Jon Landau's 'Sticky Fingers' Review: The Best Album the Rolling Stones Have Ever Made

In his May 1971 Rolling Stone review of Sticky Fingers, Jon Landau made an immediate, punchy declaration: “The Rolling Stones have finally made an album that is as good as their reputation.” He didn’t couch it — he called it “the best album the Rolling Stones have ever made,” which at the time meant topping Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed. Landau emphasized that the band had stopped trying to imitate their own myth and instead made a record that felt lived-in, precise, and emotionally direct.

Did he predict its classic status? Yes, in plain language. He wrote that the album would “be listened to as long as people listen to rock and roll.” That’s a near-explicit prediction of enduring significance. He also noted the way the songs — like “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses” — worked as both singles and pieces of a cohesive whole, and he praised the band’s new, leaner sound after the departure of Brian Jones. Landau’s review is still cited because it captured the moment the Stones stopped being a great singles band and became a great album band.