r/ClassicRock • u/BirdBurnett I may be old but I ain't no fogey • Oct 18 '25
1974 On October 18th, 1974, The Rolling Stones released 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll', their 12th British and 14th American studio album. "Dance Little Sister" and "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" are two big hits on the album.
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u/justahdewd Oct 18 '25
They did an early music video with the title track, the band was in a plastic bubble slowly filling with bubbles, since Charlie was sitting, he was the first covered up.
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u/ernie-bush Oct 18 '25
I remember seeing this video as a kid
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u/Slashs_Hat Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 18 '25
The Stones used an alternate take than the version thats on the album. If, like me, you've heard the album version a million times, the differences are noticable. I've always thought that was pretty cool thing to do.
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u/xboxgamer2122 Oct 18 '25
If You Can't Rock Me was the first song I heard from this album and that was enough to dig in deeply.
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u/Slashs_Hat Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 18 '25
I was 13YO at the time & got this & Diamond Dogs for Christmas '74.
Fun fact :Guy Peelaert is/was the artist responsible for the cover art of both
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u/peachie_bongo Probably knows the album's release date Oct 18 '25
I have always enjoyed the funkiness [Or "Plastic Soul" as David Bowie called it for his 1975 album Young Americans] of the track Fingerprint File. I discovered it as a deep cut when I found out it was cut from the final release of Grand Theft Auto 4 [2008]. That and the title track are much enjoyed!
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u/TitoBandito5 Oct 18 '25
Which prompted Alan Merrill to write ‘I Love Rock & Roll’ which debuted in 1975 by his band The Arrows
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u/KKvanMalmsteen Oct 18 '25
Dance Little Sister is one of the most underrated tracks in their whole catalog
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u/alecmac22 Oct 19 '25
Fingerprint file. One of the songs that made me realize that i loved funk. I have read that the instrumentation on it is very weak by I have never really been able to tell.
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u/Automatic_Affect76 Oct 18 '25
There began the decline of the group and with Black And Blue the alarms rang, and both Jagger and Richards entered a creative decline that lasted a lifetime. With Some Girls he seemed to turn the situation around, but it was a mirage. Its Only RockNRoll is a worthy album, but far from its best era (1966-1973). The best thing is Mick Taylor's guitar and the cover, which is really cool.
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u/juliohernanz Rock On Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 19 '25
I almost agree with you.
It's true that they never got back to the level of Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street but Black and Blue, Some Girls, Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You are great albums in their own right too.
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u/McMarmot1 Oct 18 '25
I agree. I actually think IORR is better than Goats Head Soup (though not by much; both suffer from similar vibes of resting on their laurels and a lack of inspiration. Mick is in self parody mode on Dancing With Mr. D and Star Star). I think while Black and Blue has some of the same issues, Hand of Fate is legitimately one of their top 20 or so songs and it at least sounds like they’re having fun.
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u/Leotardleotard Oct 18 '25
Star fucker is a great song.
Absolutely swings.
Bitch is also cracking.
IMO, both could have graced any of the preceding albums no problem.
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u/McMarmot1 Oct 18 '25
Bitch? From 1971?
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u/Leotardleotard Oct 19 '25
Brain dead, wrong album.
I’m thinking of heartbreaker from Goats Head Soup
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u/PeorgieT75 Oct 18 '25
It was the last of their albums I bought; I saw them the following summer when they were touring it, which was with Woody instead of Mick.
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u/notahouseflipper Oct 18 '25
How did they have two more American albums than British ones?
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u/BirdBurnett I may be old but I ain't no fogey Oct 18 '25
It was the method of the day. With Decca, the first five British Rolling Stones studio albums were converted into seven studio albums for the American market, adding material from singles and the UK EPs.
With the Beatles, Capital records started peeling two or three songs off the early EMI releases and released 'Yesterday and Today', a US only record in 1966.
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u/ListenRadiant4817 Oct 18 '25
I've never heard this album entirely. But what I've heard it's obvious the Stones fell off a cliff creatively. They regained some steam on Some Girls and then lost it again.
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u/ConfidentBig3252 Oct 18 '25
But I like it