Rolling Stones GRRR-eview - Noise11.com
Rolling Stones GRRR

Rolling Stones GRRR

Rolling Stones GRRR-eview

by Roger Wink, VVN Music on November 19, 2012

in New Music,News

When I was younger, I was never a big fan of the Rolling Stones.

Rolling Stones GRRR

Rolling Stones GRRR

I didn’t dislike them. I just thought they were an above average rock band. While working in radio, we would occasionally run a Beatles/Rolling Stones weekend and I could never see how the music of the two bands could even be compared.

Then I got older…and wiser. I grew to understand the influence of the Stones on music, the talent of each member and the rawness of their sound. Most of all, I started to love their music, not just from the 60’s or 70’s or 80’s, but from throughout their career. They really are one of the most consistent groups of the rock era.

Which brings us to their new career-spanning compilation, Grrr! It’s only the second time that their music from the Decca/London Records era of the 60’s has been released in the same package as their time with their own label, giving a superb overview of their fifty year career.

The problem is that such a long and successful career requires a lengthy album to be even close to comprehensive, made even worse in the Stones’ case by their different sets of popular tracks in the U.K. and the U.S.  For the Stones, their solution was to release three different sets, a 2-CD, a 3-CD and a 4-CD. In concept, that should have led to their biggest tracks on the smallest set, a mix of the same hits with some minor ones on the second and everything on the first two sets along with important album tracks on the third.

Unfortunately, that’s not what we got. The 2-CD set does include many of their big hits but concentrated more on the U.K. charts, leaving some top twenty U.S. hits out like Time is On My Side and Heartbreaker (available only on the 3 and 4-CD sets)  and Mother’s Little Helper (only on the 4-CD set). Any could have replaced 1978’s Respectable, 1997’s  Anybody Seen My Baby? and 2002’s Don’t Stop which appear on all three sets.

Then there are those top 20 hits in the U.S. and U.K. that didn’t make the cut for any of the configurations:

  • Tell Me (1964 / #24 U.S.)
  • Ain’t Too Proud to Beg (1974 / #17 U.S.)
  • Respectable (1978 / #23 U.K.)
  • Hang Fire (1982 / #20 U.S.)
  • Going to a Go-Go (1982 / #25 U.S. / #26 U.K.)
  • One Hit (to the Body) (1986 / #28 U.S. / #80 U.K.)
  • Rock and a Hard Place (1989 / #23 U.S. / #63 U.K.)
  • Out of Tears (1994 / #60 U.S. / #36 U.K.)
  • Like a Rolling Stone (1995 / #109 U.S. / #12 U.K.)

I have trouble recommending any set but the 80 track Super Deluxe, especially since that is the only way to get songs like Play With Fire, I’m Free, Mother’s Little Helper, Lady Jane, Midnight Rambler (!), Bitch and She’s So Cold, but the exorbitant price for the set ($145.99 at Amazon) puts it out of reach for all but the most ardent fan. Even the 50 track set is a major improvement over the base album with Heart of Stone, Time is On My Side, She’s a Rainbow and Under My Thumb; however, there is a $20 difference at Amazon between the 2 and 3-CD sets with only the addition of 10 tracks.

Which leaves me excited by the prospects of the release but very disappointed and perplexed by the way it was assembled and released. Perhaps we’ll have to wait for their 60th anniversary for a new set so that they can get it right.

For those looking to buy one of the editions, here is a chart that lays out the songs on each of the set along with original album and chart information:

