Rolling Stones: Forty Licks (1 Viewer)

[Ted Lee]

well, after the mini fiasco about which version to get (click here for info - there appear to be two versions including a "limited edition") i finally got a chance to listen to it.
i haven't done any critical listening on my home system yet, but hearing it through my headphones at work was a nice experience. some songs did not sound that much better than what i was used to hearing from my Hot Rocks compilation, but other titles did appear to stand-out more. the one that caught my attention was "under my thumb" - all the secondary sounds seemed more noticeable. but i must also admit that i'm probably not qualified to judge the quality of these (i'm assuming) remastered songs. if anyone else can comment, i'd be interested.
overall, i have no complaints about the sound quality. i think i heard some hiss in a few of the tracks, but that's to be expected considering how old some of these tunes are.
but, for me, the real surprise was the second disc. i suppose it's arguable whether the stones have enjoyed the barrage of hits they had in their earlier days, but i must admit i didn't pay that much attention to their latter works.
so, hearing their newer songs was a wonderful treat. all the songs still have a very enjoyable quality. mick's voice still comes out loud and strong, the songs themselves still carry a catchy beat, but are still complex and original enough to keep you thinking while tapping your feet.
if you already have some of the stones albums, this may not be a required collection. but if you have limited or no stones albums (like me) - then this is a must buy!
i give this cd compilation a B+.
ps - my only personal complaint is that they didn't include "she's so cold" - one of my all-time fave stones tunes!

 

[Marvin]

I'm still having a hard time understanding the point of this album. Aren't at least half of the songs on the newly remastered (plus SACD) versions of Hot Rocks, 1 and 2? Why couldn't they have released a "Best of" CD of only the post-Hot Rocks years (i.e. after "Sticky Fingers"), in SACD?

 

[Alex Shk]

I think this has to do with business. The Stones "authorize" the re-issue and remastering of their 60's catalog on the hybrid discs for ABKCO, and ABCKO allows them use of their old stuff through their label (or in a partner ship with ABCKO). Essentially, they are marketing a later period greatest hits disc which will have it's sales boosted by the inclusion of titles from their old catalog.

All of this done at brand new shiny 2002 royalty rate - and I would imagine it's substantially more than they previously made from the old ABKCO discs.

But why no 40 Licks SACD - I don't know. It may have to do with ABKCO (not the Stones) financing the DSD mastering.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

But why no 40 Licks SACD - I don't know.

Maybe we should give it some time - Virgin is very interested in Super Audio as they have stated many times.

 

[Rachael B]

Lee, if Virgin is so intrested in SACD how come they put out so few releases? I'm stille waiting for King Crimson's IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING which they announced atleast 6 months ago. Their $30 list is too high too. Best wishes!

 

[KeithH]

Ted, thanks for the review. I did not pick up Forty Licks yet, as my wantlist is just too long. In the past couple of days, I have seen the version in the shrinkwrapped jewel case and the one in the cardboard slipcase priced the same in a number of stores. They also have the same catalog number. So, they are the same release. The "deluxe edition" comes in a large square box. This version comes with a poster and a large booklet. I saw it at the Virgin Megastore at Times Square, New York City, on Friday on sale for $29.99, while a Tower Records in New Jersey had it for $41.99 last night ( ). I'll probably just go with the standard version. It's about the music, after all.
You said:

my only personal complaint is that they didn't include "she's so cold" - one of my all-time fave stones tunes!

They probably considered including "She's So Cold", but Forty-One Licks doesn't sound right.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I haven't been the biggest Rolling Stones fan, but can someone list what albums each song on Forty Licks comes from?

Not counting greatest hits collections, in order of the songs:

Beggars Banquet - 1968
Let It Bleed - 1969
Out of Our Heads (US) - 1965
Out of Our Heads (US)
Single - 1968
Let It Bleed
Single - 1966
Aftermath - 1966
England's Newest Hitmakers - 1964
Flowers - 1967
Beggars Banquet
Aftermath (UK)
Their Satanic Majesties Request - 1967
December's Children - 1965
Sticky Fingers - 1971
Flowers/Between the Buttons (US) - 1967
Aftermath (US)
Single - 1969
12X5 - 1964
Flowers/Between the Buttons (US)
Tattoo You - 1981
Sticky Fingers
Some Girls - 1978
Some Girls
New
Exile on Main Street - 1972
Goat's Head Soup - 1973
Voodoo Lounge - 1994
Some Girls
Black and Blue - 1976
Voodoo Lounge
Steel Wheels - 1989
New
Bridges to Babylon - 1997
New
Exile
Undercover - 1983
Emotional Rescue - 1980
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll - 1974
New

 

[Michael Gilliam]

Even if you do own plenty of Stones material, I would still say this is a worthwhile purchase. How can you resist all those goodies on one set? I can't at least, and I've got plenty of ABKCO's recent SACDs. Even though "40 Licks" isn't SACD, it's nice to have the tracks from the Virgin catalog remastered, I think they sound a lot better than the previous CDs. I too hope one day Virgin will release the material on SACD.
The 4 new songs aren't bad (the Keith tune has to grow on you though) and I've been able to listen to little else since Tuesday. Hey, it's the Stones, how can you possibly have enough?

