The Stones didn't do anything that the Beatles, the Who, or Cream hadn't already done leagues better.
I've heard all of the classic output by all of these bands at some length and The Stones were significantly different to all of them. If you've spent any time with any of the records between
Beggars Banquet and
Exile on Main Street you might agree with me. The brilliance of The Stones was the fact that they created a new form of pop music which perfectly synthesised rock'n'roll, the blues, country, soul, R&B, folk and gospel. My knowledge of rock music is fair and I can't off the top of my head think of another band which attempted this, let alone succeeded. The Beatles dabbled in a lot of genres but never actually forced it all together into one cohesive sound. The Faces are vaguely comparable but didn't quite manage such a broad sphere of influences. Many bands have attempted to emulate it but as far as I'm concerned, nobody has really produced a convincing facsimile even all these years later. Not even The Rolling Stones, in fact.
Yes, but to me it's hindsight. I cannot judge the cultural significance of 'that record' exploding 'on the scene'. I can judge the record but not it's importance at that time.
If you've heard say,
Let it Bleed and decided you hate it, fair enough. Obviously that's a valid opinion regardless of the perceived critical or cultural "importance" of an album and I wouldn't try to change it for the world. If not, give it a spin.
The opening song on the album is
'Gimme Shelter', which I'd argue is one of the best rock songs ever committed to tape. Although you're correct, you and I weren't there, I think it's even more apparent with hindsight that this song was markedly different from the recorded output of their peers at the time. I'm sure you have a reasonable awareness of what the sixties were like in terms of the emerging counter-culture and also the fact that by 1969, it had become a thoroughly commercialised nightmare from which many were now emerging with a considerable bitterness at broken expectations. Think of pop songs from the mid to late sixties in your head for a moment. Even in 1969, the peers of the Rolling Stones were releasing singles like 'Lady Madonna', 'Shangri-La', 'Pinball Wizard' etc. These are great songs but it's not a huge leap to admit that 'Gimme Shelter' is a significantly different song. It's fiercer, harder, more driving. The recording is dry and harsh. Considering the socio-political landscape of America at the time - at the tail end of a cultural revolution of sorts, during a unpopular war and more significantly, at a critical point in terms of the civil rights movement - would the apocalyptic imagery contained within the lyrics bear extra relevance? Is the fact that a female African-American is prominently featured singing and at times literally screaming that "rape and murder is just a shot away" equally significant to the era, especially given the fact that mere months previously the director of the FBI had called the burgeoning Black Panther movement "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and was privately advocating its systematic destruction by any means necessary? Mere months after the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy?
On the one hand, I wasn't there in 1969. On the other, I can make an educated guess based on historical information. Regardless, the music is stellar.