Hot Rocks Vol.1 1964-1971
It’s the rare greatest-hits album that takes on a life of its own. Generally, best-of collections are superceded by updated retrospectives. Hot Rocks is one of the rare exceptions to the rule. Originally released in 1972, it instantly became the Stones intro of choice, elbowing aside Big Hits, High Tide and Green Grass and Through the Past Darkly. Why? It happened to hit the racks when Mick and company were at their creative peak. The 21 tracks found here represent seven years of dizzying growth. From “Time is on My Side” through “Satisfaction” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” on to Sticky Fingers’s “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses,” Hot Rocks never lets up. The likes of Sucking in the ’70s and Jump Back come and go, but this Stones overview will not be moved. –Steven Stolder
Customer Review: Just look at the list of 21 classic songs you get here
While I am writing a review of this two-CD collection of classic early Stones tracks, Hot Rocks 1964-1971 basically sells itself. You get all of the best songs from one of rock’s most successful, long-established groups. These songs are probably older than Keith Richards’ wife, but they still stand head and shoulders above most of the music released in the last three decades. On most retrospective collections, people look down the track list and ask why is that song on here or say they don’t even remember this or that track. Not so with the Stones’ Hot Rocks - each of the 21 song titles is immediately recognizable.
It’s great to hear some of the really classic songs any time you want. I’m actually rather sick of Satisfaction because that sometimes seems to be the only Stones track the deejays think they can play. It’s a great song, but it’s far from the Stones’ best. I’ll take Paint It Black any day of the week - this song has a uniquely haunting quality that reaches out and grabs you, and many may remember how it was used to perfection in the film Full Metal Jacket. CD number one has a great mix of fast and slow songs: Jagger gets mellow on the likes of Time Is On My Side, Play With Fire, and As Tears Go By, but the truly memorable songs are rocking tracks such as Get Off of My Cloud, Mother’s Little Helper, and 19th Nervous Breakdown. CD number two finds the guys a little farther along in their careers, and it’s not hard to hear the maturity of the sound as the Stones’ begin experimenting with different styles and adding an unquantifiable sense of polish to their work. Jumping Jack Flash, Sympathy For the Devil, Honky Tonk Women, Brown Sugar - we all know and love these. I’m actually fonder of the tracks that get a little less attention, though: Street Fighting Man, Gimme Shelter, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, and Wild Horses. I only have one little complaint: Midnight Rambler (the only live song included here) just seems to have pretty poor sound quality.
If you’ve read this far, you’ll realize that all I’m really doing is telling you what songs are on Hot Rocks 1964-1971 - that’s really all you need to know. If the titles alone don’t convince you to buy this collection, nothing I say here will show you the error of your ways, either.
Customer Review: Uncompromising rock n roll genius
The Rolling Stones spent much of the sixties in the shadow of the Beatles and, with regards to their respective albums, perhaps deservedly so. However, as this 2-disc retrospective proves, they were every bit as important as their clean-cut contemporaries.
To its credit, this edition of Hot Rocks is in chronological order and weighted very much in favour of their late sixties output, which was undoubtedly their best work. Of the early sixties singles, the inclusion of the likes of Time Is On My Side and Heart Of Stone seems a little strange, at the expense of more historically important cuts such as Not Fade Away or It’s All Over Now. However, these tracks do set the mood well for what is to come, and from Satisfaction onwards there is no looking back.
From here on in, we are taken on a breathtaking ride through the sixties according to the World’s Greatest Rock N Roll Band. Paint It Black, Let’s Spend The Night Together, Jumping Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Women. Every track is an undisputed classic. The second disc especially, builds momentum through the hypnotic Sympathy For The Devil, the atmospheric Gimme Shelter and the huge, orchestral You Can’t Always Get What You Want. All of this culminates in the final double encore of their best rocker, Brown Sugar, and their lovely country ballad, Wild Horses.
Quite simply put, this CD is brilliant, and I cannot praise it highly enough. It is easily the finest collection of popular rock songs ever gathered together onto one volume, and that includes the Beatles equivalent Red and Blue albums. The real question you are now facing, is whether you should buy it now or five minutes ago. So go on, what are you waiting for?
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