 "discs and tracking foul up" | 2009-09-29 |
| - Reviewed By Heavy Theta from Lorton, Va United States |
Originally a fabulous 4 record set: Two records of early greatest rock in roll band in the world, and two discs that slide from folk-rock to full blown psychedelia. (The early stuff is universally acclaimed, while a lot of critics who charitably described the Stones as "lost" during the summer of love just didn't appreciate how good the band was at some proper head-bending.)
What's funny here is that the set was designed for the old spindle turntable, where you could stack the two records to play consecutively and then flip them. That's why the tunes on the fourth side really follow the first, while side three naturally follows the second. So it's laid out for you to listen to two sides of early stuff or two sides of folk/delic. But the CD's here are programmed half and half each because of somebody's over active left brain.
Ain't no hanging matter. But if you want to hear this collection the way it was intended, you got to play the first half of the first disc followed by the second half of the second disc, and then the second half of the first disc followed by the first half of the second disc. (OK, I'll stop.) |
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 "A Deeper Delve Into Hot Rocks (plus 3 extra tracks)" | 2009-06-27 |
| - Reviewed By Laurence Upton from Wilts, UK |
First released in 1972, this sequel to Hot Rocks 1964-1971 is necessarily somewhat short of greatest hits, as these had been liberally spattered all over the earlier double album. Nonetheless it does sport half a dozen A-sides. Surprisingly, these include The Last Time and It's All Over Now which were both number one hits in the UK, and Not Fade Away, which reached number three here. However it looks as if the collection was put together by the Stones' former US label, London, as it includes several selections that were on singles in America but that were album tracks in the UK, such as I'm Free and Lady Jane. Tell Me was also an early US single, though here it is in a longer version that was on the British version of their debut album.
Unlike Hot Rocks which, with just a couple of exceptions, contained only songs featured on singles, More Hot Rocks provides a wider and richer peek into the Stones' vast back catalogue by also plundering albums and assorted odds and ends. Out Of Time, for example, and Sittin' On A Fence were well-known songs because they were hits for Chris Farlowe and Twice As Much, but the Stones' own renditions were only on album. What To Do and Let It Bleed are also album tracks.
The Stones were more adventurous, diverse and experimental than a cursory run through their hits would indicate, and the B-sides chosen here make the point nicely: Good Times Bad Times, Dandelion, Two Thousand Light Years From Home (more like the Pink Floyd than anything else), Child Of The Moon, No Expectations and Long Long While.
Rarities include Poison Ivy (Version One) and Fortune Teller. These two covers were recorded as a follow-up to Come On, their debut British single, but were rejected and instead turned up later on a mixed artists compilation that nobody bought entitled Saturday Club. Money (That's What I Want) and Bye Bye Johnny come from their first British EP, which was not released stateside. I Can't Be Satisfied was on the UK version of their second album but was unreleased in the US.
One of the aims of the reissue programme was to find the best and purest sources of the Stones' masters and get as many variants in catalogue as possible, excising all electronic stereo. Therefore, whereas the Singles Collection is all in mono up until Honky Tonk Woman, this compilation is liberally sprinkled with stereo where available, including It's All Over Now, the We Love You/Dandelion single and Child Of The Moon. Sonically, it is a big improvement on previous CD editions and sounds even better in SACD, though it maintains the authentically bright sound of the original production, as the aim here was not to remix.
Three other tracks have been added to this US version of the album, all unavailable on any other CD. Curiously, I think this is the only instance of this happening in the whole 2002 re-master reissue programme. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love is the five minute mono version of the Solomon Burke song that opened the UK album Rolling Stones No. 2 but was accidentally replaced on the US equivalent album The Rolling Stones Now! by a shorter rehearsal version. Since the 2002 reissue programme did not include the British versions of the first two albums, this is the only place it can be found on CD (along with I Can't Be Satisfied, in a splendid stereo mix, thereby making all the tracks on Rolling Stones No. 2 separately available). Poison Ivy (Version Two) was recorded three months after the abandoned single version and is the third track to have appeared on the UK EP Rolling Stones (the fourth track, You Better Move On, can be found on December's Children (And Everybody's)). I've Been Loving You Too Long is the previously unreleased undubbed studio master of the track that appeared on the US album Got Live If You Want It, replete with fake audience hysteria. It was actually recorded at the RCA Studios in Hollywood and sounds vastly better without the overdubbed noise. |
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| "Socialism don't work" | 2008-09-26 |
| - Reviewed By Calliope from Twin Oaks |
If you trust everyone to do good, bless your bleeding heart. If you've been burned, well well well.
The Beatles always traded in the utopian moment, no surprise they always got the X-mas release. Say the word and you'll be free. The Stones described the waiting, the frustration, the lost moment. I can't get no satisfaction, you can't always get what you want ~ the key sentiment: can't. Even later, stoned and rich, Jagger convinced with I'm fumbling and I know my car don't start. Can't. Don't. Won't. And, later still, making love and breaking hearts it is a game for youth. You have to get older to sing a blues like that. McCartney you would think could achieve that but, no, hi hi hi instead. Now then. Big party tonight, booze and lose your clothes. Losers. I'll be working instead. Working alone. I got my pink transistor radio and it will be blasting elemental oldies. Can't get no. Can't always no, no and nope. Keyed up. I live in an apartment on the ninety-ninth floor of my block. Sexy and aggravated. Aggravated IS sexy. Wanna know the secret to life, love and happiness? It's SUPPOSED to piss ya off. I'd deny you nothing.
If cleaning up after lazy slobs gets you off, then socialism is a dream come true.
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| "You won't find it except on compilations" | 2008-04-15 |
| - Reviewed By May God Bless You : ) from Sacramento CA USA |
When I bought this collection I was interested in one song that was not on any other Stones album at that time: "We Love You". From the closing of the jail doors (Mick and Keith had been arrested prior to recording this.)
and the dragging of chains to the horns in the background this is just a goofy song. And if it sounds like there are too many voices for the Stones alone - John Lennon and Paul McCartney also sang on this recording. Because the single did not do well in the US (#50 on the Billboard Charts) It was not included on the US release of "Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits, Volume 2)" although the flip side, "Dandelion", was. Since then it has also been included on both "The Singles Collection: The London Years" and "Rolled Gold+: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones". Now....if someone can put out the Beach Boys / Jan & Dean / everyone sounds drunk version of "Barbara Ann".. |
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| "AWSOME !" | 2007-11-25 |
| - Reviewed By Mosquitoman from Virginia Beach, USA |
Hot Rocks - Big Hits & Fazed Cookies, is an amazing early collection by the Stones. I had the album back in 1981 but lost it. Amazon gave me a great deal on the CD, and with new digitized sound, the Stones are better than ever! I highly recomend it.
Gary Kent
Satisfied Amazon Customer |
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| "The best Stones compilation" | 2007-11-06 |
| - Reviewed By J. Melartin from Montclair, NJ USA |
I just love this record - it has the lesser known Stones gems, especially from their psychedelic era, together with then-unreleased early songs. This shows a more mellow side of the Sontes... TLA cinema in the early '70s used to play the second LP between movies, and listening now brings it all back...
The sound on this reissue is excellent and natural, I hear details not evident in the LPs I bought when they first came out. |
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