‘A Bigger Bang’: A Late-Career Highlight That Doesn’t Reach the 70s Peak

Most fans place A Bigger Bang in the “pleasant surprise” bin rather than the “modern classic” pile. Released in 2005, it was the Stones’ first studio album in eight years and earned strong reviews—often called their best since Tattoo You. But “best since” isn’t the same as “classic,” and outside of diehards the record rarely makes best-of lists with Exile or Sticky Fingers.

“Rough Justice” was the lead single and opener, built on a chugging Keith Richards riff that consciously echoed “Start Me Up.” It’s a tight, energetic rocker—Jagger’s vocal snarling, the rhythm section locked in—and it holds its own against, say, “Brown Sugar” in terms of pure aggression. Yet it lacks the narrative or hook memorability of those 1970s openers. “Brown Sugar” had that riff and a controversial story; “Rough Justice” is mostly a mid-tempo shrug lyrically. It works live, but it never became a staple like “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” or “Honky Tonk Women.”

So the album is a minor work that proved the Stones could still muster urgency. “Rough Justice” is a solid modern opener, but measured against the band’s own history, it’s a respectable B+ next to a string of A+s.