5. The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet (Brian Jones)
Sure, The Stones experienced greater success and acclaim after Jones' unfortunate passing (Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, and Let It Bleed were all released after the multi-instrumentalist's death), but there's not a more pure example of The Stones doing whatever the hell they want - and having it work - than on Beggars Banquet, which is the last album to fully include Jones. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are in step with each other to such a degree on this album that it's actually a little scary. They could have gone by the name Mick Richards and most fans would have understood and accepted that they'd been stitched together at the hip. Beggars Banquet isn't the most polished album in the band's discography, and hallelujah for that! Because the clean, slick version of the Stones is a useless version of the Stones. So luckily they abandoned some of their more pretentious elements in favor of that bravura blooze stomp. It ends up a beautiful mess, delving into a little swamp blues ("Factory Girl"), a little rock and roll ("Street Fighting Man", and the occasional trip back into their roots of acoustic-based pop-rock ("Dear Doctor"). It may sound a little looser than fans of late-era Stones are accustomed to, but Beggars Banquet is absolutely the finest representation of a band playing to its strengths.
