The Rolling Stones - More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) (1972) [2CD] {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93033~34}

The Rolling Stones - More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) (1972) [2CD] {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93033~34}

EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 493 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 215 Mb

Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 24 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD | Mastering by Bob Ludwig

© 2006 ABKCO Records / Universal Music Japan | UICY-93033~34

Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock

Hot Rocks covers most of the monster hits from the Stones' first decade that remained in radio rotation for decades to come. More Hot Rocks goes for the somewhat smaller hits, some of the better album tracks, and a whole LP side's worth of rarities that hadn't yet been available in the United States when this compilation was released in 1972. The material isn't as famous as what's on Hot Rocks, but the music is almost as excellent, including such vital cuts as "Not Fade Away," "It's All Over Now," "The Last Time," "Lady Jane," the psychedelic "Dandelion," "She's a Rainbow," "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadow?," "Out of Time," "Tell Me," and "We Love You." The eight rarities are pretty good as well, including their 1963 debut single "Come On," early R&B covers of "Fortune Teller" and "Bye Bye Johnnie," great slide guitar on Muddy Waters' "I Can't Be Satisfied," and the soulful 1966 U.K. B-side "Long Long While."

The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks 1964-1971 (1971) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93031~32}

The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks 1964-1971 (1971) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93031~32}

EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 519 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 200 Mb

Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD | Mastering by Bob Ludwig

© 2006 ABKCO Records / Universal Music Japan | UICY-93031~32

Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock

This two-LP/two-CD set is both a lot more and a bit less than what it seems. It is seven years' worth of mostly very high-charting -- and all influential and important -- songs, leaving out some singles in favor of well-known album tracks, and in the process, giving an overview not just of the Rolling Stones' hits but of their evolving image. One hears them change from loud R&B-inspired rockers covering others' songs ("Time Is on My Side") into originators in their own right ("Satisfaction"); then into tastemakers and style-setters with a particularly decadent air ("Get Off of My Cloud," "19th Nervous Breakdown"); and finally into self-actualized rebel-poets ("Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Midnight Rambler") and Shaman-like symbols of chaos.

The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You (1981) {CDCBS 450198-2}

The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You (1981) {CDCBS 450198-2}

EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 269 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 102 Mb

Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 39 Mb | 5% repair rar

© 1981 CBS / Promotone | CDCBS 450198-2

Rock / Blues Rock / Classic Rock

Like Emotional Rescue before it, Tattoo You was comprised primarily of leftovers, but unlike its predecessor, it never sounds that way. Instead, Tattoo You captures the Stones at their best as a professional stadium-rock band. Divided into a rock & roll side and a ballad side, the album delivers its share of thrills on the tight, dynamic first side. "Start Me Up" became the record's definitive Stonesy rocker, but the frenzied doo wop of "Hang Fire," the reggae jam of "Slave," the sleazy Chuck Berry rockers "Little T&A" and "Neighbours," and the hard blues of "Black Limousine" are all terrific.

The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (1970) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93030}

The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (1970) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93030}

EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 314 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 114 Mb

Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 12 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD | Mastering by Bob Ludwig

© 2006 ABKCO Records / Universal Music Japan | UICY-93030

Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock

Recorded during their American tour in late 1969, and centered around live versions of material from the Beggars Banquet-Let It Bleed era. Often acclaimed as one of the top live rock albums of all time, its appeal has dimmed a little today. The live versions are reasonably different from the studio ones, but ultimately not as good, a notable exception being the long workout of "Midnight Rambler," with extended harmonica solos and the unforgettable section where the pace slows to a bump-and-grind crawl.

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93029}

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93029}

EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 275 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 102 Mb

Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 84 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD | Mastering by Bob Ludwig

© 2006 ABKCO Records / Universal Music Japan | UICY-93029

Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock

Mostly recorded without Brian Jones -- who died several months before its release (although he does play on two tracks) and was replaced by Mick Taylor (who also plays on just two songs) -- this extends the rock and blues feel of Beggars Banquet into slightly harder-rocking, more demonically sexual territory. The Stones were never as consistent on album as their main rivals, the Beatles, and Let It Bleed suffers from some rather perfunctory tracks, like "Monkey Man" and a countrified remake of the classic "Honky Tonk Woman" (here titled "Country Honk").

The Rolling Stones - Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (1969) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93028}

The Rolling Stones - Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (1969) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93028}

EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 249 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 91 Mb

Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 47 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD | Mastering by Bob Ludwig

© 2006 ABKCO Records / Universal Music Japan | UICY-93028

Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock

This album was spawned by three coinciding events -- the need to acknowledge the death of band co-founder Brian Jones (whose epitaph graces the inside cover) in July of 1969; the need to get "Honky Tonk Women," then a huge hit single, onto an LP; and to fill the ten-month gap since the release of Beggars Banquet and get an album with built-in appeal into stores ahead of the Stones' first American tour in three years. The fact that the Stones had amassed a sufficient number of hits since their last greatest-hits compilation in early 1966 (Big Hits: High Tide and Green Grass) made this a no-brainer, and its song lineup was as potent at the time as any compilation of hit singles by any artist.

