Shine a light (The Rolling Stones) (LP 4540 - 4544)

The Rolling Stones  Jump Back - The Best of The Rolling Stones '71 - '93 (CD, Virgin Records, 1993) ***  

The Rolling Stones   Stripped (CD, Virgin Records, 1993) ***

The Rolling Stones   A Bigger Bang (CD, Virgin Records, 2005) ****

The Rolling Stones   Blue and Lonesome (CD, Polydor Records, 2016) ****

The Rolling Stones   Hackney Diamonds (CD, Polydor Records, 2023) ****

Genre: Rock, pop, disco

Places I remember: The Warehouse, JB Hi Fi.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Whole Wide World (Hackney Diamonds)

Gear costume: Rough Justice (A Bigger Bang)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: As the nineties kicked off Bill Wyman decided he'd had enough and left them to it. Bill is an amazing bassist, maybe not such a great human being. His melodic bass was a great companion for Charlie's drums. Together they had a distinct personality - which doesn't exist anymore in the band.

The Rolling Stones had a few studio albums post Jump Back but I didn't bother keeping them. I even went to the Voodoo Lounge tour gig in Auckland but that and Bridges to Babylon were too long and average sounding so I flicked them off. It had been a long time since the Stones were cutting edge and relevant.

Jump Back is okay - their first compilation of the CD age but the same criticisms I made about Time Waits For No One still apply.

The next real album I bought and kept was Stripped. Only because it's different to the other live albums (I also sold off Flashpoint). I don't play Stripped much these days to be fair, but the acoustic mood is at least pleasantly consistent. On the negative side it is just a tad too cozy.

A Bigger Bang was the second to last album to have Charlie Watts occupying the drum stool. He's great on this album and Blue and Lonesome too. Mick at one point on El Mocambo quips that Charlie is a jazz drummer who was doing it for the money. The first part is right. I like to think he hung in there as a Rolling Stone for the lads and the music. But who knows.

The aim for A Bigger Bang was apparently to make a basic, hard rock album that hearkened back to their 1960s – 1970s heyday. Darryl Jones was again on bass (he'd been on Stripped). Although it's still a couple of songs too long, the album is a return to form. They certainly sound like they mean it again.

Interestingly, many of the songs are love songs where love has turned sour and it's her fault. It's a really strong set of songs, coupled with the band doing what they do best - be The Stones! Almost a five-star effort this one. Almost.

After an 11 year gap, Blue and Lonesome came next in 2016. It was a covers album and a perfect length at around 40 minutes. It was also the band having fun. It was recorded over three days, and it sounds like they rolled in and thought - what shall we have fun with today? Mick's harmonica playing is awesome on these old blues songs.

Their latest studio album and the last one on my list is Hackney Diamonds. Simply: it's a triumph. Andrew Watt is the producer and he does a great job working with the band's well-established strengths: Mick's vocals; Ronnie and Keef's guitars. It sounds like The Stones in all their glory even though there are some notable guests - Lady Gaga, Bill Wyman, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Paul McCartney and even Charlie Watts makes an appearance. 

Where do they all belong? Few would be betting on Hackney Diamonds being the last Stones album. What a career and what an amazing body of work that they've sustained on and off since the early sixties. Truly, one of a kind.

Dance (The Rolling Stones) (LP 4534 - 4539)

The Rolling Stones  Emotional Rescue (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1980) *** 

The Rolling Stones  Tattoo You (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1981) ****   

The Rolling Stones  Still Life (American Concert 1981) (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1981) **** 

The Rolling Stones  Undercover (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1983) **

The Rolling Stones  Dirty Work (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1986) **

The Rolling Stones  Steel Wheels (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1989) ****

Genre: Rock, pop 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Black Limousine (Tattoo You)

Gear costume: Under My Thumb, Twenty Flight Rock (Still Life)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: It's hard to imagine what Mick was trying to achieve with Emotional Rescue. There are so many different styles on it and the pull of disco was a strong one for him.

