A Bigger Bang - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

The first single, "Streets of Love/Rough Justice", reached No. 15 in the UK singles chart, while A Bigger Bang peak at the No. 2 position on the UK. Even before the singles were released, the album was noted for the song "Sweet Neo Con", which was critical of American politics in general, and caused minor controversy.

In August 2005, the Rolling Stones embarked on the A Bigger Bang Tour in support of the album. The 90-show phenomenon is the largest tour in North American history and was met with sold-out tickets at every destination, usually within minutes of opening. The tour was extended into 2007 because Richards fell out of a tree in Fiji. It concluded on August 2007 at the O2 Arena in London.

Critical reaction was mostly positive. The aggregate score of the album by Metacritic was rated 73 out of 100, categorizing the reviews as "generally favorable." A Bigger Bang was touted as the best Rolling Stones album in years. Nevertheless, all of the Stones albums since 1989's Steel Wheels had been similarly lauded, and many critics and fans felt that the Stones had yet to record a late-period album truly up to their high standards. It was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005, and ranked the second-best album of the year by Rolling Stone magazine, behind rapper Kanye West's Late Registration.

A Bigger Bang went platinum in the US and Germany, and gold in Japan. According to Nielsen SoundScan it sold 546,000 copies in the US, and as of 31 March 2006, 2.4 million copies worldwide according to EMI.

In 2009, A Bigger Bang was reissued by Universal Music Group. The US re-release was handled by Interscope Records, while Polydor Records handled all other territories.