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66 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A WASTED OPPORTUNUTY, January 29, 2000
I think most collectors would agree that the Stones Decca catalogue is in desparate need of some TLC. When I first saw this (expensive) box set I thought someone had finally put some thought into doing just that. Unfortunately, not so. I purchased the original L.P. size set with large 72 page booklet and sat down to some serious listening. Surprisingly, the first disc containing the groups earliest recordings has the best sound quality, clear and clean with great presence. From then on things disintergrate and by the time I reached that last disc I realised I had pretty well wasted my money. Later tracks have ill defined stereo and tape hiss and sound nowhere near as good as the Mobile Fidelity remastering on "Hot Rocks". Surely there are stereo mixes of tracks from 1965 onwards, especially those recorded in America, which could have been used. I know this is the "singles" set but surely the way to go is to remaster the entire DECCA catalogue and reissue it as a 5 CD set. Hopefully rare tracks like "fortune teller" and the long take of "everybody needs somebody to love" (which I have on a single in stereo) could be included. This material needs to be given to Bill Inglot from Rhino who I am sure could work his usual magic and give us the stones in pristine sound. My advice to anyone contemplating buying this set is to wait and hopefully a DECENT DECCA ANTHOLOGY will be not too long in coming
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rocking with the stones!, May 20, 2001
This is a nice introductory set to the Stones despite the missing pieces mentioned by others (such as Gimme Shelter, Let It Bleed, Midnight Rambler). It contains a number of more recognisable songs that help you get acquainted to the music of the Stones such as GET NO SATISFACTION, PAINT IT BLACK (One of my all time favourite songs), JUMPIN JACK FLASH and WILD HORSES. But what is really good about this collection are the lesser songs not often mentioned when talking about the Stones. Such as the rolling Stones version of NOT FADE AWAY, a lively upbeat copy to the original but it's still great to hear Jagger get his mouth around such a classic. As a general overview:DISC 1 : Great collection of the early work, which those who had not listened to the Stones would have great diffuclty recognising tracks from but still contains fantastic songs you should get to know such as PLAY WITH FIRE, RED ROOSTER, TIME IS ON MY SIDE (classic! as sung numerous times by Azazel in Fallen), GET OFF MY CLOUD. These songs are mainly pop numbers but still hold a lot of charm. DISC 2 : Probably my favourite of the discs as it contains the maginificent PAINT IT BLACK, HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR MOTHER, LETS SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER (amazingly emotional despite being a quick paced one) amongst it's numbers. The start isn't fantastic until you get to about PAINT IT BLACK when it carries on astoundingly strong through to the end with a large of love songs of different approaches; SHES A RAINBOW (upbeat adoration), DANDELION (gentle musings), LETS SPEND A NIGHT TOGETHER (pacy declaration). DISC 3 : Only just falls short of being the better disc due to it's smaller content and brief low points, but still holds strong. Opens with the fantastically brooding STREET FIGHTING MAN and closes just as well with the happy-go-lucky tale of the devil in SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. Other exceptional entries: HONKY TONK WOMAN, YOU CANT ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT, BROWN SUGAR, the fantastic comeback tune WILD HORSES and the amazingly haunting cover I DONT KNOW WHY I LOVE YOU. A fantastic hybrid of the pop/rock/jive/dance/soul/emotional/love songs of the Rolling Stones which is often bliss to listen to.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Sounding Disc Of Early Stones Songs, May 18, 2001
This is the best collection of early Stones songs available -- and the best bang for the buck. There are a couple of omissions -- namely "Under My Thumb" and "Gimme Shelter" -- but that is because those songs weren't released as singles. Also, the version of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" included in this collection is the original 7" version that was released several months before the "Let It Bleed" version that featured a chior singing the intro and outro. The mastering of these three discs is also superior than any of the groups other Abkco releases, including both "Hot Rocks" collections. Mick and Keith unfortunately signed away control of their pre-1970 catalog and one result has been that consumers are stuck with poor quality CD's (at very high prices) of their early songs. In contrast, the mastering of the Stones' CD's from 1971 on (starting with "Sticky Fingers") is much better. Some reviewers seem to prefer "Hot Rocks"/"More Hot Rocks" over this but "The Singles Collection" includes songs like "Stoned", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "Little Red Rooster", and "The Spider and the Fly" that are not found on either "Hot Rocks" set. Since Disc 3 contains fewer songs than Discs 1 and 2, I would have liked to see some extra material included, such as the British "5x5" EP from 1964, but this is a minor inconvenience.
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