It does have some good Stonesy moments - Let Me Go, Where the Boys Go and especially She's So Cold. Then again it has some terribly cringey moments as well - Indian Girl and the title track are just wrong. Charlie and Bill's expressions on the mimed video for She's So Cold are perfect.

Keef's vocal cameo had become a thing on each album and each one, so far, was either great or at least a breath of (authentic) air amid the disco extravaganzas. All About You was a case in point on Emotional Rescue.

Tattoo You continued the blend of styles that had appeared on Some Girls,  but with a great lead off song - Start Me Up. Although the album is made up of songs held over from the last few albums (like Emotional Rescue) it still hangs together far better than Emotional Rescue. 

It certainly has loads of more great moments like Start Me Up. Hang Fire is a lot of fun, Slave has one of Keef's effortless but effective riffs, Neighbours is an excellent punk rush of energy, Black Limousine harks back to Exile on Main St. greatness and Waiting On A Friend is a terrific ballad (great videos too for once).

The fun was sustained during the 1981 American tour which resulted in Still Life. I love this album! Mainly because it's full of oldies but goldies given a new lease of life in the eighties. Under My Thumb starts the arena party and it ends with Satisfaction. They even include a terrific Twenty Flight Rock.

The next studio album was Undercover which suffered from being the start of the schism between the modernist looking Mick (always wanting to embrace the new sounds), and Keef's retro blues rock leanings. For the time being things hadn't yet reached their nadir (that was coming though).

Undercover's highlights: I actually like the title track and She Was Hot but the wild eclecticism means the whole album is very bitty. In the end, I'm in the Keef camp, so, although this album was okay in 1983 when I was living in New Plymouth, I find its Mick endorsed dance style songs have dated quite a bit since then.

Dirty Work was that widely anticipated low point in relations but it's not a completely bad album. Anger is an energy (according to John Lydon) and that fuels a lot of Dirty Work which kicks off with two frenetic songs - One Hit to the Body and Fight - both by Jagger/ Richards/ Wood. 

The mid-eighties production values surface a bit too much for my liking (Keith's Too Rude solo spot is not good), but at least they were recording again after a three-year delay.

Steel Wheels was a major return to form (Mick and Keef had kissed and made up by this time). The big numbers - Mixed Emotions and Rock and a Hard Place set the album up for success.

Where do they all belong? Against the odds (including a poor start to the decade with Emotional Rescue) the band had survived Mick's attempts at a solo career, some mid period stinkers, and had ended the decade with their best eighties album by some distance. They did so by returning to what the Stones did best - rock and roll baby! Could they sustain it into the nineties?

I got the blues (The Rolling Stones) (LP 4524 - 4533)

The Rolling Stones  Sticky Fingers (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1971) *****  

The Rolling Stones  Exile on Main St. (Vinyl/ CD, Rolling Stones Records, 1972) *****  

The Rolling Stones  Goats Head Soup (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1973) ***

The Rolling Stones  It's Only Rock'n Roll (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1974) ***

The Rolling Stones  Black and Blue (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1976) ***

The Rolling Stones  Love You Live (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1977) ***

The Rolling Stones  El Mocambo 1977 (2CD, Rolling Stones Records/ Polydor, 2022) *****

The Rolling Stones  Time Waits For No One: Anthology 1971 - 1977 (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1979) **

The Rolling Stones  Some Girls (Vinyl, Rolling Stones Records, 1978) ****

The Rolling Stones  "Bakersfield" (Vinyl, White label, 1978) *

Genre: Blues rock, pop

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Record Fair, JB Hi Fi, record shop in Monterey.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: All Down the Line (Exile on Main St.)

Gear costume: Wild Horses (Sticky Fingers)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The seventies kicked off in spectacular fashion with Sticky Fingers, their ninth studio album. It appeared on their new label - Rolling Stones Records with the iconic tongue and lips logo. This wasn't Apple Records, though, where the label was created to release loads of other artists. Apart from Kracker and Peter Tosh, the label was mainly a vehicle for solo Stones albums and the band itself.

