Aftermath: The Rolling Stones' All-Original Breakthrough

Before 1966, the Rolling Stones were a blues-cover band with a handful of Jagger/Richards originals sprinkled in. Aftermath changed that completely — it’s the first Stones album made up entirely of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards songs. No covers, no safety net. That decision didn’t just signal independence from their R&B roots; it forced them to define their own voice in the studio.

The album also let them stretch out. Side two opens with “Goin’ Home,” an eleven-minute jam that basically invented the idea of a rock song that doesn’t need a tight single edit. Brian Jones’ dulcimer on “Lady Jane” and the marimba on “Under My Thumb” showed they were already looking beyond blues into strange new textures. If you want the moment the Stones stopped being a cover band and started being the Rolling Stones, this is it.