18. Emotional Rescue (1980)

A placeholder between late period highpoints Some Girls and Tattoo You, this was the Stones’ most explicit endeavor into dance music and disco, and one that yielded considerable dividends between the infectious title track and the straight rock of “She’s So Cold.” Unfortunately, most of the album’s other tracks feel a bit underwritten, from the witless opener “Dance (Part 1)” to the ostensibly political but largely incoherent “Indian Girl.” This is the sound of a band perfectly capable of making a great record, but simply not inclined to put in the time and effort. The strange and periodically intriguing result is a group of geniuses going half speed and seemingly being fully satisfied with the results.