What people search:
 | Title : Forty Licks
Author : Rolling Stones
Release Date : 20021001
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $29.98
Amazon.com Price : $23.99
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Editorial Reviews :
The band that proclaimed itself 'The Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the World' has long since represented rock's most overarching confluence of art and commerce--with a distinct emphasis on the latter in recent decades--a notion this 40-track, five-decade-spanning anthology can't completely escape. While this is the first anthology to gather hits from the band's entire career, it's the early tunes that highlight one of the Stones' central ironies: virtually their entire 'bad boy' reputation was built working for The Man. That original '60s musical arc bounded from '50s rock and R&B revivalism ('Not Fade Away,' 'The Last Time') to anti-Mop Top aggression ('Satisfaction,' 'Get Off My Cloud,' '19th Nervous Breakdown') to proto-goth cynicism ('Paint It Black,' 'Have You Seen Your Mother Baby') and psychedelic minstrelsy ('She's a Rainbow,' 'Ruby Tuesday') to the epitome of blues-based cock rock ('Street Fighting Man,' 'Jumpin' Jack Flash') in quick succession. Wresting control of their own destinies--and future copyrights--at the end of the '60s, they'd spend the next 30 years largely recycling their earlier incarnation ad infinitum--their music sprinkled with occasionally successful forays into contemporary club and disco fodder ('Some Girls,' 'Shattered')--and resting on their well-paid laurels. Unfortunately, the listless quartet of new tracks that flesh out this collection seems little more than another business deal to hype their 2002-03 world tour, with 'Don't Stop' arguably the weakest in a long string of post-'80s Stones McSingles. If Jagger seems typically detached here, Keith Richards injects some welcome, craggy warmth into the closing barroom lament, 'Losing My Touch.' But it's also a performance that suggests his legendary band has become little more to him than 'The Greatest Day Job in the World.'
Buyer Reviews :
Of the many Rolling Stones 'greatest hits' packages, this is by far the best, mainly because it has 40 songs on this 2-disk set, and each song has been cleaned up to some degree (some changes barely noticeable and some significant). I also like the song sequence, 60's stuff on the first disk and 70's to present on second disk, all in random order; it sounds more interesting when you don't know what song will be next.
You definitely get a lot for your money here. For those who have many different Stones CD's already, or for those who are just getting into the Stones, you will not be disappointed with what this package offers, if you really consider what you're getting.
After reviewing some of the gripes people have with this 2 CD collection, and then buying it for myself, I have to agree with only some of them.
Yes of course there are songs that I miss not having here ('Time Is On My Side', 'Heart of Stone', 'As Tears Go By', 'She's so Cold', 'Hang Fire', 'Rock and a Hard Place', just to name a few). I realize that no collection could possibly please everyone with its song selection and must say that there IS enough good material here to make buying it a worthwhile choice. 'Shattered' should've been kept off with perhaps 'Hang Fire' in its place.
Another minor gripe I have is that much of their pre-1969 songs are in MONO??!? here, even though I have heard decent Stereo versions of all the Mono songs. 'Satisfaction' is still in Mono (disappointing), but it does sound good (you can hear the piano better on this Mono version). The songs that I feel sound better than I ever heard before are 'Sympathy for the Devil' (the percussion sounds as if it's right next to you), 'It's All Over Now' (a fantastic Stereo version that never sounded so clean), and 'Get Off My Cloud' (a song you can't resist turning up because it sounds fantastic).
The biggest gripe of all that I want to share (a number of other people have too) is the BACKGROUND HISS you can't help but notice (especially on 'Gimmie Shelter', 'Under My Thumb', and 'Jumping Jack Flash'). If a record company is going through great lengths to present these classics in the best way possible, why couldn't they try their best to clean up the tape hiss? Other than the minor complaints listed above, the songs really do sound better than those lousy 'Remastered' CD's that came out in 1986.
Some people complained about some of the songs on the 2nd disk being 'EDITED' versions. Although I understand this point, I don't think these edited versions are too much different for people to be concerned with, especially the casual fans. The edits are most noticeable on 'Miss You', the 45rpm version that I actually like just as much as the LP version (there's stuff on this version you don't hear on the regular version that people are most familiar with). I do wish they included the full versions of 'Emotional Rescue' & 'It's Only Rock N Roll' however (both end too soon).
As for the 4 new songs, 'Don't Stop' sounds just as good as anything else they put out in the past 10 years, and the other 3 are good also, especially Keith's ballad 'Losing My Touch', one of his nicest songs to date.
I give this collection four and a half stars, minus one-half star due to the hiss. Hands down, this is the best 'Best of' for the Rolling Stones.
(by A. Lathrop)
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