Some Girls [Original recording reissued] [Original recording remastered]

The rock tracks are tough and uncompromising, like the decadent When The Whip Comes Down, the acidic title track and the anthemic Before They Make Me Run. They also do a brilliant interpretation of the Temptations' classic Just My Imagination, giving it a much rawer soul sound.

It is clear that this album was a response to Punk and Disco, the two styles prevalent from the mid 1970s to the end of that decade. Without a doubt the Stones pulled it off very well as the aforementioned Miss You was a huge hit and has stood the test of time very well: it's mid-tempo dance track with subdued vocals, lovely ooh-ooh choruses and a genuine nightlife feel.

The country song Far Away Eyes is equally mesmerising, as Mick sings in a real country accent about a truck driver on the way to visit his girlfriend while listening to a gospel station. Although it's a parody, I find it very charming and very "genuine" in another sense. It was the flipside of Miss You and probably contributed to this seven single reaching Number One.

The songs are uniformly good with great tunes and plenty of attitude. Some Girls may not be considered as one of their top 5 classics of all time but I find myself returning to it again and again. A solid body of work with many highlights.

But back in 1978, in the midst of the punk and new wave movement, this album from The Stones was proof positive that the old guard could produce albums of brilliance. 'Some Girls' may not be the best Stones album ever but it has a spirit which was utterly in tune with the times. It rocked. It had amusing lyrics. It was, and is, a wonderful album.

'Miss You' is disco equal or better than anything of this oevre at the time. This song showcases Jagger's supreme vocal skills and dark humour better than most Stones songs, particularly the 'what's the matter with you boy?' section. Cool. The title track is sexist for sure but highly amusing nonetheless. In 1978 there was feminism but this type of lyric could be appreciated for what it was, without inviting tedious debate about whether it was politically correct or not. At least Jagger is even handed in his derision! And lines about English girls being always on the phone strike a chord. Although being married to a beautiful Hungarian girl, I know this is not an especially English issue. Females must spend 400% of the time that males spend on the phone. I don't have any statistics to support this. But an awful lot of experience.

'Lies' is a great hard hitting rocker with Mick Jagger again in fine form on vocals. 'Just My Imagination' is an inspired choice of cover. The line '....may be married and raise a familee...two boys for you....how about...two girls for me?' is Timeless.

'Faraway Eyes' is a brilliant pastiche of a country and western ballad. The lyric here is rich with splendid humour. 'Respectable' is a great rocker with a thoroughly irreverent lyric about taking heroin with the President and such like. Hilarious. 'Before They Make Me Run' is a fine Keith Richards song, more close to the bone than it might first appear with its jaunty beat and chugging guitars and the vocal rather lost in the mix.

Then the final two numbers take this already superb album to a new level. 'Beast Of Burden' is about the best song form the Stones from the late 1970s. They have returned to it in concert more than once, but nothing matches this studio version. When in a 100 years from now they compile a Stones compliation, this track will be there. Another timeless lyric and vocal performance from the much under-rated Jagger.

And then we come to 'Shattered' which is a brilliant Stones rocker from the very top drawer, up there with 'Brown Sugar' and 'Star F***er' in my opinion. Yes. Complulsive.

I got confirmed at the time and was secretly hoping to be given this album as a confirmation present. Instead I got from my parents 'The Oxford Dictionary Of Saints'. Which was probably a more apprppriate choice. But this album remains immeasurably closer to my heart. Irreverent? Yes. But no less brilliant for that. Five Stars.