Sticky Fingers kicks off with Brown Sugar as a statement of intent - no faffing abaht - just brilliant blues rock/pop in a loose ramshackle fashion. Each song has taken on a life of its own now, while Wild Horses is a song for the ages. Keef as the human riff was somehow able to produce brilliance through his decadent, chemical haze infused years.

That decadent world, full of hard drugs, sexual openness and ambiguity and the rock'n'roll touring lifestyle could have (should have) made Mick and Keith a cautionary tale but instead they seemed to thrive despite the chaos. Mick, Bill and Charlie must have been concerned as 1970 turned into 1971 and the band moved to the south of France for tax reasons.

What they produced there was miraculous on many levels. Suffice to say they made my favourite Rolling Stones album OAT. I just need to list a few song titles: Happy; All Down the Line; Tumbling Dice; Sweet Virginia; Rocks Off; Rip This Joint; Shine a Light; Soul Survivor. All towering peaks!

Inevitably, their next album couldn't hope to equal or better Exile on Main St. Goats Head Soup (still no apostrophe usage yet for the Stones) isn't a bad album but it does signal the point where the fey Stones (check out jet set celebrity Mick on the cover) with a slight whiff of parody started to creep in. 

Still, there's always Keith (looking positively strung out on the back cover) and Mick Taylor's guitar to save the day. The highlights: Coming Down Again; Angie (a great song but maybe it should have been a single only release?), Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker). The less said about Star Star the better, though. Suffice to say, I had to take the needle off before it came on when I was a teenager - mum would not have approved!

The only song on GHS that wouldn't have been out of place on Exile on Main St. was Silver Train. Some great slide guitar on it, but Mick's vocals don't sound as frenetically committed as they did on Exile.

The album covers by The Rolling Stones are great at clueing the listener into what was inside. It's Only Rock'n Roll (apostrophes!!) is a great example. Guy Peellaert's painting of the band as rock gods is terrific and signals the change towards self-parody. 

The transitional nature of the record is clear throughout with an equal number of hits and misses. Time Waits For No One remains one of my favourite Stones songs from the seventies.

The transitional still applies for their next one after Mick Taylor decided he wanted to survive the Stones experience and quit. That one would be Black and Blue. The Stones used a variety of guitarists on the album with Ron Woods eventually getting the gig.

My abiding memory of this album and its songs is the video collection with Mick hamming it up big time on songs like Hey Negritta. It wasn't a good look. Highlights: Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama. Low point - Fool to Cry is just one long cringe.

The subsequent tour to support Black and Blue resulted in Love You Love - a double live album with one side (the superior one) from El Mocambo. The rest is pre-arena rock Stones - so still quite sloppy at times and hammy.

Much, much better is the El Mocambo 1977 album recorded at the smaller Toronto venue - room for 300 punters. It's a great album - showing the band in top form as they rip this joint with a ferocious performance. Why oh why did they prefer the Love You Life performances? It's worth waiting 45 years for its official release.

The compilation Time Waits For No One: Anthology 1971 - 1977 is plain strange. For a group who complained about the Decca compilations, it's weird they should do the same to themselves. 

It's a bizarre collection of songs for sure, with a el cheapo knock-off cover. Are Star Star and Fool To Cry among the best Stones' songs from this period? Three songs from the recent Black and Blue? One song from Sticky Fingers? One song from Exile on Main St.? Really? Maybe the best question is why did I buy this pointless collection? I have no idea! 

What seems obvious now - the combination of a lack-lustre live album, and a dodgy compilation equals a band in a holding position at best following the Toronto drugs bust for Keith and Anita Pallenberg.

They needed a major win at this point and Some Girls delivered it against the odds in 1978. Although it has Mick's disco song (and big hit) Miss You on it, there are still some rock songs like Respectable and Shattered that showed they could still matter in the late seventies.

BTW: I also have a white label release of the album that I picked up from a shop in Monterey. Someone has written 'The Stones "Bakersfield" ' on the label. I guess it's a test pressing as it doesn't sound different to the actual album. It's a nice curiosity.

