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The Rolling Stones – Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (1969/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 38:15 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

This album was spawned by three coinciding events — the need to acknowledge the death of band co-founder Brian Jones (whose epitaph graces the inside cover) in July of 1969; the need to get “Honky Tonk Women,” then a huge hit single, onto an LP; and to fill the ten-month gap since the release of Beggars Banquet and get an album with built-in appeal into stores ahead of the Stones’ first American tour in three years. The fact that the Stones had amassed a sufficient number of hits since their last greatest-hits compilation in early 1966 (Big Hits: High Tide and Green Grass) made this a no-brainer, and its song lineup was as potent at the time as any compilation of hit singles by any artist. From the group’s excursions into fey psychedelia (“Paint It, Black,” “Ruby Tuesday,” “She’s a Rainbow,” “Dandelion”), space rock (“2000 Light Years From Home”), punk decadence (“Mother’s Little Helper”), and back to straight-ahead rock & roll (“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”), some of it with a topical edge (“Street Fighting Man”), it’s all incredibly potent, though also redundant to the extent that “Ruby Tuesday” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together” had previously appeared on two U.S. albums. The presence of “Honky Tonk Women” propelled it to gold record status upon release on both sides of the Atlantic, although the simultaneously released British version (long out of print, except as a bootleg CD) is different and more confusing, but also more diverse and rewarding musically than the American version. Both this album and Big Hits: High Tide and Green Grass have been supplanted by Hot Rocks and More Hot Rocks, but are still handy in their tight respective focuses. – Bruce Eder

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The Rolling Stones – Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967/2010)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 44:06 minutes | 860 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

Without a doubt, no Rolling Stones album — and, indeed, very few rock albums from any era — split critical opinion as much as the Rolling Stones’ psychedelic outing. Many dismiss the record as sub-Sgt. Pepper posturing; others confess, if only in private, to a fascination with the album’s inventive arrangements, which incorporated some African rhythms, Mellotrons, and full orchestration. What’s clear is that never before or after did the Stones take so many chances in the studio. (Some critics and fans feel that the record has been unfairly undervalued, partly because purists expect the Stones to constantly champion a blues ‘n’ raunch worldview.) About half the material is very strong, particularly the glorious “She’s a Rainbow,” with its beautiful harmonies, piano, and strings; the riff-driven “Citadel”; the hazy, dreamlike “In Another Land,” Bill Wyman’s debut writing (and singing) credit on a Stones release; and the majestically dark and doomy cosmic rocker “2000 Light Years from Home,” with some of the creepiest synthesizer effects (devised by Brian Jones) ever to grace a rock record. The downfall of the album was caused by some weak songwriting on the lesser tracks, particularly the interminable psychedelic jam “Sing This All Together (See What Happens).” It’s a much better record than most people give it credit for being, though, with a strong current of creeping uneasiness that undercuts the gaudy psychedelic flourishes. In 1968, the Stones would go back to the basics, and never wander down these paths again, making this all the more of a fascinating anomaly in the group’s discography. – Richie Unterberger

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The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones No. 2 (1965/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 37:01 minutes | 598 MB | Genre: Classic Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

The first time release of this classic mono recording in a high resolution digital format, including three legendary releases from the band’s 1964 Chess Studios sessions in Chicago:

-“Down The Road Apiece”
-“I Can’t Be Satisfied”
-“Time Is On My Side”

ABKCO Music and Records Inc. and HDTracks® are announcing the first-ever release of high definition digital downloads of The Rolling Stones ground-breaking catalog of studio, compilation and live albums in High-Fidelity FLAC formats offered in both 176.4kHz/24-bit and 88.2kHz/24-bit.

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The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones (UK Version) (1964/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 33:05 minutes | 623 MB | Genre: Classic Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ABKCO Records

The UK version of The Rolling Stones’ first album, recorded in mono and available in high resolution digital for the first time ever.

ABKCO Music and Records Inc. and HDTracks® are announcing the first-ever release of high definition digital downloads of The Rolling Stones ground-breaking catalog of studio, compilation and live albums in High-Fidelity FLAC formats offered in both 176.4kHz/24-bit and 88.2kHz/24-bit.

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The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones (UK Version) (1964/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 33:05 minutes | 989 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ABKCO Records

The UK version of The Rolling Stones’ first album, recorded in mono and available in high resolution digital for the first time ever.

ABKCO Music and Records Inc. and HDTracks® are announcing the first-ever release of high definition digital downloads of The Rolling Stones ground-breaking catalog of studio, compilation and live albums in High-Fidelity FLAC formats offered in both 176.4kHz/24-bit and 88.2kHz/24-bit.

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The Rolling Stones – Some Girls [Deluxe Version] (1978/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:22:15 minutes | 1,73 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Polydor Associated Labels

With over six million copies sold, Some Girls is the groundbreaking album that won over a new generation of fans with its dynamic synergy of rock, R&B, country and dance. This two disc deluxe version of the Rolling stone’s 1978 monumental work features a bonus disc of previously unreleased recordings and includes the chart-topping classics “Miss You,” “Beast of Burden,” “Shattered” and more. Considered one of their finest works, Some Girls is a testament to why the group remains one of the most influential bands of all time, a must-have album.

