Look at any of the many polls or rock historian opinions and the Stones are usually in the top five.

Bands I would rate higher: Led Zeppelin (1st place) Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Allman Brothers. So, in my opinion, they would rank 7th. That's still pretty damn good.

I like the early Stones, best albums -

1966 Aftermath, best songs: Paint it Black, Lady Jane, Under my Thumb. Yeah, I was 11 years old when my older brother bought it.

And, of course, Big Hits, High Tide and Green Grass -best songs: all of them, esp. Get off my Cloud, 19th nervous breakdown. Satisfaction, of course.

That album was a turning point, it was the best of their work before their music entered a very dark, antisocial phase during the peak of the Vietnam War.