Audio CD review:
The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks

The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks

Band: The Rolling Stones Title: Forty Licks Rating: Release Date: 04 April, 2005 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Street Fighting Man 2: Gimme Shelter 3: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 4: Last Time 5: Jumpin' Jack Flash 6: You Can't Always Get What You Want 7: 19th Nervous Breakdown 8: Under My Thumb 9: Not Fade Away 10: Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow? 11: Sympathy for the Devil 12: Mother's Little Helper 13: She's a Rainbow 14: Get Off of My Cloud 15: Wild Horses 16: Ruby Tuesday 17: Paint It, Black 18: Honky Tonk Women 19: It's All Over Now 20: Let's Spend the Night Together 21: Start Me Up 22: Brown Sugar 23: Miss You 24: Beast of Burden 25: Don't Stop 26: Happy 27: Angie 28: You Got Me Rocking 29: Shattered 30: Fool to Cry 31: Love Is Strong 32: Mixed Emotions 33: Keys to Your Love 34: Anybody Seen My Baby? 35: Stealing My Heart 36: Tumbling Dice 37: Undercover of the Night 38: Emotional Rescue 39: It's Only Rock 'N' Roll 40: Losing My Touch

Customer Review Should be 60, maybe 80 licks... but delivers the goods I mean, I had heard (and enjoyed) Let it Bleed and Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out before I picked up Forty Licks. This was the one that REALLY got me started on the Stones. However, this was the one that turned me into an uber-Stones fan - depending on my mood, they may or may not be my favorite band, and even when my mood is against them, they still take the #2 slot (come on, do you REALLY have to ask who'd be in first otherwise?) First, a few good things. This runs through all of the Stones' most familiar songs - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, The Last Time, Get off of My Cloud, Paint It Black, Under My Thumb, Ruby Tuesday, Let's Spend the Night Together, She's a Rainbow, Sympathy for the Devil, Street Fighting Men, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Woman, Gimme Shelter, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Brown Sugar, Wild Horses, Tumbling Dice, Happy, Angie, It's Only Rock and Roll, Miss You, Beast of Burden, Start Me Up, You Got Me Rocking. . . you know, the GOOD stuff. If you're looking for just a roundup of the Stones' most famous songs, then this would be the place to go, since it spans their whole career. Now, the bad news. In their effort to deliver all the good stuff, they give us awful songs like Emotional Rescue (interestingly, I quite enjoy the album it's named after - I just don't like the song, see?), as well as four new songs. Out of them, one is a fantastic riff-rocker (Don't Stop) that certainly is worthy of similar songs like Start Me Up; one is a decent Keith crooner (Losing My Touch) that nonetheless is a bit too long; two are annoying pop-rockers (Stealing My Heart; Keys to Your Love) that I do not like at ALL. I'm not a huge fan of 1997's Bridges to Babylon either, and I don't really enjoy that album's representative, Anybody Seen My Baby? So now we can cut four, maybe five songs from this album. What to swap in? Well, that's a tough call. There are several worthy candidates, but for purposes of including just the most famous songs (after all, that's the point of a compilation, isn't it?), I'll go with B*tch, Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker), Rip This Joint and Waiting on a Friend as replacements. The first disc could also use a few songs - Time is on My Side, Play with Fire, Heart of Stone, As Tears Go By, 2000 Light Years from Home, the live version of Midnight Rambler found on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out, but I wouldn't take off a single song from that first album, so moot point. Those looking to fill in the gaps the first disc presents are advised to buy the Singles Collection, which is close to flawless, though I would only point a relatively seasoned fan to it thanks to both its size and cost. Still, this is a very respectable overview of the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World (okay, MAYBE #2 behind those four guys from Liverpool named after a certain species of shelled insect. . . ), and probably the best place to start. Don't finish there, though! If you like what you heard, the Stones have a world of excellent music that's ripe for your investigation. Allow me to name a few names: England's Newest Hit Makers; Aftermath; Between the Buttons; Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, Goats Head Soup, It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (but I like it like it yes I do!), Black and Blue, Some Girls, and Emotional Rescue are just the high points. There's LOADS of it. Trust me. So, if you've got a hankerin' (I'm sorry, but that is a hilarious expression) for some Rolling Stones, why not start here?. . You can see a complete list of all The Rolling Stones discography, or go back to the The Rolling Stones tabs