Song
First Album Appearance
Charts
40 Track/
2 CDs
50 Track/
3 CDs
80 Track/
4 CDs
Come On
Big Hits, 1966
1963 / #21 U.K.
X
X
X
I Wanna Be Your Man
Milestones, 1972
1963 / #12 U.K.
X
Not Fade Away
England’s Newest Hit Makers, 1964
1964 / #48 U.S. / #3 U.K.
X
X
X
That’s How Strong My Love Is
Out of Our Heads, 1965
X
It’s All Over Now
12×5, 1964
1964 / #26 U.S. / #1 U.K.
X
X
X
Little Red Rooster
The Rolling Stones Now, 1965
1964 / #1 U.K.
X
X
X
The Last Time
Out of Our Heads, 1965
1965 / #9 U.S. / #1 U.K.
X
X
X
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Out of Our Heads, 1965
1965 / #1 U.S. / #1 U.K.
X
X
X
Heart of Stone
The Rolling Stones Now, 1965
1964 / #19 U.S.
X
X
Get Off My Cloud
December’s Children, 1965
1965 / #1 U.S. / #1 U.K.
X
X
X
She Said Yeah
Milestones, 1972
X
I’m Free
Out of Our Heads, 1965
X
Play With Fire
Out of Our Heads, 1965
1965 / #96 U.S.
X
Time is On My Side
12×5, 1964
1964 / #6 U.S.
X
X
19th Nervous Breakdown
Big Hits, 1966
1966 / #2 U.S. / #2 U.K.
X
X
X
Paint It, Black
Aftermath, 1966
1966 / #1 U.S. / #1 U.K.
X
X
X
Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?
Big Hits, 1966
1966 / #9 U.S. / #5 U.K.
X
X
X
She’s a Rainbow
Their Satanic Majesty’s Request, 1967
1967 / #25 U.S.
X
X
Under My Thumb
Aftermath, 1966
X
X
Out of Time
Metamorphosis, 1975
1975 / #81 U.S. / #45 U.K.
X
As Tears Go By
December’s Children, 1965
1965 / #6 U.S.
X
X
X
Let’s Spend the Night Together
Between the Buttons, 1967
1967 / #55 U.S. / #3 U.K.
X
X
X
Mother’s Little Helper
Aftermath, 1966
1966 / #8 U.S.
X
We Love You
Through the Past Darkly, 1969
1967 / #50 U.S. / #8 U.K.
X
X
Dandelion
Through the Past Darkly, 1969
1967 / #14 U.S.
X
Lady Jane
Aftermath, 1966
1966 / #24 U.S.
X
Flight 505
Aftermath, 1966
X
2000 Light Years From Home
Their Satanic Majesty’s Request, 1967
X
Ruby Tuesday
Between the Buttons, 1967
1967 / #1 U.S.
X
X
X
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Through the Past Darkly, 1969
1968 / #3 U.S. / #1 U.K.
X
X
X
Sympathy For the Devil
Begger’s Banquet, 1968
X
X
X
Child of the Moon
More Hot Rocks, 1972
X
Salt of the Earth
Begger’s Banquet, 1968
X
Honky Tonk Women
Through the Past Darkly, 1969
1969 / #1 U.S. / #1 U.K.
X
X
X
Midnight Rambler
Let It Bleed, 1969
X
Gimme Shelter
Let It Bleed, 1969
2007 / #76 U.K.
X
X
X
You Got the Silver
Let It Bleed, 1969
X
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Let It Bleed, 1969
1973 / #42 U.S.
X
X
X
Street Fighting Man
Begger’s Banquet, 1968
1968 / #48 U.S.
X
X
X
Wild Horses
Sticky Fingers, 1971
1971 / #28 U.S.
X
X
X
Brown Sugar
Sticky Fingers, 1971
1971 / #1 U.S. / #2 U.K.
X
X
X
Bitch
Sticky Fingers, 1971
X
Tumbling Dice
Exile on Main St., 1972
1972 / #7 U.S. / #5 U.K.
X
X
X
Rocks Off
Exile on Main St., 1972
X
X
Happy
Exile on Main St., 1972
1972 / #22 U.S.
X
X
X
Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
Goats Head Soup, 1973
1973 / #15 U.S.
X
X
Angie
Goats Head Soup, 1973
1973 / #1 U.S. / #5 U.K.
X
X
X
It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)
It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1974
1974 / #16 U.S. / #10 U.K.
X
X
X
Dance Little Sister
It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1974
X
Fool to Cry
Black and Blue, 1976
1976 / #10 U.S. / #6 U.K.
X
X
X
Respectable
Some Girls, 1978
1978 / #23 U.K.
X
X
X
Miss You
Some Girls, 1978
1978 / #1 U.S. / #3 U.K.
X
X
X
Shattered
Some Girls, 1978
1978 / #31 U.S.
X
Far Away Eyes
Some Girls, 1978
X
Beast of Burdon
Some Girls, 1978
1978 / #8 U.S.
X
X
X
Emotional Rescue
Emotional Rescue, 1980
1980 / #3 U.S. / #9 U.K.
X
X
X
Dance (Part 1)
Emotional Rescue, 1980
X
She’s So Cold
Emotional Rescue, 1980
1980 / #26 U.S. / #33 U.K.
X
Waiting On a Friend
Tattoo You, 1981
1981 / #13 U.S. / #50 U.K.
X
X
X
Neighbors
Tattoo You, 1981
X
Start Me Up
Tattoo You, 1981
1981 / #2 U.S. / #7 U.K.
X
X
X
Undercover of the Night
Undercover, 1983
1983 / #9 U.S. / #11 U.K.
X
X
X
She Was Hot
Undercover, 1983
1983 / #44 U.S. / #42 U.K.
X
X
Harlem Shuffle
Dirty Work, 1986
1986 / #5 U.S. / #13 U.K.
X
X
X
Mixed Emotions
Steel Wheels, 1989
1989 / #5 U.S. / #36 U.K.
X
X
X
Highwire
Flashpoint, 1991
1991 / #57 U.S. / #29 U.K.
X
X
Almost Hear Your Sigh
Steel Wheels, 1989
1990 / #50 U.S. / #31 U.K.
X
You Got Me Rocking
Voodoo Lounge, 1994
1994 / #113 U.S. / #23 U.K.
X
X
Love is Strong
Voodoo Lounge, 1994
1994 / #91 U.S. / #14 U.K.
X
X
I Go Wild
Voodoo Lounge, 1994
1995 / #29 U.K.
X
Anybody Seen My Baby?
Bridges to Babylon, 1997
1997 / #22 U.K.
X
X
X
Saint of Me
Bridges to Babylon, 1997
1998 / #94 U.S. / #26 U.K.
X
Don’t Stop
Forty Licks, 2002
2002 / #36 U.K.
X
X
X
Rough Justice
A Bigger Bang, 2005
X
Infamy
A Bigger Bang, 2005
X
Rain Fall Down
A Bigger Bang, 2005
2005 / #33 U.K.
X
Streets of Love
A Bigger Bang, 2005
2005 / #15 U.K.
X
X
Plundered My Soul
Exile on Main St.: Deluxe, 2010
2010 / #200 U.K.
X
Doom and Gloom
Grrr!, 2012
2012 / #97 U.K.
X
X
X
One More Shot
Grrr!, 2012
X
X
X

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