Where do they all belong? Into the eighties with the Stolling Rones. Tread carefully.

Get off of my cloud (The Rolling Stones) (LP 4512 - 4523)

The Rolling Stones  England's Newest Hit Makers (CD, ABKCO Records, 1964, rereleased 2002) ****  

The Rolling Stones  The Unstoppable Stones (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1965) *****  

The Rolling Stones  The Rolling Stones On Air (2CD, BBC Records, 2017) ***** 

The Rolling Stones  Out of Our Heads (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1965) **** 

The Rolling Stones  Satisfaction in Concert (4CD, MCPS Records, 1965) *** 

The Rolling Stones  Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1966/CD, ABKCO Records, rereleased 2002) ***** 

The Rolling Stones  Flowers (CD, ABKCO Records, 1967, rereleased 2002) ***** 

The Rolling Stones  Beggars Banquet (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1968) ***** 

The Rolling Stones  Gimmie Shelter (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1971) **** 

The Rolling Stones  Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1970) ***** 

The Rolling Stones  Let It Bleed (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1969) *****

The Rolling Stones  Hot Rocks 1964 - 1971 (2CD, ABKCO Records, 1986) *****

Genre: Pop, Blues rock, British R&B 

Places I remember: Kings Recording (Abu Dhabi), Marbecks Records, JB Hi Fi, Keegan Purdy, The Warehouse,

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Down the Road Apiece (The Unstoppable Stones)

Gear costume: Get Off of My Cloud (single)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: It's still pretty mind-boggling that The Rolling Stones are still a going concern in 2026, having put out their first album in 1964. But they are. Still touring, still putting out excellent records. It's been a long strange trip for sure.

Back in 1964, I was 7 years old and not yet aware of Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Keith Richard (he'd revert to his actual name - Richards, in 1978), and Brian Jones releasing this album. Indeed, it would be many years before I even bought it.

The why is simple. I'm a Beatles fanatic, so up until 1972 I wasn't interested in The Rolling Stones. Up until then it seemed to me that they were just Beatles copyists - always a year or two behind and always in the Fab's shadows.

What happened in 1972? A friend lent me a copy of Exile on Main St. and my flabber was well and truly ghasted! Ever since then I've been in catch up mode to various extents. As will be revealed - I'm no completist for the band, but I do have many of their albums. For the purposes of this collection countdown, I'll need to separate posts into decades - starting with the sixties.

That said, my sixties collection is pretty spotty, with compilations and alternative versions to the UK originals popping up.

My copy of their debut is the American version which I got while living in the Middle East. Although it kept the same cover image, it was retitled England's Latest Hit Makers (The Beatles forged the path) and plays around with the song order and swaps out singles as is usual in the early sixties for all UK bands like The Kinks and The Beatles.

It's a pretty good debut which showcases all of the band's early strengths - basically - Jagger's vocals, a spirited R&B sound and some great cover selections. Route 66, Carol, I'm a King Bee, Not Fade Away and Walking the Dog are all brilliant.

The Unstoppable Stones is a compilation from 1965 that was only released in the southern hemisphere. It includes songs used on the US album The Rolling Stones: Now! but drops some of those for other, better, songs - Come On, I Wanna Be Your Man, Not Fade Away. All very bizarre.

What is not bizarre is the quality of the songs. The boys are more confident and stretching out, if not yet away from their roots. This is a five-star classic!

To flesh out 1964 and 1965 I've dropped in The Rolling Stones On Air at this point. My copy is a 2CD set with bonus selections. It mainly showcases the period of time that they were a brilliant covers band. This is an essential document of that time. Basically, Brian Jones' harp and his guitar interplays with Keef, Charlie's drums plus Bill Wyman's brilliant bass playing, along with Mick's gifted vocal delivery make for an awesome beat combo.

Out of Our Heads is their third studio album (or 4th if you lived in America). My copy is the UK version. Satisfaction was the contemporaneous hit (not included on the UK version). This is another album of mostly R&B covers - The Rolling Stones bread and butter.

