The Rollingstones' Greatest Hits album "Forty-Licks"

[Nickdfresh]

You Stones fans out there, how does the album sound? Did the Stones digitally remaster each song, or does it sort of sound like shit? They really don't say in the linear notes. I'm not a huge fan, but I'd like a nice compilation.

http://www.stevenhousman.com/images/RollingStones.jpg

[twonabomber]

i think the ABKCO stuff was remastered, taken from their latest set of remastered discs. the post-ABKCO stuff was redone when Virgin got their back catalog.

[FORD]

Both the Stones catalogs 64-70 and the 71-preseent have been remastered at least twice now.

The most recent Abcko remasters (early stuff) are definitely superior to the 80's remasters (and of course I already bought all the old ones. But you probably wouldn't really notice the difference without high end equipment. In which case, you'll probably be playing the "super audio" layer anyway.

As for the CBS release of the later catalog vs the Virgin I can't tell a damn bit of different. I have Some Girls and Tattoo You on Virgin (waited longer to replace those because I had the vinyl) and the rest on CBS/Sony and I can't tell a damn bit of difference in the mastering. Except for the fact that the track "Slave" on the Tattoo You CD is a minute or so longer than it was on the original vinyl. But that song goes as long as 10 minutes on the bootlegs, so that's not a surprise.

[Nickdfresh]

Thanks, that's all I needed to know.

[twonabomber]

i have a few of the collector's edition Virgin CD's, with the "original album packaging," and they've got a sticker that claims they were digitally remastered.

the only CBS Stones discs i have are Steel Wheels, Flashpoint, and Made in the Shade. Made in the Shade sounds like shit...

[Nickdfresh]

I'm beginning to think that "Remasters" means recording from the old source tapes using newer, high-compression (definition) recording-to-CD technology more than anything else (HDCD). I doubt they do much re-mixing or anything like that.

[rustoffa]

Thank God they never got around to remastering Metamorphosis.

Jiving Sister Fanny woulda' been ruined.

[Matt White]

Can't go wrong with LET IT BLEED, BEGGARS BANQUET, EXILE, & STICKY FINGERS. All essential stuff.

[DLR7884]

Originally posted by Matt White
Can't go wrong with LET IT BLEED, BEGGARS BANQUET, EXILE, & STICKY FINGERS. All essential stuff.

Don't forget Tatoo You....

DLR7884
I personally think the 2nd half of that album is outstanding.

[academic punk]

FORTY LICKS is a good, solid overview, but the Stones are worth getting the discs:

ESSENTIAL

Beggars Banquet
Let It Bleed
Exile On Main Street

CLASSIC

Sticky Fingers
Some Girls
Tattoo You

GOOD

Black and Blue
Satanic Majesties
Between the Buttons
Emotional Rescue
It's Only Rock and Roll

[Matt White]

HOT ROCKS covers the early CLASSICS.........


I didn't like any of the new songs on 40 Licks...........

How many classic songs can anybody be expected to write?!?

[academic punk]

The new songs SUCKED (especially "Don't Stop"). sorta liked "Losing My Touch", Keith's tune, but I won't die unfulfilled if I never hear it again.

Hot Rocks is a GREAT overview of the early stuff (one of my faves "Play With Fire"), and it flows very, very well.

[Matt White]

40 LICKS also has "THE LAST TIME", one of my alltime favs!

[stringfelowhawk]

Well, I bought this album when it was released. I wasn't around for the early stuff but believe me, I heard it around my house. I like this album and rarely skip a track. A few years back a friend was playing a compilation of Stones remasters and I asked him to burn me a copy. I agree with the above. I can't tell the difference.

I've never been a slow song person. Suppose I never will be. But the Stones knew how to do it without the "overblown begging" aspect and that's why I've always dug "Angie", "Fool To Cry", and "Wild Horses". I heard a female group do it once on a tv show for a prom scene and it was the obligatory slow dance song. I recognized it before she sang a single vowel and expected it to blow harder than a bondage loving whore. I was pleasantly surprised when it was done so tastefully.

[Antman]

As a casual Stones fan, I recommend it. It's got all the tunes I know and like from them. That and Tattoo You are the only Stones I own and I'm happy with that. Tattoo is in my disc changer right now. Waitin on a Friend is a great tune.

[ODShowtime]

40 licks is a good party CD. LOTS of good tunes, and for the first time stuff from the Stones' different record companies on one disc.

Remixing is a lot different than remastering. It takes a lot longer and is more expensive. And the end product could be MUCH different.

[Big Train]

For example when they remixed "night at the opera
in SACD, they went back and TOTALLY remixed it to make use of all the extra spectrum available. Wasn't cheap..

[Terry]

Originally posted by DLR7884
Don't forget Tatoo You....

DLR7884
I personally think the 2nd half of that album is outstanding.


Pretty decent album all the way around.

Post-Exile, 'bout the only Stones stuff worth a damn are selected heads off of Goats Head Soup, Some Girls and Tattoo You.

[academic punk]

Originally posted by Terry
Pretty decent album all the way around.

Post-Exile, 'bout the only Stones stuff worth a damn are selected heads off of Goats Head Soup, Some Girls and Tattoo You.


There's plenty of good stuff to be ofund on all Stones albums post-Exile - they just never got close to the kind of consistency their albums contained from Beggars through Exile.

Off to the top of my head (particular faves are in CAPS):

GH:
Winter
Coming Down Again

IORR:
It's Only Rock'n'Roll
Till The Next Goodbye
FINGERPRINT FILE

BnB:
Crazy Mama
Fool to Cry
MELODY

SG:
Just My Imagination
Some Girls
RESPECTABLE
BEFORE THEY MAKE ME RUN
BEAST OF BURDEN
SHATTERED

ER:
SEND IT TO ME
SHE'S SO COLD
ALL ABOUT YOU
(when this album i good, it's great. When it's bad, it's reeeeeeal bad)

TY:
ALL OF IT

U:
Pretty Beat Up
Too Much Blood
Tie You Up

Dirty Work:
One Hit
Had It With You
Sleep Tonight

Steel Wheels:
Slipping Away

Voodoo Lounge:
Love is Strong
The Worst
New Faces
Out of Tears
THRU AND THRU

BtB:
(Good album, consistent, but no real standout tracks at all)

[academic punk]

Also, BOTH Keith solo albums are worth the money, especially Main Offender (Talk Is Cheap has the better songs, Main Offender the band sounds tighter and more enthusiastic).

[Terry]

Post-Exile, the Stones have been notoriously dodgy, far as my ears are concerned, and they shot what was left of their creative wad in the early 1980s.

There's no denying, for me, that the Stones were a colossal rock band, but their best years are over 20 years behind them. Can't really blame them; no group sustains that level of brilliance forever.

Some Girls and Tattoo You excepted, there are a couple of good tracks on every post-Exile release, but none of those records are essential Stones from start to finish.

They were all done by the time Undercover came out.