The Rolling Stones

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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The Rolling Stones – Metamorphosis (1975/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 48:02 minutes | 962 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

Though it remains the only Rolling Stones outtakes collection album ever to be officially released, Metamorphosis is one of those albums that has been slighted by almost everyone who has touched it, a problem that lies in its genesis. While both the Stones and former manager Allen Klein agreed that some form of archive release was necessary, if only to stem the then-ongoing flow of bootlegs, they could not agree how to present it. Of the two, the band’s own version of the album, compiled by Bill Wyman, probably came closest to the fan’s ideal, cherrypicking the vaults for some of the more legendary outtakes and oddities for a bird’s-eye view of the entire band’s creative brilliance. Klein, on the other hand, chose to approach the issue from the songwriting point-of-view, focusing on the wealth of demos for songs that Jagger/Richards gave away (usually to artists being produced by Andrew Oldham) and which, therefore, frequently featured more session men than Rolling Stones. Both approaches had their virtues, but when Klein’s version of the album became the one that got the green light, of course fans and collectors bemoaned the non-availability of the other. The fact is, if Wyman’s selection had been released, then everyone would have been crying out for Klein’s. Sometimes, you just can’t win. So, rather than wring your hands over what you don’t receive, you should celebrate what you do. A heavily orchestrated version of “Out of Time,” with Jagger accompanying the backing track that would later give Chris Farlowe a U.K. number one hit, opens the show; a loose-limbed “Memo From Turner,” recorded with Al Kooper, closes it. No complaints there, then. The real meat, however, lies in between times. During 1964-1965, Mick Jagger and Andrew Oldham headed a session team that also included the likes of arrangers Art Greenslade and Mike Leander, guitarist Jimmy Page, pianist Nicky Hopkins, bassist John Paul Jones, and many more, convened to cut demos for the plethora of songs then being churned out by Jagger and Keith Richards. Some would subsequently be redone by the Stones themselves; others, however, would be used as backing tracks for other artist’s versions of the songs. Metamorphosis pulls a number of tracks from this latter grouping, and while “Each and Every Day of the Year” (covered by Bobby Jameson), “I’d Much Rather Be With the Boys” (the Toggery Five), “Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind” (Vashti), “Sleepy City” (the Mighty Avengers), and “We’re Wasting Time” (Jimmy Tarbuck) may not be Stones performances per se, they are certainly Stones songs and, for the most part, as strong as any of the band originals included on the group’s first four or five LPs. Elsewhere, the 1964 Chess studio outtake “Don’t Lie to Me” is as fine a Chuck Berry cover as the Stones ever mustered, while “Family,” the rocking “Jiving Sister Fanny,” Bill Wyman’s “Downtown Suzie,” and a delightfully lackadaisical version of Stevie Wonder’s “I Don’t Know Why” are outtakes from two of the Stones’ finest-ever albums, Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed. All of which adds up to an impressive pedigree, whatever the circumstances behind the album, and whatever else could have been included on it. Indeed, if there are any criticisms to be made, it is that the album sleeve itself is singularly uninformative, and the contents are seriously jumbled. But those are its only sins. Everything else you’ve heard about it is simply wishful (or otherwise) thinking. – Dave Thompson

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The Rolling Stones – Live 1965: Music From Charlie Is My Darling (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 27:50 minutes | 1,80 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

Live 1965: Music From Charlie Is My Darling is the Grammy-nominated soundtrack for the first Rolling Stones documentary, originally shot in 1965 during the band’s second tour of Ireland. The performances, as captured on Live 1965, provide fierce, elemental testimony to the Rolling Stones coming into their own as interpreters of blues-rooted material as well as to the emerging songwriting acumen of the Jagger/Richards team.

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The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed (1969/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 42:23 minutes | 840 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

Mostly recorded without Brian Jones — who died several months before its release (although he does play on two tracks) and was replaced by Mick Taylor (who also plays on just two songs) — this extends the rock and blues feel of Beggars Banquet into slightly harder-rocking, more demonically sexual territory. The Stones were never as consistent on album as their main rivals, the Beatles, and Let It Bleed suffers from some rather perfunctory tracks, like “Monkey Man” and a countrified remake of the classic “Honky Tonk Woman” (here titled “Country Honk”). Yet some of the songs are among their very best, especially “Gimme Shelter,” with its shimmering guitar lines and apocalyptic lyrics; the harmonica-driven “Midnight Rambler”; the druggy party ambience of the title track; and the stunning “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” which was The Stones’ “Hey Jude” of sorts, with its epic structure, horns, philosophical lyrics, and swelling choral vocals. “You Got the Silver” (Keith Richards’ first lead vocal) and Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain,” by contrast, were as close to the roots of acoustic down-home blues as The Stones ever got.

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The Rolling Stones – Hot Rocks (1964-1971) (1971/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 01:25:34 minutes | 2,54 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Abkco Music & Records, Inc.

1) The classic and first Rolling Stones anthology originally released in December 1971 in the U.S. only. It remained on the Billboard album chart for 243 weeks with the highest chart position reaching No. 4. Hot Rocks has been certified 12X Multi-platinum by the RIAA.

2) Compiles the Stones’ biggest hit singles and iconic album tracks.

3) Includes 11 Top Ten U.S. and U.K. hits and 7 No.1 hit singles:

Top Ten U.S. Hits:
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
“Get Off Of My Cloud”
“As Tears Go By”
“19th Nervous Breakdown”
“Paint It, Black”
“Mother’s Little Helper”
“Ruby Tuesday”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Brown Sugar”

Top Ten U.K. Hits:
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
“Get Off Of My Cloud”
“19th Nervous Breakdown”
“Paint It, Black”
“Let’s Spend The Night Together”
“Ruby Tuesday”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Brown Sugar”

U.S. No. 1 Hits:
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
“Get Off Of My Cloud”
“Paint It, Black”
“Ruby Tuesday”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Brown Sugar”

U.K. No. 1 Hits:
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
“Get Off Of My Cloud”
“Paint It, Black”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Honky Tonk Women”

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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