The Satisfaction in Concert 4CD set is made up of the following discs: Disc 1: Star-Spangled Airwaves 1964-65 **** (including Ed Sullivan Shows); Disc 2: live in France *** and Germany 1965-66 **; Disc 3: The British Broadcasting Collection 1964-65 ***; Disc 4: Hawaii 1966**. 

Although the sound quality varies (the Germany portion and Hawaii aren't the best sound wise - very bassy) these are great historic sixties shows. Overall, it's The Rolling Stones - on their way to becoming the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world.

I'm missing a few albums from 1966 (Aftermath/ Between the Buttons) to 1967 (Their Satanic Majesties Request). I have owned TSMR before, but it's so bad I sold it pretty quickly. I do have a few compilations that cover this period reasonably well.

Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) is from 1966. My vinyl copy is the superior UK version (with a great gatefold cover and colour photo spread in the insert), the CD reissue is the US version. Each has different track listings (of course they do). Most of the material is from 1964-65 and it's brilliant (of course it is). Making a compilation like this is a sure bet.

Flowers from 1967 is a compilation of songs dating back to 1965, including three unreleased songs and tracks that appeared as singles or had been omitted from the American versions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons. I do so enjoy these kinds of blatant albums and it's perfect that Allen Klein's company issued this rerelease. In this case the music is superb!

And so to 1968 and Beggars Banquet (no apostrophe for these grammar rebels) and it feels like a new era within the sixties. It's historic for a few reasons: Jimmy Miller takes over production from Andrew Loog Oldham, who it should be said - did a wonderful job in that role; it's Brian's last album before his sacking and subsequent death by misadventure (drowning in his swimming pool); Jagger/Richards write pretty much everything; and finally - it's a return to no-nonsense blues rock after the silliness of Satanic Majesties.

Gimmie Shelter is another weird compilation album in the Stones catalogue, being half live tracks from their US live album Got Live If You Want It (1966) and half previously released studio tracks from 1968 and 69. I'm a fan of the album because it was my first Stones album - bought from the World Record Club.  

A way better live album was Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert which documented the 1969 US tour. Not just a great Stones album - one of THE greatest live albums ever!

It has everything I love about a live album: it's a single, not a bloated double of triple; it has an awesome band introduction; it has judicious and now iconic stage announcements (button, Charlie); the song selection is superb and the lead singer has immense stage presence (so great it even translates to a record). All that and I haven't even mentioned the guitar gods - Mick Taylor and Keef. 

Not enough credit goes to Keith Richard and his ability to interplay with another guitarist. First Brian, then Mick and finally Ronnie. Then there's his peerless harmony vocals with Mick - Keef is egoless!! All power to him.

Let It Bleed is their final classic album of the sixties. Mick Taylor was recruited during its recording and Brian died shortly afterwards, so the guitar parts are mainly by Keef.

I love the variety on offer, the cover is superb, and the band is on fire - amazing given the situation with the guitarists.

Where do they all belong? I've included another compilation - Hot Rocks 1964 - 1971 in this set because it neatly sums up the first 8 years pretty succinctly.

Starry eyes (The Records) (LP 4509 - 4511)

The Records  Shades in Bed (Vinyl, Virgin Records, 1979) *****  

The Records  The Records (Vinyl, Atco Records, 1979) *****  

The Records  Crashes (Vinyl, Virgin Records, 1980) ****  

The Records  Smashes, Crashes, and Near Misses (CD, Virgin Records, 1999) ****  

Genre: Power pop 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Amoeba Music, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Starry Eyes (Shades in Bed)

Gear costume: Teenarama (Shades in Bed)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The Records is a power pop band I instantly fell in love with. The group is Will Burch (drums), Huw Gower (lead guitar), John Wicks (guitar), Phil Brown (bass). All band members sing which makes for some great vocals and power pop harmonies. 

They had a lot going for them musically with their debut album - Shades in Bed (in the US it was called The Records with a different cover). Promotion wise it was a disaster. 

