10 Songs That Ruined Otherwise Perfect Albums

The Rolling Stones’ run of albums from 1968 - 1972 is nothing short of exceptional, with four records of almost - almost - nothing but brilliance. There’s a strong argument to be made that each of these albums - Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street - is the Stones’ best, but on the basis of “Midnight Rambler”, it’s tempting to exclude Let It Bleed.

The song isn’t terrible on record so much as dull. Let It Bleed comes out swinging with the likes of “Gimme Shelter” and ends with the gorgeous and anthemic "You Can't Always Get What You Want". Right in the middle of the album, the dirge-like “Midnight Rambler”, a lurching, stop-start tune about, for some reason, the Boston Strangler, sucks all the pace out of the record.

The song’s nadir comes in its live versions - they used to play this live a lot for some reason - during which the already long song can easily top 10 minutes. Thankfully the album saves us from such tedium, though the near-seven minute cut is quite long enough.