Having read all the previous reviews slamming the Stones for their age and lack of feel, I am compelled to defend the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World. I think it is widely agreed upon that the Stones' prime was '68-'72 (Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street). With that in mind, every album before and after has been inferior. Bridges to Babylon, being a good 25 years after their prime, cannot be compared to the greatness of the Great Four. The fact that a group of 50+ year old men, who have been through what the Stones have been through (drugs, alchohol, the spotlight since they were 20), can even put out an album is in itself a great accomplishment. In Bridges to Babylon, the Stones show few signs of age. They rock when they need to (Flip the Switch, Out of Control, Saint of Me) and Keith is at his best with 3 superb songs proving that at least he still has the heart rather than greed. Bridges to Babylon is not going to be like the Stones were in their prime. This is post-70's Stones at arguably their best. Anyone who disagrees either never liked the Stones in the first place or just put them down because they are old. If you people didn't know their age or past greatness, your reviews would be much better. I think we are all thankful that the Stones didn't quit in the 70s, and Bridges to Babylon proves it.

A psudo-sequel to their similarly under-rated "Voodoo Lounge," The Stones'"Bridges To Babylon" is similar in tone and content (which is a good thing), but has less of the lulls and clutter that plagued that previous effort in spots (which is an even better thing). "Bridges" is fast-paced, straight-ahead rocker full of diverse and atypical Stones tracks. Never do we not know we are listening to the Stones, but we are often surprised at what we are hearing from them. Witness "Might as Well Get Juiced." It's not just the more experimental cuts that will leave listeners pleasently surprised, but the hard-edge return to old-school-Stones form that pops up from time to time. "Gunface," for instance, is the type of seathing, "Jumpin' Jack Flash/Gimme Shelter" cut the band used to turn out so effortlessly. While nothing here is admittedly at the level of those classics, that is certainly no reason to miss out on an all around great album. Compaired to the high standards of classic Stones cuts it may not stand out much, but compared to almost all of their albums from the previous decade, and to any album from any band at the time, "Bridges to Babylon" is far and away at the top of its class. "Out of Control" and "Saint of Me," however, do, to these ears, rank among the bands' classics. And Keith closes the album with two wheezy ballads that should grind the whole affair to a screetching hult; and undoubtably would from almost anyone else. Somehow it not only works, but stands up with the rest of the album, even towing over the two ballads Mick submits. "Bridges" is an ambitious amalgam of different musical styles all poured through a Rolling Stones filter. The result is never less than an enjoyable classic rock and roll listen - done by the band best at doing it - and it is often a lot more.

Whereas Bridges To Babylon is not on the same playing field as Beggars Banquet and Exile, this recording has much high quality material. Besides catchy straight ahead rockers(Out Of Control, Two Tight), there are many other elements present here including a nice touch of techno(Anybody Seen My Baby, Might As Well Get Juiced). Keith's contributions are excellent specifically the regaae flavored You Don't Have To Mean It. The difference between this albums and the Stonefs best works is that every track is loaded with contributions from studio musicians. The old days it was purely the fab five with occasional contributions from Billy Preston, Bobbie Keys, and a few others.

I wish everybody would just stop bad mouthing the Stones because I don't think this album is that bad and I'm not goin to be a disloyal jerk and put it down just because they're getting a bit old. True its not as good as Exile(what could be?) But you don't have to act like they should commit suicide or something. I thought Anybody Seen My Baby was an excellent song. The rest of the songs were also pretty good, especially Keiths. I don't like Bridges quite as much as I like Voodoo Lounge but I don't despise it neither.I think its pretty cool that after all these years they still sound like their in their 20s and they can still get out on the road and tour and that Mick is still so energetic and can dance around like he did when he was younger. So I say, Long Live The Stones!

After three decent but unsatisfying albums in a row-86's "Dirty Work", 89's "Steel Wheels" and 94's "Voodoo Lounge", the Stones had sort of lulled me into believing that these types of albums were all we would ever get from them again. But in 1997, they shocked the hell out of me and released their best overall album since "Some Girls" in 1978. Every song on here is great and every musician in the band shines on every song, including the newest Stone,Bass player Darryl Jones. There is hard rock("Flip the Switch"), funk ("Anybody Seen My Baby"),soulful ballads("Already Over Me","How Can I Stop") and one of their best funky blues numbers "Might As Well Get Juiced",given a 90's techno twist by The Dust Brothers that pushes it over the top. Supposedly, Mick and Keith fought a lot over using different producers on this project and even stopped speaking at one point(what else is new?), but their conflict and drama led to some of their most brilliantly dramatic and conflicted music in a long time.The tour that accompanied this album was record breaking and musically was one of their best and this album was successful, but given the level of the material, should have been much more so.