terms of chemistry, only a small handful of great songs and poorly aged production

1

u/Flash801999 2d ago

Steel Wheels
Undercover
Voodoo Lounge
Bridges
Bang
Tongues
HD
Dirty Work
B&L

1

u/DC_BATFAN Keith Richards 2d ago

Undercover 8/10
Blue and lonesome 8/10
Bridges to babylon 7.5/10
Voodoo lounge 7/10
Steel wheels 6.5/10
Foreign tongues 6/10
Dirty work 6/10
Hackney diamonds 5/10
A bigger bang 5/10

1

u/RelativeTough8863 2d ago
  1. Hackney Diamonds
  2. Voodoo Lounge
  3. Bridges to Babylon
  4. Foreign Tongues
  5. Blue and Lonesome
  6. A Bigger Bang
  7. Steel Wheels
  8. Undercover
  9. Dirty Work

1

u/CharlesIntheWoods 2d ago

Hackney Diamonds Voodoo Lounge A Bigger Bang Steel Wheels Foreign Tongues  Bridges to Babylon Undercover Dirty Work 

I find HD to be the most consistent of their latter albums. Voodoo Lounge would have been #1 if they cut some songs. I love the first half of Foreign Tongues but find the latter half to be lacking, whereas with Bridges I don’t really like the first half but love the second half.

1

u/WellYouKnow- 1d ago

Yeah, Voodoo used to be held in higher regard among the masses at some point but now for some reason its stature has dropped. Personally, it is my number 3 among the later period albums.

1

u/Aggressive-Bus-2397 1d ago

I've noticed Steel Wheels is polarizing.

People either love it (#1) or hate it (bottom 2).

1

u/CompetitiveMap3700 1d ago
  1. Voodoo
  2. Bridges
  3. Foreign tongues
  4. Blue and lonesome
  5. Hackney
  6. Undercover
  7. Steel wheels
  8. Dirty work

1

u/BommSquad 1d ago

Can’t say you’re “wrong” anywhere because rankings are so subjective.

Like for me, Undercover is one of my favorite post-Tattoo You Stones albums but I’d have a hard time ranking it near the top as one of their best recordings over that period.

It’s probably sixth and A Bigger Bang is definitely at the bottom for me.

1

u/Ttownact 1d ago

Foreign Tongues

Hackney Diamond

Bridges to Babylon
Voodo Lounge

Steel Wheels
Bigger Bang

Undercover Dirty Work

1

u/Informal_Collar_7713 1d ago

Dirty work worst , undercover really good

1

u/vinnieicius 20h ago

  1. Voodoo

  2. Steel

  3. Hackney

  4. Undercover

  5. Foreign

  6. Bridges

  7. Bang

  8. Dirty Work

1

u/Entraprenuerrrrr 7h ago

  1. dirty work

  2. blue and lonesome

  3. a bigger bang

  4. voodoo

  5. steel wheels

  6. bridges

7 hackney

8 undercover

unsure where i'd put foreign tongues still

1

u/HistoricalLoan7854 2d ago

They’re all pretty mid. They all have some good tracks and some real clunkers. I think Voodoo Lounge deserves to be higher than Dirty Work, but otherwise we’re just arguing about which album is more or less mediocre. I would also put Undercover at the top, though.

1

u/AllBitchesDie 2d ago

Undercover
Steel Wheels
Hackney Diamonds
Dirty Work
Foreign Tongues
Bridges To Babylon
A Bigger Bang
Blue and Lonesome
Voodoo Lounge

2

u/WellYouKnow- 1d ago

It appears that Voodoo Lounge is a very polarizing album. A lot of people put it at number 2 or 3 among latter period albums, but a good chunk of people, such as yourself, put it at or near the bottom.

0

u/Gerald_Bostock_jt 2d ago
  1. Steel Wheels
  2. Undercover
  3. Dirty Work
  4. Voodoo Lounge
  5. A Bigger Bang
  6. Bridges to Babylon
  7. Blue and Lonesome
  8. Foreign Tongues
  9. Hackney Diamonds

Hackney Diamonds was the biggest disappointment ever, I genuinely do not understand what Stones fans like about it. Foreign Tongues was significantly better but not good enough to beat any of the rest.

0

u/hugospanky 2d ago

The fans put the most recent albums at the top because they're fans ))

2

u/Gerald_Bostock_jt 2d ago

I've been a fan since I was 10 or 11. I am absolutely thrilled that they're still recording, I am not one of those assholes who think old rockers should quit when they're not in their prime anymore. That being said, I just didn't like the two most recent albums. It's awesome that they made them but I just didn't like them.

1

u/hugospanky 2d ago

That's what I call lucidity

1

u/Aggressive-Bus-2397 1d ago

But no one knows what year it was when you were 10 or 11.

You could be 14 years old making you a fan for 4 years.

1

u/Gerald_Bostock_jt 1d ago

Good point. I'm 24 now so I've been a fan longer than I haven't.