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The Rolling Stones – Singles Collection: The London Years (1989/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 03:05:44 minutes | 2,57 GB | Genre: Classic Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

The three-disc box set Singles Collection: The London Years contains every single the Rolling Stones released during the ’60s, including both the A- and B-sides. It is the first Stones compilation that tries to be comprehensive and logical — for all their attributes, the two Hot Rocks sets and the two Big Hits collections didn’t present the singles in chronological order. In essence, the previous compilations were excellent samplers, where Singles Collection tells most of the story (certain albums, like Aftermath, Beggars Banquet, and Let It Bleed, fill in the gaps left by the singles). The Rolling Stones made genuine albums — even their early R&B/blues albums were impeccably paced — but their singles had a power all their own, which is quite clearly illustrated by the Singles Collection. By presenting the singles in chronological order, the set takes on a relentless, exhilarating pace with each hit and neglected B-side piling on top of each other, adding a new dimension to the group; it has a power it wouldn’t have had if it tried to sample from the albums. Although it cheats near the end, adding singles from the Metamorphosis outtakes collection and two singles from Sticky Fingers, this captures the essence of the ’60s Stones as well as any compilation could. Casual fans might want to stick with the Hot Rocks sets, since they just have the hits, but for those that want a little bit more, the Singles Collection is absolutely essential. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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The Rolling Stones – Out Of Our Heads (US Version) (1965/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 33:38 minutes | 443 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

ABKCO Music and Records Inc. and HDTracks® are announcing the first-ever release of high definition digital downloads of The Rolling Stones ground-breaking catalog of studio, compilation and live albums in High-Fidelity FLAC formats offered in both 176.4kHz/24-bit and 88.2kHz/24-bit.

In 1965, the Stones finally proved themselves capable of writing classic rock singles that mined their R&B/blues roots, but updated them into a more guitar-based, thoroughly contemporary context. The first enduring Jagger-Richards classics are here — “The Last Time,” its menacing, folky B-side “Play With Fire,” and the riff-driven “Satisfaction,” which made them superstars in the States and defined their sound and rebellious attitude better than any other single song. On the rest of the album, they largely opted for mid-’60s soul covers, Marvin Gaye’s “Hitch Hike,” Solomon Burke’s “Cry to Me,” and Sam Cooke’s “Good Times” being particular standouts. “I’m All Right” (based on a Bo Diddley sound) showed their 1965 sound at its rawest, and there are a couple of fun, though derivative, bluesy originals in “The Spider and the Fly” and “The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man.” – Richie Unterberger

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The Rolling Stones – Out Of Our Heads (UK Version) (1965/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 29:35 minutes | 383 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ABKCO Records

The usual assumption is that the British-issued Rolling Stones albums of the mid-’60s are, like the Beatles’ British LPs of the same era, more accurate representations of the group and its work than their American equivalents; the latter were tailored to the U.S. market and usually had singles that had been recorded and released separately added to their programming. The reality, however, is that the group’s British LPs were almost as much of a hodgepodge, but just devised differently. The U.K. version of Out of Our Heads actually came out later than its American counterpart by about a month and opens with the roaring, frenetic “She Said Yeah” rather than the soulful slowie “Mercy Mercy” (which follows it here). In place of “Satisfaction” and “The Last Time,” listeners get “Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Going)” from five months earlier, “Heart of Stone” (which had already appeared in America on The Rolling Stones Now!), and “I’m Free” and “Talkin’ ‘Bout You,” which would turn up in America on December’s Children. To add to the confusion, the Gerard Mankowitz black-and-white cover shot (depicting the band looking as threatening as it ever would in this early phase of its history) used here would turn up in America three months later, also on the December’s Children LP. The record is somewhat slapped together, but is superior to either of the American albums that it overlaps in balance. It’s all good, solid, first-rate rock & roll and R&B, with a certain developing sophistication on songs like “I’m Free,” and it flows better without any AM radio-oriented, riff-driven singles like “Satisfaction,” “The Last Time,” or “Get Off of My Cloud,” or novelty numbers like “As Tears Go By” to break it up. – Bruce Eder

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The Rolling Stones – More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) Remastered (1972/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 01:30:42 minutes | 2,49 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

Hot Rocks covers most of the monster hits from the Stones’ first decade that remained in radio rotation for decades to come. More Hot Rocks goes for the somewhat smaller hits, some of the better album tracks, and a whole LP side’s worth of rarities that hadn’t yet been available in the United States when this compilation was released in 1972. The material isn’t as famous as what’s on Hot Rocks, but the music is almost as excellent, including such vital cuts as “Not Fade Away,” “It’s All Over Now,” “The Last Time,” “Lady Jane,” the psychedelic “Dandelion,” “She’s a Rainbow,” “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadow?,” “Out of Time,” “Tell Me,” and “We Love You.” The eight rarities are pretty good as well, including their 1963 debut single “Come On,” early R&B covers of “Fortune Teller” and “Bye Bye Johnnie,” great slide guitar on Muddy Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” and the soulful 1966 U.K. B-side “Long Long While.”
– Richie Unterberger

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