The Rolling Stones Album: “Singles 1965-1967 [Box] [Limited]”

Description :

Includes original sleeve artwork, a 28 page booklet with rare photos, picture cards, and a poster. The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica, percussion); Bill Wyman (vocals, bass guitar); Keith Richards (guitar, acoustic guitar, background vocals); Brian Jones (guitar, slide guitar, dulcimer, sitar, harmonica, recorder, saxophone, harpsichord, organ, Mellotron, marimba, bells); Charlie Watts (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Ian Stewart (piano, keyboards). Liner Note Author: Nigel Williamson. Recording information: Chess Studios, Chicago, Illinois (1965); RCA Studio, Hollywood, California (1965 - 1966); Olympic, London, England (1967). The second in the series covering all of the Rolling Stones' classic 45s in CD format, SINGLES 1965-1967 starts at the exact point where the Stones became more than just a better-than-average bunch of English boys declaring fealty to Chicago blues, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Ending 11 discs (and numerous B-sides) later with the hazy "In Another Land"/"The Lantern" (the second single from the consistently underrated THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST), this set presents the period where the Stones truly earned their status as the World's Greatest Rock Band. It can be argued that the Rolling Stones underwent an even greater metamorphosis than the Beatles during the same period. After all, the Stones were starting with a less-sophisticated musical palette, but still ended up with songs as varied as the tense, Indian-influenced "Paint It, Black," the delicate "Lady Jane," and the freak-out art-pop of "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" Many fans feel that the "Jumpin' Jack Flash"-to-"Brown Sugar" run (covered by the next installment in the series) is the Rolling Stones' pinnacle, but the freewheeling experimentalism of the SINGLES 1965-1967 collection features the Stones at their most fearless.

This is the second of three limited edition box sets that Abkco is releasing. They are great for collectors because we get the original artwork along with the singles and early ep's. If you just want the music that's covered by these discs then just buy the London Years Box Set that Abkco remastered in 2002. These box sets are for people who want replicas of the Stones singles and Ep's from the 1960's complete with the original artwork. These sets are for collectors. To the guy that said the Stones will put out anything for money well they have no control over their music from 1963 to 1971. Allen Klein puts all this stuff out. Sure the Stones still make some money off it but they have no say as to whether this stuff gets released or not.

Does anyone really think that the hardcore fans and collectors who are the target market for these 3 sets care about the duplication of most of this material on other discs/sets? Yes -- I, too just spent about $500 with tax and shipping from various places assembling the whole set of ABKCO SACD's.

Remember, it's not about return on investment - this stuff is art and art is inherently SUBJECTIVE AND AESTHETIC!!! The packaging manages to both fit in a standard retailer's CD rack and also give the buyer a sense of perceived value. An extra plus is that the mini-replica sleeves and the outer box are high-gloss paper, which resists better the greasy fingerprints that even avowed "collectors" will leave behind after being unable to resist the lure of handling these sets.

Also, call me crazy, but the sound quality, in my humble opinion, is better than the 2002 SACD's. As I understand it, these are DSD mastered, but there is no SACD layer. Maybe the DSD mastering WITHOUT the extra SACD layer did the trick, no matter how much Sony and ABKCO proclaim there is no detriment to anyone playing these discs in a standard "Red Book" CD player.

An eleven(11) disc-box set with JUST two songs on each CD.You read that correct. Their used price is good, for WHAT you get here. Strictly for the completists and die-hards. Although,you get plenty of old Stones classics that I, personally haven't heard in ages.Anyone else remember the bluesy "Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man"? It was the flip side of the "Satisfaction" 45 vinyl single. Had to have been maybe my second 45 I ever bought. Other goods are "Get Off My Cloud", the psychedelic gem "Paint It Black", "Mother's Little Helper", "She's A Rainbow" among many others. Only downside is that you'll need to get up and walk over to your stereo and CHANGE each 2-track CD. Otherwise, it's great. Semi-recommended.

OK, let me start by acknowledging that I'm one of those people who believe that The Rolling Stones ceased to be relevant after Brian Jones died. So there's that. Also, I bought many of these singles back in the day in the original picture sleeves (including the EPs which I bought direct from a supplier in England). So seeing them in miniature after all these years (my record collection is long gone) was a treat. Also, I'm basically boycotting those ridiculous Rolling Stones reissue CDs that offer nothing to me as a consumer that I didn't have on my original LPs 40 years ago. (Man, has it been that long?) So, given all that, I was thrilled when this set was (finally) issued. The years 1965-1967 are (to me) the Golden Age of The Rolling Stones - their artistic peak years. The songs included in this set are almost all classics. The packaging is fabulously fun. I love the idea of packaging the CDs as miniature versions of the old 45s (much like the earlier Kinks sets) and the booklet is actually informative. So skip those insulting reissues (until somebody is willing to do them up right with bonus tracks and a meaningful booklet) and get this set instead. It rocks!