Their Satanic Majesties Request

Artist: Rolling Stones
Released: 1967

Look at them. Look at how supremely unhappy they are in their getups. Charlie resembles a reject from “The Merchant of Venice,” while Mick seems poised to animate mops and buckets in order to clean the castle. Keith cradles his tabla, waiting to pounce upon Brian for coming up with this whole ridiculous scenario.

Blame the Beatles. They had the burden of being the tastemakers in popular music, inadvertently prompting hundreds of bands to grow out their hair and overdub sitars on every song. Unfortunately, any missteps they made along the way, like, say, the lack of any real “concept” on a supposed “concept album” like Sgt. Pepper, would inevitably be exploited by other artists. Which brings us back to the Stones and Their Majesty’s Satanic Request. It’s not a bad album, per se. “She’s a Rainbow” is great; “2000 Light Years From Home” is even better. “Citadel” is an underrated rocker, and “2000 Man” is a nice continuation of the sound they developed on Between the Buttons. After that, though, it’s slim pickings. No one should be forced to listen to “Gomper,” and “On With the Show” takes everything bad about the British music hall sound and condenses it into one track. In a truly impressive feat, “Sing This All Together (See What Happens),” not to be confused with the barely superior “Sing This All Together” that starts the album, manages to be both devoid of melody and any interesting ideas. Kudos, Mr. Jagger and Mr. Richards.

The record buying public was not impressed with TSMR, and the album tanked upon release (mind you, these are the same consumers that made Herman’s Hermits unconscionably popular, so let’s not give them too much credit for their taste). The next year, Brian was fired from the band and eventually died, while Keith found his inner bluesman and Mick started singing about rape, murder, riots in France, and heroin. The Stones reel off their finest albums, and all is right with the world…until Goat’s Head Soup. Then things get bad again. Like “Emotional Rescue” bad. Or “Harlem Shuffle” bad. Or…