Why US critics liked 'Between the Buttons' more than the UK — and what later listeners think

When Between the Buttons dropped in early 1967, British critics were underwhelmed. They heard a band messing around with music-hall pastiche, Dylan-style wordplay, and psychedelic dabbling — a stumble after the raw Aftermath. The UK press called it scattered and self-indulgent, missing the Stones’ trademark snarl. Over in America, the response was warmer, partly because the US label rearranged the tracklist. Decca’s British version kept “Back Street Girl” and “Please Go Home”; London Records swapped them out for “Ruby Tuesday” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together” — two massive singles that gave the album a stronger commercial punch.

The US version is often considered the more cohesive listen, with “Ruby Tuesday” providing a gorgeous, melancholy centerpiece that the UK edition lacks. But even that didn’t fully rescue the album from mid-tier status at the time. Later critics have been kinder: Between the Buttons is now seen as a fascinating transition record — the last pure pre–Brian Jones-decline album, where the band’s baroque-pop experiments (saxophones, dulcimers, Bill Wyman’s marimbas) still feel playful rather than forced. It’s not a classic, but it’s the sound of the Stones stretching before they fell apart and rebuilt as a harder, leaner beast.