The Rolling Stones

Sticky Fingers (1971)

 

  1.Brown Sugar
  2.Sway
  3.Wild Horses
  4.Can't You Hear Me Knocking
  5.You Gotta Move
  6.Bitch
  7.I Got the Blues
  8.Sister Morphine
  9.Dead Flowers
 10.Moonlight Mile
  

SSmack in the middle of what most consider their “golden run” (1968–1972), Sticky Fingers is typically held up as another stone-cold classic in the band’s canon. Critics loved it. Fans loved it. But I’ve always thought something felt a little… off. Not in a glaring way, mind you. This is still the Rolling Stones firing on most cylinders. It’s just that, compared to what came before and what would come right after, there’s a haze hanging over the whole thing—like the band showed up for the sessions in various stages of either a bender or a comedown.

The vibe is unmistakably strung out, and that applies both musically and lyrically. Nearly every song on the record flirts with controversy, and that’s before you even get to the notorious cover art (yes, that was a real working zipper). They kick things off with Brown Sugar, a song that’s either about heroin or race and sex—or both. Whatever the case, it’s a banger musically and more than a little sketchy lyrically. It’s one of those tracks that simply would not fly today.

Then there's Bitch, which—despite the title—is actually one of the album’s most purely enjoyable moments. The lyrics are ambiguous enough to slide by, and the track itself swings with full brass and a deep groove that makes it hard not to move. It’s easily one of the most danceable things they’ve ever done.

They get twangy, too—Dead Flowers finds the band in their honky-tonk phase with tongue firmly in cheek, while Wild Horses might be their most affecting ballad, no matter how many times you've heard it on classic rock radio. But then the blues numbers drag things down a bit. I Got the Blues is just too sleepy, and You Gotta Move wears out its welcome pretty fast. Even Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, which has that cool extended jam section, probably didn’t need to stretch past the seven-minute mark.

And then there’s Sister Morphine—haunting, heavy, and not something you casually throw on while cleaning the house. It’s good, but unsettling. The closing track, Moonlight Mile, is more redemptive. Dreamy, elegant, and weirdly beautiful—it’s probably the best song here, and it closes the record on a perfect note.

So yes, Sticky Fingers is still a very strong release, especially when judged against anyone but the Stones. But in the context of their discography, it feels a little like the hangover after the party. Still a must-listen, just maybe not the peak everyone claims it is.

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