Both album covers were terrible misfires. Where their music is bright, catchy and energetic, the covers are gloomy and obscure. The album title on the UK cover is hardly readable.

The music though? Glorious. Side one in particular is great with Teenarama, and Starry Eyes (both Burch/ Wicks songs) clear standouts. Girls That Don't Exist, Girl and Up All Night are also terrific pop songs.

Side two isn't quite as spectacular but is still full of brilliant layered guitars and harmonies that add up to a five-star classic. Insomnia gets the blood pumping ever time. All up, it's a power pop masterclass by The Records.

For some bizarre reason the American version of the debut plays around with the song order (swapping the lead off song on each side) and Starry Eyes was replaced with the single version.  

Crashes continued with the winning power pop formula (according to AllMusic - 'delicious melodies, great lyrics, and perfect harmonies'), but for some bizarre reason it wasn't as big a seller as the debut. 

A real shame because Girl in Golden Disc and Hearts in Her Eyes are potential hit songs. Pretty much every song on the album maintains the high standards. Huw Gower had moved on to fresh pastures before the recording of Crashes but the new recruits do a good job to my ears.

The compilation Smashes, Crashes and Near Misses neatly serves as an introduction to this very under-appreciated band. It also includes the B-sides to the Teenarama and Starry Eyes singles, and two songs from their third album (Music on Both Sides).

Where do they all belong? Re that third album - I've not yet come across it anywhere - Music on Both Sides (1982).

Birds of a feather (The Raiders) (LP 4508)

The Raiders  Indian Reservation (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1971) **  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: The Little Red Bookshop

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Indian Reservation

Gear costume: Take Me Home

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Paul Revere and The Raiders were a successful pop group in the sixties but by the late sixties they needed  a big dose of reinvention. Although they missed a chance by turning down a Woodstock appearance, by the early seventies they had had a name change to The Raiders and a big hit with Indian Reservation.

Sadly, this album was a cash in on that success. It's mostly covers and they are not that great. I can understand their need for a hasty product, but apart from the nifty album cover (which sucked me in) and the hit, the rest of the album doesn't hold much appeal. Their version of Eve of Destruction is terrible!

Where do they all belong? A lost opportunity, but the hit is great!

Together (The Raconteurs) (LP 4505 - 4507)

The Raconteurs  Broken Boy Soldiers (CD, Third Man Records, 2006) ****  

The Raconteurs  Consolers of the Lonely (CD, Third Man Records, 2008) ***  

The Raconteurs  Help Us Stranger (CD, Third Man Records, 2019) *****  

Genre: Alt rock

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, Adam Purdy

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Steady As She Goes (Broken Boy Soldiers)

Gear costume: Bored and Razed, Live a Lie (Help Us Stranger)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The Raconteurs are a group of musical mates who joined up to form a new band. Some may call this a supergroup in that all the members come from substantial musical careers: Jack White (vocals, guitar) from The White Stripes, Brendan Benson (vocals, guitar) had a pile of solo albums to his name, Jack Lawrence (bass guitar), and Patrick Keeler (drums) both from the Greenhornes. 

Their debut album kicks off with Steady As She Goes - the first song they worked on together. This album is full of guitar pop smarts and sounds like it was fun to make. It's certainly fun to listen to as well. The guys trade lead vocals as they go, and manage some great Stones-like harmonies.

Second album Consolers of the Lonely was a gift from one of my sons. He knows how much I love blues rock and this album delivers the goods. Jack White is the big name in the band, but he allows the others to shine as well on a more varied set of songs than the debut.

That said, overall, it's a more sprawling album and not as much fun as the debut.

Sidenote: The production is terrific - it sounds like you're in the studio with them.

Their third album, Help Us Stranger, came out 11 years later, and it's a monster. It's back to the sixties/ seventies power pop/rock with many songs around the 2 to 3 minute mark. Everything about it - the guitars, the drums, the bass, everything is dialed up to 11. It's outrageous!!

Where do they all belong? I've written about Brendan Benson before (here) but there is more Jack White coming up in The White Stripes and in the W's.