 

[KeithH]

Michael, Virgin issued remasters of at least some of the later Stones albums a few years ago. Emotional Rescue and Tatoo You are two that come to mind. Is it correct to assume that the tracks from Virgin albums that appear on Forty Licks have been remastered again, and better than on the Virgin remastered albums? I have to wonder if Forty Licks uses ABCKO's recent remasters and Virgin's older remasters.

 

[Ted Lee]

glad you liked the review keith.

ya know...this cd (price-wise) is all over the map. i think i was at tower and saw it for 24.99. so, i've seen it as low as 17.99 (best-buy) and i think tower had the highest price-point.

 

[KeithH]

Ted, unfortunately, that is common with CDs. Tower tends to be pricey, and the stores in the malls are often even worse. I find the best prices at Best Buy and Circuit City and a local chain in New Jersey. Costco has very good prices, but their selection is limited of course.

 

[Ted Lee]

agreed keith.

i asked a friend of mine about this (who used to own her own business) and she said malls are almost always higher because of something called "triple net" - it's something like the overhead fees, maintenance fees, etc that a store in a mall has to pay.

i agree about best-buy....that's almost always my first (and only) stop. i rarely go to tower anymore - no wonder they're almost out of business. sometimes i go to the tower store in downtown sac - only because of nostalgia reasons - being (i think) the first tower store to open.

 

[Dick]

One of the nice things about FORTY LICKS, also true of the remastered single albums they came from, is that It's All Over Now and several other songs are presented for the first time (in the U.S.) in true stereo. I know, many purists feel that producer Phil Spector's choice to maintain the mono mixes of early Stones hits is sancrosect. Personally, I am a stereo fan and proud of it. Between this collection and the imported London/MFSL label HOT ROCKS 1, I now have true stereo versions of most early Stones songs, including Satisfaction (the version called stereo on the new remaster has not got wide enough separation to be really stereo); Time Is On My Side; Heart of Stone; Play With Fire; Get Off My Cloud; Mother's Little Helper; 19th Nervous Breakdown; Paint It Black; Under My Thumb , none of which are true stereo on FORTY LICKS or any of the other remasters.

 

[LarryDavenport]

Does anyone know if 40 Licks has the correct version of Ruby Tuesday or the stereo version of The Last Time?

 

[Ryan Spaight]

I know that does NOT have the correct version of Ruby Tuesday. (It's got the same version as on the SACDs.) Don't know off the top of my head about Last Time.

Ryan

 

[KeithH]

Ted said:

i asked a friend of mine about this (who used to own her own business) and she said malls are almost always higher because of something called "triple net" - it's something like the overhead fees, maintenance fees, etc that a store in a mall has to pay.

I guess the mall stores sell enough CDs at these ridiculous prices to cover these fees. Of course, look at mall traffic. Given the high prices for CDs at mall stores, you would think that most people would choose Best Buy or Circuit City first if their main reason for going out is to shop for music. However, I'm sure a lot of people who go shopping for clothes or whatever, shop at the mall record stores on impulse. As they walk by, it's like, "Hmmm...I wonder if they have that Stones CD I've been wanting." If they have it and it's $18.99, so be it. Also, a lot of high-school kids "live" in malls, plus a lot of them have no sense of what a value is (I know I sound old), so they have no problem paying $18.99 for a CD at the mall, even though the same disc is $13.99 at Best Buy. Despite all of this, I can't help but wonder how much music the mall stores would sell if they lowered their prices for 20-25%. They could probably cover their costs with increased sales volume.

 

[KeithH]

All, it is really amazing how many different versions of the Stones classics exist. I mean, we have mono, "fake stereo", and "true stereo" versions of some tracks. How does one keep it straight? Let me say that I am not a long-time die-hard Stones fan, so a lot of this is news to me. I have the original ABCKO US CD version of Hot Rocks 1964-1971. As I recall, this version has fake stereo versions of some tracks. Is that correct? Does the remastered version of Hot Rocks (SACD/CD hybrid) still have "wrong" versions of some songs? I seem to recall that the new remastered version of The Singles Collection: The London Years has mono versions of many tracks. Is this correct? Is there a web site that describes all the variations for these classic songs, which version corresponds to the original version released, and which discs have these original versions (US CDs, import CDs, SACD/CD hybrids)? Thanks in advance.

 

[Ryan Spaight]

Keith,
Here's good place to start:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=st...4ax.com&rnum=3
Ryan

 

[KeithH]

Ryan, thanks. I have bookmarked this site and it has made for an interesting read thus far. I recognize Luke's name from Steve Hoffman's web site.

 

[David Albrecht]

Howdy Keith, you probably already have seen this site, but incase not...
http://www.highfidelityreview.com/ne...snumber=524914
Its not exactly what you were asking for, but at the bottom they have links to a graph showing which tracks are in stereo/mono and which albums to find them on. The PDF file prints very nice by the way, 3 pages book stlye. Very useful.
http://www.highfidelityreview.com/pd...ones_guide.pdf