Hot Rocks, 1964-1971 [Remaster] (CD - 1972)

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. On its initial release, Hot Rocks sold well, not only as a unique compilation but also as a panorama of the 1960s. The only flaw was that it didn't give a good look at the Stones' full musical history, ignoring their early blues period and the psychedelic era. There are also some anomalies in Hot Rocks' history for the collector -- the very first pressings included an outtake of "Brown Sugar" featuring Eric Clapton that was promptly replaced; and the original European CD version, issued as two separate discs on the Decca label, was also different from its American counterpart, featuring a version of "Satisfaction" mastered in stereo and putting the guitars on separate channels for the first time. Those musicologist concerns aside, this is still an exciting assembly of material. ~ Bruce Eder

If faced with the absurd dilemma of picking one album to represent the meaning of rock music, the Rolling Stones compilation HOT ROCKS--which collects most of their commercially and artistically successful songs from 1964 to 1971--would certainly be in the running. A two-CD set (originally released as a double LP), HOT ROCKS' 22 tracks each have the ring of historical inevitability about them; more importantly, of course, they are great tunes. From the soulful wailing of "Time Is On My Side" (the only non-Jagger/Richards original here) to the nervous pop shuffle of "Mother's Little Helper" through the Indian-influenced psychedelia of "Paint It Black" and the gospel-inflected strains of "You Can't Always Get What You Want," it is hard to argue with the power of this music.

Many of these songs have been tattooed on the cultural psyche--the amped-up rock nirvana of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Satisfaction" (with their indelible guitar riffs), for example--but everything here sparkles and thrills: the mod clatter of "19th Nervous Breakdown," the in-your-face sass of "Brown Sugar." At their very best, as on "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Gimme Shelter," the Stones prove capable not only of creating compressed rock masterpieces, but of making music emblematic of their entire generation (and future generations). The Rolling Stones are often referred to as "the World's Greatest Rock Band." HOT ROCKS makes that claim hard to dispute. minimize