The Rolling Stones - Aftermath (1966), 4/10

Another colossally frontloaded album from The Rolling Stones, Aftermath has a few great songs such as the opener “Mothers Little Helper” and the hit “Under My Thumb” but beyond this point in the album it quickly devolves into trite blues rock, truly initiated by the indulgent yet pointless eleven plus minute track “Goin’ Home”. The album does, however, mark the first instance of all original songs written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, at least providing a necessary step forward in the evolution and maturity of the band. While the results are consistently poor, they are at least more consistent than they were in the past and laid groundwork for later musical successes. Be sure to listen to the UK version of the album, as its strongest tracks are left out and replaced with the thematically questionable “Paint It, Black” which makes it an inferior experience compared to an already lacking record. The combination of blues and rock and roll exhibited on Aftermath is simply uninteresting and beaten to death by the first few tracks, making the remaining thirty minutes or so after its opening passages drag on and feel entirely unnecessary. Considering its competition in the pop rock sphere, even within a year of its release, it simply falls too short to be considered worthwhile. If an album could sit on the shoulders of its singles and get away with a massive backlog of filler this may be a decent record, but the reality of its tediousness makes it fall entirely flat, both quickly and resolutely. A largely empty experience that is only notable for a few songs displaying the band’s songwriting prowess that would be executed and presented much better in later projects.