Aftermath is the fourth UK and sixth US studio album by The Rolling Stones and was released in 1966. The album proved to be a major artistic breakthrough for The Rolling Stones in that it was the first full-length release by the band to exclusively feature Mick Jagger/Keith Richards compositions.

The album is also notable for its musical experimentation, with Brian Jones - possibly inspired by George Harrison's use of sitar on The Beatles' Rubber Soul - playing a variety of instruments which feature prominently in each track, including the sitar on "Mother's Little Helper" & "Paint It Black", and the dulcimer on "Lady Jane" and "I Am Waiting".

Once again, two editions of the album were released. The first release of Aftermath appeared in April of 1966 as a fourteen-track long-player, and is considered by many to be the definitive version. Issued between the non-LP single releases of "19th Nervous Breakdown" and "Paint It, Black", Aftermath proved a big smash, spending eight weeks atop the UK charts.

In the US however, fourteen tracks was considered too many. With a substituted cover art, the American edition of Aftermath, released that June, features a subtly re-shuffled running order that eliminates "Out Of Time", "Take It Or Leave It" and "What To Do" (all later released in the US), while replacing "Mother's Little Helper" with current #1 hit "Paint It, Black". Despite compromising producer Andrew Loog Oldham's and The Rolling Stones' intentions for the album, the revamped Aftermath shot to #2 in the US, eventually going platinum. In 2002, the US edition of Aftermath was ranked number 108 on the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Aftermath was important in establishing Jagger and Richards as respected songwriters in the same vein as Lennon-McCartney and Bob Dylan and also redefined The Rolling Stones from being R&B enthusiasts to a progressive and artistically-inventive group.

In August 2002 both editions of Aftermath were reissued in a new remastered CD and SACDdigipak by ABKCO Records.