Rolling Stones Album Opening Songs Ranked

The Rolling Stones have been making albums longer than some of their fans have been alive.

But even for seasoned professionals like them, it’s not always an entirely painless experience.

“You always get to a point, when you’re making anything, when you love it, love it, love it and then — ‘Oh, it’s crap.’ It’s that moment, when it’s not as good as you think,” Mick Jagger told GQ in 2010. “Then you get a bit down about it all, and you come back when you’ve finished something and see that you’re pleased with it. So it’s a long process, really.”

Part of that process is selecting a song to be the album opener, which is key for setting the mood and persuading a listener to keep listening.

The Stones have gotten pretty good at this over the course of six decades. Below, we’ve ranked every opening track from each of the Stones’ 26 U.S. album releases.

26. “Route 66”
From: England’s Newest Hit Makers (1964)

If you’re familiar with the Stones’ early years, you likely are aware that several of their albums were released differently in the U.S. versus their native U.K. Sometimes the two versions would be similar, sometimes they would vary in their track selections or sequencing. The band’s debut album, titled England’s Newest Hit Makers in America, starts with a cover of the classic “Route 66.” Fitting for an American release? Sure, but not a very strong opener overall.

 

25. “Yesterday’s Papers”
From: Between the Buttons (1967)

“Yesterday’s Papers” is unique for its instrumentation — a more much psychedelic approach with Jack Nitzsche on harpsichord and Brian Jones on vibraphone. It’s also the first song that Jagger wrote entirely by himself for the group. Frankly, it shows.

 

24. “Sad Sad Sad”
From: Steel Wheels (1989)

The opening guitar chords to “Sad Sad Sad” are quintessential Keith Richards. Unfortunately the rest of the song sort of sits in the same place without going anywhere — not ideal for an album-opener.

 

23. “Sing This All Together”
From: Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967)

We’re going to blame this one on the Beatles, who released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band approximately six months before the Stones put out Their Satanic Majesties Request. “Sing This All Together” kicks things off, a trippy, confusing and chaotic number. To be fair, it does give the listener a sense of what’s to come.

 

22. “Around and Around”
From: 12 x 5 (1964)

All rock ‘n’ roll roads lead back to Chuck Berry, at least as far as Richards is concerned. “Chuck is the granddaddy of us all,” he wrote in Rolling Stone in 2017. “Even if you’re a rock guitarist who wouldn’t name him as your main influence, your main influence is probably still influenced by Chuck Berry.” The Stones chose a fun and simple cover of Berry’s “Around and Around” to open their second U.S. album, 12 X 5.

 

21. “One Hit (To the Body)”
From: Dirty Work (1986)

“One Hit (To the Body)” marked the first time Ronnie Wood was credited as a co-writer on a Stones single. We will admit: having Jimmy Page play the guitar solo here was a pretty boss move.

 

20. “Mother’s Little Helper”
From: Aftermath (1966)

“Mother’s Little Helper” is the opening track on both the U.K. and U.S. versions of 1966’s Aftermath. It’s an interesting little mixture of rockabilly, western and Middle Eastern musical influences, which clearly worked in the band’s favor as the single went to No. 8 in America.

 

19. “Flip the Switch”
From: Bridges to Babylon (1997)

People usually don’t point to the ’90s as being the Rolling Stones’ finest creative period. But “Flip the Switch” does help get the ball rolling from the get go on 1997’s Bridges to Babylon, thanks to both Charlie Watts‘ usual vigor and some extra percussion by the legendary Jim Keltner.

 

18. “Hot Stuff”
From: Black and Blue (1976)

The Rolling Stones had no problem experimenting with a bit of disco sound in the ’70s. And actually, they were awfully good at it, in no small part due to Watts’ solid four-on-the-floor drumming. One should not overlook the funky bass line in “Hot Stuff,” courtesy of Bill Wyman. Oh and that’s Harvey Mandel of Canned Heat — who, at one point, nearly joined the band himself — playing the guitar solo, plus Billy Preston on piano.

 

17. “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”
From: The Rolling Stones, Now! (1965)

Without American rhythm & blues singers like Solomon Burke, who co-wrote and recorded “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” in 1964, it’s hard to say whether the Rolling Stones would have become the rock band they ultimately did, so serious was their influence. The Stones’ version is a nice tribute to the original.

 

16. “Undercover of the Night”
From: Undercover (1983)

Like many other bands, the Rolling Stones experienced something of a transitional period in the ’80s. New technology and new ways of utilizing a recording studio meant their overall sound changed a bit, and not always for the better. It didn’t help that Jagger and Richards were not exactly best friends at the time. Still, “Undercover of the Night” is a relatively strong opening track — upbeat with an intro that immediately grabs one’s attention.