The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet (1968) {Japan Mini LP Remastered 2006, UICY-93027}

The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet (1968) {Japan Mini LP Remastered 2006, UICY-93027}

EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 264 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 95 Mb

Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 31 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD | Mastering by Bob Ludwig

© 2006 ABKCO Records / Universal Music Japan | UICY-93027

Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock

The Stones forsook psychedelic experimentation to return to their blues roots on this celebrated album, which was immediately acclaimed as one of their landmark achievements. A strong acoustic Delta blues flavor colors much of the material, particularly "Salt of the Earth" and "No Expectations," which features some beautiful slide guitar work. Basic rock & roll was not forgotten, however: "Street Fighting Man," a reflection of the political turbulence of 1968, was one of their most innovative singles, and "Sympathy for the Devil," with its fire-dancing guitar licks, leering Jagger vocals, African rhythms, and explicitly satanic lyrics, was an image-defining epic. On "Stray Cat Blues," Jagger and crew began to explore the kind of decadent sexual sleaze that they would take to the point of self-parody by the mid-'70s. At the time, though, the approach was still fresh, and the lyrical bite of most of the material ensured Beggars Banquet's place as one of the top blues-based rock records of all time.

The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) {Japan Mini LP Remastered 2006, UICY-93026}

The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) {Japan Mini LP Remastered 2006, UICY-93026}

EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 275 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 105 Mb

Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD | Mastering by Bob Ludwig

© 2006 ABKCO Records / Universal Music Japan | UICY-93026

Rock / Classic Rock

Without a doubt, no Rolling Stones album -- and, indeed, very few rock albums from any era -- split critical opinion as much as the Rolling Stones' psychedelic outing. Many dismiss the record as sub-Sgt. Pepper posturing; others confess, if only in private, to a fascination with the album's inventive arrangements, which incorporated some African rhythms, Mellotrons, and full orchestration. What's clear is that never before or after did the Stones take so many chances in the studio. (Some critics and fans feel that the record has been unfairly undervalued, partly because purists expect the Stones to constantly champion a blues 'n' raunch worldview.)

The Rolling Stones - Got Live If You Want It! (1966) {Japan Mini LP Remastered 2006, UICY-93022}

The Rolling Stones - Got Live If You Want It! (1966) {Japan Mini LP Remastered 2006, UICY-93022}

Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock

As Brian Jones' time with the Stones (and with the rest of this world) was drawing to a close, the band was becoming both more progressive in its conception and more adept in its musicianship. Though the studio recordings from this golden period are impeccable, nowhere is the band's growth more evident than on GOT LIVE IF YOU WANT IT. Recorded by Glyn Johns at London's Royal Albert Hall, this album shows the Stones as a powerful live unit, now capable of subtle emotional shadings as well as rock & roll raveups.

The Rolling Stones - Flowers (1966) {Japan Mini LP Remastered 2006, UICY-93025}

The Rolling Stones - Flowers (1966) {Japan Mini LP Remastered 2006, UICY-93025}

Rock / Classic Rock

Flowers was dismissed as a rip-off of sorts by some critics, since it took the patchwork bastardization of British releases for the American audience to extremes, gathering stray tracks from the U.K. versions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons, 1966-1967 singles (some of which had already been used on the U.S. editions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons), and a few outtakes. Judged solely by the music, though, it's rather great. "Lady Jane," "Ruby Tuesday," and "Let's Spend the Night Together" are all classics (although they had all been on an LP before); the 1966 single "Mother's Little Helper," a Top Ten hit, is also terrific; and "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadow?," making its first album appearance, is the early Stones at their most surrealistic and angst-ridden. A lot of the rest of the cuts rate among their most outstanding 1966-1967 work. "Out of Time" is hit-worthy in its own right (and in fact topped the British charts in an inferior cover by Chris Farlowe); "Backstreet Girl," with its European waltz flavor, is one of the great underrated Stones songs. The same goes for the psychedelic Bo Diddley of "Please Go Home," and the acoustic, pensively sardonic "Sittin' on a Fence," with its strong Appalachian flavor. Almost every track is strong, so if you're serious about your Stones, don't pass this by just because a bunch of people slag it as an exploitative marketing trick (which it is). There's some outstanding material you can't get anywhere else, and the album as a whole plays very well from end to end.