(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Sun 5 April 2026 20:00, UK
When you’ve been going through ages of rock and roll like Keith Richards has, there have to be a few tunes that aren’t favourites.
The Rolling Stones have had countless classics, but even if he got tired of going back into the studio and making the kind of tunes that he didn’t believe in, the big payoff was always in playing tunes like ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ whenever they played live. And while the live show was still where they dominated the conversation, Richards felt that they should have never gone into the studio for some of their records.
Then again, there is usually a grading curve that people put on The Stones every once in a while. No one’s expecting them to come back with another Exile on Main St or Beggars Banquet, and somewhere around the 1980s, the band already seemed to be coasting on the momentum that they had already heard from the massive hits that they had already made. But that didn’t stop Mick Jagger from reaching for new sounds on records like Bridges to Babylon once the 1990s kicked in.
It’s always healthy to keep up with the times, but that’s usually where Jagger and Richards butted heads half of the time. They wanted the chance to make the best music they could, but even if the guitarist knew their strengths, he knew when some albums were going to look desperate. And even if Some Girls had some good songs despite having some flirtations with disco, Richards felt that Bridges to Babylon wasn’t the kind of album that he could appreciate until they played it live.
But even when a few songs met the live stage, it only served to reinforce Richards’s disdain for what they actually laid down in the studio, saying, “On the record, it’s not the Stones. Charlie’s on drums, but they were not cut with the Stones. They were cut with (producer) Danny Saber, and I overdubbed a bit of guitar in there. But those tracks are not the same real Rolling Stone tracks. But once the Stones got their teeth into the songs on stage, the difference just became amazing. It’s just another lesson that I hope certain people learn! If you want to make a Rolling Stones record, use the Stones.”
And, folks, there are more songs on here that have me questioning whether this was the same band that was going toe-to-toe with The Beatles back in the day. The band were already half-absent on a lot of the tracks, but of all the genres to hop on, the choice of electronic dance music was bound to be an odd choice, especially when Jagger is heard snarling over ‘Might As Well Get Juiced’ and sounding like an old man trying to make it work over top of what sounds like a D-tier Chemical Brothers beat.
It’s not like The Stones couldn’t adapt to the times correctly, either. Voodoo Lounge was the kind of return to form that put them in the same comfort zone they had been used to, so to see them do a pivot like this just makes the fall more stark. But even if the record wasn’t perfect from front to back, it did teach The Stones a bit of a lesson on what they were supposed to sound like going forward.
Because while there are more than a few experiments on their later records, they do still sound like The Stones on a lot of the new tracks. Even when working with people like Lady Gaga as of late, those Richards licks still sound fantastic over tracks like ‘Sweet Sounds of Heaven’ or when he kicks back with his own country-flavoured tune.
Bridges to Babylon isn’t exactly a terrible record by any stretch, but since half of the band didn’t show up for the final record, the whole thing is more of a fascinating curiosity than an essential part of the band’s catalogue. They were capable of making great music still, but this was the dividing line when Jagger chose being trendy over making an attempt to make some of that old-school rock and roll.