 

15. “Love Is Strong”
From: Voodoo Lounge (1994)

The cool thing about Jagger’s singing is that he’s great in his upper register, but when he drops his voice down, the result is a sultry yet robust vocal. You can find both in “Love Is Strong,” an opening track that was also a No. 14 hit in the U.K.

 

13. “If You Can’t Rock Me”
From: It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (1974)

Everybody knows the title track from 1974’s It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll, but its opening song, “If You Can’t Rock Me,” is a great introduction to the overall LP’s sound. It’s urgent, a little desperate and a little arrogant. What’s better than a rock song about rocking in more ways than one?

 

12. “Brown Sugar”
From: Sticky Fingers (1971)

The Rolling Stones don’t play “Brown Sugar” live anymore on account of some lyrics that did not age well, but if we consider the track from an album sequencing perspective, it nails the job. The Stones recorded it in just two takes — “unheard of later,” Richards wrote in his autobiography Life, “when I would comb through 40 or 50 versions of a song, looking for the spark.”

 

11. “Mercy Mercy”
From: Out of Our Heads (1965)

One of the neat things about listening to early Stones albums is that you can tell Jagger’s voice was destined for rock ‘n’ roll greatness — you can hear a bit of the showmanship in their cover of “Mercy Mercy.” This song was the opening track on the American edition of Out of Our Heads, while “She Said Yeah” was the opener for the U.K. edition. But check out the next entry…

 

10. “She Said Yeah”
From: December’s Children (And Everybody’s) (1965)

That’s right. “She Said Yeah” got re-used for the opening slot on 1965’s December’s Children (And Everybody’s). Something about that striking guitar intro just needed to be heard again.

 

9. “Rough Justice”
From: A Bigger Bang (2005)

The story is that Richards dreamed up the riff to “Rough Justice” in the same way he did with “Satisfaction.” And if the guitar doesn’t get your attention, the first few lines surely will: “One time you were my baby chicken / Now you’ve grown into a fox / Once upon a time I was your little rooster / Am I just one of your cocks?“

 

8. “Dancing With Mr. D.”
From: Goats Head Soup (1973)

Never underestimate the power of a slow-burning Stones number, the kind like “Dancing With Mr. D.” Pay extra attention to Mick Taylor‘s bass work here, as well as Nicky Hopkins on piano.

 

7. “Angry”
From: Hackney Diamonds (2023)

I mean, there can’t really be a Rolling Stones when you’re all fifty,” a reporter for Rolling Stone said to Jagger in 1985. “No, I don’t think so either,” came his reply. Well, look how that went. In 2023, the Stones, all them very much older than 50, released Hackney Diamonds, which begins with “Angry,” a classic-sounding track made by a band that knows the ropes inside and out.

 

6. “Dance (Pt.1)”
From: Emotional Rescue (1980)

Lots of people associate 1980’s Emotional Rescue with its title track, but we would encourage you not to skip over the opening track, “Dance Pt. 1.” There’s a lot going on — “Keith! Whatcha, whatcha doing?” Jagger exclaims at the top, followed by Ronnie Wood’s excellent, disco-y bass part and a horn section — and yet somehow it all works together.

 

5. “Rocks Off”
From: Exile on Main St. (1972)

“Rocks Off” is a two-for-one deal. You get the fast-paced, more traditional rock ‘n’ roll sections, plus a trippy bridge that gives way to the great line: “The sunshine bores the daylights out of me.”

 

4. “Sympathy for the Devil”
From: Beggars Banquet (1968)

It’s hard to top an opening line to a song, much less an entire album, like “Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste.” Go on, we’re listening. Pair that with some yelps, grunts, conga drums and the iconic “woo woo!” backing vocals and you have a brilliant beginning to an LP.

 

3. “Gimme Shelter”
From: Let It Bleed (1969)

“Gimme Shelter” grows in layers and volume as the first 30 seconds or so of the song take place. By the time you get to the chorus, there’s no turning back from either the song or the album. Let it bleed, indeed.

 

2. “Miss You”
From: Some Girls (1978)

It’s one of the most recognizable riffs in rock, the one from “Miss You.” Need we say more? “Bill [Wyman] needed to go to quite a few clubs before he got that bass line sorted out,” Chris Kimsey, who engineered the recording, said to Sound on Sound in 2004. “But he did sort it out, and bless him, it made that song.”

 

1. “Start Me Up”
From: Tattoo You (1981)

Look, when it comes down to it, there may not be a single more fitting album-opening song than “Start Me Up.” Not only does it make you want to hear more, you’ll be up on your feet dancing while doing so.