Introduction: For those of you that have stumbled across this website and are interested in reading about my trek through the universe of the Tidal streaming service, let me tell you a bit about what I did. Back in 2016 I thought it would be kind of cool to listen to artist’s catalog from start to finish and rank them from best to worst. After all, who doesn’t like a good list? I thought I might do a few of them and see what happened, hoping it would introduce me to records that were foreign to me in the arsenal of an artist I was familiar with. I also though that it would be pretty cool to get out of the “one off” mode of listening to a new record, years after the previous one, in order to get a true sense of how the artist matured over time. Flash forward to June of 2019 and 250 catalogs later, I have ended the trek. I posted these all on Facebook over the years as they were completed but I’m going to move them all over here, starting with #1, in order to expand them out a bit more. Facebook doesn’t exactly allow for great formatting, you know?

As with all my catalogs, to be considered in the ranking, an album has to meet certain criteria:

• The artist must actually perform on 80% of the tracks (soundtrack and rap provision)
• No compilations of previous released material will be included.
• The album must have been released officially and within the realm of the label that the artist would have been on at the time or official releases posthumously (normally applies to a slew of live records)
• Any EPs must contain new new music and be relevant to the catalog, not be more like a single with a b-side or two.
• Compilations of previously recorded material will be included if they are remixes, bonus tracks, outtakes… mostly music that hasn’t been part of a main release before)

Editor’s Note: Despite the length and obvious superstar status of the Stones, I’m not going to remaster/remix this one because in all honesty, I just don’t like them that much and really don’t think my ranking is very good to begin with. I didn’t at the time and I still don’t now. So why bother expanding on this one that I’m not happy with to begin with? So I will post this exactly as I put up on Facebook back in 2016 simply to archive it and move forward with the next one. Shit happens, there’s 250 of these fuckers to get up here and most went just fine.

Original post from Facebook: Finished the catalog of The Rolling Stones on Tidal – thought it would take longer but the staycation really helps the process move along nicely. That said, this ranking is going to be useless as I met my first catalog that was completely out of my wheelhouse. I really don’t know much about blues (and I’m content with that)…. so the first 6-7 records (especially the first three) I just simply don’t enjoy much. Those first three with virtually no original music may very well be great but they aren’t for me. So, I think this is the first catalog where I wasn’t able to put my personal tastes behind me and evaluate simply based on the album – which you will clearly see below. Almost aborted this one after Their Satanic Majesties Request but I knew I would like the later, less creative period. Either way, I know this ranking is very suspect in the end.

And the order:

• Exile on Main Street (9.5)
• Sticky Fingers (9)
• Some Girls (8.5)
• Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out (8.5)
• Steel Wheels (8.5)
• A Bigger Bang (8.5)
• Let it Bleed (8.5)
• Voodoo Lounge (8.5)
• Undercover (8.5)
• Dirty Work (8)
• Tattoo You (8)
• It’s Only Rock N Roll (8)
• Blue & Lonesome (8)
• Bridge to Babylon (7.5)
• Emotional Rescue (7.5)
• Black & Blue (7.5)
• Beggars Banquet (7)
• Sucking in the ’70s (7)
• Goats Head Soup (6.5)
• Shine a Light (6.5)
• Live Licks (6)
• Got Live If You Want It (6)
• Out of Our Heads (6)
• Stripped (6)
• Aftermath (5.5)
• December’s Children (5.5)
• Between the Buttons (5)
• No Security (5)
• Love You Live (4)
• Bridges to Bremen (4)
• The Rolling Stones Now (4)
• 12×5 (4)
• The Rolling Stones (4)
• Their Satanic Majesties Request (3)
• Still Life (3)
• Flashpoint (2)

Summary: 36 albums, average 7.4